July (The Year of The Change Book 1) (23 page)

I went to my bunk and dug out my book. Before opening the brightly colored cover with the bright blue eyes, I glanced at the one small window. I hadn't actually looked around since we came on board. A few strides and my nose pressed against the glass. I stared at all the free people as they walked by. They were smiling as they stopped now and then to take advantage of the view. The beautiful view that I couldn't see much of.

The glass fogged around my nose when I sighed. No use depressing myself. It would be better to immerse myself in my book so I didn't start a pity party. Reluctantly, I left the fogged window and threw myself on my bunk. It took almost the whole first chapter before I was fully taken over by the mystery. The room darkened, so I turned on the little lamp above my head and looked around. What was taking my dad so long? Getting up, I dug through the food basket. Ah, those cheap sandwich cookies, I liked their lemony tang. Ripping open the package, I shoved one in my mouth.

Sue moaned and I walked over to check on her while I ate another cookie. She looked up and focused as I shoved another in my mouth. She moaned and wrenched herself up and out of bed.

"What's the matter, Sue?" I mumbled around the chunks in my mouth.

She just moaned, waved her hand and stumbled to the bathroom. Falling to her knees in front of the toilet she lunged for the porcelain bowl. I stopped eating while she up chucked what little she’d eaten that day. I was afraid her vomiting would cause me to follow suit. My out of control stomach refused to part with even a drop of what I’d put in it. In fact, my stomach didn't even get queasy, solid as a rock and twice as stubborn. It wanted more cookies. So I popped another in my mouth.

Sue sat back on her legs still clinging to the throne.

"Can I do anything for you?"

She gingerly shook her head.

Just then, the doorknob rattled.

"Oh good, Dad's back." I looked up in anticipation of my father opening the door while my stomach waited for him to bring it supper. The door didn't open. It rattled again.

"Do you think he forgot his key?" I put the cookies down and went for the door.

"No, Sylvia. He would knock if it was him." She slowly rolled to her hands and knees.

There was a knock and I reached for the knob.

"No, Sylvia." Sue crawled out of the bathroom. "Look through the peep hole first."

There was another knock as I looked through the little spy glass in the door and beheld two guys, glassy-eyed and smiling.

"It's just a couple of affected boys." I moaned.

I double checked the deadbolt. Satisfied, I went to help Sue to bed.

They knocked again.

"Come on, Sue." I took hold of her upper arms and pulled her to her feet. She wasn’t much heavier than the twins.

They knocked again.

"Slowly, Sylvia. Ugh,"

It was odd to see Sue sick. She was always the strong one who took care of everyone else. I liked that I could be there for her, even as disconcerting as it was to see her so weak. I helped her lie back on her pillow before lifting her legs so she could lay flat.

"Where are the pills?" She whispered as she rolled to her side with her eyes shut tight.

More knocking and Sue covered her ears.

"I'll get them." The bottle was on the table with the half full cup she used earlier.

More knocking and it sounded like both of the boys were knocking now.

"Here." I held her head up while she took a sip to swallow the pill.

"They aren't going to stop." She whimpered.

"Dad will be back soon and he'll make them go away." I stroked her hair and hoped he’d hurry up.

Sue lifted her fingers and waved me away. She didn't want me to touch her. I went to my bunk and left her alone. The knocking continued. Hopefully, I could concentrate on my book with all the noise. It was almost impossible to get comfortable with the racket as it multiplied. They must be knocking with both hands, now.

Cookies. That's what I needed and retrieved them from the table. According to my stomach, any situation is always made better by food. The cookies were good and I fell back into the book.

A chapter later the knockers decided we couldn't hear them, so they shouted through the door.

"Hello?"

"Hello in there, anybody home?"

"Hey, answer the door!"

There were three voices. Uh-oh, they’d multiplied. I got up and looked out the peep hole.

Holy Cow!
They sure did multiply. There were six unfocused and confused males standing in the hall. At any rate that was what I could see past the three heads closest to the door. I leaned to the side and placed my head on the wall. This year was never going to end.

Sue moaned. The voices must’ve woken her, that is, if she actually got to sleep in the first place. Poor Sue, she had to suffer right along with me. Everyone had to suffer with me.

The Change must be leaking out. I looked and there was a small gap under the door. I rolled up a towel and stuffed it into the sliver of space. We had a roll of duct tape in the food basket and I got it out. Duct tape was my favorite tool. Just outside of New Bridge, Oregon, I’d threatened the twins with it if they didn't quit arguing. It worked with them, maybe it would help to keep from snagging affected guys. I pulled out a strip and stuck it over the crack between the door and the frame. Each time I unrolled some more it made an awful screeching sound and the boys would pound harder. With each hard thump and screech Sue groaned.

It didn't take long before there was a solid strip on all three sides. I took great care to make sure there were no gaps. None of The Change should be seeping out, now, hopefully. I sure wished my family would get back.

There was an added commotion in the hall and the knocking stopped. I listened to hear what they were going to do next. I couldn't understand what was being said. My curiosity got the better of me and I crept over to the door to look. All the guys – and it appeared to be more than six now – were looking off to one side and I couldn't see what had their attention. This worried me. Was there someone out there stopping them or were they formulating a plan to knock down the door?

I kept watching. The guys nodded their smiling heads and all turned to look at the door. A husky guy of medium height pushed his way through the crowd.

"Out of my way! I'll take care of this!"

Was he going to try to knock the door down? Just when I thought that was exactly what he was going to do, he pulled out a crowbar and jammed it between the door and frame. Oh my gosh! He was going to jimmy the door. They were going to get in!

Furniture! I needed substantial furniture. I looked around. There wasn't anything in the room that I could move. Everything was built in except the couch.

The couch! That was it, I could use the couch! There was just enough room to move the one and only substantial piece of furniture, with Sue on it, over to the door. Yanking, I pulled it away from the wall, and the sucker was heavy. Sue moaned.

"Sorry, but I need something to put in front of the door."

Her eyes popped open and she lifted her head slightly. "What?!" She didn't sound as weak.

Grunting, I got it turned around. I must’ve gone too fast because Sue closed her eyes and her head hit the pillow with a thud.

"I need something to block the door with and everything else is nailed in place." Once I got behind it the couch moved more easily.

Sue pushed herself to one elbow. "Why?!" She sounded weak again.

With another grunt, I pushed the back of the couch up against the door. "There's a guy with a crowbar outside."

"Crowbar?!"

"Yeah, he and about ten guys are trying to get in."

"Ahhhhhh." She rolled off the bed and it was a good thing she was now only a step from the toilet. Poor Sue.

The cracking of wood stopped and it got quiet in the hall. I climbed onto the bed and peeked out the hole.

Dad and the twins were there with the purser and two big brawny crewmen. When the hall was clear and Dad knocked, I moved the couch, just enough to unlocked and open the door. I'd forgotten about the duct tape and had to peel it away from the frame before I could get the door open.

"Just a minute!" I fumbled with the last of the noisy tape.

I flung the door open and it bounced off the couch. "Dad! Boy am I glad to see you!" I threw my arms around his neck.

Behind Dad were the purser and the husky guy who kept hitting his palm with the crowbar. The two brawny men were down the hall pushing the affected guys around the corner. Beside the purser was the strange, disheveled guy from this morning. I wondered if he and crowbar man both worked for the ship since they hadn't been driven away with the affected boys.

Dad hugged me back as he pushed the twins through and scooted us in behind them. “Thank you, Mr. Tangalar.” Pulling me away he looked around.

I closed the door and bolted it before smoothing the tape back into place.

"Sylvia, why is the couch here and where is Sue?"

"Sue's in the bathroom and the couch was the only thing that wasn't bolted down."

It made perfect sense to me. He looked alarmed. The twins climbed over the bed and placed two good smelling boxes on the table.

"Help me push this back." He grunted. "How’d you get this over here by yourself?"

With Dad's help, the couch moved. It should’ve moved easier. It wasn’t nearly as heavy earlier. We both grunted as we pushed it back into place on the far wall.

"I don't know. It must be downhill going
to
the door."

"That must’ve been some adrenalin rush you had."

"Well, when the affected guy pulled out the crowbar, I felt it necessary to do something."

The couch bed was back in its place and we sat down.

"The guy with the crowbar wasn't affected."

"He wasn't?"

"Nope, one of the affected guys told him there was an emergency and they had to get the door open immediately." He chuckled. "Crowbar and the purser were really confused when I showed up and explained there wasn't an emergency." He shook his head and huffed. "Both the purser and the guy with the crow bar are going to be watching us. We need to find a way to keep under their radar."

"I figured out a way to keep The Change in the room." Now he could be proud of me.

"You did, how?"

I pointed at the door. "Duct tape, a woman's best tool."

He grinned as he looked at my handy work. "Very ingen-" His eyes slid to the bathroom and he jumped up. "Sue! Are you alright?"

My cleverness was for gotten as everyone focused on Sue, who sat on the floor, back against the wall with her arm around the toilet bowl. She looked green around the gills again. She peered up at him and was about to speak when she grabbed her stomach. Throwing her face to the bowl she dry heaved. Dad bent down and rubbed her back, whispering that it was going to be okay.

Dad could take care of Sue. I smelled hamburger and chicken! There didn't look as if there was enough for all of us. That is, if you included my stomach.

Eagerly, I opened one of the cardboard flaps. "Dad, are we missing a box?"

He stood the unsteady Sue up and looked at the table. "No, why?"

"Well, um … well, there's not enough food." The admission sent heat to my cheeks.

Dad cleared his throat as he gently laid Sue on the bed. "Actually, the twins and I ate in the cafeteria, that's why we weren't here earlier."

"Oh, okay." At the moment my stomach didn't care that they got to eat elsewhere, it only cared that all the food was for it. On the other hand, I was a little miffed that I didn't get to go up on deck and eat where there was an ocean view and sunshine. All the while I had to fend off affected guys. Okay, I wasn't fending. However, I did build a stockade.

My stomach didn't want to listen to my internal whining and urged me to eat, which I did.

The twins clustered around a new hand held game that they were supposed to share. They weren't quite there yet. My Dad should know better than to only get one of anything.

Sue moaned.

"What's the matter honey?" Dad looked concerned.

"The smell." Sue held her stomach as she folded into a ball.

Dad looked up at me. "Could you hurry, Sylv?" He grimaced as he motioned to Sue.

Hurry? My stomach liked that idea. "Sure, Dad." I got another idea. I took both boxes and climbed into my bunk and closed the curtains. "Does this help?" I yelled out to him.

"Yes, Sylv, thanks."

So I ate my dinner alone in my little hole in the cabin.

An hour later, the twins were in dire need of another walk. I imagined them with dog collars and Dad with two leashes. Before they walked out the door, the fantasy grown even sweeter when I pictured them with muzzles. Chuckling, I bolted the door behind them, smoothed down the tape and went to my bunk to read for a while.

After a couple of chapters, restlessness settled in, and I paced around the room. Exercise was needed. I wasn't sure how I was going to survive another day and a half stuck in this room.

Sue snored, and then snorted before she rolled to her side with a moan.

Laughter, outside our window, bubbled into my gloom and I went to investigate. A few yards away, at the railing, a group of young people, mostly guys, were gathered to talk. The young men vied for two girls’ attention. Lucky ducks. There were three guys for each girl. Even I, without The Change, would have a chance in a crowd like that. I sighed as they flirted. The sun went down, splashing pink, blue and purple watercolor across the paper sky. A Kodak moment if ever there was one. For them, not me.

A head popped up just on the other side of the glass. I screamed and tripped over Tim's backpack that he’d left on the floor even after I’d told him to pick it up.

My eyes stayed glued on the young man who sneered down at me. It was the angry guy from the hall. What was he doing looking in our window?
Stupid peeping tom
. He appeared happy with how I responded. Well, as happy as his face could manage, anyway.

Sue moaned and rolled to her back. "What's the matter, Sylvia?"

"There's a guy looking in the window." I pointed.

She raised her head slightly. "I don't see anyone." Her head plopped to the pillow.

He still sneered at me.

"He's right there!"

She closed her eyes and rolled over. "I don't see anyone."

"You must be at a bad angle because he's right there!" I moved to her side and crouched near her head. His face was easily visible.

"Just close the curtain and quit encouraging him." With that she pulled a pillow over her head and went back to sleep.

Trembling, I stood and closed the curtain on his scary face.

This year was never going to end.