Nothing Else Matters (Jungle Cruise)

Chapter Nine

Lily sat back against the stone in shock as Aguirre finished his story. Aguirre stood, sharpening his sword in the torchlight, and MacGregor sat on a rock nearby, twiddling his thumbs as Lily processed what they had just learned. Frank had been lying to her since the moment they met, about one thing or another. 

"You're never gonna find a faster boat in the harbor than La Quila. Plus, she has the finest bath in all Brazil."

"Why should I trust you?"

"I'm the only one who could get you there."

Lily stood and paced, arms folded. Frank had suddenly lowered his offer, desperately, when Mr Nilo arrived that day. Had he somehow known what she was after?

"This is your cat? So that fight?"

"Faked it."

"For goodness' sake, Frank! Is there a single thing about you I can trust?" 

"Not a thing."

Lily continued to pace, quicker now, which ushered a confused look from MacGregor. He opened his mouth to ask, but she shut him up with one finger held up, as if to say "one second, I'm thinking, don't interrupt me". His mouth clapped shut. 

"Would you care to explain this?"

"I said stay out of my quarters."

"Oh I bet you did. So that you could keep more secrets from us. Just lie upon lie. I mean Frank, you are like an onion of deceit."

Frank never found the Tree because he didn't have the arrowhead. As soon as he realized she had it, whether that was in the bar, or on the boat, or when she had actually revealed it to him, he'd made sure to stay near it. 

"If you go upriver by yourself with that thing around your neck, you're never gonna make it out alive. We have to stick together."

"'We' is an interesting word, Frank. Because it sort of implies a bond of trust and honesty. Neither of which you know anything about, because you are a liar, Frank. You are selfish, you are arrogant, and I wouldn't trust you as far as I could throw you."

He'd somehow convinced her that he wasn't a liar. He tricked her into caring about him enough to still bring him along, despite it all. She'd almost drowned because he'd known she couldn't swim and made her do it anyway. 

Lily stopped pacing and turned to face the others. The two men looked at her, expecting something. She looked at Aguirre.

"I can't believe he named his boat after a girl he almost murdered."

"That's what you got from this?" MacGregor said.

Lily rolled her eyes over to look at her brother. "Yes, MacGregor. I've just learned that our skipper friend has always been a liar and a murderer, and I'm worried about what he named his boat." She leveled her gaze at MacGregor until he frowned, not sure if she was trying to be sarcastic or not. She huffed and threw up a hand. "Of course not! I'm concerned about the name because it's the only part of the story I don't believe!"

She started to pace again, feeling the heat of anger rise in her chest. Frank had trapped his friends, friends who did nothing wrong, and spent lifetimes breathing, working, living. He'd found a cure to the curse and fully intended on living the rest of his life away from the Amazon, feeling no remorse for what he'd done and the torture he'd left his friends to endure for eternity. And he'd almost gotten away with it. 

She should have seen it. The clues were there, in front of her, the entire time. And now she knew the truth. 

As she paced, something caught her eye. A small braid of sun-bleached hair, hanging from Aguirre's belt. It was the only part of him that looked as old as it was, brittle and fragile after centuries of exposure.