Eva is quite upset. I don’t know what’s gotten into her. Women always overreact. Typical.
It’s been two days since our little argument. Two days of her systematically avoiding me. I had thought such a thing impossible on an island as small as a matchbox, but it seems women always find the right ways to drive a man crazy.
Come on, admit it: you miss her. Be honest! Do you want her?
No, I don’t want to sleep with her. Women haven’t interested me for a long time. Besides, if I really wanted a relationship like that, I could have had my pick. There were plenty of Eves of all ages and colors on the island of Phuket. Anyway, sex is the least of my worries.
Then why do I miss her?
Well, isn’t it obvious? It’s just the two of us on this small island, and sooner or later, it was natural for me to become attached to her, to desire her presence. As a person, as a soul, not as a woman.
No, I definitely don’t want her. At her age, she could be my daughter. Does that thought excite you, you pig? If it does, then you’re despicable.
No, absolutely not!
Maybe I desire her a bit… against my will, but it’ll pass quickly. I remember when I touched her feet I desired her, but now I just want to see her. That’s all. Could it be that I don’t even know what I want anymore?
I search for her and find her lying on her stomach, on the sand, with her hands under her chin, gazing somewhere towards the ocean.
“I didn’t have any reconciliation gift to bring you, I apologize, so I brought myself. Please forgive me and let’s put the grudge aside. Will you?”
I stretch out beside her, and together we watch the water come and go for minutes on end. Eventually, when I almost thought she had fallen asleep, I hear her voice:
“Has anyone ever told you that you have a face that begs for punches?”
“No,” I whisper. “It’s the first time I’ve heard something like that. What were you looking at?”
She raises her arm and points her finger at a spot in the distance.
“I don’t see anything,” I say after a minute. “Absolutely nothing. Just water.”
“Look closer,” she whispers.
I focus my gaze and stare fixedly at that spot. I feel a cold shiver.
“It’s impossible,” I mutter with hatred.
“No, you saw it very well. They’re shark swimmers,” Eva says calmly. “I’ve counted about three so far.”
“Maybe they’re dolphins.”
She starts laughing and says nothing more. Then she notices the thing in my hand and looks at me amazed.
“It was on the beach,” I explain. “Our neighbor throws his garbage into our yard!”
“You found a half-liter bottle of Coke,” she smiles. “Good job!”
We both look at the small plastic bottle that the waves have brought to the shore of our island. I play with it, toss it in the air, then read the label again. I don’t understand much of these ideograms. Just the Coca-Cola brand and a “Made in China” that confuses me.
I hand her the bottle:
“You can drink safely. I rinsed it well and filled it with fresh water.”
She takes a few sips and hands it back to me. I screw the cap back on and look at the label again.
“So even communist Chinese indulge in capitalist drinks!” I say amazed. “I never thought we could be so close to China. We flew for hours only south.”
“That doesn’t mean anything,” the girl explains. “A bottle like this can float for decades in the ocean. With its plastic patience, it can even reach the South Pole. Did you know that in the North Pacific there’s an area where millions of bottles like this float? That area is almost as large as Britain. And more and more are constantly gathering.”
“I knew, I heard it on TV. Very nice! Probably in fifty years there will be thousands of plastic bottles here on this beach too. We’ll swim among them.”
“Will we still be here in fifty years?” she asks, smiling bitterly.
“Why not? The guys who were supposed to save us don’t seem too eager to get off their seats…”
Eva looks pensive. Fifty years seems too long even as a joke.
“No, she decides. We won’t be here for fifty years. It wouldn’t be fair! Then, completely unrelated, she suddenly asks me: Why did you kiss me a few days ago? What do you want from me? Tell me honestly.”
The silence that falls is too embarrassing. If I weren’t on an island, this would be the moment when I should get up and say I’m going home to feed my cat. But there’s no cat around for hundreds of kilometers, so I simply and honestly reply:
“It was just a kiss. A… friendly kiss. I felt sorry for you. You seemed so scared of those lightning bolts, and I didn’t know what else to do. You can call it a friendly kiss. A touch of lips from friend to friend.”
“A consolation, then?” Eva smiles.
Hmm… she doesn’t believe me. It’s clear she doesn’t believe a word of what I’m saying here.
“And did you enjoy consoling me?”
“I… don’t know,” I stutter. “It just happened. Don’t flatter yourself, Eva. Anyway, you’re not my type. I like big, healthy women. The ones you can put your hands on without fearing you’ll break their bones.”
“Uh-huh,” she says, looking at me with coal-black eyes. “Strange tastes. Kissing left and right to console people. Anyway… tastes are not to be discussed, so we won’t discuss yours either.” Then she suddenly asks me: “Tell me honestly. Do you like me? Do you want to sleep with me? Be honest.”
I feel myself blushing to the whites of my eyes.
“Eva, are you hitting on me?”
“It was just a question. Do you like me or not?”
“Well, maybe I like you a little. I especially like it when you laugh. Then you’re very cute.”
“Like now, for example?” she says, laughing heartily. Then she suddenly stops, turns to me, and takes my face in her hands: “Do you love me?” she asks seriously.
“Well, that’s a good one!” I say, startled. “What got into you?”
“Come on, answer me. Do you love me?”
“Of course I love you,” I joke. “You have a million and a half euros in the bank. Anyone would love you.”
“I’m serious and I want a serious answer from you,” she whispers with a face I don’t recognize. “Come on, tell me you love me and I’ll make love to you right here, right now, on the sand. I’m not kidding! Just tell me. I’m asking you for the last time: Do you love me?”
Good Lord, she’s crazy! She’s downright insane. Why has she suddenly become like this? What the hell should I answer?
“Eva, I don’t know how to explain this, but the truth is that…”
“That?”
“I don’t love you. That’s it,” I say relieved. “I don’t love you. Are you mad at me?”
She looks at me in silence. Not a muscle moves on her face. Her life is just in her eyes. Seconds pass empty and cold between us, through us. I’ve never felt so troubled, and it’s a feeling I don’t like at all. Poor thing. She’s really messed up in the head. I knew it was a bad idea to…
Eva starts laughing like a maniac.
“Are you kidding?” I ask amazed.
“Oh, if you could see yourself, Tiberiu!” she says amidst fits of laughter. “Too bad we don’t have a mirror. Ha, ha… I can’t anymore! My stomach hurts. If you knew what a face you have now, ha, ha, ha!”
“Thank God,” I say, wiping the tired sweat off my forehead. For a second, I really thought you’d lost it! So you weren’t serious?”
“Oh, come on, of course not,” she chuckles. “Lord, what a face you have!”
Eva stops and looks at me with a calm face, then leans towards me, takes my face in her small hands, and kisses me long and firmly on the lips.
When I manage to draw a breath, I look at her bewildered and ask with a voice I don’t recognize:
“What was that all about?”
“Nothing,” she replies seriously. “I just took my kiss back.”
I feel myself starting to tremble. Her simple kiss has completely shaken me. I don’t even have the courage to look in her direction or say anything else. I don’t want to break the spell.
Whatever I say, it would be inappropriate. I’d better remain silent.
Right at that moment, the girl jumps off the sand and screams pointing into the distance:
“A ship!”
“Where? Where?”
I wake up suddenly, and all my senses sharpen. I look quickly. Yes, there really is a ship there, in the distance. I can clearly see its shape. It reminds me of one of those cargo ships, a freighter. A huge one.
“Hurry, Eva!” I shout. “We need to make a fire. Help me gather some wood.”
The girl runs faster than me.
In less than two minutes, we gather all the pieces of wood that the storm has scattered on this side of the beach. I try several times to light them, but everything is so wet that I don’t stand a chance.
I take off my shirt and tear it into strips.
“Bring me some thin wood!” I shout to Eva. “Bring everything you find! Move it, girl! All the dry sticks and weeds you can find!”
I barely manage to ignite the pieces of cloth and feverishly place thin pieces of wood over the flame. Slowly but surely the fire ignites, but it’s a weak fire, as if it’s about to go out.
Good Lord, why didn’t I bring my backpack with me? The backpack is made of plastic. It would have burned like petrol! But it’s thrown somewhere on the sand, all the way on the other side of the island.
“Too late,” the girl whispers. “Too late.”
I look at the cargo ship that disappears. Its silhouette melts away in the distance.
Damn! We missed our chance.
The fire has only just begun to burn now, the sticks crackle, and white smoke rises.
I’m frustrated and speechless. What a stupidity! I should have foreseen this. I should have had a pile of dry wood ready in advance. How could I have been so stupid? I don’t even have the strength to groan. I know it’s my fault.
The ship is no longer visible. We stand on the beach like two statues. Eva has nothing more to say.
She just cries.
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