Page 84 of Bridesmaid for Hire
I remain in place. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have tossed my branch into the armpit of the jungle.”
“You’re being ridiculous. Just come a little closer.” She tugs me again, throwing me slightly off balance as I stumble over a rock in the path.
To catch my balance, I take one step forward, one foot landing right in the middle of the dark brush.
I nearly squeal out of pure fright, not wanting to enter the dungeon of any hungry reptiles, but I tamp it down as to not thoroughly embarrass myself. Instead, I regain my composure, think good thoughts as I lift my leg to bring it back to the path, only for Maggie to keep me firmly planted in place.
“Maggie,” I say through clenched teeth, right next to her ear. “If I don’t move out of this bush in two seconds, I’m going to throw you across—ahhhhhhhhh!” I scream as a sharp stab of pain travels up my skin.
What the—
I glance down just in time to watch none other than a motherfucking snake the size of my goddamn arm slither across my path and to the other side of the trail.
My eyes bug out.
My arms flail above my head.
And a very lady-like, blood-curdling scream flies out of my mouth.“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
A pool-sized amount of adrenaline and fear wash over me all at once as I jog in place, the screams continuing to fall out of my mouth.
A pitch so high only bats can hear from miles away.
“S-s-snake!”I scream and point. “It…it bit me. Oh, my fuck, I’ve been bitten. I’ve actually been bitten. This…this is the end of me.” My head turns woozy, my legs stop moving and I become paralyzed. “I…the snake…fuck…me.”
I wobble to the left.
I wobble to the right.
And as I feel my eyes roll to the back of my head and my body starts to careen toward the ground, I gasp out, “Man down,” right before collapsing onto the trail.
CHAPTER TEN
MAGGIE
IT ALL HAPPENS SO FAST.
One second, I’m taking in the beauty of an ancient banyan tree and the next, I’m watching Brody faint to the ground after screaming that he’s been bitten.
For a split second, I think he’s being dramatic, until I see the tail end of a snake slithering away and the blood on Brody’s leg.
Dear Jesus.
He’s been bitten.
Actually bitten by a snake. I stare at him in horror, unmoving, I can only think of one thing…
Well, two things.
Is he okay?
And he is never…and I mean never gonna let me forget this.
Until my dying day, when we’re both old and wrinkly and he’s poking Gary with a cane during a Rebels game, he’s going to turn to me and say, “Hey, remember the time you made me get bitten by a snake?”
“Oh my God, was he really bitten?” Haisley cries, coming up to us as Liko hurries to the back of the line along with his assistant. They both crouch down beside Brody who is passed out, arms spread, his tongue partially hanging out of his mouth, as if he assumed the bite was going to kill him and preparing all of us with a preemptive tongue-out-of-the-mouth.If I wasn’t so horrified that I had a possible part in killing my brother’s best friend, I’d snap a picture of this.
Liko unzips his backpack and opens a first aid kit while Nakoa flips Brody to his stomach to get a better look at the bite. They both lean in and are studying his calf while the anxiety of Brody actually perishing in front of a banyan tree becomes a distinct possibility.
