Taming the Telomeres, a Thriller

by R. N. Shapiro

  "You probably know, right?"

  “Know what? About the farm? Why shouldn’t I know? I was the one who sold it today.”

  “I bought it.”

  "What the…? The realtor just called me to say that the closing was over. They didn't tell me you were the buyer. You bought my farm?" he says incredulously.

  "Yeah, I really wanted to do it. I wanted you to not have to worry about the money. But that's really not the main thing I came to tell you. I paid off the mortgage on your condo and I paid off your business loan on the café."

  "You did what? How can…? I can’t accept your money. You can't do that."

  "Who says I can't? I did it. I wanted to. And I don't plan to change anything at the farm, but I do have some ideas for the future. I want it to be a place where brain-injury patients can interact with horses.”

  She suddenly gives him a big unsolicited hug. He reacts awkwardly, still holding the guitar by his side.

  “Tell me if you want any of Kent’s belongings, clothes, boxes in the closets, anything at all. I mean, I’m not moving anything, but I don’t want you to think I…I guess I mean it’s yours and I want you to know that.”

  Kyle has a glazed look in his eyes, and Amanda doesn’t know what else to say to him. She notices a couple of tears in his eyes. She can’t begin to fathom his grief, her own grief has been overwhelming enough. Amanda feels a twinge of happiness mixed together with tremendous sadness.

  “I’m going to have a few friends and my aunt and uncle over tonight at the farmhouse. Would you want to come too?”

  “Uh, no, I don’t think so. Thanks for asking though.”

  Amanda walks back to the café and finds her uncle. Kyle follows her.

  He ambles over toward Andy. “I don’t know what to say. I can’t accept this, I’ll return the money or pay it back…”

  “Kyle, no. It’s done, and Amanda has no intention of reversing course. It was her decision, and, that’s that. We support her 100%.”

  They both walk out to Andy's car, leaving Kyle standing in the middle of the café with the acoustic guitar still dangling from his hand.

  "You know the deal," Andy says once they are driving through Middleburg. "You're going to go back to Middleburg Academy Monday, right? David says he's going to be your driver. A promise is a promise."

  "Yeah, okay.” She sighs, and then texts David to confirm when he'll be there to pick her up. Uncle Andy doesn't know that she wants her return to M.A. to be short lived.

  “Let’s go to the farm. I’m not sure how to do this homeowner stuff.” she finally admits.

  Chapter 89

  Housewarming

  The night of the closing brought much uncertainty to Andy and Barbara. How would they chaperone their young niece who was living on her own? Since she reached the age of majority they both recognized they had to delicately handle the issue of adult supervision for her at the farmhouse.

  Both of them, Barb’s husband Steve, Becca, and several of Amanda’s friends collected at the farmhouse the evening after the closing. David wanted to bring Jonathan, but Amanda insisted David come alone. David thought that was a bit cold-hearted of her, but couldn’t do anything to change her mind.

  Amanda was not at all happy about her supposed need for adult supervision. She decided to talk to Brittney about not only tutoring her, but maybe also staying at the farmhouse. After all, Brittney needed help too. And Amanda was now in a position to pay her for tutoring and help her stay out of trouble by keeping her away from her less-than-desirable friends.

  Amanda shared her plan with one person: David.

  “You’re kidding me. Brittney is going to be your tutor and watch over you? Her own life is a wreck. Why don’t you find someone else, like one of your relatives?”

  They walk from the horse stable back toward the farmhouse along a gravel path. Amanda notices the yellowish sheen of the full moon. She feels remarkably content, more so than ever before that she can recall.

  “I don’t want one of my relatives staying here. That would be stifling. Can you stay this weekend? Your parents are cool, they’d let you, right?”

  “I can ask ‘em. I wonder if your aunt and uncle would consider me an adult chaperone.”

  “It would just be for a couple of days and then I can break the news about Brittney,” Amanda says, while sliding her cell phone out of the back pocket of her jeans.

  She scrolls through and finds Brittney’s phone number.

  Can you call me at this number? Want to talk about some stuff. Amanda

  A couple minutes later Amanda sees the incoming call from Brittney.

  “Tell me again what subjects could you tutor me in if I need help with the end of my senior year.” Amanda says.

  “Well, any of the sciences or math. What are your classes right now?”

  “Chemistry, biology, calculus, English literature, and I think European history.”

  “How about if I come by tomorrow morning at 10? Gather your course materials together, especially your textbooks if possible, and we’ll sit down and figure out a plan.”

  “Do you have transportation?”

  Brittney confirms she has a car.

  David stands by listening. He agrees to get all of Amanda’s school materials from her aunt’s house where it’s been collecting dust, and they head back into the farmhouse. They explain to Andy and Barbara about the tutor—but leave out the houseguest part. David motions to Amanda, and they both move into the front foyer. He begins whispering to her.

  “I checked her out and she’s definitely done a lot of tutoring,” David says. “Hey, you didn’t forget about getting your medical records, did you? We need to keep searching, keep hunting.”

  “I’ll make an appointment with one of my doctors.” Amanda answers.

  “Great. It should be your orthopedic doctor since your main problem was your back. I also want to search for info about what your dad was doing in the last few weeks before the Hemispheres jet crash.”

  “What if we don’t get anywhere with this?”

  “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” David says.

  The small party breaks up by 10:00 p.m. Andy and Barbara know that both Zander and Manuel will be in the guesthouse next to the barn, and that David will be staying for the weekend. Andy lets Amanda know that he plans to hire another security guard by Saturday. Then he and Barbara both leave.

  “Well, I guess you get the master bedroom, David, ‘cuz I sleep in Kent’s room.”

  “Uh, okay. Being here and knowing that you own this entire farm now, the whole thing is really weird.”

  “I have a lot of plans, including keeping Manuel and Zander to help with the stable and horses and having people with injuries come to the farm.”

  “That’s a cool idea. It would take some serious organization though.”

  “Yeah, I couldn’t do anything until we settled my case, but now I want to do something with some of the money that makes a difference. I want to make people happy.”

  “Maybe I’ll try to help you out if you really get it going.”

  “I’ll make it happen. G’night.”

  Amanda walks down the hall toward what is now her room. She reaches for an album, “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd, and lays it on the turntable, adjusts the volume to a fairly low level and gets ready for bed. Homeowner. Hmmm, being a homeowner is pretty cool, she concludes.

  Chapter 90

  Tutoring

  The next morning is cold but sunny when Amanda and David walk to the horse stable and Amanda introduces him to Voodoo and the other horses. Manuel works diligently grooming one of the horses and stops just briefly to be introduced before getting back to work. Amanda and David then walk along the driveway, their hands shoved inside the pockets of their jackets.

  "Looks like somebody's coming. It must be your tutor," David says, looking down the driveway.

  A small cloud of dust rises from the car slowly coming toward them.

  "What
in God's name is she driving? Is that an old Geo Tracker?”

  "I don't know much about cars, so I couldn't tell you."

  As the car comes to a stop 30 feet away, they see the front passenger door is painted gray, and there is a thick sheet of plastic secured by duct tape over the passenger side window. A few moments later the driver's door opens and Brittney Hayes steps out.

  "Good morning. Good to see you guys again." she says. "I'm going to get my books and things out of the back."

  She swings a large backpack over one shoulder and walks around the car. David can’t help himself.

  "That's a pretty, uh, scarred up car you've got there…"

  "It gets me where I need to go. And Geos get great gas mileage."

  "What's with the plastic over the passenger window? Did you have a wreck?" Amanda asks her.

  "No, I bought it that way. It was $500.00 and the engine is still really good. I just have to get some money to get the window fixed."

  “Let’s go in," Amanda says, starting to walk up the steps to the house. "I really like your purple highlights. When’d you do that?"

  "A couple days ago, it's pretty easy. I can show you how if you want."

  Once inside, Brittney and Amanda spread everything out on the kitchen table.

  "What are your strongest courses?" Brittney asks.

  "How would I know?"

  "Oh right. Well, you’ll need to get your transcript I guess. You’re going back to school, what, this coming Monday?"

  “Supposedly,” Amanda mumbles unenthusiastically.

  “I’m coming to pick you up, and, in case you forgot, I will be here at 7:30 a.m.” David says from behind the two of them. “Oh, and she was really into English lit and theater. I don’t know about her grades in math or science.”

  They start with chemistry and English literature, and David makes himself scarce by watching ESPN in another room. After a couple of hours Brittney starts collecting her things to leave, stashing books in her big backpack.

  "Would you consider staying here at the farm and tutoring me full-time for a while?" Amanda asks.

  "Really? Well, I've got my apartment, but I’m month-to-month. And I do have some other students, but I, hmmm, I could consider it."

  "Look, I’ll pay you enough that you won't have to tutor other people. And you can probably get out of your lease after this month, right?" Amanda counters.

  "I don't know if I can do it before the end of the month because of the rent. I don't have enough money," Britt says.

  “I can help with that," Amanda says, fingering the shape of the hand charm she put back on for the first time since the trestle incident. She’s thinking about how much money she’s just put into the settlement accounts she agreed to with her uncle and aunt.

  "Let me talk to you tomorrow once I try to figure out what I would do with my other students. I like your hand necklace. Isn’t that how they identified you? I think that’s what they said in the newspapers."

  Amanda doesn’t answer her, just stands on the porch watching Brittney get into the ramshackle Geo.

  Chapter 91

  Kyle

  Eventually, Kyle calls Amanda and asks if he can come by and they agree on when. For the occasion, she picks up and slides on the peace sign charm bracelet – the one from Paris – from her small jewelry box on the dresser.

  She secretly debates keeping Kent’s memory book. It was stashed under a bunch of magazines and paperbacks at the bottom of the nightstand drawer. She’s feeling guilty, selfish. In her mind, one moment she hands it to Mr. Perless, and in the next she stashes it back in the hiding place. Well, not really a hiding place, but hidden. Sitting on his bed with the book resting on her crossed ankles, she again peruses a number of her favorite pictures ensconced under their clear plastic sheets.

  Kent must be around 10 or 12 in a couple of the earliest ones on the very first page. He is dressed in black and appears to be a wizard, surrounded by a bunch of other kids in costumes on Halloween night. He points his wand at one of the other kids, role playing. They are all in someone’s den, and bags of candy cover a couch.

  But the one that she obsesses over most is Kent with two other boys and a little girl. They’re in a semi-circle on the ground in someone’s backyard. There’s a beach cruiser style bike lying on the ground. The little girl and another boy each proudly hold large turtles with initials painted on the shells. That’s what Kent was talking about. His descriptions of the turtle painting are burnished in her brain, but this gives her an actual image.

  She flips the page. Kent must be 16 or 17 in this one. He stands beside his surfboard positioned vertically in the sand with two other guys and their boards, the rough surf visible in the background. Their surfboards look wet, and pulling the book closer to her, she can make out the sand on them too. Kent has a good tan; his body looks strong. The handwritten words on the bottom say “VA Beach.” She never knew Kent surfed, or hung out at Virginia Beach. He’d never mentioned it.

  His mom riding her horse was his selection for the very last picture. Amanda recognizes the background, the open pasture area beside the farmhouse. She wonders why Kent included no pictures of his mom when she was fighting cancer. She figures this was how he remembered her. Riding, happy, enjoying life. She feels like a spy in the House of Kent. Strong emotions cascade over her, but the dominant one is guilt.

  Rat-tat-tat. Someone is knocking. Quickly, she lifts the paperbacks and magazines from the bottom of the nightstand drawer and shoves the book back underneath them. Opening the door, she sees Mr. Perless, and behind him his faded green Ford Bronco.

  “Hi Mr. Perless, great to see you,” she says leaning forward to give him a hug. “Can I help you with anything? I can help carry stuff.”

  “No, I got it. I’m going to go into the attic first.”

  “I wasn’t sure what you wanted to do with the stuff still in his bedroom. I, um, didn’t pack up his clothes, should I?”

  “That’s fine Amanda. Is it okay if I just leave them?”

  “Sure, Mr. Perless. It’s fine. I actually wear some of his stuff if you want to know the truth.” She confesses. “What about his books and albums, and his stereo? I can pack those up for you too.”

  “Amanda, just enjoy them. I don’t…” He chokes up and can’t finish.

  “Oh, okay.” Amanda can’t think of what to say.

  Mr. Perless walks down the hallway. She never noticed it before, the pull down cord hanging from the ceiling. He pulls on the cord and the attic stairs appear. He doesn’t have his hair in a little pony tail today; it’s just a bit long in the back, reaching down over the collar of his long sleeve t-shirt emblazoned on the back with “The Shins, New Slang Tour.” She watches him climb the staircase and switch on an unseen light.

  “Can I help you with anything?”

  “No, I’m fine,” he calls down from out of sight.

  Unsure what she should do with herself, she wanders around the kitchen for a minute or two. She then heads back to Kent’s bedroom, picks up one of his books she’s been immersed in, Fahrenheit 451, and heads back to the great room. After a while, she hears some rustling and sees Kent’s dad navigating down the stairs carrying a box. He goes back up for another and she stands at the bottom peering upwards.

  “Mr. Perless, I can help you, hand me the boxes.”

  “I don’t want you lifting any heavy ones,” he calls down to her. “That would violate doctor’s orders, I’m sure.”

  Amanda helps carry the lighter boxes to the back of the Bronco. When all the packing is done, Mr. Perless stands on the porch holding his keys, giving the unspoken sign that he’s ready to hit the road. There is an awkward silence.

  “Are you sure about the stuff in his room?”

  “Yes, please. Yes.”

  Suddenly they burst out of her. Uncontrollable sobs. Mr. Perless slides the keys back in his pants pocket and throws his right arm around her.

  “Let’s sit down a minute,” he says, guiding
her back over to the steps leading to the porch. “Sit down and calm yourself.”

  Her sobs continue, but she musters words through them. “I’m so lost, Mr. Perless. And empty.” She wipes the tears from her cheeks with both hands.

  “I feel like that too, at some point every day. I find happiness in music, in teaching and sometimes in playing too, but it comes and goes. I knew that getting the settlement finished, and getting the money, wouldn’t heal everything for you. I remember my dad used to always say ‘money doesn’t grow on trees.’ But happiness doesn’t either. You need to grow happiness from inside yourself, because you can’t go on like you are. You’re dying inside, and you have to let go. I know, that means in some ways letting go of what you had with Kent.”

  “Kent told me you could’ve joined one of the biggest bands in London when you were first writing rock music. He told me you turned down being their guitarist because you preferred to just write music for other bands instead of being tied down to a band with a contract. Is that really true?”

  “There was a lot more to it than that. But the truth is I enjoyed hanging out with a lot of different friends in London and just wasn’t in to the rock star machine. Some folks say I made a huge mistake. Make sure the fortune you seek is the fortune you need. I chose my path, which is what you need to do now.”

  “I really want to get my charity going.” Amanda says as she wipes off some more tears. “I need to do something that I can feel good about.”

  “Great. If I can help you with anything let me know. Listen, one time Kent showed me a clip of you playing soccer game in a tournament or state finals, something big. You scored a goal, and the smile you had on your face after that was priceless. You were hugging some of the other players while running back toward midfield. I saw deep happiness in your face, in your teammates’ faces. You need things like that. Search and you’ll find them again.” Kyle says.