Amoeba (The Experiments)

by Jacqueline Druga

  “I am?” Jake shook his head. “Sorry. I guess my mind is still stuck on this afternoon.” He twitched his head in a fine remembrance while bringing the bottle to his lips.

  “Jake, I have to tell you.” Cal leaned into the table. “This afternoon, I don’t know what got into me. We have a really good sex life you and I, but today, you were . . . you were unbelievable.”

  Jake grinned while the bottle was still at his lips. “Oh yeah?” He took a drink and set the bottle down.

  “Yes.” Cal nodded.

  Jake chuckled as he stood up. “Just call me . . .” He winked. “The champ.” He got a laugh from Cal, and he bent down and kissed her. “I love you.” He kissed her again. “Let me take our plates down to the dining hall, and I’ll be back.”

  “I’ll help you.” Cal reached for the plates.

  “No.” Jake stopped her. “Stay here. I’ll be back. There’s something I have to take care of.” He quickly cleared the table. “I won’t be long.”

  After watching Jake leave, Cal stood. Even though she had had her fill of drinking in the morning, she went to the fridge and got a beer.

  ^^^^

  It was downright hysterical to Billy as he walked through the unity circle, so much so that he laughed. It could have been viewed as rude to do so, but Billy couldn’t help it. After all, it was totally innocent on Rickie’s part. He was just having fun. Rickie and Reed sitting on Reed’s porch singing the song by the Carpenters, ‘Sing, Sing, a Song.’. And they did.

  Rickie sang loudly. “Don’t worry that it’s not good enough, for anyone else to hear, dude. You’re part guy . . .”

  And Reed sang. “Us in, ing a ong.”

  “Keep going.” Rickie bounced the small tape player adding the back drop music.

  “Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa. Wa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa. . . .”

  Billy shook his head, lifting his hand in a wave to them.

  “Dude.” Rickie stood up. “Hey, wait.” He jumped off the porch.

  Billy stopped walking. “I don’t want to sing, thanks Rickie.”

  Rickie snorted a laugh. “No, Guy. Did you talk to the Cal-babe yet?”

  “No. Why?” Billy asked.

  “Oh I know she’s wanting to tell you something. She didn’t tell you?”

  Billy’s eyes moved to Cal’s bungalow. “No. She has something to tell me?”

  “Oh, yeah, guy, and it’s good. You should go talk to her.”

  “Rickie. Is, uh, Jake there?” Billy asked.

  “No. He’s down at the eating hole. It’s cookie baking night. Lou’s like Chef Brocket. I’m going down there now. Want some cookies?”

  “Yeah.” Billy moved toward Cal’s bungalow. “Yeah I do. I’m gonna go see what Cal wanted first.”

  “Okay.” Rickie waved.

  Billy, taking advantage that Jake was baking cookies with Lou, needed to speak to Cal. He had an opportunity., And after hearing she wanted to finally talk to him, Billy wanted to take that opportunity. His heart literally picked up a beating pace as he neared the bungalow, thumping near his throat when he knocked on the door and Cal yelled out ‘come in.”

  Taking a breath, Billy opened the door. “Cal?” He stepped inside.

  “Billy.” Her eyes widened and shifted. “What . . . what are you doing here?”

  “Rickie said you had to talk to me.”

  “He what?” Cal held back her hair nervous. “Rickie’s lying.”

  “You don’t want to see me?” Billy asked, and the smile dropped from his face. “I’m sorry. I thought it had been a while and you just wanted to talk.”

  “Billy.” Cal moved to him. “I’d love to talk to you. I would. But not yet. Not now and certainly not here. Jake will be back any second.” Cal spoke with pleading to her voice.

  “No, Cal. Jake’s baking cookies.”

  “Jake’s baking cookies?”

  “Yeah.” Billy smiled. “So can I just talk to you for a second? Just a second. Please?”

  Cal looked at him in debate.

  Jake trotted, a chocolate chip cookie in his mouth, near the unity circle. He saw Rickie headed his way. “Rickie.”

  “Sarge. Hey, I haven’t seen you. So, like, did it work?”

  “What?” Jake asked.

  “The drug.”

  Jake grinned.

  “Sarge, you dog.”

  “No, no.” Jake held up his hand. “My intention was not for that. I followed the instructions of what you heard and well . . .” Jake twitched his head. “Well.” He smiled again. “There was something in that Jack. Trust me, I know Cal.”

  “So, like, what was her reaction?”

  “I didn’t tell her yet. One of the side effects is that she cries.” Jake cringed. “I wanna tell her now, but I need to find Billy. Do you know where he is?”

  “You wanna tell them together?”

  “Yes.” Jake nodded.

  “Cool, you have your opportunity. I thought she knew. I thought for sure she’d want to tell him. But now, dude, you get a double whammy and get to see both of their expressions. Can I watch?”

  “No, just tell me where he is,” Jake said.

  Rickie pointed at his bungalow.

  Billy let out a slow breath of relief through his slightly parted lips as he moved to Cal. “I just need to hear your voice.”

  “Billy.” Cal closed her eyes.

  “No.” Billy shook his head. “Don’t take that wrong. Do you realize I spoke to you every day for three years? Everyday.” Billy watched her nod. “You’re my friend. I need that friend in you more than I need anything. Cal, I miss talking to you so much. Just . . . talking.” Billy stepped to her. “Sharing stories, laughing, talking about our lives. I miss that. I miss my best friend. I miss . . .” Standing right before her, Billy reached out and laid his fingertips on her cheek. “. . .you.”

  With a click-click the door opened, and in walked Jake. He stopped cold at the same time that Cal and Billy in a guilty jump separated.

  Billy’s heart pounded in nervousness, and he knew his eyes surely showed it. It was bad enough that he got busted talking to Cal, but did he have to be touching her when Jake walked in?

  Cal stepped to Jake as he closed to the door. “Jake, listen . . .”

  “Cal.” Jake held up his hand.

  “Jake,” Billy tried. “I just came to talk to her. Rickie said . . .”

  “Rickie said for him to come over.” Cal continued it for him. “So he did and . . .”

  “And . . . and . . . “ Billy inched his way to the door. “I’ll leave.”

  Jake stepped in front of him. “Sit down.” He motioned his head to the table. “Cal, you too.”

  “Oh, God.” Cal rushed to Jake. “Please. It was a big misunderstanding. He wasn’t supposed to be here.”

  “Jake, I’m sorry I was here.”

  “Sit down,” Jake said calmly again.

  With hands raised in surrender, Billy shook his head. “Don’t take it out on her, Jake. I came in here.”

  “No, Billy,” Cal argued. “I told you that you can stay and talk. It’s not all your fault.”

  “Cal.” Billy faced her. “Don’t. Why would you want Jake mad at you for something that’s my fault?”

  “I could have said for you to get out when you came . . .”

  “Hey!” Jake shouted his loudest., “Sit down!” Jake’s hand came pummeling down, pointing to the table, and Cal and Billy flew over and sat down. “Now.” Jake saw their mouths opened. “Don’t.” He shut them up. “Cal, why are you acting so guilty right now?”

  “I am Jake. I am.” Her head dropped. “I’m just trying to make things right with you, and I let him in the room to talk. I’m trying and I screwed up.”

  “No you didn’t,” Jake told her. “And I know you’re trying, so knock it off.”

  “Okay.” Cal nervously shook her head.

  Jake took a breath and looked at Billy. “I was looking for you.”

  “I was only here a minute, Jake, I s
wear.” Billy defended himself.

  Jake cringed. “I know. There’s something I have to tell you both. Something you need to know. Now before I begin, Billy, this is the first I have spoken to you at all.”

  “And I appreciate this, Jake. I really do,” Billy said nervously.

  “Yeah.” Jake winced. “All right. First . . .” Jake stepped to him. “Let’s get one thing straight and out in the open. I hate, hate the fuckin fact that you slept with my wife.” Jake glared at him.

  “Oh God.” Billy swallowed. “Jake, listen . . .”

  “Shut up. I hate it. It burns me inside and out to know you shared things with her and did things with her that only I have the right to do. And pardon the terminology, but you ate from my field, pal, and that will always, always be in the back of my mind. But . . . “ Jake moved away from Billy. “The back of my mind. Not forefront. It can’t be forefront. For more reasons than you are aware of right now. See . . .” Jake brought his hand to his eyes. “I liked you. I liked you a lot, Billy. I trusted you with my wife. I saw you as no threat, because even though I knew you had feelings for her, I knew what kind of man you were. And it really didn’t dawn on me until a surfer birdie spoke in my ear why on the island, during the experiment, all of the sudden you crossed a line you would have never thought of crossing before.” Jake spun his head to Cal. “And you, too. I trusted you, Cal. And I’m sure both of you were baffled as well.”

  Cal nodded rapidly. “Yes, I didn’t . . .”

  “Cal.” Jake tried to stop her.

  Billy tried to interject. “Jake, look, I want you to . . .”

  “Both of you!” Jake raised his voice. “Let me finish. All right? Fuck.” He walked to the closet. “Both of you deserve this.”

  Turning to each other as they sat at that table, both Billy and Cal’s eyes filled with horror.

  “Cal?” Billy spoke her name with concern. “Is he . . . is he killing us?”

  “I think so.” Cal’s eyes shifted to the closet. “I knew his whole attitude changed too fast.”

  “He can get away with it, too, can’t he?”

  “No rules.” Cal swallowed, then sighed in relief when Jake walked out of the closet not with a gun, but a bottle of Jack Daniels.

  Jake set the bottle on the table.

  Cal looked up to him. “I don’t want a drink, thanks.”

  “You will not drink from this bottle again,” Jake told her. “Until we’re home and you have one of those Cal, ‘I’m not in the mood’ headaches.”

  Cal looked confused. “What are you talking about?”

  Jake’s hand lay on top of the bottle as he shifted his eyes back and forth to Billy and Cal. “The only way Cal and I would be considered successful participants of this experiment was to finish, both of us alive, and still a couple. There were three ways to break our team. If one of us mentally breaks . . . which would never happen. If one of us dies . . . which would never happen. Or if we break up . . . . which would never happen, unless,” Jake looked at Cal, “one of us cheats. You.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Jake closed one eye. “Listen. Okay, so that’s the plan. They can’t kill us, they can’t break us, so they go after us as a couple. Break us up early on. We don’t fight as a team, we aren’t strong as a team . . . Cal dies.”

  “Hey.” Cal’s eyes widened. “What about you?”

  “Cal, please. Anyhow, so how do they do that? The one thing that breaks up marriages. Again, infidelity. Get one of us to cheat. It’s obvious who that would be. Not me. With only one other broad scheduled to be on the island, who was a . . . a dog, the only way I can physically cheat on her here is if I’m gay, and that ain’t gonna happen. So they go after Cal. She already started the ball rolling for them with her delusional housewife infatuation with some television reporter who happens to be one of her best friends. But how do they get a woman, who probably has delusional housewife fantasies about being with another man, to cheat on a husband she truly loves?”

  “I do, Jake. I do. I mean not fantasies, love you.”

  “So how do they get her to cheat?” Jake held up his finger. “It isn’t by counting on the reporter slash best friend to be a heroic Casanova. Let’s face it, she’s already married to that. They get her to cheat by . . . .” Jake’s finger tapped the cap of the Jake, “. . .drugging her and him.”

  Billy’s eyes went from the bottle to Jake. “What are you saying?”

  Jake grunted long and loud. “Fuck, weren’t you paying attention? I just fuckin said it. You guys were drugged.”

  “No.” Billy shook his head. “Still, drug or no drug, I should have had control. I’m so sorry Jake.”

  “As much as I hate to say this . . .” Jake took a second to swallow. “There was no way, under the influence of this drug, that you could have control. And with both of you under it, it pains me to think of how out of control that got. And trust me, I know what it does to one person. My back is killing me.”

  Cal’s eyes widened. “Is that why you had me drink the Jack this afternoon? You drugged me?”

  A little frightened of Cal realizing what he had done, Jake reluctantly answered. “Yes.”

  “I was drugged?” Cal’s expression was seriousness, and then it was replaced with a smile. “I was drugged!” Cal shrieked and jumped up grabbing and hugging Jake.

  Billy slumped down in the chair, a heaviness lifting off his shoulders. Though they had still done Jake wrong, they hadn’t hurt him intentionally, and that meant a lot to Billy. He reached up and grabbed the bottle. “Drugged,” he said in relief.

  “Jake.” Cal pulled from her embrace of him. “You are so brilliant. You figured it out all by yourself and narrowed it down to the Jack?”

  “Not really,” Jake said. “Rickie overheard them at the toot, I mean institute. I was merely confirming it.”

  “They set this up.” Cal shook her head. “That would be why Larry left those pictures in here.”

  “Larry did that?” Jake asked. “Oh, he’s paying. He’s paying big time.”

  The happiness left Cal’s face. “Jake, we were drugged. Okay, but . . . that still doesn’t lessen what we did. What we did was wrong. What we did to you was a sin. Don’t dismiss the act. I could use this as a way out, but I won’t. We . . .” Cal sat back down. “We had to start it. And we did that on our own. And even if we weren’t drugged and nothing sexual happened, starting it was wrong. Wrong.”

  “I know.” Jake lowered to his knees before her. “And what caused it to start is part of what you and I, Cal, will work on. I’m not dismissing it, but I’m not going to lie. Knowing the drug had a lot, a lot to do with what transpired, makes me feel a hell of a lot better.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it.

  Billy watched them for a second and stood up. “Thanks, Jake. Thanks for letting me know. Just know, I never meant any of it. I never meant to hurt you. I look up to you and if I admired you before, I . . . I admire you more now.” Billy walked to the door. “It takes a big man to be the way you’re being. And I’m not just talking in size.” Billy winked and grabbed for the door.

  “Wait.” Jake stood up. “There’s one more thing.” He waited for Billy to turn around. “The experiment wanted to break up me and Cal, cause dissension in the three of us. If there’s one thing I hate it’s losing. Letting them get the best of me is letting them win, and I refuse to let them win. Even if I wanted to keep you away from Cal forever, even if I wanted to break your neck right now . . .” Jake failed to see the sudden fear on Billy’s face. “I wouldn’t do that, because that’s what the experiment wants to happen. And the last thing I want is to give them what they want.”

  Caldwell Research Center - Los Angeles, CA

  March 30th - 8:30 p.m.

  The music that played into the microphone finally stopped, and a long sigh of relief was let out by the two monitors, Greg, and Aldo who were in the control room. They kept their eyes peeled to the screen that was still black.

  Though they h
ad tired of Reo Speedwagon, those in the control room didn’t know what was worse, old eighties music or Rickie trying to be a D.J., speaking muffling close to the microphone in a smooth soft way.

  “Dudes,” he said. “Like, welcome back to the world of the Graisons. We hope you enjoyed this commercial break. And like, now, we’d like to take you back into the world of the wedded bliss.” The snickering of Rickie was heard, and then, after a shuffling noise, Rickie’s eyeball peered close into the camera. “Dude, Haynes, man you’re looking rank.” Rickie laughed again and stepped back jumping off the chair he stood on. “Okay. Where were we?” He ran to the table.

  “Your turn,” Jake said as he sat at the table with Cal and Billy, a game board in front of them. He kissed Cal and grabbed his beer. “Bill, you ready for another one?”

  “No I’m fine Jake.” Billy stared at his tile holder. “Rickie go on.”

  “Dudes.” Rickie spoke with excitement to the three. “I got, like, the perfect word. Check me out.” Rickie began to lay down his tiles. “Building off your ‘S’. S--U--C--K--E--R.”

  Greg’s jaw moved slowly as he peered with angry irritation at the laughing Scrabble playing annoying four. But Aldo, Aldo took the opportunity while watching to lean back in that comfortable leather chair . . . and smile.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  I-S.E. Thirteen - The Island

  April 7th - 6:45 a.m.

  “Almost done, babe.” Jake encouraged Cal as they stood in a small clearing in the woods. “Give it a little more.”

  Cal charged forward, kicking hard into the Stasis size dummy Jake held.

  “Good, again. Try a little higher.” Jake held the dummy tight.

  Cal backed up and caught her breath.

  “Cal, you should quit smoking. You’d do better.”

  “Maybe.” Cal leaned into her knee in a runner’s stance.

  “Maybe? What, no ‘fuck you’.”

  “Why would I say that?”

  “You always do.”