“I’ll go up last,” I say. “So I can help all of you get started.”
Rich grins, and I can tell he’s taking no small amount of pleasure in all this. I picture him falling off a much taller cliff.
Monroe and Destyny have less trouble beginning their climb than I expected them to.These women must be pretty serious with their personal trainers, because they’ve got the muscle and the coordination to climb, even if they’re less interested in using the chalk than I think they should be. Monroe is about five feet up when she throws her head back to the sky.
“We’re doing it, Destyny!” she shouts. “We’re claiming our place with Mother Nature.”
I don’t know about that, but she’s climbing faster than I gave her credit for. “You ladies are doing great,” I tell her. “Keep your eyes on your next hold, and you’ll be up in no time.”
Monroe’s eyes, unfortunately, are still up on the sky. “Is that a hawk?” she says loudly. “Abirdofprey?”
I shield my eyes and squint upward. It’s not exactly shocking to see a raptor circling up there. It’s probably just looking for—
“Where isTiberius?” Monroe demands. “Does someone have eyes on my baby?”
“Um,” Emily says. “Monroe, I think the handlers tookTiberius—”
“He’s smaller than a rabbit,” Monroe says. “Barely a bite to a bird like that. I just want to know that he’s safe.Tiberius?Tiberius!”
She shouts this as if she expects the dog to answer. And then he does, yipping fiercely around a bend in the rock where the handler has taken him, followed by a loud, “Oh shit, get back here!”
“Tiberius!” Monroe shouts, like calling the damn dog’s name will keep it from being pounced on by a hawk.This isn’t going to happen anyway, with all of us standing right here, but Monroe is starting to hyperventilate about it.
“Monroe!” I say. “What was it that you’re trying to be? One with Mother Nature?”
“We’re claiming our place!” Destyny helpfully supplies.
“Good. Claim your place with Mother Nature, Monroe.Tiberius is fine.” Indeed, the handler has appeared around the corner and scooped up the dog, who is trying frantically to bite her, and is carrying him to his crate.
“My baby?” Monroe cranes her neck to see.
“He’s in his crate, Monroe,” I tell her. “I need you to focus on what you’re doing.”
“It’s just a bird, Monroe,” Destyny adds. She’s gained quite a bit of ground. “Didn’t you tell us yesterday that birds were symbols of flying free of our emotional cages?”
“Was it an eagle?” Calista asks from several feet away, where she’s lying out on our spare crash pad, wearing a string bikini. “If it’s an eagle, you’re supposed to salute it.”
“You don’t salute when you see an eagle,” Genesis says with disgust. “You sing the national anthem.”
And, with that, she begins to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in all its glory, in a high, operatic voice. Emily stares at Genesis in disbelief. Monroe and Destyny scramble the rest of the way to the top of the boulder problem, possibly just to get away from the singing. Now that it’s Genesis and Emily’s turn, I hope Genesis is going to stop, but she does not, continuing to sing as she and Emily work their way up the cliff.
Emily could do this climb almost as fast as I can, but she keeps pace with Genesis, who climbs considerably slower than Monroe and Destyny did, possibly because she is using her full lung capacity to belt out all four verses of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” I had forgotten that song had four verses, and I’m praying it doesn’t have more.
I’m not sure if she can’t stand climbing so slow or if she can’t stand having her ears blasted out by Genesis’s surprising ability to project, but Emily reaches the top first, turns around, and gives me a weary smile.
I smile back. We’re doing this, and we’ve managed not to make this event about our relationship problems, even if Rich has forced Emily into the spotlight more than she wants. Again.
Maybe, just maybe, we’re going to be okay.
Genesis’s foot slips as she reaches the final notes of the fourth verse, and her singing turns into a shriek. Pebbles skitter down over the crash pad, and Kate steps back, looking offended, as if Genesis meant to aim them specifically at her. Emily reaches a hand down to steady Genesis, but Genesis has already steadied herself, and scrambles up to the top. She’s shaking, but she’s in one piece.
“Oh my god!” Genesis shrieks. “I almost died!”
“Carry on!” Monroe calls from where Geoff is helping her and Destyny begin the second leg of the climb. “You can overcome adversity, ladies! You are strong!”
“I almost died!” Genesis calls out again.
“You would have been fine if you fell,” I tell her. “You were only about eight feet up, and you’re wearing a helmet, and that’s what the crash pad is for.”
