The Arcturus Man

by John Strauchs

  seem to grasp how other people think and act. No matter how intelligent you are, you are

  unable to feel empathy or to understand how ordinary people think and feel. You judge

  them on the basis of how you think and feel. You would judge a cat, wouldn’t you?” Jared and Mary Thomas started walking again. Again, they walked a long time

  without saying anything. Jared was trying to understand. He was trying. “Are you going to do it? Are you going to get a pet?

  “I don’t know, but I’ll think about it.”

  “Please do. And, one more thing. Don’t ever come to regard Jenny as just a smarter pet. Your great intellect isn’t the defining characteristic of being human that you think

  it is. In some ways she will always be superior to you. You may never learn to feel, to

  care, and to have empathy for others that Jenny does naturally. Jenny will never be able

  to grasp things as you do, but if you do decide to have children, she will become a part of

  you and you of her. Jared, you’re different, but not necessarily superior to other people in

  all things. Sometimes you don’t understand that.”

  “I know. I know.”

  “We’ll talk again some time. Of course, that is entirely up to you,” said Mary

  Thomas.

  Jared said nothing.

  “And one more thing. That floral rocks girl in that dream you have over and over

  again. She isn’t Jenny.”

  “Then who is she.”

  “Figure it out.”

  “It makes no sense.”

  “Maybe you’ll understand it some day. Maybe not. Bye.”

  Jared watched her walk down the beach. Would she disappear? She didn’t. He

  sat in the wet sand. He watched for a long time until she could be barely seen. He moved back up the beach to where the sand was dry and sat and he thought. He thought for a long time. The sun was setting in the west and was just about to sink back into the sea. A warm soft wind blew down the beach and gently moved the palms. Finally, he stood up and walked back to the village. He found Jenny. She was sitting with the women. They were frying fish. A gentle breeze carried the aroma of the cook fire. He could

  smell the marvelous spices. He glanced down the beach. Mary Thomas was gone. “Jared, I couldn’t find you.” She smiled and got up and walked over to him. It

  warmed his heart. It was so good to see her smile.

  “I was meeting with a friend.”

  “Who?” asked Jenny.

  “You don’t know her.”

  “You hungry?”

  “Not really. But go ahead if you are,” said Jared.

  “I’ve been taking bites all afternoon. I’m full,” said Jenny.

  “Good. Let’s go to the boat. I love your Kuna outfit but maybe now you can get

  your own clothes on,” said Jared.

  “OK. We going somewhere?”

  “I think its time to go home.”

  Jenny lit up.

  “Really? That would be wonderful. I love it here but I miss my family. Are you

  sure it’s OK? There’s a lot of explaining to do.”

  “Trust me. It is OK.”

  “What about those men who were hunting you…us?” asked Jenny. “We went through this already. That’s all taken care of. Rubio promised that he

  won’t bother us again. I trust that he will keep his word.”

  “Won’t they just send others?”

  “The people who sent Rubio no longer have a lot of resources to draw on. They

  were acting on their own and they can’t risk attracting any more attention to themselves.

  What they did was totally illegal. More importantly, they will be dealt soon. As I told

  you yesterday, now that the White House is aware of what happened, I think they’ll be

  dealt with. If not, I’ll take care of it.”

  Jared really didn’t believe that it was all over, but he wanted Jenny to have some

  peace of mind…for now at least.

  “That is wonderful, Jared. But what about the police in Maine?” asked Jenny. “That is being taken care of as well. My attorney has been dealing with those is

  sues ever since we left. There is nothing to be concerned about.”

  “I can’t believe it. Is this nightmare really over?”

  “It’s over Jenny. We’ll call your Mom and Krissy when we get to Panama City.” “Panama City? Are we leaving tonight?”

  “No. Tomorrow morning. I have a room booked at the Panama Hotel for tonight.

  We have seats on a U.S. government flight going back to the states tomorrow evening.

  Idel is going to take care of StarWind for a while”

  Jenny was stunned by the news that their lives may be back to normal. She could

  scarcely believe it. She wasn’t sure she did. Still, she was so excited. She just kept asking question. Jared patiently answered her. She made him feel happy again. They walked to the administration building and found Idel sitting on the wide

  porch smoking a cigar.

  “Idel have another?” asked Jared.

  “Of course my friend.” He pulled a Cuban Cohiba out of his breast pocket. Jared

  bit off the tip and lit up.

  “We have to get to Panama City tomorrow? Is there someone who can drive us?” “Manuel will take you. You are leaving so soon?”

  “Yes, I have to get back to take care of some things. But we will return soon, as

  we talked about earlier.”

  “The children will miss you Jenny,” said Idel.

  “And I will miss them very much. I will also miss you Idel. How is the little boy

  who lost his foot?” asked Jenny.

  “He is good. Very good, all things considered. Jared has arranged for some excellent physicians in Miami to care of him. He will receive a new foot soon. The boy is

  very excited about that.”

  “That is wonderful Idel. Why didn’t you tell me Jared?”

  “I just arranged for it.”

  “I am so pleased Idel. He saved my life. I owe him much.”

  Jared said nothing.

  “Things happen in life. No one is to blame,” said Idel.

  Jared put out his hand.

  “Thank you again. I will be in touch soon. Thank you for all of the help and especially for taking care of Jenny.”

  “Por Nada.”

  “Sorry. One more thing. Is there anyone who can take my boat back to Portland, Maine? There is no hurry. In a few months perhaps.”

  “I will make it so. Don’t concern yourself with this.”

  “Thanks. We’ll see you soon.”

  Jared and Jenny waved good-by to Idel and walked back down the beach and out

  on the rickety pier to their boat. They climbed on board and went into the cabin. Jared glanced at Pandora’s box and saw that Jenny had put a new padlock on it. He smiled but said nothing. Jared glanced out the port hole and saw that Manuel had already arrived with the Land Rover. He waved at Manuel. He pulled the curtain shut.

  “Come here,” said Jared.

  He pulled Jenny close and kissed her hard and passionately.

  “Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me, Big Boy.” She feigned

  a very poor Mae West impersonation. Jared had to laugh. It was lame but really funny. She was just not good at accents but she kept trying. He loved her for that. He began to pull her clothes off. Jenny was excited that he wanted her so badly. She let him do all of the work in undressing her. They fell on the bed and began to make love. Jared was fast and rough. Normally she didn’t like rough love making, but this was different. He wanted her so much. She invited more. She pulled him even closer.

  In the morning they dressed and packed for the trip. “Jared, it just occurred to me. I don’t have a passport. How am I going to get into the United States without a passport, let alone get out of Panama?”
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br />   “You don’t need a passport to get into or out of Panama—just proof of U.S. citizenship. Your driver’s license is enough. You should really also have a birth certificate, but I am sure we can get cooperation at the airport in Panama City. I’ll buy a tourist card from the airlines for both of us. That’s enough for an entry visa which will also allow us to exit. It will be a little more complicated in Miami with our immigration people, but not to worry.”

  He took her hands and drew her to him.

  “I love you Jenny.”

  “I love you too Jared.”

  He still wasn’t sure he knew what love was. He still didn’t understand what Zarathustra knew. Did he love Jenny? He didn’t really know but he did understand that it was important to Jenny that he loves her. He picked up their overnight bags and carried them off the boat.

  “Venga aquí, Mujer,” said Jared.

  Jenny kind of liked that. She felt like being a little submissive today.

  Manuel was back, patiently waiting for them. There was a broad grin on his face. Jenny had to smile too. It was just a little embarrassing for her. What had Jared said?

  “Let’s go,” said Manuel.

  “How long will it take to get to Panama City?” asked Jenny.

  “It’s only about a 160 kilometers, but the roads are not good. It will be quite a while before we get to a paved road. We’re lucky that it hasn’t rained much. It should take us about four hours, but it could take longer,” said Manuel. His English was excellent.

  As they pulled away, Jared looked back. Mary Thomas was standing on the pier. She didn’t wave. Her face was expressionless, as it always was. He knew she would be there. The wind picked up and in minutes the sky opened up. It was a torrential rain. A great storm was coming. Jared knew it was coming. It would arrive soon.

  Chapter Twenty-Five – Windy Day in Cambridge

  June 2014

  It was cool for June—even for Massachusetts. The late morning wind was gusting to fifty miles an hour at times. Stuff was blowing across and down the street. Jenny wished she had a scarf with her. Her hair was a mess. She entered the old brick building and climbed two flights. Krissy’s door was wide open. How many times did she tell her to lock her door? She couldn’t remember. She walked in and dropped her book bag on the floor. The bag blended in immediately. The place was a disaster. Clothes were everywhere. There were sneakers, pants, shirts, bras, and socks scattered across the floor and on the couch. There was a disgusting jock strap draped down one kitchen chair. Running shorts and grungy sneakers were piled on the floor beneath the chair. The coffee table was brimming with empty beer cans and tomato sauce-stained pizza boxes. She counted four. The beer must be Jake’s. Krissy often has wine, but beer only now and then, and rarely at home. Worse, the place reeked of Jake’s 1818 cologne. An ash tray was balanced half off the edge of the coffee table. It had a stinky cigar. The combination of odors was gagging.

  The sink was overflowing with dirty pots, dishes and glasses. The floors were hardwood. They shined but were filthy. Jake had enough dough from his parents to hire maid service every day of the week but said he didn’t like strangers going through his stuff and stealing. Jenny always suspected the real reason was that Jake was smoking pot. Krissy always denied it of course. Jenny stared at the squashed flies on the wall above the futon in the living room—the guest bed. Those were the same flies she saw in the Spring. How could they bear to live like this?

  The apartment was big enough to potentially be a fairly nice place. It had high ceilings. The paint was good and there were no cracks in the plaster ceilings. All of the walls were painted off-white, but the bedroom had weird wall paper. There were multiple, massive color reproductions of The Scream that went from floor to ceiling and covered two of the four walls. How could they wake to that in the morning? The other two walls had regular museum and movie posters. The movie poster for Sneakers was in German. Krissy didn’t speak German and Jenny suspected that Jake didn’t as well. There was a gorgeous large photograph of a black butterfly above the bed. It glowed in weird colors if you turned off the room lights and turned on the UV light. Jenny assumed that was how Krissy got the idea for her tattoo. Krissy did all this during that short period when she had decided she was going to major in art. The motivation for art didn’t last more than a semester or two but the wall art persisted. The apartment had no family photographs—not even of Mom or Mormor. There were no books—not even from Krissy’s classes. Jenny assumed that she left them in her car.

  “The place was eclectic—and that is an understatement,” thought Jenny. There was a living area that opened into the kitchen, separated by an ugly beaded curtain. The kitchen then opened into a small laundry area that led to the rear hallway. The kitchen had a breakfast nook that Krissy and Jake used for dinners for guests, which wasn’t that often. They did party a lot, however. The living room had an expensive home theater system. A 50-inch plasma TV hung on the wall across from the overstuffed couch. A state-of-the-art desk top computer and desk were wedged behind the sofa. It had everything you could want, a scanner, copier, video camera, UPS, two printers, big speakers, and other stuff Jenny didn’t recognize. She pushed the cans aside on the coffee table and was just about able identify a laptop hidden in the mess. It was mostly hidden by an empty pizza box.

  They had one bedroom and one bathroom. It was tough being a guest. Jenny did that once or twice, but finally gave up on it. To get to the bathroom you had to go into their bedroom. Although Krissy said not to be shy and just walk in, Jenny always knocked. It was awkward. She didn’t want to see someone making love to her little sister. To make matters worse, there was no lock on the bathroom door, or at least it didn’t work. Jenny didn’t trust Jake not to barge in intentionally. All in all, Krissy’s apartment was an odd mixture of wealth and poverty. To be fair, Jenny had to admit to herself that it didn’t look all that different from many student apartments. It may be the filthiest, however. It didn’t look anything like Jenny’s apartment. Jenny was neat and orderly.

  Jenny sat in the large sofa. She heard water running in the bathroom. That told her that Krissy was home. Krissy walked out of the bedroom.

  “Hey, Jenn. Thanks for coming over,” said Krissy.

  “Jake the Snake out?”

  “Yea, Jake won’t be back until late.”

  Jenny was relieved.

  “Jenn…I’m keeping the baby.”

  Jenny leaned forward and kissed Krissy and then gave her a long hug.

  “I promised Mom that I wouldn’t meddle, but that is so great Krissy. It really is the right thing.”

  “Yea, like having a baby’s no big deal. Millions of women do it every day,”

  “How does Jake feel about that?” asked Jenny.

  “He’s cool with it. He said we can get married…if I want,”

  “And, are you?”

  “I don’t know. I change my mind about that almost every day. I know that he loves me but I sometimes don’t see us growing old and grey together.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m not certain, but I think he’s sleeping around. He’s a good looking guy and really good in bed. You know…the strange thing is that it doesn’t really bother me that much if he’s alley catting. I do worry about catching HIV and that kind of stuff from Jake, but what bothers me most is that I don’t care all that much if he’s cheating. Like maybe I don’t love him enough. Maybe that’s it. I don’t know why I don’t feel jealous. Or maybe I am jealous but suppressing those feelings. It’s really confusing. All those new hormones floating around inside my body are making me crazy.”

  “Krissy, you have to trust your instincts. That’s what Jared always tells me.”

  “I would if I knew what they were,” said Krissy.

  “Mom always tells me not to meddle but honestly, if he’s sleeping around you need to tell him to take a hike. Life is tough enough. You don’t need to marry an adulterer.”

  “Like I said, Jenn, I don’t have any pr
oof that he’s doing that. I just have feelings. Like I have no idea where he is tonight. All he said was that he was going to be home very late as he was walking out the door this morning.”

  “Jared could find out. You know! Jared can sense what people are thinking about.”

  “NO, I DON’T WANT JARED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS. And don’t be telling Mom all this stuff I telling you. This is something I have to work out on my own…and with you, of course…that’s what sisters do. And for Gods sakes don’t tell Lars. He’ll beat the shit out of Jake and never tell me he did it.”

  “Ok, Ok, I promise. I won’t tell a soul,” said Jenny.

  “It’s really good that I can talk to you about this. I’ve been keeping these feelings inside and I sometimes worry that it could hurt the baby,” said Krissy.

  “Babies are tough. Don’t worry about that.”

  “I can’t help it. I know I’m changing. I can feel it.”

  “And that’s the way it’s supposed to work. Your mommy genes are kicking in,” said Jenny.

  “Yea, I know.”

  “If you decide to ask Jake to leave, call me and I will be here with you when you do it.”

  “Maybe! I need time to think about it some more,” said Krissy. ‘Jake would never hurt me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “Don’t be sure of that. Guys can get really psycho when their male egos are wounded.”

  “I’ll think about it. I promise I won’t say anything to Jake until after I’ve told you first. OK?”

  “OK! That’s a promise.”

  Jenny and Krissy locked pinky fingers, just like they’ve done since they were little girls and the one or the other made a pledge.

  “That’s enough about me. How are you doing with your guy?” asked Krissy.

  Jenny hadn’t considered that they might be discussing Jared. Not at all. This was all supposed to be about Jake and Krissy, but mostly about whether or not Krissy was going to have an abortion. Jenny thought that abortion was murder, although she would have never said that to her only sister. She loved Krissy so much it hurt sometimes. She couldn’t imagine Krissy living with the knowledge that she killed her own baby. But, coming over this morning was never about Jared.