Unbroken Connection
Published by Angela Morrison
Mesa, Arizona, USA
Copyright © 2010 Angela Morrison.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American
Copyright Conventions.
ISBN: 978-1461088523
E-Book ISBN: 978-1-4392-8162-8
Printed in the United States of America
The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law. Please Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
To Holly.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
AUTHOR’S NOTE
THANK YOU …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chapter 1
IN SYNC
LEESIE’S MOST PRIVATE CHAPBOOK
POEM # 49, WI-FI REVELATION
Floating
on the edge
of my perception,
Michael?
Imagined unreality,
but more solid
than this sea
of BYU-blue padded chairs,
laptops balanced
on white folding desks,
hushed bent heads
and scratching pens.
Wi-Fi, thick in the air,
pulses with him,
revealing his far away fingers
drumming as he stares at a screen.
Dim light,
noise,
bodies—
My psych prof drones,
chairs creak, keys tap—
Twenty more minutes?
No way.
I’ll explode.
Pass the handsome blonde guy
beside me a pleading note?
Urgent.
On the other side of the globe,
the guy I love wants me.
Need your laptop. Now.
I shouldn’t answer this fruitless vision, should
find out the blonde guy’s name, where
he’s from, what’s his major, where
he served his mission, smile and laugh.
That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?
To forget?
But the more I erase, delete, eradicate—
the tighter my heartstrings twist,
entwining Michael’s shadow
forever on my soul.
I gather books, drop one, rise,
bump down a row of knees.
Five hundred eyes
roll my direction.
My prof’s head bobbles back
on his thick red neck.
“Excuse me, Sister—?”
“Hunt. Leesie Hunt.”
“Class isn’t over.”
“I’m sorry. I have to go.
My best friend
needs me.”
I’m such a liar.
It’s me.
I need him.
Just give me
one more hit
to ease the pain
of withdrawal.
I push through the auditorium door.
It booms a warning behind me.
Don’t look back.
Don’t think.
Keep running—I don’t
care if it’s in the wrong direction.
Computer—fast.
Barrel out the glassy Kimball Tower entrance.
My dorm? Too far.
He’ll fade into the mists.
Sandstoned pinked library. Hallelujah!
Answered prayer sanctioning
the turmoil in my heart? I hope.
The giant glass atrium
shines like a crystal circus tent.
The doors yield smoothly—
admit me to the airy space.
I turn away from the glossy granite stairs
and the underground addition
hiding deep beneath the quad,
to the old main building,
scurry through security
like a criminal fleeing the scene.
The blissful buzz of the, “No Shhhh!” zone
pulls me forward with my nose to the wind,
a hunting she-wolf zeroing in on
an unsuspecting flock of flickering screens.
The sweet smell of electronics overheating
tickles my senses.
Blessed day! A cute guy, with cropped
brown hair and muscles
that remind me of Michael’s,
leaves a computer free.
No line up today.
I whip into the spot, sign on—
Thank you, Lord,
for one more miracle:
He’s there.
LEESIE HUNT / CHATSPOT LOG / 09/18 12:47 PM
Leesie327 says: Yes. You’re online. I knew it.
liv2div says: your magic voodoo powers are slipping
Leesie327 says: No way.
liv2div says: if you were really in sync, you would have been here a lot sooner
Leesie327 says: You mean “in tune.” Give me a break. I bolted out of class to get to you in time.
liv2div says: been waiting in this creepy bar staring at the screen going on four hours
Leesie327 says: What time is it? Some time yesterday, right?
liv2div says: tomorrow…coming up on 3 a.m. Saturday morning…I’m back at work again at 8 a.m.
Leesie327 says: You need to go home and get some sleep.
liv2div says: we’re just friends now…you’re not allowed to be bossy
Leesie327 says: Sure I am—bossier. I don’t like you hanging out in a bar.
liv2div says: the internet place closed hours ago
Leesie327 says: Are you drinking?
liv2div says: about seventeen cokes
Leesie327 says: Are you there alone?
liv2div says: I came with Claude…French guy…his dad owns the boat
Leesie327 says: Nice of him to wait for you.
liv2div says: are you kidding? his girlfriend’s out of town…he left with a Thai chick a couple hours back
Leesie327 says: His poor girlfriend.
liv2div says: she’s Thai…expects it.
Leesie327: Are the girls there pretty?
liv2div says: intoxicating
Leesie327 says: I shouldn’t have asked.
liv2div says: why do you think they call this place the Land of Smiles? there’s a chick staring at me like you used to…think I should talk to her?
Leesie327 says: No way. She’s in a bar. That’s not the type of girl you want.
liv2div says: I’m in a bar…what does that make me?
>
Leesie327 says: An exception.
liv2div says: she looks fourteen…I’m sure she’s not bossy
Leesie327 says: Fourteen? What is she doing in a bar?
liv2div says: the place was packed with them… young, eager…it’s late…most of them left with somebody…this girl is counting on me
Leesie327 says: Sick. Is she a … do you pay?
liv2div says: I don’t pay
Leesie327 says: You mean, you’ve taken one home before?
liv2div says: no…gross, Leese…they’re kids…and paying? that’s a crime…I’m not a saint like you, but I’m not a pervert
Leesie327 says: Sorry. I know you better than that. I’m insanely jealous that you’re surrounded by beautiful girls vying for your attention.
liv2div says: give me some credit…these chicks are in it for the long term…say ‘yes’ once, and you’ve got them for life…they’re out to take you for a lot more than fifty bucks
Leesie327 says: That’s tragic.
liv2div says: just using their assets…Third World reality…sex is their number one industry
Leesie327says: I thought it was whale sharks.
liv2div says: Only in my dreams…you see it all the time here…a really young Thai girl and a silver-haired white guy…Europeans… Americans, too…creeps me out
Leesie327 says: Aren’t there laws to protect them?
liv2div says: It’s getting better…Thailand’s got more money now…I’ve heard the real evil freaks—pedophiles and sex offenders mostly from our depraved country—go to places like Cambodia and Vietnam where parents sell them little boys for a couple hours for a quarter
Leesie327 says: That is so evil. Get out of there, Michael. Right now.
liv2div says: there are no little boys for rent in this bar
Leesie327 says: Are you saying what’s happening there with those girls is okay? Yuck. Besides, I don’t mean the bar. I mean the whole place.
liv2div says: all of Asia? quit my job? I haven’t even really started…we won’t be taking trips out to the Similans until November
Leesie327 says: I hate that you’re so far away.
liv2div says: where do you want me to be?
Leesie327 says: Here.
liv2div says: no diving in Utah, babe
Leesie327 says: I miss you.
liv2div says: you should get a laptop…campus is wired, right? if you’re signed on, we can do this whenever I get back into port
Leesie327 says: What time?
liv2div says: changes…that’s why you need a laptop growing out of your arm.
Leesie327 says: What time this week?
liv2div says: they tell me I’ll be off Friday, around six…that’s 4 a.m. your time
Leesie327 says: What day—my time? Thursday or Saturday?
liv2div says: Friday
Leesie327 says: Hello, I don’t have classes at 4 a.m. I’ll set my alarm, get up, and wait for you to go to a decent internet place. No bars.
liv2div says: but they close…I want to talk to you all night
Leesie327 says: Find a McDonalds.
liv2div says: McDonalds? are you kidding? you should still get a laptop…don’t want me to get bored while you’re in class, do you?
Leesie327 says: I have to pay attention.
liv2div says: double task, babe
Leesie327 says: You’re not allowed to call me that.
liv2div says: you need a laptop, babe
Leesie327 says: Stop it.
liv2div says: you must be the only one on campus without one
Leesie327 says: My roommate laughed when I set up my desktop. My scholarship is just tuition. I need to eat, pay rent—no laptop in my future. I can’t even afford a new t-shirt. I need a new jacket before it gets cold.
liv2div says: What about your suede one? You didn’t throw it out, did you?
Leesie327 says: I can’t bring myself to wear it here…too many memories.
liv2div says: You don’t want to remember me?
Leesie327 says: I keep it on the back of my chair with my grandmother’s sweater.
liv2div says: like I’m dead?
Leesie327 says: Like you’re cherished.
liv2div says: so a laptop, t-shirt, and a new jacket… your parents should help you more
Leesie327 says: You want a lecture on farm economics? It’s a depressing subject.
liv2div says: sorry to pry…I just think it’s stupid you don’t have a decent computer…babe
Leesie327 says: I’m going to have to sign off if you call me that again. It makes me so hungry for you, and you’re so far away, and we’re just friends.
liv2div says: who attacked me at the airport then? I thought it was you
Leesie327 says: Wasn’t that mutual?
liv2div says: you started it…how can we keep up this friends crap after that?
Leesie327 says: What else could I do? I spent all night crying over your dive log. I couldn’t let your lips go so far away without tasting them one more time.
liv2div says: seemed like a lot more than a taste
Leesie327 says: That part was you.
liv2div says: I wanted you to remember me
Leesie327 says: It worked. I’m like craving you.
liv2div says: it felt good…totally right
Leesie327 says: Nothing comes close to kissing you.
liv2div says: freak, Leese…why do we do this to each other?
Chapter 2
HOMESICK
MICHAEL’S DIVE LOG—VOLUME #10
DIVE BUDDY: nobody
DATE: 09/23
DIVE #: not diving
LOCATION: Khoa Lak, Thailand
DIVE SITE: Queen Nautica (my dive boat)
WEATHER CONDITION: monsoon
WATER CONDITION: 6’ swells
DEPTH: 20’ under the keel
VISIBILITY: 0’
WATER TEMP.: 72
BOTTOM TIME: none
COMMENTS:
Rain. Tropical downpour. Sheets of it. Every day—endless. Fierce. Not like when I first got here—gentle evening rainfall that cooled down the steamy world. The Queen Nautica, my dive boat, ran overnighters out to Phi-Phi and Krabi Islands. Nice and hot. Okay diving. So different from the Caribbean. Limestone cliffs jutting out of the sea. Vibrant soft corals. You feel like you must be at the end of the earth—all alone in the wild beauty of it—until six other dive boats show up at the same spot.
It’s still steamy hot, but the monsoons have come—sheets of water that bring Isadore back every night.
Before I took this job, no one bothered to tell me that the Similans are officially closed until November 1st. Guess I should have researched better. They say it’s too rough. Too wet. Powerful winds. An operator who ran illegal trips out there during the summer sunk his launch. The Thai government made the islands a national park, and now they close it up from mid-May to November. Rumor is illegal fishermen slip in and lay traps. I don’t know if the rangers stay out on the islands year round. Sounds like they should.
With all this rain, there’s not much diving anywhere for a couple more weeks—if you take the forecasters at their word. I’m supposed to be working on my Captain’s license. Can’t do the water stuff in this weather. Can’t concentrate on the written crap. I spend my days trapped in the belly of the Queen Nautica organizing and fixing the tangled mountain of scuba gear the last guy left behind. The QN is docked at dumpy, grimy, nowhere’sville Khoa Lak, a blip on the coast surrounded by endless rubber plantations. I sleep on the boat, but at least we’re not out on the water, so I get off at dinnertime. I’ve tried to chat with Leesie again, but she’s never online. Always in class or out with her roommates. I hope it’s her roommates.
I hate that bar—all those pretty girls prowling for white men with full wallets who aim to retire on Phuket with Thai girlfriend benefits. Every white guy I’ve met so far is divorced and living with a Thai woman. Even my boss, Claude’s dad, Captain Jean. But the bar
is the closest place to Khoa Lak with internet. McDonalds? Is Leesie kidding? Closest Mickey D’s is at least ninety minutes south.
Two more days, and she’ll be waiting for me. Friday. Soon as I’m off.
She promised.
LEESIE HUNT / CHATSPOT LOG / 09/23 1:45 AM
Leesie327 says: Phil? What are you doing up so late, baby brother?
gr8phil says: Great…the Leesie police. Wonder what time it is in Thailand.
Leesie327 says: Since when are you a midnight chatter?
gr8phil says: Since forever…I’m not a Neanderthal.
Leesie327 says: I’ve never noticed you online before.
gr8phil says: You NEVER noticed me anywhere.
Leesie327 says: Ouch. Am I that nasty?
gr8phil says: I’m being nice.
Leesie327 says: Sorry. I was a jerk to you.
gr8phil says: You were a jerk to every one in Tekoa. Too good for us.