I laughed. He wasn’t wrong. “Fine. Guilty. But you would have been a close second.”
Kyle studied me for a moment then asked with a sad, dopey look, “You want to be my friend?”
Yes. Yes! You have no idea how much I want that.Easy, girl. Play it cool. He wants to be your buddy, not your voodoo doll boyfriend.
“I don’t think we have a choice at this point. There aren’t many friendlies left.”
“No doubt. Is it just me, or did we already drop to the bottom of the food chain?” he asked.
“No. I noticed. We’re just above the plankton.”
“And by plankton, you mean Marsha?”
Oh lord. So witty.Breathe, Kenzie. Just breathe. You’re here to compete for a million dollars, and Kyle is the competition, pure and simple – cute, witty, funny competition, but competition nonetheless.
* * *
Kyleand I carried the water buckets back to camp, and as predicted, we had no fire. It obviously wasn’t for lack of trying, as both Dale and Marsha were sweaty and covered in black soot.
“How’s it going?” I asked, already anticipating the answer.
“We got a small flame, but it died out right away.”
“Bummer,” Kyle said. “Keep trying. You’ll get it.”
We were about to walk away when Marsha stood up and blurted out, “Did you guys know that fire is a chemical reaction between oxygen and fuel?”
I looked at Kyle, and we both shook our heads.
“The fuel has to be heated to a high enough temperature for it to ignite. And when it does, you’ve got combustion.” Marsha illustrated her combustion by pretending to blow up.
The two of us actually took a step back as if she were about to burst into flames herself.
“Everyone knows that,” Dale countered, as if it were the most common knowledge a person could have.
My eyes swept over Kyle’s dumbfounded expression, which undoubtedly reflected my own. I thought maybe Dale was giving us twenty-somethings too much credit.
“Look at that face,” Marsha said speaking in baby talk as she puckered her lips and then grasped Kyle’s jaw in her fingers and shook it. “He hasn’t got a clue.”
And she was right. Kyle looked totally confused as to why this strange woman was palming his face, and he was understandably rendered speechless. Dale and I dropped open our mouths in surprise. Certainly it was the last thing any of us expected. I wasn’t sure if Marsha was eccentric or psychotic, but her awkward attempt at comedy was a welcome relief from the stress and excitement of the day. The four of us collapsed into a fit of laughter.
Gene heard our merriment, and decided it wasn’t allowed in camp. He hurried over to shush us as if we were kids laughing in church.
“I think it’s best if you focus more of your collective energy on fire building and less on chit chat. I’m sure you’ll all agree that fire is vital for our survival.”
“Sorry, Bossman.” Marsha saluted him.
“Don’t do that,” Gene replied harshly, seemingly taken aback by her gesture.
“Just teaching the young’uns here about fire-making. Are you familiar with the process yourself?” Marsha asked, and put her arm around Gene as she steered him away from our group. We could hear her chattering away, and by the looks of it, Gene was not amused. Several times he appeared to be trying to shake her off, but I had a feeling that Marsha was not easily ignored.
“Wow, she’s…” I started, but wasn’t sure how to finish.
“Yes, she is,” Dale solemnly completed my thought.
Marsha’s endless ramblings put Gene on the defensive. As it turned out, the woman without a bra seemed to know something about everything, and she wasn’t shy about sharing her knowledge. Of course, Gene was the wrong person to pin into an educational corner. It was only a matter of time before he snapped. And when he did, it was spectacular.
“Woman, please!” he bellowed. “Enough already. If I wanted hours of needless chitchat, I’d still be married. Now go make yourself useful.”
