The Iso-Stasis Experiment (The Experiments) (8 page)

“We made plans last night to review manuscripts.”

“It’s eight-thirty in the morning. We have all day.”

“I have it on my agenda for now.”

“I don’t feel like doing it now,” Cal said.

“Well, what do you have planned to do? Hang out eating junk food with Rickie?” Jake asked sarcastically.

“If I want to, I will. Why do you care?” Cal tossed her hands up.

“I made the agenda.”

“And what made you assume I would want to be part of your agenda?”

Jake stared for a second. “You know what? It’s my error.” He moved to the door. “I won’t bother you again.” Without saying anything further, Jake walked out.

^^^^

A quarter of a crossword puzzle, two cigarettes, a cup of coffee and Cal finally heard a long enough span of silence in the bathroom to make the assumption Jake was done with his shower and dressed. Her bathroom door was still closed so Cal knocked.

“Yeah,” Jake said from the other side. “I’m almost done.”

“No. Jake . . . can I speak to you?” There was a pause and Cal heard the door unlock and open just barely. “Jake.” She opened the door. He stood at the sink shaving, wearing only a towel. “I . . .” Cal caught herself casing him and quickly turned her back leaning against the archway. “I was wondering. Is it too late to get back on the agenda?” she asked, her folded arms holding the manuscript.

“Bored?” Jake asked, dipping the razor.

“No, I’m curious. Is it?’

“Yep, I’m sorry.” Jake ran the razor down his face. “I’m a stickler for agendas and for adhering to them.”

“I see.” Cal turned to leave but paused when he started talking.

“I’d have to make a new one. And in doing so, I’d hate to
assume
you’d want to be a part of it.”

“Jake . . .”

“Or, you know . . .” he clanked the razor on the side of the sink, “
assume
that you’d want to hang around with my ‘too big to be attractive’ body.”

“Jake.” Almost in a
whine
, Cal turned her head to him. When she, did she caught it.

Through the corner of eyes that seemed to smile, Jake looked at her. “I’ll be done in a few minutes, and then I’ll start that new agenda.”

^^^^

At first Cal thought it was a joke. Then after reviewing what she had learned of Major Graison, she realized the word ‘joke’ pretty much wouldn’t grace his vocabulary. When Jake said he’d do a whole new agenda, Jake meant it.

It was taking too long, which concerned Cal as she wondered what she allowed herself in for. But her options were limited. Hang out with Jake. Hang out in her room. Or do like everyone else, sit in the gathering room. Cal knew the second she went in there to wait for Jake that the gathering room was not a place she’d be frequenting.

Carlos had found his spot and played his guitar. John and Jennifer huddled over a board game. Rickie was nowhere to be seen, and Fr. Dan tried with diligence to converse with Griff. Cal’s aid to that helped the wait on Jake move a little faster.

“Thank you, Cal.” Fr. Dan grinned. He was a shy looking man, timid and thin. “I wanted to share that story with Griff.”

Cal’s arms moved to interpret what Fr. Dan had just said. She realized by the ache in her shoulders how long it had been since she signed. “You’re welcome.” She looked at Griff. “Anything you want me to interpret while I’m here?” She asked speaking and signing.

Griff smiled in return. Graying and gruff
 
in appearance, he signed the words, ‘We’ll use the tablet for right now. Thank you.’

Cal nodded. She folded her arms to try to hide the fact that they felt a little weary. Turning to go back, she caught another glimpse of Carlos, and it struck something in her. She made her way over to him.

Carlos stopped playing.

“Why did you stop?” Cal asked.

He shrugged his shoulders and then continued to play. “I think maybe it shocked me that you walked over here.” His words and voice were soft.

“Yeah, me, too, I don’t mean to be anti-social. I just am.”

“I understand. That’s not what we’re here for.” His picking was slow.

Cal looked for a chair and grabbed one. “Mind if I listen to you?”

“Not at all,” he said.

Cal slid the chair across from him and sat. “Do you sing, too?”

“Badly,” he said with a laugh and stopped playing.

“I’m disturbing you. I’ll leave you be.” She started to stand up.

“No, don’t. Please stay. It’s just weird. You’ve hardly spoken to anyone. Yet, here we sit. You seem . . .” he started to play again, “different from my first encounter with you. To be honest, I really didn’t think you’d talk to any of us.”

“To be honest with you, I really had no intention to, until I saw you. I mean, really looked at you. You remind me of someone, even more so while you play your guitar.”

“Good or bad?”

“Oh, good,” Cal said and smiled sadly as she continued to watch him. “He was the music teacher at the school where I taught. David Martinez. He played every instrument.
 
Gosh, I can’t believe how much you look like him.”

“I see by the lift of the eyebrow, you liked this David Martinez.”

“Oh, I loved David. Everybody loved David. He was your age. Thin like you, soft spoken . . .”

“You dated him.” Carlos smiled.

“I used to. Hell, he was the one that made me think about marriage again
 
. . .” Cal sat back.

“So what happened? Why aren’t you home being Mrs. Martinez?”

Cal rubbed the chill that crept upon her arms. “My daughter was killed. And that killed everything in me. I didn’t have room for David anymore. I decided from that moment on to spend the rest of my life alone.”

The music stopped. “That’s sad.”

“It’s my reality.” Cal took a deep breath. “Anyway . . . can I just listen to you play? It brings back good memories. And not much does that for me.”

“Sure.” Carlos smiled and started again. “Hey, maybe during our seven months I’ll even teach you.”

“Oh, no,” Cal said and waved her hand at him. “David tried. He taught me a few things but, I suck.”

“Show me.” Carlos took off his guitar. “Come on.” He handed it to her.

Somehow Jake thought that Carlos would be a much better guitar player, given the fact he hadn’t put it down since they stepped off the plane. Listening to the plunk of sour notes Jake abandoned any thoughts of complimenting Carlos on his playing. The bad notes got even worse as he made his way to the gathering room, hoping to find Cal there. He wanted to get started going over the manuscripts with her. He realized she might think him more than a little neurotic, but he carried them carefully secreted in a small knapsack. Rounding the bend into the gathering room, Jake saw the reason for the horrible guitar playing. It wasn’t Carlos playing, it was Cal. He must have looked as shocked as he felt. Cal in the gathering room socializing was surprising enough, but seeing Carlos standing behind her, arms over hers being the patient teacher was way beyond anything he could have imagined.

“Dude, you snooze you lose.” Rickie stood next to him, watching what Jake watched. “I mean, in this type of situation, you’ve got to jump the babe train before anyone else, man.”

Jake removed his eyes from Cal only long enough to evil-eye Rickie.

“Looks like the Latin lover snatched up the Cal-babe.” Rickie snickered. “Guy, if you get lonely, I have some cool magazines in my room that could help you out.”

“What the hell are you rambling on about?” Jake folded his arms and stared down at Rickie. “Do you think I’m actually listening to you?”

“Well . . . yeah. You’re getting mad.”

“That’s only because you’re . . .” He saw Cal stop playing, stand up and hand the guitar back to Carlos. She had spotted Jake and was starting toward him. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter.”

“What’s in the bag?”

Jake ignored him and walked over to Cal. “Ready? I thought we’d go outside.”

“Sure.” Cal moved with him to the main door. “Kind of took you a long time for that agenda. What did you do? Have to rework the whole thing just to fit this in?”

“Nope.” Jake opened the main door. “I had to rework the whole thing to fit
you
in.”

^^^^

Was it three or four? Cal had to wonder as she and Jake sat on that hillside not far from the complex with the manuscripts. Three or four times he flipped through them. Looking at his and then looking at hers.

“Jake, come on.” Cal said, her voice giving him a clear indication of her growing irritation.

“One more time,” he said.

“No. Not one more time. They’re the same.” She reached over and closed them. “They’re simply…informational…manuscripts.”

“But my gut is telling me there’s more to these.”

“Your gut is wrong. You’re just getting obsessed with this.” Cal said and then lifted her head toward the complex.

“My gut is never wrong. What we need is someone else’s manuscript. Of course, short of asking them, in order to get one we would have to steal . . .” Jake saw her staring out. “What the hell are you . . . oh, I see.” He nodded when he saw Carlos standing outside. “I thought you said last night you were anti-social.”

“I am. Why?” Cal replied.

“We’ll you’re being the social butterfly. Let’s see, breakfast with Jennifer…guitar lessons with Carlos…donuts with Rickie.” He recited as he counted his examples off on his fingers.

“Jake.” She was about to snicker. “You have room to talk. You said you were Mr. Isolation, yet you’ve been with me the entire last twenty-four hours.”

“Point taken, so . . .” Jake gave an ‘up’ motion of his head in a point to Carlos, “don’t tell me that’s your type.”

“Actually it is. I keep looking at him because it amazes me how much he looks like David.”

“Who’s David?” Jake asked.

“I was engaged to him. We broke up after Jessie died.”

“That’s too bad.” Jake said and reached to open the manuscripts. “All right, back to these.”

“No,” Cal laid her hand on the books. “It’s a waste of time.”

“And you’re just lazy.”

Cal laughed in disbelief. “Where are you getting that from, Major?”

“Well, I asked you to join me in a work out today. You turned me down.”

“It was five in the morning.” Cal said in her defense.

“I think that was your excuse.” Jake said and opened the manuscript without further interruption from Cal. “If you would have come with me, you’d probably be in bed right now crashed. Then again, I would have had to slack a bit for you, and that would have made me antsy.”

“Excuse me?”

“So it probably was a good idea that you didn’t work out with me today.” He turned a page raising his eyebrow.

“Major Graison, I’ll have you know that I could keep up with you better than you expect.”

“I highly doubt that.”