Page 26 of Wild Life (STEAM-y #2)

Poaka in Peril

Maris

“Have you seen Poaka?”

At the sound of my voice, Aleki turned his head toward me but stayed stooped above the shower floor, holding a white plastic wand. The shower tubing had fallen victim to birds who had pecked holes through the surface to hide their seeds, clogging the water flow. Aleki had been busy all day, replacing it with a PVC pipe he’d found in the water while fishing.

“He’s not with you?”

“Oh, yes, here he is.” I flourished my hand beside me. “Meet Poaka, the magic pig, wearing his very special invisibility cloak!”

Aleki stared at me, too bewildered to interrupt.

“For his next trick, the Great Poaka will transform into a golden egg.” I waved my hands in the air and snapped my fingers.

Aleki abandoned his project and dusted his palms off on his thighs. “Why the attitude?”

“I’ve been looking for him all afternoon.” I pinned my fists on my hips and tapped my foot, praying he’d catch up soon and help me find Poaka.

“Where’s the last place you saw him?”

“By the thicket. I had left him to get a basket, and when I returned, he was gone.” After breakfast, I had called him to pick some longans with me. He had a habit of devouring half of whatever I was eating, so I had figured if I took him with me, he’d get his fill during harvesting instead of harassing me later when I sat down to enjoy my treat.

After Aleki’s tantrum when I had attempted to find the bat colony on my own, I’d decided to lay low with exploration, sticking to the area around the thicket. It wasn’t because I was afraid of him. I needed my pussy to heal properly before he decided to punish me when I defied him again—which was inevitable.

In my hurry with Poaka, I had forgotten to grab a basket, so I’d run back to the hut. Instead of following me, he had scampered away. I’d assumed he had been excited for our activity and had headed off to the tree, but when I had gone to find him, he hadn’t been there.

Aleki nodded his head, his expression flat as if I’d told him the sky was blue. “Okay.”

I sucked air through my teeth, casting the most judgmental glare I could muster. “Some pig-dad you are! Aren’t you worried he’s lost?” My relationship with Poaka was barely a blip in time compared to his relationship with Aleki. If this was how Aleki treated his friends, I wanted to disqualify myself from the running.

“Poaka never gets lost. He always finds his way back to me,” he said, unaffected.

“You sound like a Christmas-card commercial.” I sighed. “He could be in danger!”

“Poaka? He’s a danger to himself just walking.” Aleki snorted, and my palm itched to smack the smirk off his face. “I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe he’s off roaming. He knows the jungle better than me.”

I worried my bottom lip as images of Poaka being cornered by a bear played through my mind. I wasn’t sure if there were bears nearby, but in my head, they were big and scary with razor-sharp teeth.

“You’re worried about him, and nothing I say will quiet those thoughts, huh?” Aleki tapped my temple softly before pressing his lips to the spot.

“I wish you’d use your mind-reading abilities to find our pig,” I jabbed.

His brow hiked. “Our?”

“Yes, ours. The furry blob eats nearly half of my meals, so that practically makes him my brother.” Poaka was an important part of my life now. He was like the dog I’d never had. He followed me everywhere and snuggled in my lap anytime I sat on the ground. If he wasn’t on my heels, his phantom footsteps were.

“Fine. I’ll help you look for him,” Aleki caved, and we started our search.

“Thank God. I was ready to go with plan B to convince you and pop out a tit.”

Aleki halted. “Wait. I could have gotten to see a nipple if I’d held out a little longer?”

I pulled his hand and dragged him along so as not to waste another minute. “You would’ve gotten to see both if you had helped me at the start of this conversation.”

“It’s not too late to change your strategy.” He pawed at my shirt from behind, pulling it up to sneak a peek, but I batted him away.

“Ease up, caveman. Pig before tits.”

I led him to where I had parted ways with Poaka, and we called for him. No luck.

Aleki scanned every direction, waiting for a mass of cream-and-black to barrel into us. “That’s so strange. He at least comes when I call for him.”

We continued through the coarse jungle.

The trees were so densely packed together that I struggled to see in the limited sunlight that reached us. The brush underneath swallowed my feet with each step, vines winding around my ankles like tentacles. This wasn’t a welcoming place at all.

“I don’t ever remember seeing this part of the island,” I said.

“I never come out here.” Aleki was having a difficult time weeding through the terrain, too.

“Why not?” I asked. He didn’t strike me as the type of person to ever be held back by anything.

“Snakes.”

Something brushed my leg, and I screamed. Aleki caught me as I leaped away. The image of a slimy snake slithering up my leg flashed in my head, convincing me I had been bitten. My leg tingled, and I knew I was going to die without an antidote available. Oh God. Why me?

Aleki examined the ground. “Vine.”

I slid from his arms, my cheeks heating. “Oh, okay.” I tried to play off my dramatic response, but Aleki grinned like an idiot.

“Ass,” he said, biting back a laugh.

“What’d you call me, motherfucker?” I estimated that if I slapped him, I would have a two-second lead if I ran away right after.

“I want your ass tonight as payment for putting up with your theatrics.”

“You’re a freaking sex maniac.” Everything was about sex to him. The man couldn’t get enough.

“No, I’m just a maniac for you.”

I rolled my eyes.

We heard a grunt in the distance and froze.

“What’s that sound?” I whispered.

Aleki sprang into action, sprinting toward it.

“Poaka!” I shouted, struggling to keep up.

Under a tree, trapped in a nest of vines, was Poaka. He thrashed against the thorns pressing into his body, embedding them further into his flesh. His high-pitched squeals pierced my eardrums.

Aleki rushed to free him, but I caught a glimpse of a shadow in his path. Black stripes on silver skin. I had seen that pattern before on research trips.

I grabbed Aleki’s arm, keeping him from advancing. “Snake!” It was highly venomous and slithering straight for Poaka. One bite could take down a human and no doubt kill a pig.

I sprang into action, running as fast as I could.

“Maris!”

I stomped on its tail, effectively gifting it a new target: Me.

The creature swerved and lunged at me, missing.

With reflexes faster than lightning, Aleki darted out and caught it around the throat before it could strike at me again.

“Protect your eyes!” I cried. He turned at my voice, narrowly missing a violent spray of venom.

Aleki hurled the snake into the air, throwing it far away into the brush.

I moved hastily to Poaka. “Quick, let’s get out of here before the snake’s friends show up, too.”

Aleki ripped the unruly plants around Poaka into pieces. “What did you do to yourself, buddy?”

I gently peeled the spiky threads away. Blots of blood on beige fur did not escape my notice.

In the field, I had sometimes had to free bats from man-made traps, so I was able to work calmly on a moving subject. Poaka writhed from pain, and Aleki helped to keep him steady as I extracted the thorns.

“Poor baby. I knew you needed me.” I hated myself for having left him. My gut had told me that he was in trouble, but I hadn’t acted fast enough. “I’m so sorry for leaving you. Please forgive me.”

Aleki tried to console me. “It’s not your fault.”

“If we hadn’t shown up…” My voice broke. It destroyed me to think what might’ve happened if we had arrived seconds later. I kissed Poaka’s head between his ears, and Aleki took over the task of de-vining.

Poaka settled some when the thorns had been removed. His fur was a mess, weeds and fibers tangled all through it.

A short bush nearby caught my eye. I plucked one of the stalks, and gel oozed from the tear. It was related to aloe and was exactly what I needed.

“This will help your cuts,” I said gently and smeared the viscous liquid onto a laceration.

Poaka shrieked violently from the temporary sting.

“Shhh, it’s okay. You’ll be better in no time.” I continued to apply the substance to each wound while Aleki held him still.

“He loves you,” Aleki whispered.

A fat tear ran down my cheek. “I love him, too,” I admitted. Poaka was more than just an overgrown pig. He was my family.