All the Cuts and Scars We Hide by Garry Michael

Twenty-Two: Wyatt

Orcas Mate For Life

Kai started opening each of the boat’s compartments to check the number of life vests before continuing with his pre-sailing checklist on his clipboard while walking around the boat. This could be us, this could be our future. The thought caused my chest to tighten, threatening a different kind of anxiety from the ones associated with Jim’s death.

“Everything checks out and we’re ready to board Captain Miller,” Kai teased, giving me a hand salute.

I gave him a thumbs up since my heart was lodged in my throat, preventing me from saying anything.

He turned his attention to the line of tourists scheduled for the tour and greeted them, enchanting everyone with his charm. “Alright, folks, ready to have some fun?” he asked.

“Yeah!” the group answered in unison, matching his eagerness.

Kai began to check in our passengers still holding the clipboard and handing them a sheet of safety instructions. “We’ll go over these before we head out,” he told everyone.

It quickly became clear how natural Kai was around tourists fifteen minutes into our sailing. He answered questions from passengers about safety and I could be biased, but this sailing was the smoothest I’d had in a very long time.

I had been nervous about how this would turn out. Although I was excited to hang out with him all morning, I was hesitant after the night we had for two reasons. First was the safety of our passengers, and second, was how our situation would affect the dynamics of working together.

“Northwest, about a mile from the port side.” Kai handed me the pair of binoculars and pointed me in that direction. “Are those Orcas?”

“Sure are!” I handed the binoculars back to him before grabbing my radio to let our passengers know to look in that direction.

A collective gasp of excitement was followed by bright flashes and mechanical clicks when the passengers started taking pictures and videos of the amazing killer whales.

“Is it okay if I check it out?” Kai asked, “I’ve never seen orcas before. We have a lot of spinner dolphins and humpback whales in Hawai’i, but not killer whales.”

Wanting to experience this with him, I turned off the engine. “Let's drop the anchor so we can enjoy it.”

Kai’s face lit up like a Christmas tree and if we weren’t surrounded by strangers, I would have kissed him. I didn’t have any problem with public displays of affection, but we were at work and this was business. I wasn’t about to mix business with pleasure. “Are you sure?”

I gave him a wink and he helped me drop anchor.

“Oh my gosh, they’re swimming toward us,” a woman shrieked from the back of the boat. She was pointing at the playful pod which was putting on a spectacular show for the guests.

Even though we were the invaders in the pod's natural habitat, the orcas managed to swim closer to the catamaran.

A sheen of black and white bobbed around the surface, blowing air out of their blowholes. The orcas seemed to love the attention and praise and began to inch even closer to one of the hulls.

“This is so cool,” Kai said. “I can’t believe how close they are, I can almost touch them.”

His excitement was contagious, I dared anyone to spend time with him and not be put in a better mood.

“They’re amazing.” I wrapped my arms around him and kissed the side of his head, breaking my own rule about mixing business and pleasure.

“I told you they’re together,” a woman standing next to us said to her friend. “It was obvious the way the captain was looking at him,” she whispered.

A flush of color crept up Kai’s neck to his face. He turned around and buried his face in my chest to hide his blushing. We hadn’t spoken about labels, but I knew he felt the same about me. The way he looked at me spoke the words he hadn’t.

“You guys look great together,” the other woman said.

I was clueless about how to respond to her statement, so I just let it hang there.

“Did you know that killer whales mate for life?” I whispered to Kai.

He looked up from my chest and said, “No, they don’t. They’re social and live as one unit, but they don’t mate for life,” he argued.

I knew that, but I wanted to believe they did. “Maybe they do once they find the one, you know,” I explained, hoping no one heard my ridiculous theory.

The intense look on Kai’s face was back and for a moment, I thought he’d kiss me. Instead, he went along with my theory, “I like that idea. Anything is possible once you find the one.”

The stark reminder of what I couldn’t have whenever I looked at Kai was slowly being replaced by hope. Maybe, just maybe, I could be like everybody else.

Loved.

“What’s on your mind, Lance Corporal?” Kai’s question took me out of the hole I often dug for myself whenever a part of me dared to be happy.

I hadn’t realized that I’d been staring at him. “Do you wanna go camping after this?” I asked.

“Like overnight? Don’t you have to work tomorrow?” Kai asked.

“I have some days off coming up, and I’d like to take you camping. If you’re into that sort of thing and—”

“I’d love to,” he answered, saving me from my rambling.

“Great! I know an awesome place.”