For a big, brawny, muscular guy, Jendan had the stomach of a sickly pre-teen.
I buried my worries, crossing my arms over my breasts and keeping my attention focused on Chip. Maybe I was just thinking worst case scenario. There could be any number of challenges that had to deal with a long, waist high table.
A fleet of production assistants moved to the table, setting covered silver platters in eight spots. Something pungent tickled my nostrils.
Oh dear.
“For today’s Judgment,” Chip began, an unholy look of glee on his face, “You will be partaking in a number of traditional Fijian dishes.”
Hell. I looked over at Jendan. My partner had gone pale and swallowed hard.
“You can do this,” I murmured. I reached for his hand and laced my fingers with his, then gave him an encouraging squeeze.
He nodded, but the look on his face didn’t fill me with confidence.
“For each round,” Chip continued, walking down the length of the long tables. “Each person will have a dish presented to them. They must consume all of the dish. If you do not finish your dish, you are out. If you throw up your dish, you are out.” He gestured at the covered trays. “There are eight places here, but only five will move on to the next round of eating. The first two teams to lose both partners will be heading to Judgment. Does everyone understand?”
I began to sweat a little. Jendan could do this. He could. He should be hungry, I told myself. We hadn’t eaten breakfast today because we’d been unable to catch anything in the ocean to eat. If he was hungry enough, this wouldn’t be so bad.
And if he was awful at it, I’d just have to eat enough for both of us.
Chapter Sixteen
“You should have seen those things. Eyes, man. They still had eyes. Ugh. I get queasy just thinking about it right now.” — Jendan Abercrombie, Day 23, Endurance Island: Power Players
“Everyone line up at their places,” Chip announced.
I gave Jendan’s hand an encouraging little squeeze before we stepped up to the table. He gave me a worried look, and then his gaze focused on his plate. Mine did too, and I tried to imagine the horrors underneath there. Kip stepped up next to me, and as I looked over at him, he smirked and licked his lips.
My heart sank a little. Kip never had trouble with these sorts of challenges.
Chip spoke again. “When I say go, I want everyone to remove their lids. You must finish everything but the containers,” Chip instructed. “Three…two…one…go!”
I scrambled to pull the lid off of my plate, pushing it aside and examining the revealed items. There was a great big white bowl in front of me, and in the bowl were what looked like teeny tiny clusters of green grapes. They looked like caviar, almost. The bowl was brimming full of them, too, and I was dismayed at the sheer amount of food in it. Next to the bowl was a coconut half, and in the coconut was something that looked like dirty dishwater.
E
“For the first course,” Chip said. “A Fijian staple called nama - or sea-grapes. In the cup is kava, a traditional alcoholic drink.”
I picked up one cluster of sea grapes and popped it into my mouth. A dozen tiny little squirting explosions hit, and I mentally winced - it was like biting into a bunch of bubbles filled with sea water. Gross. I chewed, trying not to think about it, and blanched when grains of sand crunched between my teeth. Wrinkling my nose, I reached for the drink, took a swig, and blanched again. Not only did it look like dirty dishwater, but it tasted like it, too. Now there was even more grit in my mouth.
Gross, but not so bad.
I looked over to see how Jendan was faring. My partner was pale, his throat working hard. He reached for his drink - the kava - and grimaced. If it was possible, he got even paler. Not good.
I swallowed, grimacing at the briny, bitter taste, and then popped another bunch into my mouth. I focused on Jendan instead. If I chewed enthusiastically and tried not to make faces, maybe that would encourage him that it wasn’t so bad.
He closed his eyes and methodically worked his jaw, chewing vigorously. After a moment, he held his nose and continued to chew.
Well, whatever worked. At least he was keeping it down. I swallowed another too-salty-too-gritty mouthful and went to work on the next.
Time passed incredibly slowly. By the time I got to the bottom of my bowl, my mouth was dry from the salty flavor, my stomach was feeling a little abused, and the kava was making my tongue numb every time I drank it. I was on my last bite when Chip threw his hands up dramatically. “Kip is done with his food!”
“Here!” Kissy called, and I looked down the row to see her dump the rest of the kava back in her throat.
“Kissy’s done with her food! Red team moves on!”
I looked over at Jendan worriedly. He was eating methodically, but slow. I leaned over the table, looking down the line. Leslie and Emilio were eating slowly too, and Alys was doing better than Jendan, but not by much. I tipped back my head and gulped the rest of the kava, ignoring the grit and the numbness it left behind.
“Annabelle is done,” Chip crowed.
I pretended to wipe my mouth as I stepped away from the table. “Go faster, Jendan,” I whispered, then moved to the bench to sit next to Kip and Kissy. Three people down, two more spots to go.
I clasped my hands together and watched my partner intently. He was trying to eat faster, but I could tell he was struggling. Once you got past the salty squishiness of it and the grit of the sand, it wasn’t that bad. Theoretically. But poor Jendan was looking rather pale as he continued to shove clusters of sea grapes into his mouth, chewing. He’d pause, get extremely quiet, then grab at his drink, and then look just as ill all over again.
“Alys is finished!” Chip called. “We have one more spot left! You guys need to pick it up!”
Alys clapped her hands and bounded over to sit next to me on the bench.
I pressed my hands to my mouth, watching Jendan eat. I couldn’t see anything left in his bowl, but the others left - Saul, Emilio, and Leslie - were trying to eat faster. Please, please, I mentally chanted. Come on, Jendan. It’s just seaweed. You can do this.
As I watched, utterly tense, Jendan grabbed a huge mouthful and began to choke it down, then grabbed his kava cup and swigged it. His eyes bugged for a moment and his throat worked, and I was sure he was going to throw up. Then he gave his head a little shake and flipped his bowl. “Done!”
Chip raised his hands again. “Jendan is the last one to move on!”
I gave a happy squeal of delight and rushed to my partner’s side, flinging my arms around him. I didn’t care that I was pressing my body against his in front of everyone else - I was just so thrilled he’d soldiered through. “Great job!”
“Just…don’t jostle me too much,” he said faintly.
I immediately pulled away from him. “Sorry. You did great, though. Really good.”
He nodded, hands on his hips and took a deep breath.
“All right,” Chip said as the plates were cleared. “Red team moves on. Blue team moves on. Half of the purple team -Alys - moves on. The green team is eliminated. Alys, if you lose the next round, your team is out. Everyone that’s done, sit down on the bench. Everyone else, let’s go back to the table for round two.”
“God. Can’t we have five minutes to digest?” Jendan said, sounding a little breathless. “I’m still trying to keep the other shit down.”
I buried my worries, crossing my arms over my breasts and keeping my attention focused on Chip. Maybe I was just thinking worst case scenario. There could be any number of challenges that had to deal with a long, waist high table.
A fleet of production assistants moved to the table, setting covered silver platters in eight spots. Something pungent tickled my nostrils.
Oh dear.
“For today’s Judgment,” Chip began, an unholy look of glee on his face, “You will be partaking in a number of traditional Fijian dishes.”
Hell. I looked over at Jendan. My partner had gone pale and swallowed hard.
“You can do this,” I murmured. I reached for his hand and laced my fingers with his, then gave him an encouraging squeeze.
He nodded, but the look on his face didn’t fill me with confidence.
“For each round,” Chip continued, walking down the length of the long tables. “Each person will have a dish presented to them. They must consume all of the dish. If you do not finish your dish, you are out. If you throw up your dish, you are out.” He gestured at the covered trays. “There are eight places here, but only five will move on to the next round of eating. The first two teams to lose both partners will be heading to Judgment. Does everyone understand?”
I began to sweat a little. Jendan could do this. He could. He should be hungry, I told myself. We hadn’t eaten breakfast today because we’d been unable to catch anything in the ocean to eat. If he was hungry enough, this wouldn’t be so bad.
And if he was awful at it, I’d just have to eat enough for both of us.
Chapter Sixteen
“You should have seen those things. Eyes, man. They still had eyes. Ugh. I get queasy just thinking about it right now.” — Jendan Abercrombie, Day 23, Endurance Island: Power Players
“Everyone line up at their places,” Chip announced.
I gave Jendan’s hand an encouraging little squeeze before we stepped up to the table. He gave me a worried look, and then his gaze focused on his plate. Mine did too, and I tried to imagine the horrors underneath there. Kip stepped up next to me, and as I looked over at him, he smirked and licked his lips.
My heart sank a little. Kip never had trouble with these sorts of challenges.
Chip spoke again. “When I say go, I want everyone to remove their lids. You must finish everything but the containers,” Chip instructed. “Three…two…one…go!”
I scrambled to pull the lid off of my plate, pushing it aside and examining the revealed items. There was a great big white bowl in front of me, and in the bowl were what looked like teeny tiny clusters of green grapes. They looked like caviar, almost. The bowl was brimming full of them, too, and I was dismayed at the sheer amount of food in it. Next to the bowl was a coconut half, and in the coconut was something that looked like dirty dishwater.
E
“For the first course,” Chip said. “A Fijian staple called nama - or sea-grapes. In the cup is kava, a traditional alcoholic drink.”
I picked up one cluster of sea grapes and popped it into my mouth. A dozen tiny little squirting explosions hit, and I mentally winced - it was like biting into a bunch of bubbles filled with sea water. Gross. I chewed, trying not to think about it, and blanched when grains of sand crunched between my teeth. Wrinkling my nose, I reached for the drink, took a swig, and blanched again. Not only did it look like dirty dishwater, but it tasted like it, too. Now there was even more grit in my mouth.
Gross, but not so bad.
I looked over to see how Jendan was faring. My partner was pale, his throat working hard. He reached for his drink - the kava - and grimaced. If it was possible, he got even paler. Not good.
I swallowed, grimacing at the briny, bitter taste, and then popped another bunch into my mouth. I focused on Jendan instead. If I chewed enthusiastically and tried not to make faces, maybe that would encourage him that it wasn’t so bad.
He closed his eyes and methodically worked his jaw, chewing vigorously. After a moment, he held his nose and continued to chew.
Well, whatever worked. At least he was keeping it down. I swallowed another too-salty-too-gritty mouthful and went to work on the next.
Time passed incredibly slowly. By the time I got to the bottom of my bowl, my mouth was dry from the salty flavor, my stomach was feeling a little abused, and the kava was making my tongue numb every time I drank it. I was on my last bite when Chip threw his hands up dramatically. “Kip is done with his food!”
“Here!” Kissy called, and I looked down the row to see her dump the rest of the kava back in her throat.
“Kissy’s done with her food! Red team moves on!”
I looked over at Jendan worriedly. He was eating methodically, but slow. I leaned over the table, looking down the line. Leslie and Emilio were eating slowly too, and Alys was doing better than Jendan, but not by much. I tipped back my head and gulped the rest of the kava, ignoring the grit and the numbness it left behind.
“Annabelle is done,” Chip crowed.
I pretended to wipe my mouth as I stepped away from the table. “Go faster, Jendan,” I whispered, then moved to the bench to sit next to Kip and Kissy. Three people down, two more spots to go.
I clasped my hands together and watched my partner intently. He was trying to eat faster, but I could tell he was struggling. Once you got past the salty squishiness of it and the grit of the sand, it wasn’t that bad. Theoretically. But poor Jendan was looking rather pale as he continued to shove clusters of sea grapes into his mouth, chewing. He’d pause, get extremely quiet, then grab at his drink, and then look just as ill all over again.
“Alys is finished!” Chip called. “We have one more spot left! You guys need to pick it up!”
Alys clapped her hands and bounded over to sit next to me on the bench.
I pressed my hands to my mouth, watching Jendan eat. I couldn’t see anything left in his bowl, but the others left - Saul, Emilio, and Leslie - were trying to eat faster. Please, please, I mentally chanted. Come on, Jendan. It’s just seaweed. You can do this.
As I watched, utterly tense, Jendan grabbed a huge mouthful and began to choke it down, then grabbed his kava cup and swigged it. His eyes bugged for a moment and his throat worked, and I was sure he was going to throw up. Then he gave his head a little shake and flipped his bowl. “Done!”
Chip raised his hands again. “Jendan is the last one to move on!”
I gave a happy squeal of delight and rushed to my partner’s side, flinging my arms around him. I didn’t care that I was pressing my body against his in front of everyone else - I was just so thrilled he’d soldiered through. “Great job!”
“Just…don’t jostle me too much,” he said faintly.
I immediately pulled away from him. “Sorry. You did great, though. Really good.”
He nodded, hands on his hips and took a deep breath.
“All right,” Chip said as the plates were cleared. “Red team moves on. Blue team moves on. Half of the purple team -Alys - moves on. The green team is eliminated. Alys, if you lose the next round, your team is out. Everyone that’s done, sit down on the bench. Everyone else, let’s go back to the table for round two.”
“God. Can’t we have five minutes to digest?” Jendan said, sounding a little breathless. “I’m still trying to keep the other shit down.”
