David’s limbs seemed to drift onto Julia’s body; his arms draped themselves around her shoulders, his fingers brushed her thighs. Now and then Adrian shot Julia an apologetic look, the way guys do when they have a drunk and unruly friend.
Ray brought out the karaoke machine, and David put his hat back on and they had great fun singing until David couldn’t remember the lyrics to “Just a Gigolo,” and since he couldn’t read, his mood spiraled down fast. At one point, he whipped the stress ball at Adrian, but his aim was so bad that it got stuck on top of one of the kitchen cabinets and everyone laughed. That did it. He sat down at the kitchen table, held his chin up with his hand, and said, to no one in particular, “I’m sick of being a dying man. How can it be my time? It’s so stupid. And pointless. Why did I go to college? Why did I get a job? Save money? Why did I exercise . . . for what? The future was a lie!” He pounded a fist on the table. “I was wasting my time!”
“Time to put the gin away,” Julia said to Adrian.
“Pour me another one, will ya, sweetheart?” David said to Julia, and so Julia went to the refrigerator and brought him a tall glass full of ice and seltzer, which David pushed away.
“Tell us, Flaco,” Adrian said, sitting down across from him, “What would you have done differently? Do you really regret spending four years studying botany? Meeting new and interesting people in college? Securing a good job?”
“Oh, c’mon, you’ve had many a day in the sun,” Taina chimed in.
David raised a fist like an activist as he spoke. “I should have climbed freakin’ Everest! I was afraid of getting myself killed! HA! I shoulda gone bungee jumping, I shoulda parachuted from airplanes! I shoulda had seven wives and twenty kids! I shoulda taken my parents to Hawaii!”
“You didn’t even want one wife,” Julia said coolly.
“You can still take your parents to Hawaii,” Holly soothed, stroking David’s shoulders. “Let’s go.”
“I can’t afford it now,” he wined. “I need to hold on to my cash for experimental drugs not covered by insurgents.”
“Insurance.”
“See? I can’t even talk right. I’m David-who’s-dying-of-cancer-David!” He was slurring his words, but his rant was the most he’d spoken the entire time they’d been on the island. He turned to Erick, as if to fill him in. “See. There’s this dude that follows me around everywhere I go, his name’s cancer. He talks for me, you know? Before I even open my mouth cancer shakes people’s hands and takes over. It’s like that movie, Twins, the one with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the good twin and Danny DeVito as the evil twin? The cancer is Danny DeVito—mean, bossy, big-mouthed, impossible to live with. Only not funny like Danny DeVito. Not funny at all.”
Erick shrugged. “Then don’t compare him to Danny DeVito. I love Danny DeVito.”
Julia rolled her eyes and pointed at David with her thumb. “Never in six years has he ever mentioned going to Hawaii.”
“Did too,” David said, holding up a finger. “Once.” He burped loudly.
“Do you want to go somewhere David?” Holly said. “Because if you do, tell us. Maybe we can make it happen.”
“Yeah, you know, like Make-a-Wish Foundation,” Ray said. “Wanna go to Disney, David? I’d definitely do that with you.”
Adrian groaned. David had his head down on the table, over his folded arms. “I hate Disney,” he mumbled.
“Is there any ‘naturey’ thing you’d like to see?” Holly persisted. “Or have you seen it all?”
“I’m not going camping in Alaska,” Julia said. “Just letting you all know.”
“He hasn’t seen anything,” Adrian said. They all turned to look. David lifted his head. “He’s never seen full-wattage bioluminescence.”
David’s eyes sparkled for just a second or two. “I’ve been to La Parguera. It’s pretty cool.”
Adrian shook his head. “La Parguera? Dead as a doornail.”
“Huh?”
“Another victim of tourism. The motor fuel from the boats polluted the water and the ecosystem no longer works.” He pointed to the lamp on the side of the house. “And there’s tons of light pollution, so what little bioluminescence there is you can’t even see.” Adrian took a sip of wine and spoke in a slow, low voice. He looked at the women first. “Vieques is an island off the coast of Puerto Rico. It’s the most undeveloped, pristine place in the entire Caribbean because access was restricted by the U.S. Navy. The Navy left in 2003 and now it’s a nature preserve and home to the best bio-bay in the world. But Vieques learned a lesson from La Parguera. They guard Mosquito Bay like it’s full of holy water. No motorboats are allowed, and they don’t even let you use insect repellent when you go in the water. The water has these microscopic organisms in it that suck up sunlight like solar batteries. They release the light when provoked by motion. You go out at night, in kayaks, and everything that moves glows and sparkles, the waves, the fish below, and if you swim in it, you literally glow. Dip your hand in the water, and it sparkles like tiny fireworks as it rolls down your body. It’s almost a religious experience. It’s insane.”
David’s mouth was hanging open as he listened. Then he blinked and said, “Dude. You never told me about this.”
Adrian shrugged. “I thought you were only into hiking.”
David sat upright, slammed his hand on the table, which sent the salt shaker flying. “I have to see that. Right now.”
“What about Hawaii?” Julia said. “Can I go with your parents to Hawaii?”
“We’ll do that too, babe,” David said, pointing at her. “And then we’ll have twenty kids.” Julia balled up her napkin and threw it at him. He blocked it and it bounced back at her.
Holly yawned, stood up, and stretched. “Sounds like a plan,” she said as her joints cracked loudly and they all got up and called it a night. For the first time in eight days, Julia didn’t put David to bed. She asked Ray to do it. She passed his room on her way up, after she went through the house turning off all the lights. From the hallway, she could hear the two of them laughing and she guessed, by Ray’s sudden shrieks, that David was modeling her Uncle Charles’s secret collection of mustaches and toupees.
In her bedroom, Julia lit a candle, a no-no, but even she broke the house rules now and then. Humming softly, she bathed in the claw-foot tub, in warm saltwater. She was a little drunk, but not necessarily on alcohol. She couldn’t stop thinking about Adrian. She had left her bedroom door unlocked. She could barely admit it to herself, but she very much wanted Adrian to sneak in. He never would do such a thing of course, but the fantasy occupied her mind from the moment she went upstairs. As she scrubbed her skin with a washcloth, she imagined a vinyl disc falling. A crackly recording of “Only You” playing softly. Adrian stepping into in the claw-foot tub with her. Outside the window, she could hear the sound of waves bashing into rocks and being shredded into ribbons of silver that tumbled back to sea.
As if the fantasy had shifted from her imagination to reality, she heard footsteps outside her door. She watched the jewel-shaped glass door handle of the bathroom turn in the dim light. Her heart quickened. She sank lower into her bath, until she tasted the saltiness of the seawater.
It wasn’t Adrian, it was David. He stopped at the door, then took a step forward and stood over her. Julia’s arms flew over her bare chest.
“I should’ve married you while I had the chance,” he whispered. She was about to protest, but he put his hands up. “Don’t. I just wanted to see you like this one last time, because I couldn’t remember, Julia.” He pointed at his temple. “What you look like naked. It’s like someone stole it from me.” But he was looking at her eyes, not her body. He seemed clear-headed and lucid, and his eyes were shiny with emotion. So Julia let her arms fall back for a moment. Then she stood up and let him see. Slowly, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself.
“I wasn’t beer-goggling,” he whispered, “when I said that you’re beautiful.” Then he turned around and left, closing the door behind him. Julia stared at the glass door handle for what seemed like an eternity, until she felt cold.
Julia had trouble sleeping that night. In the early morning hours, a door slammed. She closed her eyes and hoped that it would all dissolve back into sweet oblivion. Her stomach was acidic and generally offended after so many days of continuous consumption of rich foods and alcohol. Truth be told, entertaining on the island was exhausting and the logistics were a nightmare. As much as guests pitched in, it was the hostess who had to stay on top of the meal planning and making sure everyone was comfortable. She was so ready for the gathering to be over. It had been a success, overall. The DNA test results were in, and her mother had agreed to pass them on to the water taxi operator after she got home from work, that way they could know the results before they left. Then Julia would have to clean the place, wash all the bedding and towels. The whole job would take more than two days to complete and she couldn’t rely on David. She sunk deeper into the pillow, tired at the very thought of it, but it was useless. She was awake. She got up and wandered the house, making a mental checklist of everything that had to be done. In the boiler room, the laundry baskets were overstuffed, and she could smell the gasoline-soaked tampon trash from the bin just outside the door. The tide was low and the whole house stunk of seaweed. She remembered that David had drunk too much the night before. In the hall she ran into Ray, who assured her that he would take care of David, so she went back up to her room to read.