The Border by Steve Schafer

Author:Steve Schafer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2017-06-20T04:00:00+00:00

Beneath the Willow

I watch Arbo’s brown skin begin to lighten, like a chameleon placed against a white sheet.

I tap on his arm. He doesn’t budge. I put my hand on his shoulder. I’m startled by how cool it feels. I shake him, softly at first, but soon I’m tugging in near panic.

He makes a noise.

I let out a long, deep breath of air I didn’t realize I had been holding.

He rolls slowly onto his back.

“Arbo?”

“Mmm.”

“Arbo?”

“Mmm.”

“Arbo!” I shake his chest.

His eyes open and turn in my direction. I’ve never looked at a pair of eyes before and been able to tell that they were out of focus. His are.

“¿Qué hora eth?” he asks, in a lisped draw.

“I don’t know. You have the watch,” I say.

“Ah. Sí,” he says and holds his wrist up over his head, swinging it around in unsteady circles.

I grab his arm and hold it still. “It’s two o’clock,” I say.

“Can you pathhh me the water? My throat is tho dry.”

“We don’t have any water, Arbo,” I say.

We haven’t had water in about fifteen hours.

He cocks his head and stares at me as though I’m lying. Then his neck goes limp and his head slumps back into the dirt.

“Ohhh, that’s right. Nooo water.”

“Arbo, are you okay?” I ask, like I don’t already know the answer.

“I think… Thólo nethethito dormir. A little sleep. Just a little more…” He closes his eyes again.

“We have to go find Marcos and Gladys,” I say. “We need water.”

“Yeah, waaater…”

I grab his arm and pull up.

“Come on, Arbo. Let’s go find them.”

He swipes at my arm.

“Arbo. We have to look.”

He props himself up on an elbow, with his head swaying back and forth. He turns on to his knees and tries to push himself up to stand. He doesn’t even make it halfway. With his face down, he blindly points a finger outward. I look. It leads to the middle of nothing, the same as it would in any other direction.

“Water…”

“There’s no water, Arbo. We need to find Marcos and Gladys. Revo wants you to get up right now, Arbo. Think about it. What would Revo do?”

“Sleep a little more. It’s too hot. Solo…una…hora…más. Qué calor…”

I’m crying. Again.

“I’m going to go look now, okay? I’m not going to go far.”

His lids spring half-open.

“Nooo. You can’t leave me. We can’t split. Okay?”

I don’t answer.

“Okay?”

I nod.

His eyes roll backward as they shut.

“Just a little more sleep…”

He’s asleep in minutes.

The sun is high above us, and it feels like it’s still getting hotter, if that’s possible. I look around us. Nothing. No one. Anywhere.

I roll back onto the ground. I consider breaking my promise and leaving. Then I fall asleep too.

• • •

“Arbo?”

I look at his watch. It’s four o’clock. I grab his arm and shake.

“Arbo.”

No response. Again, I start the fearful, wild tugging.

“Mmm,” he says.

“How are you doing?”

“Waterrr.”

“There’s no water.”

He shakes his finger. “Waterrr.”

“We’ll get some in a little bit, Arbo. Okay?”

He puts his thumb up. Then he goes limp again. “Mmm.”

I watch his chest. Still moving, though it’s slower.

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