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“And how are we going to do that?”
He held up a metal device that looked like a teardrop that was the size of his palm.
“This is called a GriGri. When you pull this lever,” he said touching it with his thumb, “It will lower you. When you let it go, it acts like a break. So if you panic, just remember to let it go. You’ll be safe.”
“If I panic, I’ll be more concerned about falling to my death to remember your instructions.”
“That’s fine. Just remember, when you fall to your death, stretch out your arms. Treat it like a roller coaster. It’s important,” he said with a hint of a smile.
“Wait, are you making jokes. You choose now to start making jokes?”
“If you throw out your arms, you’ll release the switch. I’m trying to get you not to die,” he clarified.
Staring at him, I walked to him and gave him a kiss. “And that’s why I’m crazy about you,” I said again feeling safe.
“Wanting you not to die seems like a pretty low bar, but low standards are where I thrive.”
I stared at him again. He really was trying to be funny at a time like this. I mean, it was adorable and making me a little hard, but still, timing.
Feeling a bit more relaxed, I listened intently as Cali described how to put on the harness. It was pretty simple. So was lowering oneself. When he was done, I genuinely believed that I could do it.
Deciding to anchor the rope on his truck’s hitch, he tossed the length of it into the ravine. It was just long enough to reach the car. Everything seemed good until I asked him, “How are we supposed to get back up?”
He gave me a devilish smile as if I caught him trying to get away with something.
“That one is just a matter of hard work. There are two things we can do. We won’t know which one is better until we get there. We could either tie into the rope and rock climb our way out. It will be safe but it probably won’t be easy. Or, we can hike around.”
“Do you mean, hike around the mountain?” I clarified.
He nodded.
“Okay. Now that you’ve established that there are no good options, I will proceed to latch myself onto the rope and lower myself to my death. It was nice knowing you,” I said before attaching my GriGri and doing what I had been taught.
I had to admit, as terrifying as it was, it was also kind of fun. I had seen people repel down cliffs in movies. Now here I was doing it. I couldn’t even imagine something like this a few weeks ago. I had never felt more alive.
Approaching the ground before Cali, I looked into the car’s cabin. All of the airbags had deployed. Mixed in within the deflated fabric were the glass shards from the windshield. There was also blood, Dr. Sonya’s blood. I wondered if Cali needed to see this. It was just a reminder of why I shouldn’t be anywhere near him.
When Cali detached himself and joined me by my side, I was overcome with guilt.
“This was not your fault,” he said, reading me like a book. “We don’t know who’s responsible for this and to say one way or another would just be a guess. The only thing we can say for sure is that you weren’t driving the car that hit her. And we’ll figure out who was. I promise. I already have my brothers working on it,” he said, putting his hand on my shoulder massaging it.
“You’re right. You’re always right,” I said wrapping my arms around him and lacing my fingers behind his back. I held him for a while until saying, “By the way, should I have brought my car keys for the trunk?”
I pulled away and looked up into his eyes. His mouth was open, but he couldn’t speak. It was like his brain was on reset.
“What?”
“Should I have brought the keys?” I asked again, sustaining the joke as long as I could.
I laughed.
“Who’s making jokes now?” Cali teased.
I pulled the car’s key fob out of my pocket and held it into the air as I push the button for the trunk. It popped open. Seriously, German engineering.
With it open, Cali figured out a way up to it. Although sticking ass up, the back of the car rested on the side of the cliff. It would take a lot for it to dislodge and even more for the ground beneath it to give way to the flatland a few 100 feet below.
Using our rope as support, Cali climbed up the top of the car until he was staring into the trunk.
