“Well…I trust him. So you need to trust my judgment.”
“I should come too.”
“I don’t need a chaperone. And you’re needed here.” I gesture to the construction zone. “The school is nearly finished. You should be there to see it through.”
I cup the side of his face and give him my best puppy dog eyes.
“Everything will be fine.”
Eventually, he inhales, his shoulders rising next to his ears, then lets the air out in one big huff. “Fine.”
The second we turn back to Omar, Jasper chewing his bottom lip and me unable to suppress my massive grin, Tomas emerges from between two tents.
“Ah, there you are!” he says to Jasper. “Listen I know there’s still a little more construction work to be done, but one of our teachers has called out sick for the day and we need someone to watch over the preschoolers.”
Jasper’s face is blank. His gaze flicks from Tomas to me to the unfinished school in a circuit he repeats three of four times.
“What?”
“I heard you were great with kids,” Tomas says, smiling in my direction. “And you’ve worked so hard on the structure. Don’t you want to spend some time with the kids who’ll be using the space?”
“I…I…”
“Excellent!” Tomas claps his hands together. “This way then. The kids will be very excited to hear all about your life in a pack.” Tomas takes Jasper by the shoulder and leads him away. “You’ll have to watch out for Benny though—he’s teething and tends to bite.”
“Have a good time,” I call out, feeling a little sorry for Jasper, who looks back at me with true panic in his eyes.
“Grumpy Pants and a bunch of four-year-olds,” Omar says, suddenly at my side. “Sounds like a recipe for disaster.”
“I feel sort of bad leaving him here.”
“He’ll be fine,” Omar says, slapping me on the back. “You ready to moonwalk, cuz?”
I take a breath.
“Just let me get my sequined glove.”
THE MOONWALK
“It’s mega hot,” I say, wiping my brow. “How much farther to this sacred rock formation?”
Omar shoots me a sideways grin. I’m basically a water fountain with the amount I’m dripping sweat—he, on the other hand, has worked up a thin sheen of moisture, which only accentuates his tanned features. He was obviously made for this type of climate. We’ve been hiking for nearly four hours at this point. The midday sun has come and gone and now we’re entering sweltering afternoon temperatures.
“Not far, cuz.”
I trudge on, my trainers getting covered in even more dust.
“This moonwalk,” I say. “Have you ever tried it?”
Omar squints into the distance. “Once.”
“And did it work?”
He walks a few paces without replying, then nods. “Yeh, it worked.”
“What was it like? What did you see?”
The muscles in his jaw are working overtime, like he’s grinding his teeth, hard.
