The Island

Part 8 - 2

Two:

Breakfast and lunch had passed with little incident. Carmen had served Sara and Andie both meals in their room. During both visits, Carmen was told not to engage in any conversation with them. After each meal, her heart felt heavy; she took much pity for them. "They looked miserable in there." Carmen said that afternoon to Wyatt. Somehow, they had managed to sneak off to the woods on the island. By the heavily-overgrown north shore of the island, Carmen lighted her cigarette. She took a puff and exhaled the smoke. "Here." Carmen handed Wyatt the lighter. With his cigarette between his lips, he lit the appropriate end and started his cigarette. He also puffed one. "I can imagine. I can't believe how ruthless Michael is being." Wyatt replied to Carmen. "It seems Adin's death might have drove him insane." Carmen suggested between her second and third puffs. "If anyone's insane, it's Jeanette. She is a loose cannon. She'll blow at any minute." Wyatt said. "Even though she's my bestest friend here, she still is hurting a lot. It's shocking to me how we react to this whole situation. The host to our summer party is killed. Right now, everyone acts like the murder really never happened. I mean, c'mon! It's murder!" Carmen took and blew a puff. "I don't know how on Earth they act like that." Wyatt exhaled his smoke. "Well, I think you do all the housework to keep your mind off of reality, missy." Wyatt said. He admired the blue lake on the unchartered north shore on the island. Wyatt and Carmen were practically in the water; the vegetation had grown almost to the water itself. They had found a comfortable spot each other to smoke and talk about their feelings. Everyone needs to vent, right? "That's not entirely why, Wyatt." She across some vegetation that separated them. She winked. "Don't you give me that." They both took a puff of their cigarettes. The blue of the water now had captured Carmen's attention. The water over on this side of the island seemed cleaner and purer. "How are things between you and Logan going?" Carmen broke the silence. Wyatt let out another puff. "Okay. She is still upset about the election." He replied. "That's too bad. But she's strong. She'll get though it." Carmen said. "I'll tell her you said that." Wyatt pointed to Carmen. "Alright, mister." Carmen smiled. "Just not anytime soon. She might find out-" "Hey, I don't like talking about Logan finding out about this. Makes me feel bad." Wyatt cut her off. "Sorry." She replied, holding her cigarette by her teeth. She put some loose strands of hair back behind her ear and took her cigarette again. She blew out her smoke, watching the smoke rise into the air. Internally, she'd hoped no one would notice the tiny clouds of smoke rising from the north end of the island. That was pretty unlikely though. "I hope no one notices we're gone." Wyatt said, ready to bring the cigarette to his lips again. "Yeah, me too. We'll be instantly suspicious." Carmen agreed. She noticed her cigarette was getting short. "After we finish these we should head back." "Aww, c'mon." Wyatt said, letting smoke pour out with his words. "One more?" "No. Not today. I gotta make these last, brother." She shook her pack of Camel cigarettes. "Whoa, that sounds almost empty!" Wyatt leaned over to Carmen. "How many packs do you have left?" "Two." Carmen replied. "We've been spoiled." Carmen slid the pack into her back pocket. "Like I said, gotta make these babies last. You know we can't get 'em anywhere else." "Maybe Adin's parents left some. One of them might have a spare pack lyin' around in a drawer." "I doubt it, honey." Carmen replied. She inhaled the last bit she could out of her cigarette. She held the warm bud in her hand. "I'm done. Let's go." "But I still have a few-" "Don't matter. Put your cigarette in the lake and bury it. We don't want them finding these." She wiggled her bud in her hand. Without stepping more than a few steps, she leaned over into the water and extinguished her bud. Wyatt did the same. They both turned back around and found a patch of sand they could bury their former cigarettes in. Carmen used her free hand to dig a small hole about six inches deep. She let go over her bud and watched it fall into the sandy hole. Wyatt placed his almost-finished cigarette into the hole as well. Carmen used her sandal to put the sand back over the hole and pat it firmly. "Alright, let's head back." Carmen said, stepping into the brush beside her. She pushed branches to trees out of the way as she stumbled through the overgrown section of the island. Wyatt followed, moving his own branches and traversing the earthy terrain. With the mid-afternoon sky being their guide, Carmen and Wyatt found their way back to the cabin, unnoticed in any way.