Apocalypsis 01 - Kahayatle

evening was going to be awful.   I wondered if the indians had a homemade brew of some sort that kept them away, because at this rate, my bottle would be empty in a few weeks at the most.
    Bodo came back alone a few minutes later.  
    “Peter all set?” I asked.
    “Yeah.   He’s taking a shower.   I wanted to give him some privacy.”
    “Good thinking.”
    “Is dat our bed?” he asked, gesturing to the blanket on the floor.
    “It’s part of it.”   I pulled my sleeping bag from my backpack.   “Here’s the other part of mine.”
    “Oh.   I don’t haff one of dose.”
    “Maybe Peter will share,” I said, unrolling mine and putting it down on the blanket.
    “I’d radder not,” he said, coming over and laying on the edge of the blanket, next to my sleeping bag.   “You sleep in the middle.   Udderwise, I’m going to get too hot.”
    “Fine.”   I tended to get cold in the middle of the night, so I didn’t mind having two warm bodies on either side of me.
    Bodo folded his arms behind his head.   “So, what do you think of these people here … dese indians?”
    I came over and laid down on top of my sleeping bag, bringing my mosquito repellant with me and pulling one of his arms out to spray it for him.   He allowed me to manhandle him, putting each arm back when I was done.   “I guess they’re okay.   That girl Coli told me that she’s not Miccosukee.   She’s Creek, like the girl at the shell shop.   They’re cousins.”
    “I’ll bet all of da indians around here are related in some way.”
    “Probably.   I wonder if it’s normal for Creek indians and Miccosukee indians to get together like that.”
    “Dats what the Seminoles are,” said Bodo.
    I put my spray off to the side and laid down on my side, turning to look at him.   He was staring up at the ceiling.   “What do you mean?   Seminoles are Seminoles.”
    “I did a study of Native Americans when I was doing my semester abroad here.   I lived near da casino, so it was interesting to me.   In Chermany, indians and cowboys are a big deal … very mysterious and exciting.   I chose dis subject because I always wondered about it when I was a little boy.”
    “So what’s the deal with the Seminoles then?”
    “Dey are a tribe made up of other tribes.   All of dem came together with an alliance.   It made dem stronger and more powerful.”
    “What tribes?”
    “I don’t remember all of dem, but I do remember Miccosukee and Creek were includedt.”
    “Coli hinted around, and so did Kowi, of some sort of issue going on with their tribes.   Do you think this Seminole business is a problem for them right now?”
    Bodo’s voice was sounding sleepy. “I don’t know.   Maybe.   Dey might have different ideass about who owns da Everglades now.”
    “Yeah,” I said, my voice drifting off to my own ears.   “That makes sense.”   I rolled onto my back, my eyes closing of their own accord.
    The sound of Bodo’s light snoring put me to sleep.   To my exhausted brain and newly washed and relaxed body, it almost seemed liked I was falling asleep by the beach, resting in the shade of a palm and listening to the sound of the waves.   In and out they were going, a light breeze keeping the humidity and heat at bay, a soft bed of sand beneath me.
    ***
    I woke sometime later, sitting up and wondering why there was so little light showing between the trees.   I looked at my watch and was shocked to see that I had slept for several hours.   Bodo was still snoring next to me.
    I nudged him with my hand.   “Get up.”
    He turned in his sleep and reached his arm out, putting it across my lap.
    I looked down at it for a second, liking the feel of its weight there and the warmth that quickly spread from it.   I looked to see what Peter was up to, and for the first time, realized he wasn’t there.   A quick scan of the hut we were in and the one next to us told me he wasn’t anywhere around.
    I lifted Bodo’s arm off me and let it drop at his side awkwardly.   “Bodo, get up.   Peter’s not here.”
    Bodo mumbled something in his sleep and turned on his back again.   His mouth was hanging open, a snore coming out.
    “Bodo!” I said more sharply, pushing on him with two hands.   “Get up!   Peter is missing.”
    Bodo’s eyes opened three times in quick succession.   He was blinking them over and over; I could tell he was trying to figure out where he was and who this person was that was