Читать книгу The Rassi - Sherman E Hister - Страница 4

There is a man of unique origin that began his early days a happy soul. Though in the midst of life, he was affected by the outside force of the world. His soul would not change; instead, it grew larger than life. This is where he would like us to begin. As the day calms towards the night, the faint hum of an engine starts collecting in the direction of a fair house surrounded by whistling trees. The hum was Finto Negrassi’s trusty automobile. A quick black rumbler is followed by a distinct red cloud collecting off of his path as the automotive is steered in the house’s direction. Finto always drives with precision because he enjoys it so much. With a blast of power, the car speeds to its stopping place. The red cloud follows past the side of the car before Finto opens his door. Dressed in his work attire, Finto is his joyous self as usual without much to read on his expression. A heavy canvas bag is all he yanks out of the car. He stops and listens for what seems like minutes, ever so often glancing in one direction then the other. Pausing each time and listening. When he seems convinced the coast is clear, he ushers in the direction of the front door. Before turning the key to unlock the door Finto again turns to listen. He unlocks the door then goes inside.

After a few minutes there is another loud rumble of an engine that starts from behind the house. In a lurch of time another vintage speedster swings around a side of the house. This set of wheels encompasses a green body without a roof, and the addition of a passenger. The passenger happens to be Jules. This is the closest person to the Rassi. She also happens to be the only other person who can drive the cars. The two bounce in their seats as they skip across the drive past the black rumbler, leaving it in another cloud of red soil. They must be heading to a match which means Finto is in the season of football. His jersey always reads the number seven. They jet down the drive into the trees vanishing in the dust behind them. The sound of the engine takes a bit longer to be out of reach.

After they arrive at the stadium Fin gives Jules a kiss. The Rassi opens his door getting out of the topless speedster and walks toward the entrance in uniform ready to play. Jules moves to his side of the car to drive to its place during the game. She gives herself a look over in the hang-down mirror adding a touch to her smile. Hair in a rap with sunglasses on to beat the sun, she makes her way to the stadium moving in such a way that the wind seems to move for her.

The radiance she emits gives her access wherever she goes. As Jules sits, her hair goes down; she is a fan that likes to be heard. Then as the rest of the stadium rises she stands at the commencement of the match. It’s almost as if they wait for her to begin. The match is on and all are in. The Rassi has an exceptional match with the team. The win is due to three scores to the opponent’s two resulting in their loss. The teams shake as time runs out. Jules has already stepped out of the stadium. Finto acknowledges teammates and coaches then with a wave to those who came to watch as he makes his way back to the entrance. Jules is waiting in the running speedster. Fin jumps in and again they are off. The route the speedster takes leaves the urban setting and heads for the country.

They pass the black rumbler again making their way to the back of the house. Since the sun is still shedding light they get out of their clothes to go for a swim. It doesn’t take long for the horsing around to occur with splashing and pulling each other under. Feeling refreshed from their time in the hot sun Jules and Finto share moments waist-deep before drying off. They make their way indoors although leaving the house open. They have a soda pop to go with whatever they decide to eat on that evening. After the sun is down, they eat, talk, and make each other laugh before cleaning the day off and falling to sleep.

Finto walks up to Jules early one evening out and says, “hello,” with a kiss on the cheek. When doing this, he wraps a finger around the base of the ring finger on her left hand. She didn’t pay much attention to this, just embracing his unique affection. Fin left early from the establishment that evening because of an early flight the next morning. He was going on a secret treasure hunt for an underwater jewel. Not just any, but the one that will catch his eye.

He lands on a rural landing strip, and is met by Gudanga, the native who was going to help Fin with finding a pearl. They shake hands and leave. Fin soon finds out that Gudanga is the Island’s native term for big foot. Gudanga got his nickname for having the biggest feet on the island allowing him to swim the deepest among the other divers. They search from a wooden paddleboat in a deep cove off of the island’s coast. The pearls they found did not pass the test so Gudanga takes Fin to deeper water. The water they are in happens to be crystal clear. When Gudanga and Finto reach the deeper area of water, Gudanga warns Fin that if his chest begins to hurt he needs not follow any further and return to the surface. Gudanga’s body was acclimated to the deep water after years of free diving. Fin listens to his new friend before making the deep dive that can be seen through the clear water’s surface. Once down as deep as before, Finto starts to feel the change in pressure that Gudanga had warned about. Fin tries to follow for a few more feet, but decides it was time to turn back. Gudanga checks on his friend looking back with goggles on, seeing that Fin was now heading in the opposite direction so he goes back to the treasure hunt. Fin reaches the surface and decides to climb back in the boat, and lay flat to catch his breath. What seems too long for anyone to stay underwater makes Finto jerk up toward one side of the boat to find Gudanga. Just before Fin decides to dive in, he notices bubbles elevating to the surface. Soon after these bubbles burst, Fin sees Gudanga following his air release as he rises to the surface. Gudanga reaches the surface with a loud exhale. Finto reaches for the nearly exhausted native.

“Are you alright?” Fin questions. “Yes my friend, Yes, I am.”

After getting their bearings back, Gudanga smiles at Fin. He reaches out with a hand that he’s been keeping closed. Turning his hand upside down, he opens his fingers exposing a pearl. The metallic wonder captivates Fin. After a half day search Gudanga reached the surface with an eye- catching pearl.

“That’s it, that’s the one!”

“You’re happy then?” Gudanga says smiling.

“Yes you wonderful spirit, Yes.”

Finto lunges toward the islander for a gracious hug acci- dently knocking the pearl out of Gudanga’s hand back into the water. Fin, not noticing his own plunder, doesn’t under- stand why Gudanga frantically fights to get away from him.

“It’s just a hug.”

Gudanga yells, “No…no!”

Finto snaps into understanding then immediately jumping head first into the water. Without a mask or taking much of a breath, Fin thrashes back and forth trying to locate the pearl. The high transparency allows plenty of sunlight into the water. Just about out of breath, Fin catches a glimpse of light. He sees the descending ball glistening toward the depths it came from. He exerts the last bit of his energy to pull himself through the water in an attempt to save the vanishing treasure. Finding and losing this treasure would make it seem impossible to discover such majestic wonder again. Finto’s piercing eyes focus on the pearl as he extends a hand clenching his stomach, still kicking his legs finning through the liquid barrier and then blank. A moment in time escapes from Finto. Free-floating in the water, he was unable to move due to lack of consciousness. He pushed it to the limit, running out of air and passing out. Before Fin reaches the surface, an arm wraps around his waist and propels him to the side of the boat. Gudanga dove in after Finto just before he went unconscious. When their heads breached the water’s surface Fin gained consciousness from the immediate exposure to oxygen, and from a few helpful pats on the cheek from Gudanga.

“It almost got you, do you hurt?” Gudanga checks on his recovering partner. “It’s okay, we get another a different day. We go home to eat and rest.”

After the two adventurers hold on to the side of the boat for a few minutes, Finto smiles at Gudanga taking a familiar closed fist out of the water. He turns his hand upside down, and opens his fingers that contain the pearl. Gudanga laughs saying, “You did good,” rubbing Fin’s wet hair with his free hand. They make their way back to the island. Fin and Gudanga spend the rest of the afternoon sharing stories, and drinking island wine on the beach in front of Gudanga’s hut- like house. When the night arrives they make a fire under the stars, and Gudanga finds another bottle of the native wine. Their laughter echoed through the night fueled by the sweet wine, and the day’s events revealing more stories from the past.