Page 27 of Kobalt

“When do you think you’ll be home?”

“I don’t know. Hopefully soon, though.”

“I hope so too. Every day, I’ve been praying for you, boo. I miss you, and I haven’t had anyone to get into shenanigans with lately.”

“Girl, trust me. That’s good for you. You need to stay out of trouble,” I teased.

We spoke for a few minutes longer as she caught me up on what was going on with her business at the paint and sip and some of the shenanigans her customers were up to. We ended the call abruptly when one of her staff needed her help with someone who had gotten drunk and was becoming disorderly.

I missed her, my home, and the shenanigans we got into.

“Father God, please protect me and my loved ones and bring this thing to an end,” I whispered.

THIRD WEEK OF SEPTEMBER

“This is so exciting, Kobe,” Kaimera declared, looking around at the group of people who were excitedly chattering around us. We had driven up to Monterey, Georgia, this morning and had breakfast at a little spot called Chicken & Eggs before we checked in at Blue Ridge Expeditions for a day of white water rafting. We had already signed the waivers and suited up in our wetsuits, life jackets, and helmets.

After departing the bus at the river put-in spot where we would launch our rafts from, we hiked the quarter mile walk down to the put-in, and the guides carried our rafts to section four, while we carried our equipment.

“I know you’re gonna enjoy this. It’s one of those things that brings me peace and closer to nature.”

She laughed. “Sir, you’ve always been this way.”

I dropped my mouth open, widened my eyes, and threw my hands against my chest in feigned surprise. “What way are you accusing me of, ma’am? You trying to ruin my reputation?” I teased.

“An adrenaline junkie. I don’t think it has anything to do with peace or anything else but pure adrenaline. I remember when we were younger, you would make those bike ramps in the middle of the street with your friends, tear up the streets on your motorbike, and climb up on the roof and jump down, putting terror in your poor mama’s heart. Don’t make me start about when you bought that used motorcycle after you saved all your little money when you were seventeen.”

I laughed, recalling the memory. “Yeah, my mama was like ‘Baby, why couldn’t you buy a car like a normal boy?’ Like for real, Mama? What the hell was a normal boy?”

We both laughed at my imitation of my mother’s voice.

“Dude, the water is so crisp at this time of year. It’s gonna be cold as hell,” a white guy close to me pronounced to me and a few others as we arrived at our destination.

“It is, but it’s refreshing,” I replied.

“Refreshing? Cold water? Have you lost your mind, Kobe?”

“Baby, trust me. It’s not that bad.”

“He’s not lying. You’re gonna love it. Just wait,” the blonde woman beside the man remarked to Kaimera.

“We’ll drop on average about forty-two feet per mile,” the instructor stated after five of us climbed into the raft and were preparing to launch.

We busied ourselves with preparing to launch after listening to the instructions. Peace settled on me as we took our first strokes into the water.

“I promise you that I’m getting some good exercise in today,” Kaimera called out as we used our oars for forward strokes.

My heart squeezed tight in my chest at the look of pure joy on her face as she took in the cool, clean waters of the Chattooga River and the vivid autumn trees.

We stuck our oars in the water again, when the instructors advised us to, and stroked them through the water. Our faces were misted with water but were soon dried up through the sun beaming down through the trees overhead.

“Are you enjoying yourself, baby?” I asked after a while when we took a break while moving through smoother waters.

“Yeah. I never thought I could have so much fun rafting. Honestly, I thought people who did it were crazy because of some of the wild rapids.”

“Call me crazy, gorgeous.”

She smiled at me and turned her attention back to the scenery.