Soulshine (11 page)

“Hey.” Michelle was tired as she approached Evan"s bed and touched his hand. “You hang in there for me, okay?”
Evan smiled. He never could help do anything but smile when Michelle was near, no matter how much pain he suffered. “How are
you
hanging in?”
“Not bad. Mom"s gone back home. I think she"ll be okay. It"s good that everything is out in the open.”
“As long as your folks don"t put everything further out in the open for the world to consume.
I
may not make it, but your life could bequite compromised.”
“I think Mom knows well enough not to do that. I"m not sure about Dad. He said something on the phone that upset Mom. I think he blames everything on you.”
“And well he should. It
is
all my fault… last I checked.”
Michelle cupped both her hands aroundEvan"s hand. “I"ve got some news that might make you want to hope that the next hospital helpsget you all better quickly.”
“The only inspiration I need to give me hope for this deterioration to end is knowing that if it
does
end, you will not spend eternity alone.”
Michelle grinned. “I"m going to have a baby.”
Evan stared at her, trying to figure it all out. “Michelle, we"ve always used protection. How…?”
“Why ask how? I"m going to have your baby, Evan.”
“Did they tell you how long you"ve been… pregnant?”
“About two weeks. I know we"ve been using protection because you were afraid of what might happen if we ever conceived, butnow that I"m pregnant we can"t worry about that.”
“Michelle…”
“Yes?”
“You didn"t get pregnant two weeks ago.”
“You think they"re wrong?”
“No… that is to say… I think that you have a fetus that
appears
to the doctors to be two weeks along… but in real time it has been growing inside you for eleven… almost twelve… years.”
“Huh?”
“Michelle… there was only one time we made love with no protection… on your eighteenth birthday… after I told you about the elixir. It was an emotional moment… remember? You… wanted me to make love to you… and all I wanted to do was satisfy you. You had gone through so much ribbing at school… I wanted to do whatever you wanted me to do for you.I didn"t think of getting protection… I hadn"t planned on… We were supposed to go out to dinner… but you asked me to… oh God, I love you.”
“It was wonderful, Evan. So you think…?”
“I"m almost certain. It makes sense, butif I"m right… do you want to know the best part?”
“What?”
“Well… if you have life
growing
inside you…
aging
… then it follows that you, too, are aging. And if
you
are aging, then
I
must be aging.”
“But you and I don"t age, Evan.”
“Oh yes… if I"m correct, then yes we do. Our little baby has grown what humanity considers two weeks… when we know that it has been about six hundred weeks, if my math is correct. The ratio is about three hundred to one… so
we
physically age about one year for every three hundred years. Michelle, that would mean that I have aged roughly close to eight years since I drank the elixir.”
“But you said that you didn"t age.”
“I didn"t think I did because it took place so slowly. I could have been around seventeen when I agreed to be a subject for Gerasimos… that was the name of the alchemist. Today that would put me around the equivalent of a twenty-five year old man.” Evan pondered some more figures in his head. “As for you… you drank the elixir around two hundred months ago, so you would have aged about… twenty days.” He chuckled. “Tell me, do you feel twenty days older since I made you that ice cream soda?”
Michelle got lost in the mathematics of it. “So you think this isgood? You"re not disappointed that you have aged eight years?”
“No, not at all. Michelle, when I thought I may be dying, all I could think of was how you would end up alone, trapped inside a body that would never age, unlike anybody else in the world. Now I can die knowing that you will eventually join me in eternity. Not only that, but death is no longer a devastating thought to me. When you have something that you feel you cannot lose, it"s depressing to face the possibility of losing it. But now I know I never possessed something that I could hold onto forever, so I have nothing to lose. Neither do you.”
“That"s getting too deep for me.”
Evan shrugged, and then grimaced as a sharp pain went through his thigh. “I"ve had many centuries to hone my philosophical thought, my love. You"ve had but twenty-nine years.”
“I don"t want to live forever if it"s without you.”
“Precisely what I was getting at, Michelle. Neither would I want to do the same without your company. You will now forever be the company I keep, even into eternity. Now if you don"t mind wheeling me around in a wheelchair for another fifteen millennia, we can hope that the doctors at Fletcher can patch me up. Then we can enjoy our child together.”
“Evan?”
“Yes, my love?”
“When will the babybe born?”
“My God… you"re going to go through quite a number of obstetricians, aren"t you? Believe me.I don"t think you really want to know the answer to that question.Let"s just hope that a lot of progress is made concerning childbirth in the next couple of centuries.” Evan sighed. “All the more reason for me to cooperate with the doctors. I must be there for you…
and
the child.”

Eric as he walked out of the jazz club.
“Jean! What are you doing out this time of night?” “I was waiting for you.”
“You knew I was in there? Why… you could have come

inside and joined us. Bryan"s still in there.”
“I"m not much into that music. I like the old jazz but not so
much the new stuff.”
“Ah, yes. You like Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. So
do I, but there"s a lot to say for Coltrane and Miles too. Besides,
it"s the company you"re with, right?”
“I"m just not into it. I just wanted to see you.”
Eric had been thinking a lot about Jean lately. Though his
head told him that Jean could never be completely comfortable
with him, his heart would sometimes wonder if she would come
around. Jean was over forty years old now, and sometimes her
face looked even older when she was nervous and frightened. This
night she was calm, which made her look somewhat younger and
very becoming to Eric. “You always liked the quiet places.
Would you like to go elsewhere? Oh, but it is late, isn"t it? Maybe
we could just walk slowly and grab a coffee on the way.” “That sounds nice.” Eric and Jean started toward Jean"s
section of the city. Jean tried to search for the next words she
wanted to say. “Eric… I just want to tell you that I"m sorry for
acting like a fool sometimes.”
“What do you mean, Jean?”
“You know. One minute I"m interested in you and the next
I"m running away. You"ve been such a good friend, and…” “Jean, don"t be concerned. I understand. We will always
be friends.”
Jean hesitated.“I never understood what you saw in an old
lady like me.”
“Old lady? Why… you"re not much older than I am.” Jean gave a quizzical look. “Oh,right. Let"s see. When
you arrived in New York, you claimed to be thirty years old. That
would make you thirtysix now, wouldn"t it?”
Eric quickly recalled his initial conversation with Bryan at
the train station, which he needed to adhere to during his entire
stay in New York. He kept on using the gray dye on his temples
for six years now, but would sometimes let on that the gray was
real and the brown was coloring he used for the theater. “Sssh…
don"t talk so loud, Jean. Nobody knows that I color my hair
brown.”
“So that"s it, huh? Maybe I should do the same.” “What… and ruin your natural beauty?”
“Still… you look like a
kid
to me.” Eric felt awkward so he
said nothing. He was saved when Jean broke the silence. “But I
like you anyway.”
“Can I buy the coffee, Jean?”
“I was going to see if you wanted to come to my apartment.
I made some cookies and was planning on putting on a pot of
coffee.”
“Mmm… cookies. Sounds great.” Eric thought about the
little vial hidden well back in his room back at his apartment.
What a gift it would be for Jean to never grow a day older from
tonight onward. She seems so free tonight, and she does look nice.
Eric found it humorous that even if Jean were to be given
Gerasimos" elixir, she would still always look older than he. “It"s the least I could do, Eric… especially after years of
leading you on.”
“Huh?” Eric was lost in his thoughts about talking to Jean
about the elixir and momentarily thought she was responding to his
thoughts. Then he realized she was referring to the cookie
invitation. “Jean… are you saying that… your inhibitions are
behind you?”
Jean looked up at Eric"s soulful eyes. “Maybe, and I have
you
to thank for that. Mr. Townsend, I think I have you all figured
out.”
“You do?”
“Mm-hmm.
You
are my angel sent from God. That
explains why you don"t get any older.”
Eric tried to determine if Jean was joking by looking at her
face. “
I
am your angel? I must say that I have never been accused
of that before.”
“Accused? An angel is the best thing a person can ask for.
You have showed me that my present and my future are both
brighter than my past, and that God does not want me to dwell on
the hurts of the past nor the way I"ve hurt others because of what
happened to me.”
“Well, I"m glad you see that because it
is
true and I
have
been trying to tell you that… but an angel? Look… if I am
your
guardian angel then why would I be sitting with Bryan Moore,
drinking lime water in a jazz club? Wouldn"t I be following you
around town?
You
were the one who followed
me
.”
“I can"t explain how God moves. Maybe the angels can"t
either.”
“Jean… I"d rather you didn"t think of me as some celestial
being. I… I"m really not.”
“Then why don"t you age? You"re kind and gentle, yet you
remained the samefor six years… and who knows how long
before that? You said that you were thirty when you came into my
life, yet you looked closer to twenty even then… and still do now!” “Yeah… and I also said that I worked in the theater when I
was in college. Angels don"t go to college, and angels probably
also do not lie… so I"m either a human being who is the age I say I
am, or I"m a lying angel. In the latter case, you can"t trust me, can
you?”
“I… I don"t know. You"re confusing me. You could be
telling the truth, but I thought for sure that you"re an angel.” “Well, if I am then I lied. Does
that
fit in with your
theology?”
“I guess not. Well… I"m glad that you"re human then… if
it means you"ll always be my friend. Others have left me, so I have always left men before they found out about me and left me
first.”
“If I may change the subject… you look wonderful
tonight.”
“Thank you,” said Jean with a skeptical smile and laugh. “Listen… as your personal… uh…
human
angel… may I
suggest the best way I know for you to overcome all your fears?” “Sure.”
“Bryan will be leaving on Saturday to go to New
Brunswick. I will be alone at the apartment. Come on over and
spend the night with me.”
Jean put up her guard. “Well… now I
know
that you"re not
an angel or you wouldn"t have suggested something like that.” “No… I"m hopelessly, yet delightfully human. So what do
you say? Jean… you are over forty. What is the harm in being
with a friend?”
“I… I can"t. It"s not right.”
“What if I told you that I stopped aging when I decided to
cast away my worries, and you can too?” Eric thought about how
corny that sounded… not to mention untrue. But ever since
meeting Jean, he wondered if the remainder of the elixir was meant
for her… to restore what had been robbed in her past.
Jean gave Eric a confused expression. “Let"s just go eat the
cookies, have some coffee, and take it slow, okay?”
Eric wondered if it were possible for him to wait much
longer. Jean was already trying to justify the widening difference
in their appearances. “Sure, Jean. That… sounds just perfect.”

Everyone who attended Michelle"s fifth birthday party was having a good time. The Flemings invited the extended family, including grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. “Do you like yourcake,” asked Mary?

John laughed as he looked at the frosting around his daughter"s mouth. “It also looks like Michelle has a favorite birthday present as well as favorite frosting.”

“Yes,” said Mary. “Who gave her those particular dolls? It was you, wasn"t it?” she asked her sister. “She won"t put down the boy doll.”

John shuddered. “Oh, please. Let"s not rush things. I"m not ready to think about walking my little girl down the aisle quite yet.”

Mary and Aunt Clarice smiled at how she clung to the doll. “It"s cute how she makes believe,” said Clarice.
“But Auntie, I"m not making believe. I"m just practicing. He will really be here someday. He just lives far away right now… but I know he will be here someday. He just hasn"t met me yet.”

The train pulled into Grand Central Station with Evan fast asleep. Michelle had wanted to catch some sleep but could not get the thought of never seeing her parents again out of her head. She needed to awaken Evan, but before she did she took the time to gaze at him.
He’s so handsome
.
I can’t believe he’s over two thousand years old. I remember when I thought he was close to twenty, and I was afraid he wouldn’t like me. It’s amazing that he loves me so much… and I love him.

“Hey, cutie. Don"t wake him up. Hop off the train with me instead. We can go someplace real special.”
Michelle looked up and saw three young men, around eighteen to twenty years of age, staring at her. The one who spoke gave her the creeps as the other two just smiled and stared, also giving her the willies. “Sorry… I"m with him.”
The young men smiled wider and the provoker spoke again. “Is he your boyfriend or something? And he"s sleeping with a cutie like you by his side? Man, I"d be all over you. Come on… let me show you a good time.”
Michelle was repulsed. “Evan… wake up. We"re here.”
“Evan? What kind of name is Evan? That doesn"t sound like the name of a guy who would know what to do with a cutie like you.”
As Evan started to stir, Michelle lashed out at her provoker. “By the sound of things, I would say that you don"t know the first thing about how to treat a lady.”
“Sorry, cutie, but you are no lady. What are you… twelve years old? Does your mommy and daddy know about Evan? Oh… I get it. He"s gay, right? That"s why mommy and daddy let you ride the choo-choo train withhim?”
A priest happened by in the crowd of people exiting the train. “Excuse me. I couldn"t help but overhear. Listen, young men… I suggest you move along and leave the young girl alone. It is not rightto harass her in this manner.” The priest then looked down as Evan looked up at the four men gathered near him as he sat on the aisle seat. “Young girl… is this man bothering you too?”
“Nah, he"s gay,” laughed the provoker and his friends as they walked away.
“Oh no,sir. He"s the most wonderful m an I ever met in my life. We"re going to spend the rest of our lives together.”
The priest raised an eyebrow. “You"re married?”
“Yes,” said Evan. “That is to say… we
will
be married.”
The priest cleared his throat. “Do you have any family, young girl? I hardly approve of someone your age getting married… regardless of how wonderful you find this young man.”
Michelle got indignant. “I happen to be eighteen… and Evan and I have been seeing each other for five years. I don"t think we need your approval.”
The priest did not believe her when she said she was eighteen but did not want to call her a liar.“You will have a hard time finding a priest who will give his approval to join you two together. What about your parents or guardians? Do
they
approve?”
“They approve of Evan… yes.” Then she wondered if they really would approve of her traveling off for good with Evan.
Evan interrupted. “Look… uh… Father it is, right? Father, we appreciate you handling those skanky boys while I was asleep. But I can assure you that sheand I are very much in love.”
The priest sighed as he addressed Michelle. “As long as everything is okay with you, I"ll be off now.” Then he lowered his voice so only Michelle and Evan could hear it, though he was clearly looking into Michelle"s eyes. “If you are being forced to do anything against your will and need any help, let me know before I go, will you? I promise that I will make sure that you are safe.”
“I"m fine, Father… and I"ll show you my birth certificate if you don"t believe that I"m eighteen.”
“No, that"s fine,” said the priest. “I believe you.” Then he went on his way.
Evan and Michelle also rose and exited the train. “Evan… this is going to keep happening… people questioning us. Tell me again why you had to keep me looking like I"m thirteen?”
Evan smiled. “I"ll be happy to tell you every single day for the next thousand years, my dear, just so you"ll always hear it. For most of my life I determined that I would preserve the one who was meant for me as soon as I knew it to be true. I knew, my love, that you were the one when you were thirteen. Just like I will always remind you of the image of your first love, so shall you always likewiseremind me. Poetic, isn"t it?”
Michelle shook her head in wonderment. “I think I
may
need to hear it every day for the next thousand years… and yes, I do think it"s sweet… but I also think life would have been easier for us if you let me grow a little more.”
“Who would have thought that such a young girl would win my heart?” Evan then embraced her and they engaged in a lengthy kiss as passersby stopped to stare. From that point onward, neither of them cared any longer.