“Robbie—”
Robert found himself back in the hallway, with Robbie shuffling on ahead.
His son sat in one of the chairs, but after only a few minutes, he was on his feet again. He paced along the back of the room, his cane coming down hard on the tile floor each time. At the window, he stared out across a vacant field. Then he banged his head against the glass.
“You okay, Robbie?” a man asked.
Wearily, Robbie straightened. “Yeah, I just kind of lost it there for a minute.”
He shuffled back across the room. This time his cane didn’t crack with anger.
Out in the hallway, he asked, “Are you still here?”
Robert popped back in. “Yeah.”
“Sorry about that,” Robbie said. “I thought I’d gotten rid of all that rage. Sometimes it sneaks back on me.”
“You’ve got a lot to be angry about.”
Robbie shook his head. “Let’s not go there. Why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”
“I’m going to be revived.”
“I saw that on the news.”
“I was afraid…” Robert debated how honest he should be. “I was afraid you might not still be here when I come back.”
“Yeah,” Robbie said, massaging an aching knuckle. “I probably won’t be.”
“Plus, when I’m reanimated, I won’t remember this visit today. I’ll be back to the man I was the day I died.”
“Huh.”
“What I’m saying is, I’ll feel the same way about you that I did then.”
“So basically, you’ll hate my guts.”
The intensity of Robbie’s pain, combined with the brutality of the truth, forced Robert out for a moment. He stood next to his son, relieved to be out of that misery, and away from the stench of that hellhole. But then he chastised himself for his cowardice and pressed back inside.
“You’re right. I don’t know if I truly hated you, but I’m sure if you’re still alive, I won’t come to visit like Rachel and her family does. I want you to know that I’m really sorry—for a lot of things.”
“Hey, don’t beat yourself up. I made my peace with this whole fucked up mess years ago.”
He crept over to the chair beside the reception desk and eased himself down. Relief from Robbie’s throbbing leg was immediate. Robert slowly blew out a breath, hoping to quiet the pulsing ache in his back. He wondered again how his son dealt with the pain.
Robbie felt the relief as well. With a sigh, he asked, “Do you do this…visiting…with Rachel, too?”
“No, that would be kind of complicated, what with Min and kids and grandkids. I think I’ll just wait and meet them all when I come back.”
“As the jerk.”
Robert chuckled. “Yeah, as the jerk.”
“So, what’s it like?” Robbie asked. “Being dead?”
“It’s got its ups and downs.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Settling back in the chair, Robert told his son about Suzanne, how they met after her accident, and how she had overridden the system to stay with her injured daughter.
“She came with me a few times when I visited you. And she saw that program on television, where you talked about prison. We were at Rachel and Min’s place. I was so proud of you.”
“Sounds like you and this Suzanne are pretty tight. When you come back, I guess you two will hook up?”
“I wish.”
Robert explained that she hadn’t contracted to be frozen, so once he was reanimated, they would no longer be together.
“That sucks,” Robbie said. “And you’re saying that when you wake up, you won’t remember anything? Not even her?”
“Yeah. We’re trying to make the most of the time we have left.”
“So why are you hanging around here?’
“Come on, this is important to me,” Robert said. “Tell me about your friend Frank.”
“Ah, Frankie.” Robbie shook his head. “He was my best friend. You know, he’s the one who sliced open my leg.”
“Yeah.”
“Weird, huh? But at the time, he was just a scared punk like me. He had to choose sides, and he went with the toughs. Believe me, that was much easier, and less painful, than trying to go up against bullies like Del.”
“I was there, at the prison, the day you came to Frankie’s defense. That was a real shocker, wasn’t it?”
“No shit? You were there?”
“Yeah. I started hanging around a lot more after the attack. Or after Rachel got you pointed in the right direction. I have to tell you,” Robert added. “I don’t see how you endured all that punishment.”
“I got real good at tuning out all the shit that got heaped on me in prison. That concentration has come in handy.”
Robbie absent-mindedly rubbed his leg, and Robert realized they’d been so busy talking that he’d forgotten about the pain.
One of the other men came shuffling out of the living area, and cocked his head to one side.
“Who you talking to, Robbie?”
“My dad.”
The poor old guy looked despairingly at Robbie.
“Get this,” Robbie said with a grin. “He thinks I’m crazy because I’m talking to you.”
“Maybe I should go,” Robert said.
“You don’t want to stick around for dinner?”
“No thanks. I’ve seen it,” Robert snorted. “I’ll come back by tomorrow, if that’s okay.”
“Sure.”
Robbie stood, like he was going to walk Robert to the door.
“Look,” he said as he slowed to a stop. “That night at the house…when mom was shot—”
His voice wavered, and he swallowed hard against the tightness in his throat. Grief added a new layer to all the pain. Robert felt tears pool in his eyes.
“I know,” he said softly. “I was there.”
* * *
Robert fully intended to go back to Virginia the next morning, right after a couple sips of Melinda’s fresh-brewed coffee and a nibble of Dan’s bagel. Hopefully, by the time he arrived, Robbie would have already chugged his sludge.
But then Maggie showed up, a little agitated.
“You’ve got to come out to the center. Sam wants to talk to all of us.”
She didn’t even wait for a reply; she just whooshed away.
Most of the other temps were already there when Robert and Suzanne arrived. The halls were as packed as a New York sidewalk at quitting time. Sam was wandering up and down the hallway, asking everyone to go outside to the parking lot for a meeting.
Once everyone had gathered, Sam climbed up on a car in the middle of the throng.
“The reanimation schedule continues to get moved up almost every day,” he said. “The Germans came up with an even faster technique which we’re using in the States now. Doctors are actually waiting for clones to mature. You must stick around.”
Brian Campbell, from the emo group, jumped up onto the car in the next parking slot over from Sam.
“This is bullshit,” he yelled. “We’ve had it with you assholes telling us what to do.”
His little band of angst-ridden teens cheered and shook their fists in the air.
“We are NOT coming back,” Brian screamed at the crowd. “We intend to be as far away from the center as possible. Our group has pledged to do whatever we can to keep Sheila Raney from returning to her body.”
“Who’s Sheila Raney?” Robert asked Maggie.
“I guess she’s the last of the emos to be frozen,” she said. “It’s been so long since we’ve gotten an emotionally disturbed kid, I don’t really remember what she looks like.”
“So what do you think?” he asked. “Can they actually prevent her from coming back?”
“I don’t know. Sounds like they’re pretty desperate.”
“Yeah, well so am I,” Robert said. “I think it’s worth checking out.”
Brian announced that his group was splitting. Half of their band was goi
ng to Afghanistan with Sheila. Their intention was to hide out in the caves that Osama bin Laden had used way back in the early part of the twenty-first century. The band of misfits thought the mountains, halfway around the world, would act as a shield.
If that didn’t work, the other half of the group would stay at the center to try one last effort to keep Sheila from returning to her body.
Robert and Suzanne volunteered to go with the emos. Maggie and Joe would stay to see what happened at center.
Once Brian came down off the roof of the car, Maggie pulled him aside.
“What if you try a little experiment,” she said. “The group that stays here needs to find a squatter for Sheila’s clone. If you succeed in preventing Sheila from returning, it seems to me that someone is going to have to claim that body. If it remains uninhabited, that clone could act like a giant magnet, just waiting for Sheila.”
For the first time ever, Robert watched the glower on Brian’s face fade.
“That’s not a bad idea,” he said. “For an old bag like you.”
* * *
The trip to Afghanistan was a bust. After spending fifteen hours on a flight to Kabul, Robert and Suzanne followed Brian and his ragtag team for another two days through the barren Hindu Kush Mountains. Obviously, Brian had no idea where he was going. He’d seen a story in National Geographic and evidently thought there would be road signs pointing the way.
They’d still be wandering aimlessly if Sheila hadn’t just disappeared. One minute she was complaining about one of her high school teachers, and the next minute she was just gone. There was no yelp, no trailing vapor, nothing.
Robert and Suzanne even zipped back to the center to see if a squatter might have staked a claim on Sheila. Once again, their hopes were dashed.
* * *
“I guess I’ll go see Robbie,” Robert lamented as he slouched in the hallway of the center. “He’s probably wondering what happened to me.”
Suzanne nodded. “Maybe I’ll go see Angie for a couple days. Now that Mark is no longer around, I can enjoy my daughter again.”
“Why don’t we meet in Dayton on Friday?” Robert said. “Maybe it will rain this weekend and Dan will talk Melinda into hanging around in bed Sunday morning.”
He wagged an eyebrow to make sure Suzanne got his drift. She did.
* * *
Robbie was watching a game show with his buddies when Robert arrived. Steeling himself for the pain, Robert slipped inside and gently made his presence known. Then he asked if Robbie wanted to go talk in the hallway.
“Nah,” Robbie said. “I’m comfortable here.”
He stretched his tired body up out of his armchair a fraction to look around the room. “Besides, it’ll be funny to watch these guys get all riled up again. Last time you were here, they thought I’d snapped.”
“Sorry I didn’t get back sooner.”
“Look at ‘em,” Robbie cackled. “They’re freaking out already.”
The man sitting next to Robbie actually got up and moved away. He tapped another man’s shoulder and they both stared at Robbie.
“They care about you.”
“You sound down in the dumps,” Robbie said. “What’s up?”
He told Robbie about the wasted trip to Afghanistan.
“It was stupid,” Robert said. “I can’t believe we thought it would work.”
“We were watching a program about you guys last week,” Robbie said. They’re thawing out folks who’ve been frozen for fifty years or more. And because you don’t remember anything, the fine folks at that center are re-educating the newly revived. They hook you up to a computer and just feed your brain all the stuff you don’t know.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Sounds like 1984 to me. Who decided what was important and what wasn’t?” Robbie tittered his head at the arrogance. “Oh, and there’s a fee involved in this ‘education’.”
“Of course.”
A man sitting in front of Robbie turned in his chair to peer around the back. His eyebrows connected as he scowled.
“Hey, did you know you’re expected to work for that company for three years? It’s to pay for your clone.”
“I figure three years is reasonable,” Robert said. “Especially when you consider how little I paid way back then. Besides, it will probably take me three years to get acclimated to all the new technology. All this time, we thought we’d be prepared for all these changes.”
“The way they talked on that show, they want to have everyone brought back by the end of next month.”
“I know. They’re going to get to me pretty soon. That’s why I’m here. I want to do something for you.”
“What can you do for me?”
“I feel terrible that you live with this pain everyday. It’s a shame you can’t get back outside just once more. Live a day as a pain-free man.”
Robbie snorted in disbelief, and all the men’s heads jerked up, like he’d just taken his last breath.
“Of course, you wouldn’t actually be able to smell the roses,” Robert said.
“What are you talking about?” Robbie asked.
Robert lowered his voice, as though by whispering his idea, it wouldn’t sound as ridiculous.
“What if we could trade places? I’d take your place here, and you would be free to…I don’t know…take a holiday for a day or two.”
“You’re full of shit,” Robbie said.
“It might not work,” Robert said. “But I pop in and out of your head now. Why can’t we switch places?”
“And what would I do on this holiday?”
“Anything you want! Go to a park, visit a museum. Heck, they have flights to New York every hour. You could fly up and spend the day and still be back tomorrow.”
Robbie’s voice cracked with emotion. “You would do that for me?”
“I actually thought about trying to give you my body,” Robert said. “ But then I realized how pompous that was. Why would you want to wake up and be me?”
“Hell, that would be a whole lot better than being me for another lifetime? I can’t even remember most of went on between the time I was twelve until I was in my forties.”
Another man shuffled over. He bent and touched Robbie’s hand while he gazed into Robbie’s eyes. “You gotta stop this, man.”
Robbie waved him away. “I’m fine. My dad’s just feeding me a bunch of bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit. Would you like to trade places for a day? Just to see if we can do it?” Robert asked.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“Hell, yeah, I’d like to try trading,” Robbie said. “I just don’t think it will work. I mean, how would we do it?”
“It’s hard to explain. But remember when I told you about getting into a fight with that guy on the cruise? And how Suzanne and I connected on the beach in Cayman?”
“Yeah, but you could see them,” Robbie said. “I can’t see you. I just hear you. How are we going to connect? Meet at my medulla oblongata in ten minutes?”
“I’m not sure. I’d just have to try it.”
“Well, have at it.”
Robert took a deep breath through Robbie. “Relax, and close your eyes.”
Once he closed his eyes, Robert concentrated, putting all his thoughts into bonding with his son. He felt a slight tingle in his fingertips, like his hand had gone to sleep. He thought harder.
The tingle became stronger, running up his arms and legs. But then Robbie’s body convulsed and Robert quickly stopped.
“What happened?” Robbie asked. “Why did you stop?”
“I was afraid I might hurt you.”
“Jesus Christ, Dad. How could you hurt me?”
“I don’t know—”
“Try it again. And don’t stop.”
After another deep breath, Robert poured all his energy into bringing that tingling back. It grew stronger, radiating up his limbs and into his chest. He felt a tightness, like he was having a heart attack. At
the same time, Robbie’s body seemed to stretch like it might rip open. The pain intensified. Robert had the distinct feeling that he was pushing against an expanding force that threatened to explode.
A pounding in his head made his ears throb. When he thought he could not endure the pain any longer, he shouted, “Now!”
Then bam! Robbie’s body was thrown to the floor.
A splitting headache squeezed his head like a vice. Robert eased open his eyes and moaned at the pain that seemed to assault him from all sides. One of Robbie’s friends bent over, his eyes gushing tears.
“Robbie? Thank God! Thank God! We thought you were dying.”
Robert shifted slightly. He was lying on a bed. And his hands had been folded neatly over his chest.
“What’s going on?” he croaked.
“We don’t know. You were jabbering like a madman, and then you flew out of your chair. I thought you were possessed.”
“No, it was nothing like that.”
Robert jerked to sitting like a fifty-seven year old man would. But an eighty-eight year-old back screamed with pain. His neck seized in a spasm and his arthritic fingers cramped. He flopped back onto the bed.
“Robbie?” he called quietly. No one answered.
Other men crowded around his bed, all of them with fearful expressions. They were sure Robbie had gone around the bend.
“What time is it?” Robert asked.
The concerned expressions morphed into confusion. One man finally said, “Deal of the Century just ended.”
Robert guesstimated it was mid-afternoon. He’d been out for about five hours. He eased his head up to glance at the floor. Was Robbie still lying unconscious somewhere?
His curiosity was replaced quickly with more immediate problems. Not only was his leg throbbing, but he felt nauseous from the pounding in his head.
And the smell! It was like being stuck inside a port-o-let in the heat of summer.
He ran a hand down his face to block some of the stench, but even his own palm stunk. Everything seemed magnified, as if he had only been sharing part of Robbie’s torment. Now it was all on Robert.
The Ups and Downs of Being Dead Page 31