Jumping off to Freedom by Anilú Bernardo

Author:Anilú Bernardo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arte Público Press
Published: 1996-01-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter

7

Torrents of rain hammered at them for hours. The last bit of heat had been drained from David. He shivered uncontrollably. David could hear his father’s irregular gasps as he trembled and was relieved he was still on the raft. They were at the edge of exhaustion, he was sure.

Although the raft rocked incessantly, the movement had become regular, less agitated, like a horsedrawn cart ride on uneven cobbles. They were covered in a thick veil of darkness. As the rain diminished to sporadic sprinkles, David brought his hand up and could not make it out in front of his face. In the silence, he wondered if the others had been washed overboard.

“Luis, are you with us?” he asked.

“I’m right across from you,” Luis answered in halting syllables, shaking from cold.

David couldn’t detect Toro’s presence. The man had been such a source of irritation that the thought of his absence brought him peace. He wondered if Toro had been swept away by a wave or if exhaustion had loosened his grip on the raft. David pictured Toro’s agonized face gasping for a last breath before the forces of the sea dragged him under. He shuddered. He disliked Toro, but the possibility that he had suffered such a terrible end distressed David.

It didn’t escape Toro that David had not called out his name. “Like it or not, I’m here too.” Toro waited for a response, but he got none. He chuckled tiredly.

David was relieved. Death was too serious a punishment to wish on the irritating man.

Despite cramps in his muscles, Toro had held on for his life. He was sure the boy wished it wasn’t so. The hate David held for him was insignificant compared to the fury of the storm. If he had survived the night, David’s hate posed no threat.

Toro groped in the dark for the duffel bag at his side. The knots that lashed it closed were undisturbed. He felt along the length of the canvas, like a doctor palpating a patient’s abdomen. He was pleased. There were no rips through which his supplies could have slipped out. Although water dribbled out of the contents, he was satisfied there had been little harm to his necessities for life.

They lay quietly for hours, robbed of strength. David could not find the needed escape of sleep. He wondered where the storm had taken them. Were they closer to Florida, now or had they been dragged far north? They would drift with the northeast flow of the Gulf Stream to the safety of Florida. But, if the storm had taken them too far north, where the Gulf Stream’s course moves away from the coast, its grip would carry the raft away from land. David shut his eyes tightly. They had no way of knowing their position.

A third sunrise greeted the floating passengers. It was ironic that the sun’s rays touched them with such energy. The men were drained of power. Miguel lay unmoving. The lids that covered his eyes were puffy. Dark half moons lined his lower lashes.

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