AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Let’s get this stuff unloaded, logged, and stored,” I say once the Jeeps are parked. More Calico members come streaming out from the house and greet everyone as they pitch in and begin to unload. This part will be easy with all the extra hands, and the head of the household, Lesley, will make sure everything’s accounted for and nothing’s missing, not yet at least. I’m not stupid enough to mind if a bottle or two disappears, so long as my people are happy and loyal.
“There’s someone up at the house waiting to see you,” Lesley says. She’s a skinny brunette with a pinched face and an intense frown, and she’s the daughter of two Nobel Prize-winning chemists. I’m pretty sure she’s the smartest person I’ve ever met, though she tends to hide it. I don’t know why and I don’t ask.
“Someone from the administration?” I ask, frowning, head tilted. There shouldn’t be any problems tonight, but I can never be sure. Dom’s observation that this shipment isn’t exactly hidden was astute, but that doesn’t mean what I do is sanctioned.
I still have to play the game even if the game is easier these days.
“No, a student. A girl named Kaye.” Lesley squints at me. “New girlfriend? I can’t keep up.”
A smile spreads across my lips as I shake my head. “Not even close. But she might be a prospective new member. I’m thinking about it.”
“I didn’t know you were bringing in new pledges this year. I thought your brother and your cousin was more than enough.”
“We have room for one more.”
“Emilio, we talked about this. Grow too fast—”
“And we draw more unwanted attention. Thank you, Lesley, I’m aware.”
She sighs and rubs her temples. “You’re a pain in my ass. We’re not a bunch of swashbuckling pirates, Emilio. We’re college smugglers.”
“Smugglers can have fun too. Where’s she waiting?”
“Sitting room. I made her tea.”
“Thank you.”
Lesley sighs and walks off, shouting at Terrence to be careful already and taking over as I wander past the swarm of people heading into the house’s basement.
I walk up the front steps and pause to glance back. The Jeeps sit like silent sentinels, slowly being unpacked and unburdened, the society members moving with organized urgency and a subtle feeling of euphoria washes over anyone. I allowed myself a moment of pride—I built this machine. When I first arrived on this island, all of this was overgrown and I had to lug my goods by hand from the caves. The Jeeps, the house, that all came later, after months and years of sweat and hard work and blood, so much goddamn blood.
And last year, all of that was nearly taken away by one single girl.
I head inside. The house is well lit and comfortable, the walls freshly painted and decorated like it’s a museum. That’s a sort of joke—we bring in thrift store art and whatever gets destroyed is replaced on the next shipment—but there’s a sort of reverence for this place among those that get the privilege of living here. We’re a student society, which means we have semi-official status at the college, though really we’re independently financed and extremely exclusive. My first year, I brought in a dozen new members, but since then, we average two or three per year. On the surface, we’re a social club, though everyone on the island knows what we really do.
Despite what Lesley says, we’re goddamn pirates.
The boat is our life and the ocean is our blood, and without them, all the power I’ve carefully collected and cultivated would slowly sink into the sea.
Kaye looks up when I enter the sitting room. Her back is straight and her eyes widen, and I stand there looking at her for several long moments, letting the significance of this moment sink in.
She looks so much like her sister. Same blonde hair, same full lips. But her eyes are wider and they’re a darker shade of blue. She’s prettier than Lucy was, softer, better figure, though smaller. Lucy was athletic almost to the point of being muscular, and while Kaye is toned and fit, she’s soft and feminine in a way her sister never was. I’m instantly attracted to the girl even though I know it’s wrong, and I have to force that impulse away.
I know why this girl is here and I know what she wants, and if she’s even half the trouble her sister was, this year is going to be hell.
“You missed the welcome party,” I say, stepping into the room. I slide the door shut behind me.
She flinches when it clicks closed.
“Sorry. I was a little overwhelmed.”
I hesitate at the sound of her voice. It’s raspy, like she has a permanent cold. I assumed it was from the ferry trip the first time we met, but now I wonder.
“I’m sure. Saint Parras is a strange place. How are you settling in?”
“Fine,” she says and looks down at her hands. “I thought I’d come visit Dom and Nathan.”
“Is that why you’re here?” I glance down at the tea set in front of her. The mug is still full, like she hasn’t touched it. I wonder how nervous she must feel, sitting in my house.
