Chapter 29 -- What's New, Pussycat?

On we go...

Eden's still laying on the banana leaf, and she's guessed by the passing of the shadows that Bramford's been gone for about two hours.  I'm not certain that a girl who's lived in an underground city and relied on technology all her life is going to know how to tell time from watching shadows, but that could just be me sucking at telling time without a clock nearby talking...

Panic clawed at her, as she wondered if she'd misunderstood him.  A day, maybe two.  She only had assumed he would stay with her.  But what if he planned on leaving her alone?  Why couldn't the beast ever say what he meant? -- p. 202

Nice to know that Bramford's automatically a beast whenever he does something you don't like.  *eyeroll*

There's a splash in the river, and Eden gets to watch as a school of piranha (yes, Latin name, were you expecting anything different?) catch and eat a "pretty, little rainbow fish."  She proceeds to scour the forest around her for potential threats.  I guess we're supposed to take this little scene as a metaphor for how our "pretty little" protagonist is alone and threatened by a dangerous wild world, which is pretty stupid to me.  "White woman in danger" is such an overplayed trope any more that it gets eye-rolling when we're expected to take it dead seriously.

Eden starts to freak out as she hears whistling and laughing in the forest... but it turns out to be something called a "laughing falcon" (yup, Latin name too, isn't our protagonist so smart?).  And of course Eden assumes that everything in the jungle is making fun of her.  Because it's all about her, don't you know...

Eden also thinks "please, protect me, Mother Earth."  Which seems a little weird since didn't this book establish that Eden considered religion to be dead and silly superstition?  Why would she suddenly be praying to "Mother Earth?"  Worship of the Earth has not been established up to this point, and I don't think using "Earth" as a curse word the whole book counts.

This Earth goddess is not amused by this book

Something approaches from upstream, and she panics... but it's just Bramford coming back.  And we get this winning bit:

Relief, and then anger washed over her.  He hadn't even bothered to call out to her.

Her shrill voice lit into him, as he approached.  "For Earth's sake, Bramford.  Why didn't you tell me you'd be back? Or did you enjoy scaring me?" -- p. 203

*sigh*  I'm getting sick and tired of Eden screaming at Bramford one moment and lusting after him the next.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who hates the Belligerent Sexual Tension trope, or its nasty implications.  Because fighting or insulting one another constantly, even if it's followed up by romantic or sexy moments, can't be a good basis for a healthy relationship...

Bramford doesn't respond to the yelling, just shows what he's carrying -- leaves, nuts, berries, and a length of vine.  He stares at Eden with "bruising eyes," and geez do I hate this book's attempts at description and metaphor.

Never gets old

Eden keeps ranting at him, though you think she would have learned by now not to tick off the jaguar man.  But self-preservation was never one of Eden's strong points, was it?

"I don't know why you bothered to save me in the first place, if you were going to leave me here to die.  There are things everywhere; things that want to kill me.  Just now, I heard someone."  She wagged a finger.  "Right there-"

Without warning Bramford pounced on her, scattering his pickings into the air.  Eden flattened her back against the leaf and screamed. -- p. 203-204

Yay, protagonist eaten by a jaguar furry, we can all go home now!

Nah, of course we can't be so lucky... we just get faux-sexy description out of it.

He knelt over her, his weight supported on one arm.  His loincloth brushed against the top of her thighs.  His irresistible scent shot like a hot arrow through her galloping heart.

Eden yearned to caress his savage face but feared he might hit her.  From a lifetime of habit she knew what to do.

"I'm sorry, sir," she began, speaking in the flat, unthreatening tones of a Pearl.  But she had to reach for the right note, as if it was packed away on a shelf.  She hung her head on her chest as she continued.  "I didn't mean to upset you.  I only wanted--"  -- p. 204

I dunno what's worse -- the weirdly written "sexy" bit there or the uncomfortable reverse racism bit immediately following it.  I get what Foyt's trying to do here -- put a white girl in the place that a lot of black people have found themselves in over the generations, having to be subservient to a white person for fear of repercussions -- but it just feels uncomfortable.  It reads less like a case of "see how it feels, white people?" and more like she's co-opting decades of pain and humiliation that people of color have experienced, just to get a little drama for her precious protagonist.

And any shred of good a scene like that could have done is destroyed when Bramford apologizes to EDEN for what happened.

"I left you here without explanation.  You have a right to complain.  Go ahead.  Attack, don't whimper." -- p. 204

Ugh... making your otherwise-likable black love interest suddenly subservient to the white girl is icky and uncomfortable, Foyt.  How did you go so, so wrong with this supposedly anti-racist book?

Bramford tells her she could learn a lesson in protecting herself, and she thinks "the bastard hadn't changed one bit" even though he's right.  She demands to know why he left her defenseless and he points out that nothing attacked her while he was gone.  And we get a rather uncomfortable explanation as to why.

"Why can't you understand?" he said.  "The jungle isn't chaotic.  Order exists here.  You just don't recognize it.  Don't you realize that I marked you with my scent when we laid together so that nothing would attack you?" -- p. 205

Wat.

Just... wat.

Okay, I get it.  This is totally a cat thing.  Cats do have scent glands on their chins that they use to mark their territory, including their humans.  So when you think your cat is being loving and friendly by rubbing his chin against you, more often than not he's just making it clear to other animals that "this human is MINE, back off."  And Bramford IS part cat at the moment, so...

I'm sorry, but even if Bramford is a cat-man now, this is still icky.  Eden has remarked before that Bramford likes to mark his territory "like a beast," and this is just giving her more ammo for the whole beast thing.  I don't care that we're supposed to see it as romantic and heroic on Bramford's part, that he did this to protect Eden.  It's still squicky and weird and... argh.  I need a shower.

Eden feels betrayed that their earlier snuggling was just Bramford marking her (and for once I don't blame her), and she decides Bramford'll never see "the Real Eden" again.  We'll see how long THAT lasts, her feelings toward Bramford have more flip-flops than a California beach.

She watches "the scribbled line of shade slide over the opposite embankment" (seriously Foyt, you're trying WAY too hard with your description here) and dreads the coming night.  And she wishes she were anywhere else in the world than stuck here with Bramford.  Don't whine, girl, it was your choice to go running into the jungle with no protection.

Bramford pulls up a lily pad, and Eden marvels how the white flowers are "huddled like Baby Pearls"... and then Bramford yanks the flower out of the lily pad and throws it away, and just uses the lily pad as a plate to put the nuts and berries on.  And of course Eden has to take offense to THIS too.

He probably wished he could be just as easily rid of her. -- p. 205

Don't we all, girl... don't we all.

What we all probably wish we could do to Eden

right about now...

Eden kicks the pad away, telling Bramford not to tell her what to do.  He grabs her by the leg, sending "hot, burning signals" up her legs and into her brain.  Your nerves are constantly sending signals from your legs to your brain, this is nothing special, girl.  And she thinks about how much she hates him, which is nothing new.

"Good, you're angry," Bramford said.  "You can't survive in the jungle without anger."  -- p. 206

Stop reminding me of things I'd rather be

reading/watching than this crappy book...

"I don't want to be in the jungle," Eden hissed.

"You want to survive, don't you?"

"That's a stupid question."

"Is it?  As far as I can tell you invite danger.  You don't eat, you walk alone in the jungle."  He narrowed his gaze at her and spoke pointedly.  "And you take up with dangerous men." -- p. 206

Nice to see that Bramford can still put Eden in her place.  Too bad this trait will probably be neutered out of him when these two finally stop bickering and settle down into forced romance.

Eden slaps him, and he warns her not to push him.  At least we don't get a "you won't like me when I'm angry" quote...  Eden protests that she didn't know anything about Jamal's plan to betray them, but then remembers his "wicked grin" and realizes she should have seen it all along.  But she's still going to be mad at Bramford because wah, someone's being mean to me, they have to suffer for it.

"When you get to where I am you'll understand a lot more than you could ever imagine."

"Why on Holy Earth would I want to be like you?"

Bramford's face went bank.  Eden saw that she had hurt him.  Well, he deserved it.  Still, she felt a lump in her chest. -- p. 206-207

Our heroine, ladies and gentlemen.

Bramford starts a fire, and Eden wonders why he's being so difficult.  Excuse me, he's not the one acting like a spoiled brat even after having someone save his life.  Her hating him doesn't stop her from ogling him as he's tending the fire, though, because the only thing more important than looking beautiful is hot guys, don't you know.  Our upstanding role model for girls, ladies and gentlemen...

Bramford tells Eden she'll have to tend to the fire while he's gone... because he's going to take some of that vine-drug and go on a "trip."

"Only the shaman drank the bejuco de oro in special ceremonies long ago.  It allowed him to see far ahead so he could protect the people.  They called him El Tigre because his spirit flew with the speed of a jaguar."  Already, Bramford sounded far away as he added, "It's the next step for me." -- p. 208

Um... these people already see him as a god.  Why does he need to get wasted and turn into a shaman as well?  This sudden turn to mysticism and shamanism doesn't seem in character for him, even with his sudden transformation into a furry.  Or is Foyt going to take this opportunity to toss in an anti-drug message as well?  Please no...

He tells her "in a cowboy drawl" that she'll have to hold the fort, and assures her he'll be back by dawn.  He also insists that he'll die if he doesn't do this, which is a bunch of bunk in my book, but it's pretty clear by this point that Foyt's making all this up as she goes along, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised by anything at this point.

"But, don't you see?  What if it's dangerous?"

Bramford looked her dead in the eye.  "Oh, it'll be dangerous, Eden.  You can count on that." -- p. 209

And on that note, we end the chapter -- with Bramford about to get spaced out on drugs deep in the jungle and leaving a wussy city-girl who's almost gotten herself killed umpteen times by now to protect him.  *sigh*  Well, likable and intelligent Bramford was nice while he lasted, I guess...