Judge

Chapter 21

"It's all right. Don't try to do too much at first." She admonishes me. Leaning on her careful support, I limp around on legs that seem too unsteady to hold me.

"Baby giraffe is right." She chuckles. Eventually, though, I begin to need her less and less, and I stand on my own, doing a couple laps around the sandy grove.

"See you later, Maddie." I call when she finally walks away. Now, it's time to EAT. Hunger gnaws at my belly as I turn towards town and set out on my journey. The quest for sustenance.

After a small walk, I reach a small food stand that is selling STEAKS, surprisingly. Not that I'm complaining at all. I make a beeline for the front of the little wooden storefront. The top is decorated with a pair of Japanese swords, a katana and a wakizashi with red and black lacquered handles. A small sign exclaims that "We have waygu beef!" in blocky letters. I knock on the counter with a wooden thunk. Much to my surprise, the proprietor pops up from right behind the service window. She looks about my age.

"Hi, welcome to Mystery Meat!" She leans over the counter, fingertips held away from the wood. "I'm Megan, and this is my food stand of awesomeness!" Her clear blue eyes sparkle with excitement at, if I had to hazard a guess, saying her spiel. She brushes an errant strand of wavy dark blonde hair behind her ears.

"What can I get for ya?" She asks, full of pep and energy. My stomach rumbles in response.

"I'd say the biggest piece of meat you have." I could eat everything in her shop right about now.

"Sure! That'll be thirty-seven Euros!" She exclaims before turning around and selecting a large steak, about twenty-four ounces of porterhouse beauty.

"Sure thing." I lay the twenties on the counter and she takes a moment to put them in a small box by the front of the shop.

"How'd you get here? You don't look like one of the locals. If you don't mind me asking, of course." I ask, intrigued. She looks and sounds like she should be in my high school somewhere, but is serving steaks in an unusual food stand in the Azores. She cocks an eyebrow at me, then laughs out loud.

"When I was fourteen, my parents moved here for work. I wanted to have my own place, so now I have this stand. It rocks! Also, the people here had never heard of waygu beef, and I just had to introduce them to one of the finer points of dining." She says with a slight smile as she rubs salt, pepper, and spices into the meat. "You've gotta be one hungry customer. Most of mine come around dinnertime."

"Well, I had a rough few days." She throws her head back, laughing.

"You sure do look like it!" She chuckles as she throws the steak onto the iron grill on the back. We chat amiably for a while as my steak cooks, and a few others come to order and leave, knowing that Megan's steaks aren't fast food. She turns it over twice, then pronounces it cooked and hands me a plate and utensils and bids me sit down at one of her tables. I thank her warmly and devour the steak like a starving wolf on its first kill in weeks. I return the plate as another customer picks up his order.

"Bom te ver, Megan."

"Obrigado, Paolo."

"Hey, Ari, did you enjoy your meal?" Megan asks, boundless energy twinkling in her ice blue eyes.

"Yeah. Sure did." I burp loudly, making her giggle and cover her mouth with a slender hand. I grin.

"Really, Megan, I can't thank you enough." I state as she takes the plate and washes my fork and knife.

"No problem. Have a nice day!" She waves as I walk away, my glass bones feeling slightly sturdier, like ceramic.

That was a hell of a steak. It was soft and juicy in my mouth, like a feather mattress crossed with an orange. And the flavor! Let's just say that that was beyond any shadow of a doubt, that was the best steak I've ever had. And I've had a lot of steaks. My stomach has stopped growling at me and now a pleasant, warm sensation fills me along with the not-so-subtle ache in my muscles as I walk back down the path to our little camp. Maddie sits out in the sand, knees pulled to her chest, watching the setting sun. The soft orange light gleams off her hair, making it seem more of a copper than anything else.

"Hey." I sit down beside her, watching the sun instead of her.

"Hey." She replies softly.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask her, delicately as possible.

"Nothing. Well, okay, something. Do you think we can stay here? You know, on the island? They won't expect us to stay here. They thought we went to Greece, so they probably won't check here." I consider that for a moment.

"I don't know. Here, it really seems like there's not much we can do for a living. At least I know the people in Lithi." She stares into the sun, watching it slip ever closer to the horizon.

"I don't like how tired you were. You slept for two days." I start at first, then realize I'm not very surprised. "There has to be something we can do." She continues.

"I guess we can look around, see what there is for us here. But if we don't find anything, we go to Lithi."

"Deal." Her head bobs as she says the word. I shudder with relief. I can't have anything bother her.

"Hey, are you cold, Ari?" She asks. "Come here." She gestures with her arms and despite it being a warm and balmy day, I nervously slide over and wrap arms around her too. She lays her head on my shoulder, sending a rush of adrenaline through my veins. It tingles like the feeling of a hot shower after an icy football game. I shiver, feeling her physical presence affect me like it's a psychoactive drug. Relaxation floods through me and I pull her slightly tighter against me. She responds in kind. Soon, we might seem to be just another pair of vacationing teenagers to the passerby.

One of these days, at one of these times, I think I'm going to tell her. I just don't know if I'm strong enough yet.

The light begins to dim as the bloody crimson sun dips into the sea. We remain, silently holding each other - or maybe just holding together - until the stars emerge in the sky, blazing away with the kind of glory only possible where there are no lights to smother them.

"Do you remember the contest we had before it came?" She asks quietly, looking up and simultaneously tucking herself in closer to me.

"Yeah. I was trying to cheat." I chuckle to myself in a voice that sounds strained and husky.

"We tied, remember? I would have won if you didn't sneak a look."

"Keep telling yourself that." She leans away to look up at me.

"Shut up, Ari." She snuggles back into my arm. "You know I'm better."

"I do." Well, she is right. In more ways than one.

"Think we can do a rematch?" She asks.

"Hell, no. We probably couldn't even pick out Orion in this mess." They're all too bright.

"Chicken."

"I am not a chicken. I'm a large troodon."

"Troodon." I can't stop the smile that's tiring out my cheeks.

I let my eyes slide closed, bathed in starlight, warmth, and contentment. A small voice at the back of my mind nags at me, but it's easily dispelled as I relax further. And despite the muscle ache, I find myself beginning to lean back and drift off to sleep.