by Andy Rane
James’ stomach leaped again. He caught a glimpse of a young man. His back was to the front of the store. There was another carbon copy of James…and Kevin. He stood slightly taller than James, as well as he could guess at this distance. He had the same not-black, not-brown, crazy hair that James had always lamented. There was something different about him and James realized that this new incarnation of himself bested his weight by at least fifty pounds. Doug Peterson was a taller, broader version of himself. Then James saw him misstep. At first, he thought that it was just something to do with working behind the counter. But, the more he watched, he could see that he had a distinct limp in his step. He stepped away and rounded the corner, where Nicole and Kevin were waiting.
“It’s him. He’s a beast. Makes Kevin look downright scrawny.”
“Dude, that ain’t sayin’ much,” Kevin said.
“He’s got me by fifty pounds easy,” James said.
“Jesus! Too many bagels?” Nicole said.
“Maybe, but it looks like he might have been in shape once. He’s got a limp too.”
“Oh,” said Nicole.
“You still got this?” James said.
She hesitated, but nodded.
“Yeah, you two go. I got this. Really,” she said.
“Just tell him some old friends are here to see him,” James said.
“Right, and they don’t want to come to the front door like civilized human beings,” Kevin said.
James and Kevin walked around to the back side of the building. They stood outside two large steel doors that looked like they had been given a layer of grey paint every year since they had been installed. The alley was quiet, only disturbed by the distant sound of machinery running and a faint stench from the nearby dumpster permeating the chill air. They didn’t need to speak. Kevin looked at James and shrugged nervously. James blew on his hands and stomped his feet to keep them warm. He wished he had brought a winter hat. After two minutes, James began to worry. After five, Kevin started to look worried. There wasn’t even a hint of sound from behind the doors. So, when a voice called out just behind them to the left, both young men jumped, twisting around.
“Jesus Christ!” James said.
Kevin clutched at his chest.
“Who…” Doug Pederson stammered, a hand leaning against the brick wall, a door opened behind him to their left.
“Who the…who are you? I thought she said there was a delivery?”
Even in the morning cold, a bead of sweat was trickling down Doug Pederson’s cheek. His face was red at the cheeks. He was still wearing his bagel apron and a paper hat that covered most of his hair. Upon a second good glance, James could see that his counterpart was a good two to three inches taller. He took a step toward Doug, who now looked ready to hit something.
“Doug, right? James. My name is James,” James said, extending his hand.
“And this…this is Kevin.”
Plumes of breath filled the air between them. James’ hand was left suspended between them. Doug looked at the hand warily.
“Don’t leave me hangin’ here,” James said, his face breaking into a nervous worried grin.
Doug smiled at James sheepishly, then looked back at the hand, still worried.
“Have you ever seen Time Cop? Jean-Claude Van Damme? No? Never mind,” Doug said, and he finally wrapped a warm meaty mitt around James’ cold hand.
“Doug, everything ok out there?” The short fat man stuck his head out the door, not really looking closely at the trio out the back.
“Yeah, Leo. Everything’s fine. Just some…old friends.”
“Thought she said delivery,” Leo said, hoisting a bag onto his shoulder.
“Yeah…she did…not what she meant though. Don’t worry about it,” Doug said.
“Alright. Take fifteen if you need it. Shop’s slow.”
“Thanks.”
He turned back to James, taking the two in, looking them up and down. He took an awkward step toward James, favoring his left leg, and patting James’ shoulder as if to test its tangibility.
“How do you know my name? Where did you come from? How come we’ve never met before? Who was the girl?”
It was rapid-fire with a lot of pointing, and James couldn’t help but be awestruck by the simple experience of watching this version of himself act. He almost smiled.
“And, what’s that look for?” Doug said.
“It’s amazing,” James said.
“It is kinda amazing, isn’t it,” Kevin said.
“It’s freakish,” Doug said, the hint of a smile.
James frowned. To him, it had all the makings of a life-moment. One of those times he would look back on and remember to his dying day. This was supposed to be one of those moments. But, somehow, he now felt short-changed as he stood feeling as perplexed and confused as Doug looked. He wanted him to recognize it as something important. But, maybe that was asking too much.
“Come with us, Doug,” James said.
“Where are you going?” Doug asked.
“That…I’m not really quite sure,” James said.
“Why would I come with you? I don’t even know who you are,” Doug said.
“Who do you think I am, Doug?” Kevin said.
“You look like someone who might be…who should be…my brother,” he said, his face translating the thought process from understanding to confusion and back.
“And I am your brother,” James said.
“And, I…am your father…dude, I’m joking. Jesus…this guy’s touchy,” Kevin said.
“How is this possible?” Doug asked.
“That’s a bit of a convoluted story. But, so far, everything that’s happened has led us here…to you,” James said.
“But, James,” Doug said, a pained expression on his face, “My parents never had another child.”
“But, Doug, isn’t it obvious? You were adopted, just like Kevin and I…” James said.
The words seemed to gain weight as they left James’ mouth, and they seemed to hit Doug square in the chest. He coughed out a plume of breath, but surprised James by breaking out into laughter.
“Adopted! Ha! That’s a good one,” he said, removing his bagel hat and slapping it across his knee. “That’s a riot.”
James and Kevin stared fixedly back at him.
“You mean to tell me your parents are still alive?” James said, “That woman I spoke with is your…our…”
“Now hold the phone,” Doug said, “I didn’t say that.”
“Oh, so we just happen to look just like you, almost to the last mole, give or take fifty pounds and an inch or two, but it’s just a freak of nature. I don’t think so, Doug. I was told my parents died right after I was born. And, now here you are, and you’re telling me that your birth parents are still alive?”
It was all just too much for James. Had he really come all this way to discover, not only that he had another brother, but that his birth parents were still alive? He had a sudden appreciation for the fear Kevin had expressed just the day before. It wasn’t a good feeling.
“I’m sorry,” Doug said, quietly.
“It’s ok…it’s just been a trying couple of days,” James said, feeling guilty for getting loud.
“James,” Nicole said, coming around the corner from the alley. “We need to get going before someone sees the three of you.”
“Sees us?” Doug said.
“Yeah, I’ll explain in the car,” Nicole said.
“Listen, I gotta get back to work.”
“No,” James said, startling all of them, and grabbing Doug’s wrist, “you don’t understand.”
“Whoa,” Doug said, breaking his grip without a show of effort, “Listen, I don’t know what you three are about, but…”
“Doug, please. It’s you who has to listen to us,” Nicole said. “We’ve traveled a long way to find you before anyone else does. For all we know, they’re waiting around the corner for us.”
“Who’s t
hey? Us? Me? I don’t understand,” Doug said, still looking as if he were two steps to high-tailing it back into the bagel shop and locking the door behind him.
“Like I said…it’s a bit of a long story,” James said, weakly.
“There was a man who brought us together…a doctor. He pointed me in the right direction to find James…then he told us to find you. Told us that we were part of some…government experiment. That doctor was killed because he helped us. He told us that there would be people after us. And, if we didn’t find you first, well…,” Kevin said.
“What? Why? What does…finding me…have to do with anything? I live at home with my mom and dad and work at a bagel shop. What do I have to do with people getting killed?”
He took a half step back from them.
“Man, if you only knew the half of it,” Kevin said.
“It’s really been a rough couple of days,” Nicole said, looking from James and Kevin to Doug.
“I’m sorry, I don’t want anything to do with this,” Doug said, raising his hands apologetically. “I can’t get caught up in something like this. I can’t. I’m…sorry.”
“It’s not that simple, Doug,” James said.
“They’re coming after you too,” Nicole said.
“Who?” Doug said.
“A doctor and some other dude with guns,” chimed in Kevin.
“They’ve been following us since we left New Jersey,” Nicole said.
“New Jersey…that explains a lot. Why don’t you just call the police?”
“They are the police,” Kevin said.
Doug wrinkled his nose.
“Sounds like a bad movie line,” he said.
“Yeah,” James said, with a sigh, “that’s what I thought.”
“It only sounds funny when you aren’t on the run,” Kevin said.
“I wish I could help, really,” Doug said.
“Doug,” James said, “We’re not here for your help. As stupid as it might sound, we’re here to…save you. I can’t tell it to you any other way, and I know it must sound crazy coming from someone you met five minutes ago, but I need you to hear what we’re saying. There’s an answer to this somewhere, somewhere here,” and James gestured between the three of them.
“Don’t you want to know what this is all about? Don’t you think your parents might have some answers? If you tell me no, I’m going to go over to your house and knock on the door myself,” Kevin said
“You wouldn’t…” Doug said.
“Oh, he would,” James said, “I understand your sense of confusion…trust me. But, you haven’t lived through the past forty-eight hours that we have. I’ve left everything I had behind. Such as it is. I can’t go back to that life now. It doesn’t exist. Besides the fact that I’ve no family to return to, Doug. This is it. I’m looking at it…right here. This is what’s left of my family…for what it’s worth.”
There was a long awkward moment, where the two young men looked one another in the eye. It was Doug who looked away first. He looked over his shoulder, as if back into the bagel shop.
“He’s going to kill me you know,” Doug said.
“I know some other people who might kill you too, only not in the figurative sense,” Kevin said.
“Our car is around the corner,” James said.
Doug took off his apron and his hat and turned away from them without speaking. He went into the back door. James looked at Nicole and they exchanged a look that questioned whether he had high-tailed it out the front door. But, he returned a moment later in a khaki Carhart jacket, an orange wool cap, and a simple wooden cane.
“You forgot your shotgun,” Kevin murmured and Nicole elbowed him so hard that he coughed.
“I’ll take you to my house. I think my parents…might have some explaining to do,” he said.
James said nothing, but they all turned down the alley toward the car.
Chapter 27
The house at Seventeen Lawrence Square Drive was almost as James had imagined when he spoke to Mrs. Pederson. It was a small cape-style house with a tiny front yard. The houses along the entire street were all no more than ten feet apart on either side and cookie-cutter in size, shape, and quaintness. It was white-bread Middle America. Something fluttered in James as they approached the front door. Kevin looked completely uncomfortable and hung back, looking around nervously. Nicole seemed to sense James’ mood, and squeezed his arm gently. She looked at him as if grasping at the same hope that Doug’s parents were his too. James had decided on the way over that he didn’t want them to be. That would certainly be harder to take than if they had simply lied to Doug. It was a selfish thought, but James didn’t think he could handle any other answer at this point. He looked at Doug, wondering if his physical size equaled the strength it might take to comprehend the possibility of his parents not being his parents. James didn’t want to see him crushed and he certainly didn’t want to feel responsible.
Doug unlocked the door and the four of them stepped into a small foyer.
“Mom? Dad?” he called.
“Douglas?” a woman’s voice called out from somewhere at the rear of the house. James stomach flopped in place, and he wasn’t quite sure if it was nerves or the fact that they hadn’t eaten in so long. The warm smell of baking bread was almost overwhelming, and the country-blue décor made the home overly welcoming. He fought the urge to turn and run out.
“Douglas? What are you doing home so early?”
The voice came from behind James, and as he turned, he locked eyes with a retirement aged woman with salt-and-pepper hair, an oversized denim shirt, and glasses that made her eyes look strangely large on such a small woman. “Is there something…oh my.”
“Mother, I’ve brought some…friends,” Doug said.
The woman didn’t seem to know her son was there. She stared, mouth agape, at James and Kevin. James stared back at her, not knowing quite what to do or say. Her hand went to her mouth and the other found the back of the pale blue couch she stood next to. Her face paled and James could see her chin tremble.
“Oh my,” she repeated, then moved around to the front of the couch to sit down, her legs looking less and less stable.
“Mother?” Doug said, and he walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
It wasn’t until this point that she stopped looking at James. Her eyes were looking watery, and she covered her mouth as it was visibly starting to shake.
“Oh my,” she managed again, this time nearly inaudible. There was no other sound in the house.
“Mother, it’s all right. This is James...and Kevin, right? They’ve come a long way. And, that’s James’ friend…ummm,” Doug said, offering Nicole an apologetic look and a sheepish smile that James recognized too well.
“Nicole. My name is Nicole,” Nicole said, offering her hand. Doug’s mother looked at Nicole’s hand as if it might bite, then took it, gripping it briefly, and let it go. She pointed to a box of tissues that Doug retrieved immediately. She removed a fistful to blot her eyes and nose. She stared up at James again, her eyes welling with fresh tears. She opened her mouth, but said nothing.
“Mrs. Pederson, I…I’m just looking for some answers. I’m not looking for anything more than that,” James said.
But, he had seen it in her first shocked look. This was not his mother. Nor was she Doug’s, and inside she was now dealing with the old lie that had unraveled right before her eyes. Doug was still very much confused and when he looked to James for some explanation, James looked away to Mrs. Pederson.
There was no physical resemblance between either of them. She could have as easily called Nicole her daughter as James, Kevin, and Doug her sons. She stared so fixedly at James, but he wouldn’t look away. He couldn’t read her, but he was positive there was now a note of hatred welling somewhere behind the watering eyes.
“He told me...warned me not to do it. That I should just tell you the truth. I was such a fool…such a fool. He told me that something li
ke this might happen…just not…good lord, if I had known. Triplets?” she said, and pressed a wad of tissues to her face to stem the new flow of tears.
Doug pressed a soothing arm over her shoulder. His attempt to smile faltered.
“What are you saying, Mom? Who told you?” Doug said.
“Someone told you we might come?” James said.
“Douglas, I’m…so sorry,” she said, grabbing him and pulling him into an awkward hug. She sobbed into his shoulder, “I’ve been such a bad parent.”
“Mom…momma, c’mon,” Doug said, patting her should.
He again tried a half smile, looking around at Nicole and James for some sort of consolation. They didn’t return his smile.
“What’s that supposed to mean, Mom?” Doug asked.
It was then that steps and a voice came from an unseen doorway. It was a deep baritone voice.
“Douglas? Is that you, son? What the hell are you doing home so early? Leo send you home early? You ok, son?”
It was a flurry of questions that came out all before the man could be seen. He entered the room, almost having to duck inside the doorway. James felt that he had suddenly eaten the mushroom that makes you small without knowing it. The man, with slick silver hair and an angular face and glasses to match those of his wife, towered over James by a solid foot at least. He was lean and lanky because of his height, with a pleasant demeanor that shadowed upon seeing James and Kevin and his crying wife.
“Sweet mother of God,” he said, suddenly looking stiff. He rubbed a finger across his lips and settled himself slowly into an oversized easy chair that seemed to be custom made for someone large, but still smaller than himself.
“Oh, Jair,” whispered his wife.
“Alice,” he said, his resolute voice carrying to every corner of the room, “we knew this day might come.”
She only seemed to sob harder into her son’s shoulder.