The Island's Captives

Chapter Nineteen: A Good Man is Hard to Find

Alexander Roman

"Dude, you stink!" Menelik shouted, after Ronny's hit went out-of-bounds for the zillionth time.

"No! I'm just used to hitting a REAL volleyball! Not this piece of crap," Ronny said. The "volleyball" was actually a coconut wrapped in a shirt to give it cushion, so that the players didn't break their bones bumping and serving it. Still, it made a bad substitute to an actual volleyball.

"Okay guys, let's try to play a real game here. We'll never make it to the Olympics this way," Ludwig said, before tossing the volleyball into the air and jumping up to hit it. It went over the "net" they had made by tying several pairs of pants together into a rope, and than tied each end to separate trees. It looked somewhat like a hammock, except no one would be able to lay down on it.

Menelik lunged for the ball, and managed to bump it onto Ludwig's side of the net. Izzy was closest and jumped up to spike it. She made a direct hit, but Menelik caught it again and sent it flying back onto Ludwig's court. This time Ludwig jumped for it, just barely hitting it. He passed it to Izzy, who sent it back over the net.

"Ronny!" Menelik said. Ronny's attention had been diverted, but he quickly turned it back to the game and, with second fast reflexes, smacked the ball —right into the net. What's worse, it didn't even go over.

"NO! Curse that ball!" Ronny shouted, falling onto his knees dramatically. 

"Do ya know how to spell terrible Ronny?" Menelik asked.

"No," Ronny said, sarcastically.

"It's easy, just spell your name!"

  "That's an insult!"

"No, it's a compliment."

"I demand to be transferred to Ludwig's team! I will not allow myself to be underestimated by a person who smells like potato salad!"

"Now THAT was mean," Menelik said, pretending to shed a tear.

"Relax Ronny, it's just a game," Ludwig said, though Ronny had already taken has new spot on Ludwig's team.

"I will not 'relax' Beethoven," Ronny said, "That dude just called me terrible and he's been insulting me for hours!"

"We've only been playing for ten minutes," Izzy said.

"Aw just shut it! I'm quitting," Ronny made a dramatic exit as he headed back up the hill to where the houses were at. "Good luck finding my replacement!" The volleyball players watched, mildly amused.

"Want to join my team?" Menelik asked Enkidu, who had been getting some rays during the game.

"Sure," Enkidu got up and the volleyball fray was continued.

Peter's absence had made (as much as I hated to say it) little effect on the lives of Carthage's residents. Though I was sure they liked him and wanted him to return, they weren't about to trek through the island to search for him.

But me, I missed my best friend, my companion for as long as I could remember. And now he was gone, gone without a trace. I had wanted to go searching for him the very morning after the attack, and it was only after some hard-pressed discouragement from Izzy and Ludwig that I decided to postpone the search in order to care for the needs of the group. It was funny; they thought that since I was Peter's best friend I should be the one to take command in his absence. But (again as much as I hated to said it) I hardly knew what to do without him. I was used to taking his advice, to following his orders (though they hardly sounded like orders when he said them). So, I was leader in name only.

Ludwig and Menelik had survived their ordeal, with the only damages being to Ludwig's hair, which had got a bit of a trim, and the area right below his knee, which was slightly bruised. However, New York had been burnt to a crisp. After Fawkes and his terrible gang left, we had tried unsuccessfully to stop the fire from destroying the small house. Our attempts were futile and it wasn't till late morning, when it rained for a short while, that the last of the fire burned out. By then it was too late. With one less house, I (or rather the kids themselves) made new sleeping arrangements. Enkidu moved out of Boyz Apartment (now that Mahal was dead and he was alone) and into Girl's Room with Izzy. They renamed their house Kenya, in favor of something neutral rather than feminine or masculine. Rose had been moved to Ronny's room in the Brown House, after we decided she needed to be watched. She had been immediately labeled as a traitor, conspiring to get rid of us all by joining forces with Fawkes. I in particular was upset at her, since it was because of her that Peter was now missing. So she was basically refined to staying only within the Brown House, and she was only allowed to leave to use the bathroom outside (and even then someone had to keep watch in case she tried to escape).

As for Rose, she didn't seem to believe she was at fault. She kept complaining how she hadn't planned on Fawkes breaking his promise, or on a load of other things that had happened. I used to think she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen, but I hardly noticed anymore since I was mad at her.

"Hey guys, how's the game?" I asked after using the restroom. That thing needs to be cleaned.

"Much better, now that the R-Man is gone," Menelik said.

"R-Man?" I asked, pretty sure they were talking about Ronny.

"Ronny, rated R in sports," Ludwig explained. I nodded.

"We're winning, 22 to 8," Izzy said. Her team consisted of Ludwig and herself, and the opposing team was made up of Enkidu and Menelik.

"EIGHT?! That don't sound right," Menelik said.

"Well it is," Izzy said. I then listened to a five-minute discussion on whether or not Menelik's team actually had eight points, as well as whether or not McDonald's was better than Subway.

"Guys, we need to go looking for Peter soon. It's been two days—"

"It's actually been only two nights, not including the night he was taken," Izzy said.

"Still," I said, "who knows what's happening to him!"

"We know, it's just..." Ludwig didn't continue. 

"We—don't know where he is," Menelik said for him. I looked at everyone.

"Is that all you got to say? That we aren't gonna look for him cuz 'we don't know where he is'? He's probably been waiting this whole time for us to rescue him, and no one wants to cuz 'we don't know where he is'?!" I shouted.

"Relax Alex, we're gonna look for him—" Izzy said.

"When? When are you gonna stop playing games and search for him?! He may be being tortured, or even dead, and you're sitting around playing volleyball!"

"Actually we're standing," Menelik said. I continued my speech undeterred.

"It doesn't matter! All that does matter is that we start searching for him! If any one of you got kidnapped, he wouldn't have wasted a moment searching for you!" That seemed enough to make them as least look guilty, though I doubted it would last long. "Fine then, keep playing volleyball or Parcheesi for all I care. I'm gonna go look for my friend." I left to prepare for my search. No one followed.