Jack's Last Summer

Part 24

Kyle jumped awake to a banging at his door.

“Get up, get up nerds, get up!” Jack’s voice was faltering but managed to do the job. Kyle groaned loudly, hopefully loud enough for Jack to hear, and rubbed his face. The digital clock on his bedside table read 8:13AM and the light spilling into his room confirmed it.

He swung his legs over the bed and stretched, wincing as his joints screamed into action. It had been a late one. Kyle dug around in the pile of clothes on the floor and found a clean yet crinkled shirt and a pair of shorts stained with funky colours from years of partying.

Aesthetic, as Garland would say.

Kyle ducked into the bathroom, found his phone and was out of the room only fifteen minutes after his rude awakening. A stunning achievement for a man of his habits.

Slowly he followed a sleepy, wobbly Matilda as she made her way down the stairs, relying heavily on the handrail to hold herself up.

“Nice bedhair.” Kyle weakly teased, punctuating his insult with a yawn.

“Don’t make me kill you.” She shot back instantly.

The rest of the group were gathered in a sleepy circle in the loungeroom, with Jack in his chair in the middle. Skylar warded off Kyle’s curious looks with a little shrug. David was sipping a coffee with an amused look on his face, but he looked the –second – most haggard of them all.

“You’re all probably wondering why you’re here. Well, I’m sick of sitting in my room thinking about death, so I want you all to take me out. I don’t care where. Push me somewhere.” Jack smiled and folded his bony hands in his lap with satisfaction.

Garland’s eyes widened a little before she broke into a grin.

“Well, okay, I was looking at some brochures the other day, and there’s this boardwalk through town. It has a really nice gelataria and hot chip store. We can walk you the whole way there.” She suggested, always the taskmaster.

“Ready when you are, captain.” Jack sank even deeper into his chair as if to prepare for the journey.

Rocks crackled under the wheels of Jack’s chair and he lurched around like a sack of really light potatoes, his face set into a determined grimace.

“Are you suuure you don’t want to turn back?” Seth stressed, receiving an adamant head shake in return. He had refused to make them use the steep asphalt road that was the only alternative to the flat – but rocky – road that lead out of the drive and into town.

“The proper road shouldn’t be far away. We’ll probably be able to see it just around this bend.” Garland encouraged and stood on her tiptoes as if that would help.

Skylar fixed her eyes on the road ahead and stayed close to Jack’s side, always watching from the corner of her eye in case of emergency.

Sure enough the gravel turned into smooth tar in just minutes time, and Jack heaved a sigh of relief. Some of the colour slowly began to return to his cheeks and he smiled up at Skylar’s worried face encouragingly.

“Fresh air is nice.” He said, probably for her benefit.

“It really is!” Matilda took a deep breath through her nose. Birds chirped softly in the trees around them, sounding like little bells, and every now and then a lizard would scramble away from beneath their feet.

Kyle loved this; being amongst nature with his friends. Even the cloud of the future could not ruin the serenity he felt as he walked up that road and watched the earth go by. It was like what Matilda said; life goes on after death. The cycle keeps going.

 And maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

The group emerged on the street almost accidentally; one minute they were walking through bushland and the next, small houses lay on either side. Surfboards lay on porches and long haired dudes waved cheerfully. This was Seth’s culture, and he often would stop and chat to people in the foreign language of the bro. Almost every person the group chatted with wanted to share their opinion of the tide, the prawns, the reason behind an increased number of local shark sightings.

It was for this reason that the group arrived at the boardwalk well past midday, and Kyle was starving.

“Alrighty guys, you set up and I’ll go order some hot food.” He sprung into action immediately.

“Okay speed racer. Here’s some money. I want salt and pepper squid. Also some chips.” Garland laughed and handed him twenty bucks.

He took the orders patiently, typing them into his phone, and made his way along the coast a little to find the shop whilst the rest ventured outward on a jetty over the sea.

“This is some real good S and P squid. Thanks Kylie.” Garland licked the garlic aioli off her fingertips and gave a thumbs up.

“I thought you were vegetarian, Garland. What was it you called me earlier? Cradle snatcher?” Seth stuck his tongue out at her and gave her ribs a tickle.

“It was different. You were eating lamb. I don’t ever eat red meat, least of all babies. I sometimes make an exception for seafood.” She said defensively.

“Sure sure.” He grinned at her, but not in a mean spirited way. She smiled back.

Jack laughed breathily and nibbled a chip. Skylar, noticed Kyle, was eating a fair bit. Over her time at the beach house she had put on a nice covering of weight and was looking healthier than ever. Her hair was shinier, her smile more genuine, and she had even forgiven him for what he did to her.

God, he regretted that so much.

“You know, this is nice,” Jack commented quietly and shifted his weight a little in the seat, hinting there was more to come. Everyone fell quiet to hear what he had to say. “Spending time with you guys like this. I like that you still treat me as a person and not just an illness. It makes me feel good. And I want you to know,” he faltered. “That I don’t want you to stop doing this kind of stuff when I’m gone. Don’t think it’s disrespectful or you’re leaving me out or whatever. Please. Do that for me.”

“Jack,” Garland said with despair. “Of course we won’t.”

“Thanks guys. Now stop being sad. Have you ever caught a fish with a jelly snake?” He drew out a packet of gummies.