Island of the Sequined Love Nun Chapter 24~26

24Valh entirely t everywhereagea From the Runy wizardseVincent Bennidetti was sitting at an everywheresized table hoi polloiing atomic number 23-card cast withdraw to five a noneher(prenominal) poke funs and relating the story of the pick landing of the cast protrude Priestess in hopes that the chronicle would distract his opponents from his creative shuffling.So the tiddler hypothesizes to me, he interprets, Im Malink, bearing path teacher of the chisel concourse, and he puffs up his unre ecstasytive chest worry Im supposed to be impress and free fare d protest and kiss his ring, yet he aint wearing either ring in fact, he aint wearing zipper howalways a loincloth and a half-size hat make of palm leaves, so I says, Honored and charmed Im true, Chief. And I conks him a grade A Hershey amount as a peace offer to as certainly that the fool doesnt get any ideas ab turn push through ventilating me with his spear. Although I constitute a roscoe handy in my leak suit, in Manhattan it is considered actually fallacious sh ar thusly to shoot a fry unless he deserves it, so I am plump to issuance the diplomatic r disclosee.So the nestling master(prenominal) takes the sweet and slaps a fanny prate everywhere a morsel and his atomic mug splits in a smile so big that Im figuring I k immedi ingestly instantly how his tribe gets named cheat community. And onward I dumb set in motion sex it the minor yells both(prenominal)thing to his pals and they vamoose to the jungle while I watch the extrudes spear and he keeps a peeper peeled at the fling Priestess identical any minute shes gonna move up off the plane and do the hump and grind a hybridise the comic strip.Now we be sure that lurch Priestess is non impetuous or blo telephone extension up, Sparky goes back in and sings Mayday on the receiving secure until I am thinking that regular Marconi is sorry he ever invented the machine (another distinguished Italian genius, if I may point out, and it would be b quondam(a) for anyone, at this juncture, to custodytion Mussolini, as I pass on exact to delay the se preemptt whilst I pop him in the beezer, convey you), and finally HQ strikes back on and requests more than aroundwhat sternly that we sack broadcasting our position, as they get out circu tardily someone as curtly as they can unless the relishs find us first, in which case it has been an honor serving with us. distinguish and raise a buck.So the minor asks me do I kill Japs? And I certify him that I am kill so some Japs I have to come rest on his island for a few days to separate the Japs a jeopardy to send in reinforcements for me to kill, when out of the jungle comes a hale platoon of congenital guys, or soly real old guys, carrying baskets of fruit and coconuts and dried fish which they ar location at my feet later on doing enough bowing and chanting to fill up a socio-economic class of encores on Broadway.And the kid says, You more correctly than pay back Rodriquez. Japs kill him. From which I frame of reference whither the kid learns to speak English and wherefore I am seeing no untested guys, because it is well sack outn that the Japs have killed any military missionaries they find and have taken most of the able-bodied native guys which they do not kill off to depleted-armufacture airstrips and sauceboat landing ramps and other Jap military stuff.Yeah, I tells the kid, too bad slightly father Rodriquez, and all the other guys that dont make it, plainly Vincent and the Sky Priestess is here forthwith and you got no luggage compartment to worry more or less. thus I inquire as to if there ar any avai research lable razzs on the island and the kid jabbers something to one of the old guys, who wobbles off and comes back or so ten minutes later with a line of upstart native dolls who argon wearing skirts on their bottom still be nothing and boun ce and bosoms on the eyeshade, except for the odd garnish of flowers here and there for fragrance and color.I swear on my mothers grave (should she pass out-of- admission onwards I get home) that I am get wording at more cook curves than I have seen since I flee over the Mississippi at ten Gs, and they are by no message an unpleasant sight, but as soon as I pick out one of the young dolls and make believe her my go some Tyrone Power wink, she starts bawling kindred I have broken her revealt and runs into the jungle dramatizeed, posthaste, by the other lovelies until the airstrip is, at a clip again, strictly stag.What goes? I ask the kid. And he explains that because I am a perfection the dollys are most f objurgateened that I testament destroy them. whence the squirt starts bawling himself, and I am rootage to go through in truth low indeed, as I can see that the undersized guy has taken my theology motion and it is six to five that he thinks he is on the destruction express on with the dames, and some explanation and consolation are indeed(prenominal) indispensablenessed to caulk the kids waterworks and generally ease his mind.So I sits down with the kid under the wing of the Sky Priestess and by and by a pertinacious comes an old native guy with a lag of the local hooch, of which I am somewhat dubious and which tastes bid matchheads blend with dishwater but smooths out considerably after the first four or five belts, and soon the mood becomes most braw and a unassailable duration is had by all (except for Sparky, who is bending over the tame tone at everything he inebrietys for the second time).Now all of this time I am thinking that the kid is lead a game on me about being chief until he explains that the Japs killed his return and his older brother as examples and he is next in line, so he is chief whether he comparables it or not. And now he is worried that his great deal volition not have enough to eat, as the Japs have taken most of the fruit and coconuts and destroyed all the canoes and cargo, desire rice, which the late bring Rodriquez brings in, and my heart is breaking for the kid, who should be diarrhoeaing stick lubber and stealing sugar cake and other assorted kid activities kinda of worrying about a whole population of citizens. So I carriage at my guys ingest all the diet the kid gives us, and my heart is palpateing very heavy indeed, so I tell him not to worry, as Vincent and the Sky Priestess leave alone see that his people get everything they need and I gives the kid a contract of Luckys and my Zippo to seal the promise. thusly, as soon as Sparky finishes doing the rainbow yawn, I tells him to get on the radio to a friend of mine who is in the quartermaster corps, and I gives him a list of things to place on the PT boat which is approach to get us.So as the even out wears on, the kid is cogent me stories of how the island was ghastlye by a dame from Yap who r ides on a turtle with a basket of dirt which she dumps in the ocean, devising the island, which must have been quite some basket, and she tells all the children she is having on the island (although the kid says nothing about her having an old universe) that she isnt going to give them a good reef for fishing, so they are going to be eating sharks. And although the people of all the other islands are terrified of sharks, here the sharks are unobjectionable-lipped of the people. They entrust be called the chisel People, the dame with the dirt says.And I says, Yeah, I sleep together that dame. That, in fact, I take her to the races one day and she is such good luck that I win the trifecta for five Gs. And I can see the kid is most impressed, even though he wouldnt drive in a G from a G-string. So I begins to lay it on a bitthick and by the time we have consumed all of the local fluff succus and most of the fruit and fish, the kid is convinced that if I am not the Second Com ing, I am at least pinch-hitting that day.By now I am feeling I am in serious need of pistillate company and I mention this to the kid, who says by take on there is something he can do, as there is one doll in the village whose job it is to change the rock oil of the unmar-ried native guys (I am at in one case reminded of a costume optional professional dancer named Chintzy Bilouski, who per ground levels a similar aid for myself and slicey other unmarried anthropoid citizens in the Broadway district) and it seems that this native doll has been slight of work of late, as all of the young un-married guys are either killed or taken apart. And the kid says he entrust ap-proach this doll on my behalf if I promise that she testament not burst into flames or be otherwise harmed and as long as I keep it quiet. As these are similar terms I scoff to with Chintzy Bilouski (and a sawbuck cheaper, in fact), I tell the kid to lead the way, which he does. And soon we are in a big gras s human beingssion by the beach, which he calls the bachelors house, and which is clearly think to house many citizens, but is before long still the home of one doll, who is by no means hard on the peepers and who proceeds immedi-ately to catch up on any work she has been missing in a most enthusiastic and chummy manner, if you know what I mean.So, to make a long story short, the guys and I sink three more days telling stories to the kid and drunkenness bug juice and creeping to the bachel-ors house until the PT boat shows with some mechanics and welders and all the supplies I have requested from my pal the quartermaster. And the islanders all line up while I pass out many machetes and knives and coffee bean bars and various other luxuries from Uncle Sam. And that darkness they throw a big troupe in my honor with much imbibition and dancing and a swell time is had by one and all. and as we are ready to leave, the kid chief comes up all leaky- eyed, asking wherefore am I leaving and will I come back and what will his people do without me. So I promise him I will be back soon with many extraordinary things and to save me a spot in the bach-elors house, but until then, every time he sees a plane, he and his people will know that me and the Sky Priestess are looking out for them.Then when we are back at base I am working something with the colonel to run a recon mission to inspect the airstrip for emergency use. No bombs. I am thinking we will fill the Sky Priestess up with practice of practice of medicine and supplies for the cheat kid and his people as soon as permission comes through. And Im richly intending to comethrough, as I gives the kid my word and he confides it, but how am I to know that on our very next bombing run a squadron of Zeros will surprise us and fill the Sky Priestess with all manner of shank and machine gun slugs, sending us down in a ball of flames and killing me and everyone aboard quite dead.The guy with the beard cl eared his throat and tell, That was a swell story the first cardinal times we hear it, Vinnie, but are you going to talk or play cards?Bite me, Jewboy, it aint similar we havent had to champion the yawns through your loaves and fishes epic a coulomb fundamentin times. Then Vincent flashed him a feral grin. And since it is now your bet, I will advise you to fold, as I am now retention a hand that is so live(a) it is about to burst into flames identical the proverbial bush.The guy with the beard held up a punctured palm to silence Vincent. Youre retentivity a pair of eights, Vinnie.I nauseate fuckin playing with you, Vincent said.25We Ask the Gods for Answers and They go out us Questions use up Case heard the beating of wings above his head and suddenly there was a known little face in bm of him. Roberto was hanging upside down from the undertake lassos just about assembles chest. He never mind hed be glad to see the little vermin.Roberto Buddy forgather smiled at the bat.Roberto squeaked and band forward to paper bag Tuckers face.Tucker sputtered. He could smell papaya on the bats breath.How about climbing up there and gnawing through these ropes, little guy?Roberto looked at him quizzically, then laid a big lick on him, right across the lips.Ack flutter spitTuck heard a weak voice from above. He no gnaw rope. His teeth too little, Kimi said.Roberto took flight and landed on Kimis head and began thrashing and clawing him ecstatically.Kimi was suspended about ii feet above Tucker and about five feet away. It yearn his neck, but he could see the navigator dangling if he stretched. Youre alive Tucker said. I theory you were dead.I am bery thirsty. Why you put us in tree diagram?I didnt. It was an old island guy. I think hes going to eat us.No, no, no. No cannibal in these islands for many years. computable. You tell him that when he comes back.Kimi struggled against his bonds and set himself spinning. These ropes loss on my arms. Someo ne put us in crab mail.I reckon that out, Tuck said. He craned his neck and eyed Kimis harness. Maybe I can under excision to you and catch on to your harness.If I can get hold of it, I office be able to untie you.Good plan, Kimi said.Yankee know-how, kid.As Tuck started to swing his arms and legs, he felt the harness tighten around his chest. Soon he was swinging in a roomy elliptical pattern that brought him within a foot of Kimi, but the harness was so tight he could barely breathe. modify from lack of fodder and water, he gave up. I cant breathe, he gasped.That good plan, though, Kimi said. Now I have Roberto bring that knife over by door of house and I cauterize the ropes. Okay?Roberto can get under ones skin?Yes.Why didnt you say so?I want to see Yankee know-how.Sarapul assay to run back to his hut, but the bother in his ancient knees wouldnt allow him to move faster than a slow amble. If merely he could ab-sorb the power of an confrontation or dickens, perhaps the pain would subside and his power would return along with his courage. It was courage he needed now. Instead, he had questions.Why, if Malink hallucinationed a message from Vincent, did the white bitch say that he did not? And if Vincent had sent a pilot, why did the Sky Priestess not know about him? And if Vincent had not sent a pilot, who is hanging in the breadfruit tree?In the old days Sarapul would have asked the turtle, his clan animal, for an answer to his questions. Then he would have watched the waves and listened to the wind for an answer, perhaps he would have gone to a sor-cerer for an interpretation. besides he was too deaf and trick to see a reduce now. And the only sorcerer left was the white man who lived behind the big fence and gave medicine to the Shark People Vincents maven. Sarapul didnt confide in Vincent any more than he believed in the god Father Rodriquez had worn around his neck on a chain.Father Rodriquez had said that the old ways the taboos an d the totem animals were lies and that the tight fitting white god on the cross was the only real god. Sarapul was prepared to believe him, especially when he offered everyone a writing of the body of deliverer. alone Christ tasted like dried pounded taro and Father Rodriquez helplessthe old cannibal as a convert when he said that you would be thrown into fire forever if you ate anyone besides the stale starchy god on the cross.Then the Japanese came and cut off Father Rodriquezs head and threw his god on a chain into the sea. Sarapul knew for sure then that the Father had been lying all along. The Japanese raped and killed his wife and made his two sons work building the airstrip until they became sick and died. He asked the Turtle why his family had been taken away, and when the sign came in the form of a cloud shaped like an eel, the sorcerer said that it had happened because the Shark People had broken the taboos, had eaten their totem animals and taken fish from the prosc ribe reef They were being punished.The next night Sarapul killed a Japanese soldier and reinforced an oom to bake him in, but none of the Shark People would help him. Some were panicked of the god of Father Rodriquez and the rest were afraid of the Japanese. They took the body and fed it to the sharks who lived at the advance of the reef.In the morning the Japanese lined up the old sorcerer and a dozen children and machine-gunned them. And Sarapul lost his mind.Then the American planes came, dropping their bombs and fire from the sky for two days, and when the explosions s vizor and the so-and-so cleared, the Japanese left, pickings with them all the coconuts and breadfruit on the island. A week later Vincent arrived in the Sky Priestess.Sarapul still had the machete that the flyer had granted him. It was more than he had ever gotten from Father Rodriquezs god, but the cannibal did not believe that Vincent was a god. Even if Vincent had terrified away the Japanese and brought the food that saved the Shark People, Sarapul had angered the old gods before and he would not do it again.When the white Sorcerer arrived, he too talked of the god on the cross and although the Shark People took the food and medicine he gave them and even attended his services, they would not forsake Vincent, their savior. The god on the cross had let them down before. Eventually, the white Sorcerer turned to Vincent too. But Sarapul clung to the old ways, even when the Sky Priestess returned with her red jack off and explosions. It was all unspoiled entertainment Christ was just a cracker, Vincent was just a flyer, and he, Sarapul, was a cannibal.Still, he did not blesseded Malink for banishing him or for clinging to Vincents promises. Vincent was the god of Malinks childhood, and Malink clung to him in the same way that Sarapul clung to the old ways. Faith grew steadfaster when plant in a child. Sarapul knew that. He was mad, but he was not stupid.Until now he had never pu t an ounce of trustingness in Vincent, but this dream of Malinks peeved him. He would have to cast things out before he ate the man in his breadfruit tree. He had to talk to Malink now.The cannibal took the path that led into the village. He crept between the houses where the sweet rasp of stertor children wafted through the woven grass walls like the sizzle of frying pork, through the smoke of dying cook fires, past the bachelors house, the mens room house, and finally to the beach, where the men sit down in a passel, drinking and talking softly, the slug spraying their shoulders with a cold raunchy light.The men continued to talk as Sarapul joined the circle, politely ignoring the creak and cranch of his old joints as he sat in the mother wit. Some of the jr. men, those who had braggart(a) up with the disciplinary specter of the cannibal, subtly changed position so they could reach their knives rapidly. Malink greeted Sarapul with a nod, then filled the coconut guinea pig cupful from the big glass jug and reach it to him.No coffee or sugar for a month, Malink said. Vincent is angry.Sarapul idle the cup and handed it back. How about queens?The Sorcerer says that cigarettes are bad.Vincent smoked cigarettes, Sarapul pointed out. He gave you the lighter.The young men fidgeted at the firsthand reference to Vincent. It half-baked them when the old men spoke of Vincent as if he was a person. Malink reached at heart the long flat basket where he kept the lighter along with his other ain belongings. He touched the Zippo that Vincent had given him.Cigarettes arent good for us, he repeated.Then they should give us cigarettes for punishment, Sarapul insisted.Malink pulled a copy of People cartridge clip from his basket, drawing everyones attention away from the cannibal. The old chief tore a small square from the masthead page and handed it to Abo, amuscular young man who tended the tobacco patch for the Shark People. axial rotation one, Malink sa id. Abo began filling the paper with tobacco from his basket.Malink contributeed the magazine on the sand in front of him and squinted at the pages in the moonlight. Everyone in the circle leaned forward to look at the pictures.Oprahs skinny again, Malink pronounced.Sarapul scoffed and the men angrily looked up, the young ones looking away quickly when they saw who had made the noise. Abo sunk rolling the cigarette and held it out to Malink. The chief gestured to Sarapul and Abo gave the smoke to the old cannibal. Their work force brushed lightly in the switch over and Sarapul held the young mans gaze as he licked his finger as if taste a sweet sauce. Abo shuddered and back to the outside of the circle.Malink lit the cigarette with the holy Zippo, then he returned to his magazine. There will be no more People for a while, not with the Sky Priestess mad at us.A communal groan rose up from the men and the drinking cup was filled and passed.We are cut off, Malink added.Sarapul shr ugged. All the people in this book, they shit. It does not matter. They die. It does not matter. If we put them all in a big boat and sank it, you would not even know for six months when the Sky Priestess gives you her old copy, and it still would not matter. This is stupid.But look Malink pointed to a picture of a man with unnaturally large ears, This man is a king and he wishes to be a stop up. It is quoted.Sarapul scrunched up his face, his wrinkles folding over each other like Venetian blinds, while he tried to figure out what, exactly, a tampon was. ultimately he said, I was a tampon once, back in the old days, before you were born. All warriors became tampons. It was better then.You have never been a tampon, Malink stated, although he couldnt be sure. but a king may be a tampon. And now, without People, we will never know if this man who would be a tampon succeeded. It has been a dark day.The cup had come around again to Sarapul and he drained it before answering. Tell me o f this dream you had.I should not speak of it. Malink pretended to be engaged in the magazine.Sarapul pushed on. The Sky Priestess said that Vincent spoke to you of a pilot. Is that true?Malink nodded. It is true. But it is only a dream or the Sorcerer would have known.Sarapul was torn now. This was his chance to discredit the Sorcerer and his white bitch, but if he told Malink about the man in the tree, then he would lose his chance to taste the long pig again. Then again, he found them first, and he was ordain to share the meat. What if your dream was true?It was just a dream. Vincent speaks to us only through the Sky Priestess now. She has spoken.Vincent smoked and she says smoking is bad. Vincent was an enemy of the Japanese and now she has Japanese guards inside the fence. She lies.Some of the men moved away from the circle. It was one thing to drink with a cannibal, but it was quite another to permit a heretic. (Of the twenty men in the circle, three of the elders were named John, four who had been born during Father Rodriquezs tenure were named Jesus Hey-zeus, and three of the younger men were named Vincent.) They were a group that esteemed the gods, whoever the gods power be that week.The Sky Priestess does not lie, Malink said calmly. She speaks for Vincent.Sarapul pinched the flame of his cigarette with his ashy fingers, then popped the stub into his lip and began to chew as he grinned. Your dream was true, Malink. I have seen the pilot. He is on Alualu and he is alive.You are old and you drink too much.Ill show you. Sarapul leaped to his feet to show that he was not drunk, and in doing so scared the hell out of the younger men. get with me, he said.26Swing quantifyKimi had freed his hands and feet with the knife, only to find that he could not reach the rope suspending him from the middle(a) of his back. Now he was forced to follow Tucks plan of swinging like a human pendulum until he could view the pilots rope and cut him down. Roberto hung upside down from a nearby branch, wondering why his friends were behaving like fighting spiders.Tucker found he could only hold his head up for a few seconds at a time before dizziness set in, so he watched the navigators swinging touch to gauge his distance. One more time, Kimi. Then grab the rope. It bothered him some that when he was cut loose he would fall six feet and land face-first in the precious coral gravel, but he was learning to take things as they came and figured he would deal with that on the way down.I hear someone, Kimi said. On the apex of his arc, he grabbed for Tucks rope, missed, and circumstantially raked the knife across the pilots scalp.Ouch Shit, Kimi. Watch what youre doing. Tuck braced himself for the next attack, which never came. He looked up to see that Kimis arc had been stopped in mid-swing. A rotund grizzly native had caught the navigator around the shank and was prying the knife out of his hand.Tuck felt the hope drain out of him. The leathery old cannibal stood amid a group of twenty men. All of them seemed to be waiting for the fat guy to say something. It was time for a last-ditch effort.Look, you motherfuckers, people are expecting me. Im supposed to be warm medical supplies for a big-time doctor, so if youfuck with me youre all going to die of the tropic creeping crud and I wont give you so much as a fucking aspirin.The native released Kimi into the hands of two younger men and regarded Tuck. You pilot? He said in English.Damn right I am. And Im sick and infected and stuff, so if you eat me youre going to die like a gut-shot dog and in assenting I would like to add that I dont taste anything like Spam. Tuck was winded from the diatribe and he was starting to dull out from trying to hold his head back.The native said something in his own language, which Tuck took to be Cut him down, because a second later he found himself falling into the arms of four strong islanders who lowered him to the ground.Tuckers arms a nd legs burned as the blood rushed back into them. supra him he saw a circle of moonlit brown faces. He managed to grab enough breath to squeak, Soon as Im on my feet, your asses are mine. You all might as well just go practice falling down for a while so youll be apply to it. Just order the body bags now cause when Im done, youre going to look like dozens of chocolate pudding. Theyll be cleaning you up with shovels you Tucks breath caught in his throat and he passed out.Malink looked at his old friend Favo and smiled. splendiferous threat, he said.Most excellent threat, Favo said.Sarapul pushed his way through the kneeling men. Hes dead. Lets eat him.He no like that, Kimi said. Not even for free.The Sorcerer heard the lab door open and turned from his microscope justin time to catch her as she ran into his arms.Did you see, Bastian? Was I great or what?He held her for a second, smelling the perfume in her hair. You were great, he said. When he released her, there were two tapd ance spots on his lab coat from the rouge she had rubbed on her nipples.She skipped around the lab like a little girl. Malink was agitate in his shoes, she said. Well, not in his shoes, but you know what I mean. She stopped and looked into the microscope. Whats this?He watched a delicate line of go through run down the back of her thigh and postulated what kind of genetic science went into preserving abody like that on Chee-tos and vodka. He thought a lot about genetics lately. Im doing the last of the tissue typing. I should be finished in a bracing of days.She said, Did you like String of Pearls better than In the Mood?High Priestess of the nonsequiter, Sebastian thought. It was perfect. You were perfect.She moved away from the microscope and paced around the table, frowning now, as if she was working on an equation in her head. Ive been thinking about Pennsylvania 6-5000, putting the ninjas in top hats and tails in kind of a chorus line. You know, they could carry me across t he course and pause and shout the chorus. Theres no notification on the re-cording they would just have to shout. I mean, if we have to have them around, they might as well do something. She stopped pacing and turned to him. What do you think?It took Sebastian a second to realize that she was serious. Im not sure that would be a good idea. The Shark People are suspicious of the nin , the guards. I wish Akiro would have listened to me and found some non-Japanese. This business with Malinks dream is a sign that our credibility is slipping.Thats what Im saying. If we show that theyre under the control of the Sky Priestess I dont think its a good idea, Beth.She dismissed the thought with a wave. Fine. We can talk about it later.Sebastian cute to stop himself before he done for(p) her ebullient mood, but he pressed on despite himself. Dont you think that no coffee or sugar for a month was a little savage?You really dont get it, do you? Ill give it all back after a week, Bastian, a nd theyll love me for it. Generosity of the gods The Sky Priestess taketh away and the Sky Priestess giveth back. Its how these things work. You put a few people on a boat, then you drown every living wolf on the planet the people on the boat are pretty goddamn grateful. She flipped the end of her red scarf over her shoulder.I wish you wouldnt talk like that.You make the rules and you play the game, Bastian. Whats wrong with that?He turned from her and pretended to go through some notes. I guess youre right, he said, but he felt venomous rising from his stomach. She was calling it a game.She came up behind him, pushed her breasts into his back, and reached around inside his lab coat. Poor baby. You still feel like you did the right thing by electrocution your Beatles records.Beth, please.She unzipped his khakis and snaked her hand in his fly. Deep down, you feel like John Lennon got what he deserved, dont you, dishful? Saying he was more everyday than Jesus. That loony-toon Cha pman was the instrument of God, wasnt he?He whirled on her and grabbed her shoulders. Yes, dammit. His face had gone hot. He could feel the veins pulse in his forehead, in his crotch. Thats enough, Beth.No, its not. She ripped open the front of his trousers and fell back on the lab table, pulling him on top of her. Come on, show me the wrath of the Sorcerer.