Authors: Faye Kellerman
Always a distinct possibility.
FOURTEEN
S
HUTTING THE
door to his house, Poe jumped when he saw the giant on his couch, the cushion flattened under his weight. A carpet bag was at his side. The big man stood. Four feet worth of legs made of thick and heavy bone. Apelike arms emanating from a dense torso. Baseball-mitt hands attached to ham-hock forearms. A muscular bull neck. The prognathous jaw jutted out from the face, slightly agape and askew like a door dangling on one of its hinges. Deep-set, angry black eyes made piggishly small by an oversized, protruding forehead. Thick, straight black hair combed off the brow. He wore his usual black suit over a white shirt. No tie. His shoes were as big as rowboats. He licked his rubbery lips.
"Hello, Rom."
The voice was nasal and deep and flooded with fury. Poe's speech faltered. He started snapping his fingers, then choked out, "I've been calling your number all night."
"I don't doubt it. You're snapping."
Immediately Poe stuck his hands in his pockets. "Something to drink, Remus? A beer maybe?"
"I'm fine."
"Take one anyway." Poe pointed to the couch. "Have a seat."
Remus sat.
Poe closed his eyes, opened them. Went to his picnic cooler and noticed his hands were shaking. He took a deep breath. Remus always had that initial effect on him. Because of his girth and elephantine features, Remus had that initial effect on everyone.
Remus.
His brother.
His twin.
His
identical
twin, up until the age of ten. Poe supposed they were still identical genetically, because they were hatched from the same egg. But the word
identical
was hardly applicable anymore.
They had been tiny boys. Tiny, tiny boys, Poe being about an inch taller than his brother, but still not tall enough to make a percentage scale. Their mother had taken them from expert to expert, and all of them had suggested growth hormones. But Mom had been reluctant. The doctors had tried to reason with her. The boys were trailing in growth, and their bone plates were beginning to close, indicating that their final height wasn't far off. If the doctors didn't intervene soon, all would be lost.
Even after Mom agreed, she had remained cautious.
Do it one at a time.
They had started with Remus, because he had been the smaller of the two. Treatments began. Immediately they had sent the child's pituitary into overdrive. Remus grew at an alarming rate. His bones seemed to elongate overnight, causing him months of severe skeletal aches and blinding headaches. After six months, they stopped the shots.
But Remus had fooled them all and kept growing. At eleven, he had become an acromegalic giant.
The disparity in their heights had given both brothers long hours of sleeplessness and nightmares. As midgets, they had been objects of derision. With Remus's newfound stature, they had graduated to pariahs. No one had dared to taunt them, as Remus had finished off many a bigmouth with one well-placed punch. But no one had dared to converse with them, either.
Being anxious, compulsive, and wee-bit, Poe had found solace in a multitude of tics. He began to drum his fingers endlessly; he developed a stutter. Drawn together by their freakishness, the brothers became close. Slowly, they developed a cast of misfit friends, somehow plodding through the agonizing teen years.
Rom had found himself in an odd position, secretly envying his gigantic brother. Yes, Remus was ugly and weird, but at least he was
tall
. Relentlessly, he begged his mother for hormone treatments.
His biggest ally turned out to be his brother.
They goofed with me
, Remus had bellowed to his mother.
They'll get it right with Rom. You can't let him
stay
like that. He's
worse than I am.
Shell-shocked, his mother broke down and began an arduous search for a doctor whom she could trust. In the meantime, Poe's plates were inching toward the finish line. Finally, Mom found someone acceptable as Poe's paltry height nosed upward at a terrifyingly slow rate.
At seventeen, Rom had reached his adult height. Fitted for his high school cap and gown, he had measured out at five-seven and a quarter, grateful for every millimeter. He had his brother to thank.
Steadying his hands, Poe carried over a couple of glasses of beer. "It must be serious."
Remus downed the suds in a single gulp. "I need you to take Mom."
Calm
. Poe said, "For how long?"
"Forever."
Dread shot through Poe's veins. "You can't be serious—"
"I'm very serious."
Poe started to pace. "Remus,
look
at this place. I can't put up a dog, let alone a person. I've got no plumbing, I've got no electricity—"
"So move into a normal apart—"
"Remus—"
"Rom, being a hermit doesn't relieve you of your re
sponsibilities, any more than being a freak relieved me of mine!"
Poe said nothing, his mind a scrambled mess.
Remus said, "I've had her for the past fifteen years. Now it's your turn. Even geeks have a life."
Poe tried to talk, but words lodged in his throat. His heart hammered like a steam drill.
Try empathy. Calm him down
. "I can see that you're…stressed. And I know you've done all the work. So…you have a right to make some demands."
Remus waited. Poe's brain was racing. "I know you don't want to hear this, but—"
"Then don't say it."
"Remus, Mom is really too much for either of us. There are lots of nice communities—"
"No."
"—who specialize—"
"Out of the question."
"She'd make lots of friends—"
Remus bellowed, "You will
not
put her in a home."
"Rem—"
"Farm her out like some broken animal."
"Can you just hear me out?"
"I don't want to hear you out!" Remus pointed an irate finger in his brother's chest. "This is the situation. She is your mother. She is my mother. You left fifteen years ago without a thought to
me
or
her
. Without complaint, I've shouldered the responsibility. Well, now I've got plans, Rom. Big plans. So guess what?"
Poe bounced on his feet, suddenly curious. "What kind of plans?"
"Stop changing the subject."
"Excuse me, bud. You barge in and expect me to make major life decisions in five minutes—"
"That's exactly what you did to me when you packed your bags and left fifteen years ago."
"I've filled in whenever you needed. I've taken her for weekends, I've taken her on vacations—"
"You want a medal, Rom?"
"No, but a little consideration might be nice. Give me a moment to digest what you're asking me."
"Bro, you can have a whole three weeks. Because that's when I'm moving her down."
Poe was shouting. "Remus, you can't spring this on me!"
Remus picked up his carpet bag and headed for the door. "I'll see you later."
Poe blocked the doorway—a showy gesture, but a futile one. If he wanted, Remus could swat him away like a gnat. Instead, the giant waited.
Poe said, "Don't leave. This isn't…can we talk about this rationally?"
Remus didn't move.
Remember the police training, Detective. Domestic disturbances?
Diffuse! Placate!
Poe spoke quickly. "I can hear the desperation in your voice. Bring her down."
Remus's massive jaw fell open. He snapped it shut. "You're serious?"
"Yes. But if she is under my care, I'm going to do it my way."
"Meaning?"
Poe started snapping. "I can't live with her, Remus. I know you have, and I admire your filial devotion, but I'm not that noble. I cannot live with Mom—"
"That's unacceptable."
"I'll set her up in a nearby apartment."
"She needs
care
."
"I'll hire a nurse."
"Putting her out to pasture," Remus spat out.
"I promise I'll visit her every day."
"You're full of shit, Rom."
Poe rubbed his face. "You've got to compromise, bro."
The minutes passed.
Finally, Remus said, "Okay, here's the deal. You say you can't live with her. Believe it or not, I understand."
A pause. "She's getting worse, Rom. Sneaking out at all hours of the night. It's bad. She needs constant watching. So you'll need to hire someone who can deal with that."
"I'll start looking right away."
Silence.
Poe asked, "Where is she now?"
"I've got someone guarding both her
and
Aunt Shirley."
Poe started panicking. "I don't have to deal with Shirley, do I?"
"No, I'll keep an eye on Shirley. She's not as bad as Mom…yet."
Poe felt suddenly ashamed. "Remus, I appreciate what you've done all these years. I know it's been hell."
Remus looked away. He said, "Okay. Set her up in an apartment. But here are
my
conditions. Are you listening?"
"Go on."
Remus got up, started pacing. "Every morning, go have coffee with her. Make her eggs and cereal. And don't leave until she finishes eating. Also, you're going to have to routinely check the apartment for booze and cigarettes. She sneaks in contraband. And it's not enough to tell the help about it. She bribes them not to tell."
"She has free cash to bribe help?"
"Yeah, she gets a small stipend from some government agency."
"Welfare?"
"No, I don't think so." Remus stopped walking. "Probably has something to do with her Native American background, living here in the sixties. It's not much, but it's enough cash to buy cheap booze. Just take the bottles away. I don't care what you do with it as long as she doesn't have it."
"All right. What else?"
"You've got to eat dinner with her. I'm not saying you have to
eat
with her, but you make sure she eats. She forgets to eat, Rom. If she doesn't eat, she gets sick the next day."
"What about lunch?" Poe asked.
"Make her a tuna sandwich and put it in the refrigerator. Tell the nurse to watch Mom eat it. After she eats lunch, she usually watches her soaps. Then she takes a nap. When she wakes up, the nurse usually bathes her. After her bath, she likes to take a walk. When she's finished with her walk, it's close to dinnertime. I usually try to be home by then…watch her eat. I go back to the office around seven…eight. By then, she's pretty tired. She's been very tired lately."
Poe felt a crashing headache. "Why's that?"
"Who knows? She's not a well woman."
"She's never had a surfeit of energy." Poe blinked several times. "Anything more?"
"That's it." Remus paused. "If you can do that…for let's say…a year. Take her for a year. Then I'll come back and take her off your hands."
A year?
Shut up, Poe. At least it's time-limited.
Instead, he blurted out, "From 'taking her forever' to 'taking her for a year'?"
"Are you complaining?"
"Of course not." Poe realized they were both still standing. "C'mon, bro. Sit down."
Remus went back to the couch, rubbed his eyes. "I'll have another beer if you've got it."
"You bet. Are you going to spend the night here?"
"I've been comped at Buckingham Palace."
Poe's eyebrows rose as he went to his cooler. "What's the occasion? Doing some work for the Sultan?"
"As a matter of fact, I am."
Poe stopped in his tracks. "
What
?"
"Sit down first."
Poe brought over the beers and sat. "Go on."
Remus said, "You know he's just completed a new casino—Palace North—in Tahoe."
"Yes."
"His highness has a home on the Nevada side. Now he wants a home on the California side. Something very private and hidden. He talked to some of us local guys up in Reno. He talked to me. Next thing I knew, he handed me a check—a quarter million advance for the plans."
Poe spit out his beer.
Remus said, "For my architectural fee, he agreed to ten percent of the building cost."
Poe stuttered, "Wh…wh…" He coughed, then swallowed. "What's the proposed cost?"
Remus stifled a smile. "Around fifteen, twenty mil—"
"Holy fucking
cow
!"
"The Sultan is a perfectionist," Remus said gravely. "I'm on call twenty-four hours a day."
"Hence the reason you're here," Poe said. "When did all this happen?"
"About four, five months ago."
"And you didn't say a thing to me." Poe broke into a grin. "You son of a bitch!"
Slowly, Remus smiled back. "The Sultan's a very short man, Romulus. I think he hired me because this way he can push around a very tall man."
Poe slapped his brother's steel-plated back. "Man, that is just terrific, Remus. I am so
proud
of you!"
"It's not a done deal yet."
"Hey, if he fired you tomorrow, you'd still walk away with a quarter million dollars." Poe beamed like a new father. "You want to go out for dinner, or—Shit, I promised Rukmani I'd take her out. You can come with us if you want. Maybe we can take in Richard Jenni. I know you like him, and he's in town."
"Thanks, but I've got a business meeting tonight." Remus took out a handkerchief, wiped his sweaty brow. "Tomorrow I have meetings all morning. I'm out on a one-fifteen plane. We could meet for lunch around eleven if you want."
"Name it and claim it."
"Anywhere as long as it's
not
on the Strip."
The only place Poe could come up with was Myra's.
Remus stood. "I'll call you in a couple of weeks…so we can arrange the move." A beat. "You're not going to change your mind on me?"
"No."
"No sudden vacations?"
Poe said, "I said I'll do it, I'll do it."
Remus shook his brother's hand, held it longer than necessary. "I'll see you tomorrow at eleven."
"I'll be there."
The two men paused, then hugged good-bye.
The winds had kicked up, howling and ululating like caged demons, smashing sand and grit against the windows. They woke Poe from a dead sleep, sending an icy chill through his veins. He tried not to fidget, not to toss. His eyes skittered about the dark room like crap dice across the felt, landing on Rukmani. She was out to the world, curled up under her blanket in silent sleep.