Authors: John Strauchs
"Oh."
She sat silent for a time. She didn’t understand the import of that.
“Shouldn’t he be famous, if this was all true? Why is it that no one knows about
him?
Father O’Connor, how is it possible that we have another Einstein…or superEinstein…in our midst that no one has ever heard of it?
I would expect the person you
described to be on the cover of
Time
.”
“Yes, one would expect that, but the explanation is Mr. Siemels himself. One day
he just tired of being tested.
He stopped cooperating.
He never took his formal studies
beyond the Bachelor of Science degree. He dropped out, so to speak, and then he disappeared. He became a recluse, to use a trite term,” said Father O’Connor.
“You mentioned that he was tested by Russia when he was a boy.
Was the only
testing in America at MIT?” asked Jenny.
“Oh no. Mr. Siemels was shipped all over the country for a time. I know he spent
a great deal of time in Washington.
There were many noted international scholars and
doctors who spent a great deal of time trying to understand what Mr. Siemels was,” said
Father O’Connor.
“What did he do after he refused to be tested?”
“I believe I already answered that. When MIT had nothing more to offer that interested him and he stopped his formal studies, he virtually lived at the library after that.
He was slowly ostracized. Department heads would avoid him whenever possible for fear
that he would present them with another text book he had corrected. Dr. Caldera, for example, was outraged when Mr. Siemels corrected a text on quantum physics he had authored.
Many of his corrections were found to be valid or at least plausible. Others
couldn’t be understood.
He was understandably a lonely boy.
He had no friends that I
am aware of. His parents were from some place in Russia.”
“Latvia,” said Jenny. “And I believe he told me that they died.”
“Latvia. That’s right. Latvia.”
“He stayed on for a number of years…ah, quite a few years as I recall…living
with various faculty families.
The administration had hopes that he could be convinced
to return. My goodness, do you know that he mastered every language we offered. Oh! I
believe I said that already.”
Father O’Connor was always very demonstrative in speech and gesture when you
talked about anything he was deeply interested in, but in recounting what he knew about
Jared, he was getting very agitated.
“Why…he had entire texts committed to memory. There isn’t a department head
who wouldn’t admit, if pressed, that if MIT allowed a student to take a single final written and oral examination to obtain any degree, Mr. Siemels could have taken a degree in
every field we offered. It is a shame we don’t allow it.”
“Would that be true for marine biology too?” she asked.
“No question of it.”
That troubled Jenny.
Why didn’t Jared talk about marine
biology with her? She would have loved him to.
“You know, my dear,” he went on, “at some point it is difficult to sort the truth
from hyperbole.
He was the talk of the campus, perhaps even more so after he stopped
attending classes. That is counterintuitive, isn't it?
Mind you, he was with us for thirteen
years. All sorts of stories were told about his strange abilities, particularly from Dr. Smolenskiy. I don’t want to be the faculty gossip, but I don’t know what to believe myself.”
“What sort of stories.”
“Goodness gracious.
I don’t need to tell you that we don’t have much of an athletic program.
It is a small miracle, praise God, if our young men muster a basketball
team, but to hear Coach Schmeg tell the story, our Mr. Siemels could have made the
Olympic team in any sport he chose.
Coach Schmeg was constantly coaxing the poor
boy to come out for sports. He was sure that Mr. Siemels would finally put our old school
on the map—or rather, I suppose, put Coach Schmeg on the map.”
“And did he?” asked Jenny.
“He did, indeed. People all over the campus would come by to watch him. Coach
Schmeg tried to keep them away. Mr. Siemels just stopped participating after the crowds
began to show up.
Coach Schmeg swears that one time he hid behind the bleachers one
evening and clocked the young man running under a two minute mile.
Think of it.
A
hundred yard dash for a mile. I’m old enough to remember Mr. Bannister running a four
minute mile in the early fifties. That was a headline that went around the world the very
next morning.
But of course, it could have been Coach Schmeg’s peach brandy.
What
seems to be reliable information is that Mr. Siemels was outstanding in every sport.
He
was born with a brain pre-wired for athletics, and evidently for everything else as well.”
“Yes, I noticed myself that he is extremely athletic,” she said. “You were saying
something about Dr. Smolenskiy? That he had a special interest in Jared?”
“Hmmm. You will have to talk to him about that.”
“Why is that?” she asked.
“Dr. Smolenskiy swears that Mr. Siemels also has some sort of psychic abilities. I
don’t know anything about that personally. That is not really my cup of tea, is it?”
That hit Jenny like an electric shock.
She stared out of the window while Father
O’Connor was talking. Jared always seemed to know what she was thinking, but she attributed it to coincidence or at the very most to anticipating her. This was very unnerving
to her.
She wanted to share everything with Jared and to have no secrets, no private
things, but to not have any private thoughts was unsettling.
“You mean, like reading your mind?”
“I really couldn’t say.
You will have to see Dr. Smolenskiy if you want to know
more about that, but the good doctor is not a very gregarious man, however.”
“Do you believe in ESP and that stuff?”
“We were created in His image, Jennifer. Is there truly anything that is not possible?” he asked.
“I’ve already taken up too much of your time.
Thank you for seeing me,” said
Jenny.
“You make me sound like a cold-hearted academician.
Heaven knows there are
so many. I always have time for you Jennifer.”
“I’m overwhelmed Father O’Connor. I need some time to think about everything
you’ve said. Good Bye Father.”
She paused at the door.
“There is one other thing that I didn’t want to talk about, but maybe I should,”
said Jenny.
“Please sit down. Let’s talk about it by all means,” said Father O’Connor.
She stood there petrified. She saw Jared kill those muggers who set that poor man
on fire at Old Orchard Beach. They never reported it to the police. She didn’t want to get
Jared in trouble.
Did Father O’Connor know this side of Jared? Did he know that Jared
could kill?
Did he know that Jared wasn’t bothered by what he did?
Did Jared have a
conscience? It was just too much. She couldn’t cope with any more pressure. She didn’t
want to admit to herself that she was in love with a man who could do such things.
“Next time, Father O’Connor. This is enough for today.”
“Very well then. Whenever you’re ready Jennifer.”
She walked out, closing the door behind her. She stood in the hall, trying to comprehend everything she heard.
She couldn’t.
Father O’Connor could see her silhouette
through the frosted glass in the door, but kept silent.
He sensed that she was deeply
troubled and he wanted to comfort her. He hoped she would come back in.
Jenny felt shattered.
She should have been happy that Jared was such a phenomenal person. She wasn’t. She couldn’t understand why not.
Smolenskiy walked by her in the hall. His office was only four doors down. Dr.
Smolenskiy scowled at her as they passed.
“Miss Nilsson, I strongly recommend you stay away from Siemels. No good will
come of it.”
“Dr. Smolenskiy, do you have just a minute?”
“No!” He stepped into the Men’s Room.
Jenny waited outside for a while, but looking at her watch, she finally left.
He generally didn’t bother to learn the names or faces of the students in his
classes, but he knew her name now. He went to great troubles to discover her name. He
didn’t remember her from any of his classes. He remembered her from when he saw her
in the scope of his rifle. He went into a stall and latched the door. He just sat there. He
couldn’t risk running directly into Siemels. He might be with her. He sat in there for almost an hour before he felt it was safe to come out.
Jenny pulled her bike out of the boxwood hedge where she had jammed it into the
hedge as a makeshift bicycle rack. She sped off to meet Krissy.
She was glad that she
wore a pants suit today. She was late.
She glanced back as she pulled away.
The new
gap in the hedge wasn’t really that bad. Anyway, she was too upset to care. What upset
her most was not understanding. It was all too much to cope with. She was Lois Lane and
she wassleeping with Superman. You don’t fall in love that quick if the chemistry really
isn’t there.
It just doesn’t happen like that. She was never good at handling stress. That
troubled her too.
She recognized it as one of her great failings. She felt helpless to do
anything about it.
Maybe that was what was bothering her. The stress! Yet, there was
more to it than that, but what was it?
In just a few blocks she was at Mary Chung’s.
Krissy was standing in front. She
looked mad.
“Hey Krissy,” said Jenny.
“Don’t hey me. Where you been?” asked Krissy.
“Been waiting long? Sorry”
“Like since yesterday,” said Krissy.
It wasn’t unusual to be confused by things Krissy said.
“I am just ten minutes late. What do you mean, yesterday?” asked Jenny.
“I was like here at noon yesterday. You never showed up.”
“Duh! I told you Wednesday, not Tuesday.”
“Jenn, you said Tuesday.”
“So if you were here yesterday, what made you come today? Huh?” asked Jenny.
Krissy was not going to admit she screwed up.
“Mom told me you were back. I called your cell. It was off.”
“My cell is never off,” said Jenny.
“Like Hell.”
Jenny took her cell out.
“Oh…the battery is dead.” She knew it was low but she just didn’t get around to
charging it last night.
“Sorry,” said Jenny.
“You freaking better be.”
“You have to be LIKE (mimicking Krissy) the only person in Cambridge who
doesn’t know that Mary Chung’s is always closed on Tuesdays,” said Jenny.
Krissy did know that. She forgot. Jenny had her.
“Well, yes. I guess that was a clue.” Krissy was beginning to relent.
Just as quick, Krissy spun on her heels and ran into the restaurant. The restaurant
was small, but cozy. The sisters came here often. Krissy thought it was a lot better than
Brezhnev’s, which, anyway, was too far to go.
Mary Chung’s dipping sauce was something to die for.
Krissy always ordered the fried Peking Ravioli—not as appetizers, but
as the main course.
They were led to a small table.
The service was great…as always. They hadn’t
even settled in their chairs before the waiter asked for their order.
“I’ll have the Suan La Chow Shau,” said Jenny.
“I’ll have the pot stickers. Make it two orders for me.”
“Something to drink?” asked the waiter.
“Water,” said Jenny.
“Ditto.”
The waiter was accustomed to the habits of MIT students. He didn’t bother to ask
them what they wanted for the entrée.
“So, how is Jake the Snake?” asked Jenny.
“You know, some day you are going to let that slip when he’s around. You have
to stop calling him that,” said Krissy.
“As soon as he starts treating you better,” said Jenny. “When are you going to
stop forgiving him for cheating on you?”
“Jake isn’t, like, as bad as you think.
You always assume the worse.
Anyway,
boys mature much later than girls.
He’ll grow out of it.
He just flirts a lot.
He doesn’t
cheat.”
This conversation was about to go in circles. Jenny changed the subject.
“When are you going back to CMU? By the way, I can’t begin to tell you the pain
of trying to explain to Mom why you are staying in the Cambridge Marriott. She suspects
that you are sleeping with Jake,” said Jenny. “I told you she would.”
“Saturday! I have to sublet my place in Shadyside for the summer.
And I told
Mom that Jake is uncomfortable staying in her house. Besides, I am checking out tomorrow. I really do need to get back.
I signed up for a course at Emerson.”
“You still thinking about majoring in drama? How can you do any better than
Carnegie Mellon for drama? They have tons of famous actors as alumnae,” said Jenny.
“It has nothing to do with drama,” said Krissy.
“Then I don’t get it.”
“Well, to be open kimono, I really like Jake.
He’s smart, even for MIT.
He’s
cute and like his family is loaded. He is a hacker genius and will probably be a millionaire dot.com CEO some day. But I’m only 21 and I want to meet some more guys. Can
you think of a better place than Emerson? Like, those boys are cute…at least the straight
ones.
Mom told me about a place she used to hang in when she went to Boston College
for her civil. Teddy’s. And…she doesn’t like Jake either.”
“Krissy, Teddy’s has been gone for years,” said Jenny.
“GET OUT.”
“You’re finally making some sense.
You SHOULD meet some new guys,” said
Jenny.
“I just said that. So, what’s your guy like?” asked Krissy.
“Give me your cell.” After some searching, Krissy pulled it out of her purse.
Jenny switched their batteries.
“Hey.”
“I’ll switch back. Just give me a second, OK?”
She brought up several pictures in the display window.
“Cool. Like this guy’s ripped,” said Krissy.
“Yea.”
“You like him?” asked Krissy.
Tears welled up in her eyes. “So much it hurts.”
Krissy could be unintentionally insensitive at times, but this wasn’t like Jenny.
Jenny doesn’t get emotional. She can’t handle stress, but she never loses her cool.
“Doesn’t he like you?”
“I think he does,” said Jenny.
“Then what’s the problem? Did you sleep with him, Jenn?”
“Yes. You better not tell Mom or I’ll brain you.”
“I’m not the one to be talking, but why would you do that until you know—not
think—he feels the same way about you?
Now you won’t know if he really wants to be
with you or whether he simply wants your bod.”
“That’s not it. Anyway, I seduced him. Not the other way around.”
“Cool! Like, then what is it?” asked Krissy.
“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Now she was crying.
Krissy felt helpless.
Her big sister doesn’t cry.
Ever!
She didn’t shed a tear at
Mormor’s funeral.
Krissy wailed at the funeral. Lutherans aren’t supposed to wail, but
being younger, she was closer to her grandmother than Jenny was.
“I don’t know who he is.
I learned things about him today that he never told me
about. I guess I feel that he shut me out. There is some kind of stone wall between us.”
“That’s pretty powerful stuff for a guy you’ve only known for a few months.”
“I’m so confused.” She wiped her eyes on her sleeve.
The waiter brought their food, and just as abruptly, walked away.
Students were
always in crisis.
“So let’s get you unconfused. What’s troubling you? Is he a jerk?”
“No, he is just perfect,” said Jenny.
That was an epiphany.
“He’s perfect.” She
said it again.
“So, as I understand it, perfect guys are scum.”
“Yes. No.”
“Yes, no?”
“What I mean,” she was still forming the thought, “is that he is just too perfect.
That’s it. I guess I’m afraid that he won’t like me or he’ll tire of me, or something. I’m
not perfect. I get pimples. I drool when I sleep.
I procrastinate all the time.
I freak out
under pressure. I can’t take timed tests. I flunked Freshman English in college. I can’t
measure up to someone who is so darn perfect.”
“Listen, any god damn guy who gets you should thank his fucking lucky stars.”
“I’m still confused. I thought I figured it out, but it still doesn’t make sense, does
it?”
Krissy didn’t know what to say.
“Krissy….I may be in love with Jared.”
“God, Jenn, not the “L” word. Like we don’t ever use the “L” word.”
“I can’t help it,” said Jenny.
“God, Jenn. Listen, I’ll ask Lars to beat the crap out of him. He won’t be like so
god damned fucking perfect after that.”
Jenny couldn’t help it.
She had to laugh. Krissy could be so funny.
Lars was
huge and he would do it if Krissy asked.
No one would guess that he was their little
brother. As big as he was, she doubted Lars could beat up Jared, but she wasn’t going to
say that about her brother. The Nilsson’s stick up for one another, no matter what. It was
a very tight family.
“You say he’s perfect. How is he perfect?”
“Ready?
Father O’Connor said that he is the smartest guy that ever went to
MIT…maybe ever.
He graduated from MIT when he was nine, or was it ten. Coach
Schmeg---Oh, I don’t think you know him---anyway, Coach Schmeg thinks Jared could
be an Olympian athlete. You know, the Olympics. In anything.
He speaks Swedish. He
speaks Latin. He free climbs cliffs.
He makes millions—I guess its millions—on inventions. And I didn’t know any of that—or at least not most of it. Jared told me very little
about this. Well, he did tell me he graduated from MIT as a kid, but not all of it.”
Krissy’s jaw dropped. “What are you complaining about? You hit the jackpot.”
“Krissy…I’m Swedish. I DON’T SPEAK SWEDISH. He speaks Swedish. He
speaks absolutely off-the-boat perfect Swedish.”
“You have to stop running yourself down.
I know a dozen guys who would kill
for a date with you”
“Sure.”
Jenny couldn’t admit the real reason to her little sister, let alone to herself, but she
knew.
She had already hinted at it. Her breasts were too small.
She was too tall.
Her
skin wasn’t perfect. She had bony knees. Her butt was too flat. She wasn’t glamorous.
She didn’t know anyone famous.
She was never going to be famous. She had very little
money. Jared could find women who were all the things that she was not. It wasn’t Jared
who was the problem. It wasn’t that he was perfect. She was the problem.
She was so
imperfect. Why would he want her?
“Can you hear yourself?” asked Krissy. “Didn’t you say he graduated from MIT
when he was nine?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re shocked to find out that he is a genius? What are you thinking?”
“It’s irrational, I know. I felt like this even before I talked with Father O’Connor.
I started to think this way the last time I left the island. I don’t know why I’m doubting
myself so much. That isn’t me.”
“Stop it. Look, let’s Google him. What do you have to lose?”
Krissy pulled out her Sony VAIO.
She checked.
It was a good Wi-Fi site. Of
course, being a few blocks from MIT didn’t hurt.
She began to type.
Jenny pulled her
chair around. They tried every variation of Jared Siemels they could think of. Jenny never saw it written so she thought that she might have the spelling wrong.
Nothing!
They searched the MIT data base. The alumnae data base.
Nothing!
Jenny edged Krissy over and started typing.
Latvian. “10 year old” “MIT graduate” prodigy.
There was a hit.
Jorens Ziemelis
. There were 4,112 hits.
“My God, Jenn, do you believe this? And, this is not an ordinary name.”
“What did I tell you?”
“You call Jake a snake? This guy didn’t give you his real name.”
“Actually, he did. I forgot.”
Krissy gave Jenn her infamous, “you-Rat-you-lied-to-me,” look.