Jonas swatted at a mosquito. Now that I think of it, how about -if-Ruth-stays here?"
"The fuck I am!"
'She's high as a kite and'll be yappin' the whole way."
Even in the darkness they could see her face redden. "I'm not stayin' here by myself! There's gators and snakes and stuff!"
"And leeches and ticks," Jonas added. "Oh yeah, and them big spiders that paralyze ya when they bite."
"Fuck that shit!" Ruth conveyed as eloquently as she could. Right after she'd said it, a bat squeaked by. "Fuck!"
Slydes pointed a smudged finger. "All right. No more noise or we leave ya here."
"Fuck," she whispered.
"So let's quit fuckin' around and get moving."
They moved slowly down the trail. Visibility was poor even when their eyes acclimated to the darker woods. Unseen animals could be heard scampering through brush. Slydes felt as though he were walking through fog.
A hundred yards in, he whispered, "Not a sound. Look."
They peered past trees. A light flickered. Tents had been set up in a small cove, and a campfire crackled. A blonde in a bikini sat before the fire, writing in a notebook.
Oh, man. There's a party, Slydes thought.
"Damn," Jonas whispered. "Would you look at the-"
Ruth glared. "I'll pop your nuts off if you even think about looking at her!" came a hot whisper in response.
Slydes chuckled. He had to admit, it might be fun to have a roll with this one and then maybe tune her up Slydes and Jonas-style afterward. After all, Slydes had his skinning knife on him, and he had a pair of pliers on the boat that he sometimes used to pull out gator teeth. Yeah, we'd get her screaming something fierce. But…
Not tonight.
We just get in and out, he reinforced to himself.
"Shit," Jonas whispered next. "How come these folks aren't sleeping?"
Someone else emerged from the woods and approached the blonde, who looked up and started chatting. In the firelight, Slydes could tell the guy was a big-time geek: skinny, lanky, stoop-shouldered. Who the hell's this turkey-neck? One of the photographers? "Let's move on," he whispered.
They crept away, swallowed by the woods again. The trail veered.
"What if there's people at the head shacks, too?" Jonas asked.
"There won't be. Ain't no reason," Slydes felt sure, then, Good god-DAMN!
The outside light glowed bright at the first head shack, and the door stood open.
"Aw, shit, Slydes!" Jonas whispered.
"I can't fuckin' believe this shit. There's no reason for any of these people to be here, for shit's sake!"
At least none that they could think of. It was the farthest head shack Jonas used for his hydroponic operation, at the other end. He knew if he took a chance now and blew it, they'd lose the whole works and a hell of a lot of money.
"I say we go in and get the dope anyway," Jonas said.
"No way," Slydes insisted. "We'd be morons to do that."
Ruth smiled in the dark.
Jonas wasn't happy. "Shit, Slydes, I don't even think there's anyone in that first shack anyhow."
"Then why's the door open, dick-for-brains? Why're the lights on?"
"Maybe-"
With no warning, Ruth squealed like a referee whistle.
Slyde's heart surged. He slapped his hand over her mouth to seal off the shriek, and felt her tremoring in his grasp. What the shit!
What was wrong with her?
"Quiet, quiet!" Jonas shot another whisper. He held up Ruth's quivering arm, which displayed a small thin snake. "It ain't nothin'," he said and plucked the snake off with his fingers and tossed it away. Shit, a little snake's all it was, Slydes thought. He kept his huge hand clamped over Ruth's face, and took a few silent moments for him and his brother to see if anyone inside the head shack had heard Ruth's outburst.
A shadow appeared in the bright, open doorway, and a figure stepped out.
Another chick, Slydes thought. What the fuck's going on here? And it didn't matter, because if she'd heard them, and called authorities, they'd have to beat feet off the island and leave everything.
All that pot.
The woman in the doorway looked wan, slim. She walked out and glanced around as if indeed looking for trespassers.
Then she shrugged and went back inside.
"We lucked out," Slydes said under his breath. "She didn't hear." He gestured with a jerk of his head to move off.
When they got to another clearing, Slydes realized he still hadn't let go of Ruth. She collapsed out of his arms when he released his grip.
"Shit, man!" Jonas exclaimed. He seemed almost amused. "Is she dead?"
Moonlight broke through some clouds. Ruth lay crumpled and still at their feet. I didn't smother the bitch, did I?
He began to worry just when her chest heaved and she snapped back to consciousness.
"Damn," Jonas remarked. "We could only hope."
Her eyes batted; she leaned up on her elbows. Then awareness returned. "Holy fuck! That snake!"
Slydes looked down, hands on hips. "You're as dumb as they come, girl. You almost blew it for all of us."
She seemed outraged by the comment. "There was a snake on me!"
Slydes dragged her up by the T-shirt collar and slammed her against a tree. it was just a baby pine snake, you empty-headed-fuck brain."
it was gonna bite me!"
Her eyes bugged when Slydes, again, slapped his big hand over her mouth. "If you don't keep your fuckin' voice down, baby, the next time I go trolling for gators, it's your ass I put on the hook."
Jonas smiled, popped a brow at the threat.
"Pine snakes ain't poisonous," Slydes went on, "and that one was too small to bite anyway. You are about the dumbest set of tits on two legs." He dragged his hand away and pointed at her. "We hear one more peep out of you, and you're gonna be a dead set of tits, you hear me?"
"All right, Jesus," she complained.
"What do we do now, Slydes?" Jonas asked. "We don't grab the weed soon and get out, we'll miss the high tide."
Slydes grumbled, rubbed his beard. "I know. We only got two choices. Leave now and come back when it's safer-"
"Let's do that," Ruth dared in the lowest voice.
"-or wait till that chick at the head shack goes to sleep. Then we grab some weed and go camp out ourselves in the middle of the island somewhere. And wait twenty-four hours for the next night tide."
"I can't put this off, Slydes," Jonas insisted, shaking his head. "If I don't put more product on the street, I'll lose all my bagmen to the competition. Don't matter how good my hydro is, I'll lose my rep if I can't put the shit on the street."
"Then it's settled. We wait till later and grab the stuff tonight."
Ruth's expression showed what she thought of that. "So we gotta sit in the woods for twenty-four hours? With all these snakes?"
Jonas smiled. "Yeah, baby. Maybe we'll tie ya to a tree and let 'em bite your titties. Or stuff a handful of 'em down those little shorts of yours."
"Oh, fuck you."
"Let's go back to the boat and wait a bit," Slydes said. "I need a beer." His thoughts strayed during the walk back. Tonight'll be a hassle but it's worth it, he knew. His brother's hydroponic pot demanded top dollar on the street for its quality, and it was a hell of a lot easier than dealing with that illegal gator meat. All in a day's work, he dismissed. Up ahead, he watched Ruth turn at a crook in the trail, caught a fine side glance of her body. Yeah, she's a big-time pain in the ass, but… The body was the thing, and her knowing what to do with it; hence, the chief reason he and Jonas kept her around. She'd tied off the T-shirt in a big knot, revealing a belly good enough for one of those ab-cruncher commercials. The night's humidity moistened the cotton fabric, which only divulged more of the large, heavily nippled breasts. As she walked, the bottom of her butt cheeks edged out under the shorts.
Yeah, he knew. She probably will be gator bait someday… but… In fact, a little romp back at the boat might help tone down some of the night's aggravations. I need to tap my love vein, he thought. He knew that Jonas was already sick of her, but as for himself? She's too good-lookin' to kill just yet.