Holiday In Cambodia

While the night before had ended in quite high spirits, that was certainly not how the next morning began. Mike and Tre's grumblings about the respective pains in their head and finger weren't accepted patiently by the rest of the group, who all woke up feeling thirsty and badly rested.

While Jack attempted to drain the milk from one of the coconuts he had found the day before, he kept one eye on Tre, who was lying, propped up against Rick's backpack while he enticed a small brown monkey out of the bushes with a handful of berries that Mia and Maggie had collected earlier.

"Tre," he sighed, "Haven't you learned your lesson with the wildlife now?"
"Monkeys don't sting," Tre pointed out.
"They have teeth and claws. And stop feeding it our food!"
Tre rolled his eyes.
"It's only a coupla berries, man. And it's obviously hungry," he said, grinning as the monkey took the fruit right out of his hand. "Besides, I think it's pregnant."
"It isn't pregnant!" Jack responded, incredulously, "It's fat! Probably because some twat is overfeeding it while the rest of us starve to fucking death!"

Billie Joe groaned, wearily, rubbing a hand over his face as he listened to their bickering. His skin felt scratchy against his fingers. He could really do with a shave.

"Tre, man... " he sighed, "Jack has a point. We don't have a lot of food. We have to let the monkeys fend for themselves. Besides. It isn't pregnant, you ass. Check out the size of its fucking balls."

That made Jack laugh, and then Tre laughed too, and Billie, satisfied that the argument had been laid to rest, stood up and stretched before ambling down to the water's edge.

Bending down, he splashed some water onto his face to wake himself up, before shaking the droplets out of his hair as he heard a yell from Amber, who was out in the water up to her waist.
"Billie Joe... rice plantation... your turn!" was all he heard, and he nodded, giving her a thumbs up before turning to walk back up the beach.

"Hey Mia," he said, as he passed by her, "Will you come rice hunting with me?"
She looked up.
"Why me?"
"... Why not?"
"There are plenty of other people who have not been yet."
"... And you happened to be nearest. What's the big deal?"

Mia frowned, and was about to answer when Maggie stepped up.
"Hey," she said, "Don't worry about it, Billie, I'll go. I haven't been yet either."
Billie Joe looked between Mia and Maggie and nodded, wearily.
"Whatever," he said, "Thanks Maggie. Let's just get it outta the way... "

"Okay... Thom Yorke."
"Yeah, he's a dick."
"Thought so. Bono?"
"Don't get me started."

Maggie laughed, pushing another branch aside, as she followed Billie Joe through the trees.
"Okay. Um... Brandon Flowers. You know, from The Killers?"
"Dick."
"Ohh... but he's so cute!"
Billie Joe laughed.

"I know. Looks can be deceiving, huh?"
"So I guess you weren't kidding when you said you hated celebrities."
"I don't exactly hate celebrities. It just seems to be the case that a lot of celebrities happen to be dicks."

Maggie grinned, as Billie Joe held a particularly spiky branch to the side until she had passed beneath it, then carried on walking ahead of her.
"You aren't one of those people that stands on the sidelines at parties looking cool and acting like they don't wanna be there, are you?" she asked, teasingly.
"No," Billie Joe chuckled, "In those situations, I'm one of those people that drinks so much alcohol that they think they do want to be there, and that I actually really love all the people in the room."
"Oh. Well, that's the best kind of drunk."
"I think so too."
"Doesn't it bug you that people want to take your picture every five minutes, so you have to see yourself looking wasted the next day?"
Billie Joe shrugged.
"Sometimes. I don't know, I don't get that wasted too often these days though. And I'm kinda used to getting my picture taken now. It doesn't bother me. It bothers Adrienne though."
"Having her picture taken?"
"Yeah... she hates all the limelight."
"That must be annoying for her."
"Yeah... what's most annoying, is when people make inferences about us from the pictures. Like... they'll say Adrienne doesn't look happy or whatever, when the only reason she doesn't look happy is cause she has a camera up in her face. You know?"
"Yeah. I hate the way the media do that. You really have to take everything they say with a pinch of salt."
"Yeah, or like... an entire salt factory."
Maggie laughed.
"Exactly."
"Oh! And take Mike's ex, right?" Billie continued, clearly now on a bit of a rant, "We go to this award ceremony, she's never really been in front of a big media frenzy before, she spends the whole time clinging to Mike like he's some kinda life preserver... "
"Fuck, I'd do the same," Maggie muttered, "It's hardly a casual date."
"... Exactly. And what's the next thing we hear? People calling her a gold digger and all this other shit. I mean, what the fuck? How can anyone tell anything from a few fucking pictures? Pictures mean nothing!"

Maggie smirked a little at how worked up he was getting, as he trampled the plants in front of him, ignoring the way the sharp wild grass nicked his calves.
"Well, you're right," she said, "You think anyone really believes that shit though?"
"You'd be surprised," he said, grimly, "Our fucking fans believe that shit! Sometimes I think they'd believe anything anyone tells them. You wouldn't believe the number of diseases I'm supposed to have had. I get a fucking... stuffy nose and Mike and Tre get sent sympathy cards."
Maggie laughed again.
"That's awesome... "
He smiled.
"It's pretty crazy," he said, " I have to watch what I do all the time. And I don't like doing that. I like being myself."
"Why should you pretend to be anything different?" Maggie asked him.
He sighed.
"I don't exactly pretend to be different," he said, thoughtfully, "But sometimes I feel as though I'm putting on an act for people. Like... say Adrienne and I have a fight. I mean, everyone fights, right?"
"Of course!"
"Right. And I know myself... I can be a pain in the ass. But you know. So can she."
"So can everyone."
"So, it doesn't mean anything, but... then we have to go to some event or other, when we're still all heated up and shooting daggers at one another, but we have to hold hands and kiss and cuddle the whole night. Cause we know that, if we don't, the next day it'll be 'The Armstrongs divorce' splashed all over the internet."
Maggie laughed.
"Yeah. Cause normal couples can just ignore each other for a few hours, then have some nice make-up sex."
Billie Joe laughed.
"And that's the way it should be."

Maggie nodded, thoughtfully, as Billie Joe stopped walking, lifting his shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow.
"This heat is insane," he complained.
"You're Californian. You'd think you'd be used to it."
He shook his head.
"We don't get heat nowhere near this in the Bay."
"It is pretty intense," Maggie sighed, pushing her damp hair back from her face, "But I think we're almost there now."
"Okay," he breathed, as he reluctantly started walking again.

Maggie and Billie Joe talked all the way to the rice plantation, and they didn't stop when they got there, chatting as they walked along the rows of crops, pulling up the ones that looked the most ready. Maggie couldn't help but feel a little guilty that they were just taking it but, as Billie Joe pointed out, it was that or starve.

"I don't really know what made me come to my senses so suddenly," Maggie was saying, as they left the plantation with two backpacks full of rice. She was pretty surprised to hear herself discussing her failed relationship with a guy she had really only known for three days, but Billie Joe was easy to talk to, so she didn't see any reason why she shouldn't.
"Looking back, we never really wanted the same things. I mean... he was a teenager in the body of a twenty-eight year old. Maybe that was why I liked him so much at first. He seemed young and fun and free. But that's all he was. He never cared about me. And now I just... I can't believe I wasted two years of tears on the guy."
"He must have cared some," Billie Joe considered, as they pressed back into the overgrown jungle, "To stay with you two years and propose to you, I mean."
"He stayed with me because it was easier that way," said Maggie, bitterly, "And he proposed because he thought he should."
"And you said yes, because... "
"I loved him."
"Ah," said Billie Joe, with a small smile, "Yeah, that's always kinda problematic."
Maggie laughed.
"It was a little," she said, "And don't ask me why."
"I won't."
She sighed.
"I think, I just realised that I wasn't happy. And that I probably wasn't ever going to be happy, because he was never going to change. And I had changed already. Marriage wouldn't have made any difference. We'd just have stayed in our same apartment, while he pissed around with his friends and came home when he remembered to, and nothing would ever have been any different. I mean, people say marriage is only a piece of paper, and that's true, but only if you make it that way."
"I think I know what you mean," said Billie Joe, softly, "So, he didn't want kids or anything?"
"Nope. And at first I thought it didn't matter... but then I realised I was just kidding myself. The thought of never having kids killed me. I couldn't let him deny me something like that. That's the kind of thing that just breeds resentment."
"Yeah," said Billie Joe, quietly, "Believe me... I know."
Maggie raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"

Billie Joe wiped his brow with the back of his hand, stumbling a little on a tree root as they worked their way further into the undergrowth.
"I just know that in relationships... kids are a big issue. If you don't want the same things... it causes problems."
"But you and Adrienne both wanted them. Right?"
"Yeah. We did. And we have two awesome sons. But that doesn't stop me wanting more."
"You want another kid?"
"I'd love another kid. And I feel kind of ashamed of how much I want it sometimes cause... it makes it sound like I'm not happy with the ones I have already. And that isn't true."
"Of course it isn't. It doesn't work like that, Billie Joe. Or everyone would have one kid and be done with it."
"Yeah... " he smiled, gratefully, "I know."
"So doesn't Adrienne want another?"
"No... And I mean fair enough. It's her who has to go through most the hard work, right?"
Maggie shrugged.
"If she wanted it, the hard work wouldn't put her off. I guess she's just happy with the way things are."
"We... fought about it a little lately. She thinks I'm being selfish."
"How?"
"Cause I want another kid but I'm never around. She's the one who has to feed them and take them to school and sort out all their problems, and yell at them when they're bad. And then I turn up and do all the fun stuff, and then leave again."
Maggie bit her lip. She could see her point.
Billie Joe sighed.
"I just need to get over it and stop being broody," he said, "I already have so much more than I deserve."
"I very much doubt that's true... but I guess if Adrienne's not budging on it, you're going to have to," said Maggie, sympathetically.
"But... like you said before... that causes resentment," he complained, "And I don't want to resent her. Cause she's an amazing wife and a perfect mother. She doesn't deserve taking all my shit."
Maggie sighed.
"Shit," she said, "Relationships are difficult."
"Tell me about it. I guess in the end, the ones that work out are based on compromise. I already have two gorgeous sons, and Adrienne's a great Mom... I guess she feels its time to wind down rather than take more on."
"I guess babies are a lot of work."
"You wouldn't believe," Billie Joe smiled, "Worth it though."
Maggie sighed, wistfully.
"Yeah... "

Billie Joe noticed her look and smiled, as the trees began to thin out towards the edge of the beach.
"Hey," he said, dropping an arm loosely over her shoulders, "You're young... you know? It'll happen for you for sure... You have plenty of time to meet someone who really deserves you."

Maggie smiled, feeling warm, as the leaves and roots that had been crunching underfoot silenced and turned to sand. She felt glad that they had returned to the beach at that moment, and that the immediate company of the others ensured the conversation ended right there. It gave his words a poignancy that may otherwise have been lost, and she might not have noticed how sweet he really was.

Mike and Jason were sprawled out in the shade of the palm trees that lined the West of the beach, and they looked up as Billie Joe approached them.
"Hey," Mike greeted him, "How was the rice hunt?"
"It was okay," shrugged Billie Joe, "Quite nice, actually. You seen my cigs?"
Jason pulled some from his pocket.
"The situation's getting a little desperate. I think it's cold turkey tomorrow, dude."
"Fuck," Billie muttered, taking one, "Better enjoy it then. See you guys in a coupla minutes... I need to go water some plants."
"Okay... " Jason yawned, as he walked away.

Mike sighed, watching him leave, before leaning back against the slim trunk of the tree behind him.
"Paradise gets boring huh?" Jason muttered.
"Yep. You know, I used to like watching the ocean. Now, I've been staring at it so damn long I'm just craving... anything. I'd like someone to go get me some paint I can watch dry... "
Jason laughed a little. He paused for a moment before he spoke up quietly.
"You worried?"

Mike glanced at him, surprised by the question. It as their third day on the island, and water was scarce. Tension was definitely building, yet no one, absolutely no one had mentioned anything about feeling worried. Admitting that would be the same as admitting that there was something to worry about, and it was easier to pretend that there wasn't.

"Are you?"
Jason looked down, then nodded silently.
"It's the water," he said, "It's the water that worries me. We only have two bottles left. We've gotten through four already and we're not even three days in to a possible week here... you know? What happens when we run out? I don't wanna have to start drinking my own piss or anything."
"I don't wanna drink your piss either, Jase," Mike replied, in an attempt to make light of the situation. When Jason smiled, he sighed.
"I'm worried too, man," he replied, quietly, "But ... there's nothing we can do. We're doing well so far. I never would have believed I could last three days with nothing."
"It sure is an eye opener," said Jason, "I mean, we surround ourselves with so much shit that we don't need."
"I know," said Mike, "And the little problems we have... to think of what we've complained about in hotels before... it's almost embarrassing."
"It is embarrassing," said Jason.
Mike nodded.
"Of all the people we could have got stranded with, though," he said, "It's a pretty decent bunch."
Jason shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess so," he said, "Amber and Jack are great. I'm convinced that, without them, we'd have been dead in ten minutes."
Mike laughed.
"I think so too," he said, "And Rick's a good kid."
"Yeah... he is. I really like Maggie too."
"She's really sweet," Mike agreed,
"But... Mia's starting to piss me off. I mean she's fucking beautiful but... "
"She is," Mike agreed, nodding, "If I was going to imagine in my head the kind of woman I wanted to get stranded on a desert island with... I'd probably have imagined her... "
"... And then made sure I mortally wounded Tre Cool on the first day," Jason added, with a grin.
Mike laughed.
"I know... bastard."
"He's un-fucking-believable," Jason agreed, shaking his head, "But like I was saying, underneath it all... I don't know. I get the feeling Mia is gonna cause problems."
"I hope you're wrong. We don't need any more problems."
"Tell me about it."
"How about you and Lara?" Mike asked, reaching down to scratch at an insect bite on his ankle, "Still not getting along?"

Jason let out a breath of frustration as his head dropped onto his knees.
"It isn't even that we aren't getting along," he complained, "She just won't fucking talk to me! She completely ignores me!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! Of course I'm fucking sure! I'm not crazy!"
"I know, I know, it's just... It doesn't make any sense."
"I know! At first, I thought, well, that's the way it goes. I mean, she was a fan of the band, right? So, you were bound to take up her attention. As a second guitarist, I'm used to getting ignored. It comes with the job. But... this is different. This is personal now. She makes a point of ignoring me. And... it's really grinding me down."
Mike frowned, thoughtfully.
"She hasn't spoken to you at all?"
"Nope."
"Right from the start?"
"Nope."
"You spoken to her?"
"I haven't tried to talk to her one on one, cause I know I'll get humiliated. But of course I acknowledge her when she's here and... she just won't look at me."
"This is really weird, Jase. Especially cause... she's so nice."
"I know!" Jason exclaimed, in frustration, "She's pissing the hell outta me, and I'm starting to really resent her. Then I listen to her talking and she seems really cool and I just... wish she'd talk to me like that."
"Want me to talk to her, try and straighten things out?"
Jason sighed.
"You'd do that?"
"Sure. Now I'm curious."
Jason smiled.
"Thanks, Mike."
"No problem," Mike sighed, leaning back against the tree, "It's all in a day's work for Mike the Pacifier."

Amber was getting sick of sitting around in the sun. She had never been the kind of person who enjoyed sitting around anywhere, and the lack of activity was driving her crazy. She watched Rick for a while, who was digging a hole in the sand for no apparent reason, before he announced that he had struck seawater and she let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'm going fishing."
Jack raised an eyebrow.
"With what?"
"I don't know... it can't be that hard. Bears manage it."
"Bears have hands the size of baseball gloves," Rick pointed out, "With big fuck-off claws on the end."
"Well," she said, "Spears then. We'll get some sticks, sharpen the ends with some rocks... easy."
"Awesome," said Tre, approvingly, "I'm in."
"Really? Great, let's go."

Without thinking things through any further than that, Amber, Jack and Tre were in the water ten minutes later, armed with some sticks they had taken from a plant they had found that resembled bamboo. After shaving the ends into sharp points, they were satisfied with their weapons, and all that was left to do was wade into the water up to their waists, and wait.

The island wasn't short of sea life, and the water was perfectly clear, so it was easy to spot their targets. The only hard part was spotting them before the targets saw them first. For a long while they didn't achieve anything, except to become more and more pissed off, jabbing their spears into nothing and cursing loudly. Tre was the most impatient of all.

"This isn't as much fun as it sounded," he complained, "I thought I was going to feel like some kind of ancient warrior or caveman or something... but I just feel like an idiot with a wet stick."
"We just haven't perfected the art yet," Jack assured him, moments before plunging his stick into the water, showering Tre and Amber as he let out a triumphant yell and saw the clear water cloud with blood.
"Fuck, yes!" he exclaimed, holding up his stick to show them a writhing silvery fish skewered on the end of it. Tre grinned, impressed, as Amber excitedly kissed Jack's cheek.
"Fucking awesome! Go back to the beach and bash it on the head with something."
"Okay," said Jack, happily, hopping through the water with his spear raised.
"Oh, and don't let BJ or Mike see you do it!" Tre called after him, "They'll get sappy and try and liberate it!"

Amber and Tre remained in the water, and it wasn't long before they mastered the technique, discovering the trick to be in snapping the wrist, causing the stick to spin in the water. Before long, Amber had caught her first fish. Not as big as Jack's, but a catch all the same. Returning from dropping it off up on the beach, she eyed Tre carefully, noticing his suddenly glazed expression.

"... Are you alright , Tre?"
Tre nodded, lifting a hand to his wet hair, which was slopped across his forehead
"Yeah... I just feel a little weird all of a sudden."
"You look a little pale," Amber frowned, in concern, "Maybe you should go sit in the shade for a while."
"Uh... yeah," Tre muttered, sounding dazed, "Maybe... Maybe I will."

Amber watched as he waded towards the shore, swaying a little as he trudged up the sand, leaving a trail of drips in his wake.

"You alright?" Rick asked, as Tre sat down, heavily, next to him and put his head into his hands.
"I don't feel too good," Tre admitted.
"Really? How?"
"Just... kinda sick... and woozy."
"You do look a bit green around the gills, mate. Probably had too much sun. It's worst in the water."
"Yeah. You're probably right," sighed Tre, leaning back into the shade.
"Good job on the fishing!"
"Yeah... you should try, it's kinda fun. And it'll be good to get something else to eat... I'm sick of rice."
"Too fuckin' right," said Rick, with a nod, "You know, I could murder a bacon sandwich right now."
Tre groaned.
"Don't taunt me," he said, closing his eyes as he leant back against the tree.
"Hey," said Rick, thoughtfully, after a moment of silence, "You wondered about how people reacted... to you guys not showing up in Hong Kong?"
Tre opened one eye.
"Probably not as much as I should."
"I mean... won't the papers have got wind of it? Can you imagine the storm it could have kicked up? Some band apparently disappears off the face of the Earth?"
Tre nodded, letting out a deep breath as he closed his eyes again.
"I don't wanna think about it," he said, "The fans'll be going crazy... and our families... my Mom is gonna fucking kill me."
"Maybe best not to go into the circumstances of our arrival, there."
"Yeah... if you come up with some other plausible explanation, let me know, okay?"
"Sure will," Rick smiled.
"So how about you anyway? Anyone wondering where you've got to?"
"Nah... I never call my family anyway."
Tre frowned a little.
"Why not? You can't have long left home... lost touch already?"
"I just left home this winter... "
"Winter meaning winter, or meaning crazy Aussie winter?"
"Winter meaning July... so... the latter, I suppose," Rick smiled, "But... I haven't called since."
"That's months ago."
"I know."
"You don't get along?"
"... Not anymore. It's kinda... difficult. We don't see eye to eye."
"On what?"
"On anything," Rick muttered, looking up as Jack dumped another squirming fish in front of him, grateful for the interruption to the conversation.

The prospect of getting something different to eat seemed to raise everyone's spirits. All apart from Billie Joe, Mike and Maggie of course, who didn't hold back from voicing their disgust when Jack thoughtfully began gutting his fish right in front of them.

The anticipation of the others was dulled slightly when they had some problems lighting the fire, the fresh breeze that was coming in from the sea feeling great against their skin but wreaking havoc on their barbecue.

Maggie smiled, watching Jason's unsuccessful attempts to spread the fire using a dried twig, after all of his bandmates, plus Jack, had failed to get anywhere, and everyone was growing increasingly impatient.

"Well," Maggie smirked, as Jason's twig burnt out, "This has been an impressive display of masculinity. You guys are supposed to be able to do this lighting fires shit. It's left over from caveman times or something... "
"Alright, alright, get out of it... " said Rick, rolling his eyes as he nudged Jason to the side and took his stick, "I'll have a shot."
"You're putting your masculinity to the test too, Rick?" Lara smiled, teasingly.
"Hey," Rick smiled, pointing his stick in her direction, "When it comes to barbies, what I lack in testosterone, I make up for in Australiana... "

Lara laughed, but it turned out to be no joke, because minutes later the fire was roaring, and the fish smelled great as it cooked on the skewers it had been caught on.

Jason groaned, as he took his first bite.
"This... is fucking... incredible."
"Tasty little chap, right?" Rick agreed, and there were murmurs of agreement all round.
"It really is," said Mia, "You did very well boys."
"And Amber," Jack pointed out.
"And Amber," Mia amended.
"What kind of fish is it?" Tre asked.
Amber shrugged.
"Not sure," she said, "But I think it might be catfish."
"Yeah," Jack nodded, "It had whiskers."
"Guys... please... " Mike grimaced.
Jack grinned.
"Sorry," he said, teasingly, "How's the rice?"

Maggie found it easy to sleep that night. Her trip to the plantation with Billie Joe had been exhausting, and feeling like she'd eaten a proper meal for the first time in several days helped a lot.

The breeze carried a slight chill with it now that the sun had gone down, and she was grateful for the dying fire as she pulled her mosquito net over her head. That was the thing she was most relieved to have brought with her. Only she and Rick had them and at night, when the bugs woke up, it became her most prized possession. She opened her eyes again as she heard Tre groan a little next to her, and saw him sitting up by the fire.

"Are you okay, Tre?"
"I think I'm sick."
Maggie reached over and gave his hand a squeeze.
"It's heat exhaustion. You'll be fine come morning."
He nodded, gratefully.
"Yeah, I know... thanks Maggie."
"You want some water?"
He shook his head.
"If I bring it back up again, It'll be wasted."

Maggie nodded, sympathetically, watching him gingerly lie back on the sand, and bit her lip. She had done enough foreign travel to know that, in a strange country, you were lucky if you didn't get sick from something. But she also knew that, in this part of Asia, you'd be stupid to ignore it completely. What if he needed a doctor?

She shook her head a little and closed her eyes. They'd lived off nothing but rice for three days straight. It was a wonder everyone's stomachs weren't making a protest. No one else seemed too worried about Tre, and she knew she needed to stop fretting about everything. A few more days and everything would be fine.

She repeated it to herself in her head as sleep took over.
Everything... is going... to be fine.