Deliverance - James Dickey [36]
that seemed bound and determined to do everything wrong, to get rid of us. I was sure that Lewis was disgusted with Bobby, and just as sure that I would be, also, before much longer. "Easy," I said. "Easy. You're trying too hard. All we want to do is bold this thing straight. we don't need to be pulling our guts out to get there. Just let the river do it. Let George do it." "George ain't doing it fast enough. I want to get the hell and gone out of this goddamned place." "Ah, now. It's not all that bad." "It's not? Mosquitoes ate me up last night. My bites have got bites. I'm catching a fucking cold from sleeping on the fucking ground. I'm hungry as hell for something that tastes good. And I don't mean sorghum." "Just steady down a little, and well get there ... when we get there. It's not going to do your cold any good to dump in this river, you can bloody well bet." "Fuck it," he said. "Let's get on with it. I'm tired of this woods scene; I'm tired of shitting in a hole in the ground. This is for the Indians." After a while he settled down a little, and the back of his neck lightened its red. We dug a couple of strokes for every twenty-five yards, and the river moved us along. But I thought that the chances were pretty good, with my high center of gravity and his nerves, that we would spill before the day was out, especially if there were any fast stretches with lots of rocks. With the equipment and with Bobby and me, who were at least fifty pounds heavier than the other two, we were riding far too low in the water. We had too much stuff with us for the way we were teamed, and I signaled back to Lewis to pull over to the bank. He did, and we wallowed alongside the other canoe and tied up. "Getting hot," Lewis said. "Hot as the hinges," I said. "Did you see that big snake back yonder?" "No. Where?" "He was lying up in the limbs of that old oak tree you went under about a mile and a half back. I didn't see him till you were right under him, and he lifted his head. I didn't want to make any fuss; thought it might make him nervous. I'm pretty sure it was a moccasin. I've heard of them dropping in boats." "Shit fire," Bobby said. "That's all we need." "Yeah," said Lewis. "I can imagine." "Can you take on some of the stuff in our canoe, Lewis?" I asked. "We're awful low and logy." "Sure. Go get the cooking equipment and the bedrolls. That ought to equalize us, just about. You can also let us have about half the beer that's left." "Happy to. Everybody's going to need something to cool off with, today." "Why do it just with beer?" Lewis said, unbuttoning his shirt. "It's shallow and slow here. I'm going to get wet." I transferred the bedrolls and beer and the primus and other cooking equipment to the other canoe. Lewis was already in the water naked, booming overhand down the current with a lot of back showing, like Johnny Weismuller in the old Tarzan movies. He swam as well as he did everything else, and outran the current easily. Then he came back, his eyes glaring with effort at water level. I shucked off my coveralls and dived in, and so did Drew. The river was very cold; it felt as though it had snow and ice in it, and had only just turned then to water. But it was marvelously clear and alive, and broke like glass around you and came together unhurt. I swam a little way into the current, and would gladly have given up all human effort -- I was tired of human efforts of all kinds, especially my own -- and gone on downstream either dead or alive, to wherever it would take me. But I swam back, a hard forty yards against the subtle tearing and downstream insistence, and stood up next to Lewis, who was waist deep with water crumpling and flopping at his belly. I looked at him, for I have never seen him with his clothes off. Everything he had done for himself for years paid off as he stood there in his tracks, in the water. I could tell by the way he glanced at me; the payoff was in my eyes. I had never seen such a male body in my life, even in the pictures in the weight-lifting magazines, for most of those fellows are short, and