Green Desert - Chapter 4.2.6 - Fírí

I leaned forwards, eyes still on Pí‘oro, and grabbed his khakis off the matted plants. Without standing, I pulled on the voluminous pants. I knelt to zip them and buckle the belt. It wrapped almost twice around my waist. I sucked in my gut a little and I got the buckle to reach the first hole. I settled back against a log.

“Warmer now?” asked Pí‘oro. He seemed sarcastic.

I felt less vulnerable, more secure, and yes, slightly warmer. I nodded. “What now?” He wasn’t about to explain his rape plans to me, but maybe I could use his other ideas against him.

He sat himself cross-legged on a chair-high rock, facing the stream. “Well, the way I reckon it, we need to wait here until the people chasing you. . .” He turned his head to stare at me. “. . . decide that we’re not at the house or anywhere nearby. Until tomorrow morning would be my guess.”

I didn’t think the police would give up that quickly and I knew that once Gogzhuè’s goons arrived in town, nothing would stop them until Zhíno lay dead. We’d missed the payment, reneged on the deal, left them standing around vulnerable.

And it hadn’t been because we were waylaid by cops or even because we had a flat tire or something. We missed the drop because Zhíno got the idea into his head to shoot at Bhanar. I looked at my boyfriend lying naked and comatose. Maybe I should just ditch him here, after all.