The Iso-Stasis Experiment (The Experiments) (15 page)

Cal glanced at the platform that sat in the corner of her room where she and Jake were starting their city of twigs. It was fun, intricate, and a big time passer. Jake was so anal about it, but wouldn’t let the city sit in his neat room.

Feeling a little tired, Cal moved to her bed. Just as she did, she heard it.

“Mommy?”

Cal looked to the corner. Jessie was there again, wearing the blue dress. It made her heart jump, but it also made her angry. Looking up at the smoke detector where Jake had found the hidden camera in her room, Cal lifted her hand, extended her middle finger, and then turned and walked out. Jake would have to find her. She wasn’t going to wait here in this room, not with what they were doing to her.

^^^^

Carlos tightened his lips as he glanced up to the ceiling. He sat in a chair across from Cal, his guitar across his lap. “Um . . . yeah, I think I know that. Give me a minute.” He began to fiddle, playing three or four false starts trying to jumpstart his memory to play the song Cal requested.

“You’re close.” She smiled. “Take your time. I’m enjoying watching you play.”

“So . . . can I take this as a sign you’re getting rid of the big guy?’

Cal let out a single huff of a laugh. “No. Jake’s my buddy. I just needed a little bit of home right now. And you’re a little bit of home to me.”

“Are we possibly missing David?” Carlos asked.

“Yeah.” Cal sadly nodded. “Today I am. Broke up or not, we always remained friends. And he always knew what to say . . . or play.”

“This is the song, right?” Carlos began to pick the strings.

“Yes,” Cal whispered out in awe, closing her eyes. “That’s the song.”

Every question Jake asked of Cal concerning her demeanor was answered in the sight and sounds before him. Cal was sitting in front of Carlos, listening to him play the guitar and sing. There would be no interruption from Jake. Not until there was some indication from Cal. The song he played put a peaceful and yet sad look on Cal’s face. The words,
‘I would give everything I own, just to have you back again. Just to touch you . . .’
told Jake exactly where Cal’s mind and heart were.

“Attention!” Rickie shouted as he snuck up behind Jake. He saluted when he saw the camouflage pants and shirt that Jake wore.

Jake turned around. “That has got to be the lamest salute I have ever seen in my entire career.” He grabbed Rickie’s forearm. “Straighten this, goddamn it.”

“Sarge, man, you are going to have to teach me all this shit.”

“Rickie!” Jake placed his face close to his. “I am not a Sergeant, I am a Major.”

“Dude, chill. Think of it like I gave you a promotion.”

Grunting loudly Jake returned to stare at the scene in the gathering room.

“Explains the
pissy
mood you’re in, huh?” Rickie peeked around Jake’s big body. “I’m in the same boat pal. Jennifer’s
diggin
’ on John now. Says she needs intellectual stimulation. Are you having the same
prob
-
lem
-o, Sarge?”

“No, I am not having the same problem,” Jake snarled.

“Whoa.” Rickie held up his hands. “The little green eyed monster is creeping out . . . wait!” Rickie started to laugh. “Hey, you’re wearing green.”

No, Jake, don’t kill him. He’s just a boy. Shave his head while he’s sleeping, yeah, that would do it.
Jake lowered his eyes to get a closer look at Rickie and then leaned in and sniffed him. “Rickie, are you high?”

“Yeah.” Rickie laughed. “Why? Do you get high? Want to join me, got some . . .?”

“Do I look like the type of person who gets high?”

“Well . . .” Rickie shrugged. “You never know. I thought maybe you got that scar on your eye in a binge or something. I knew this dude who had the same one. He walked into a wall. Did you walk into a wall?”

Jake began to feel himself lose it with Rickie. He didn’t want to so he tried to remain calm. “No, Rickie, I did not walk into a wall. I got smashed in the
fuckin
’ head with a rifle.”

“Ouch.” Rickie grabbed his temple. “A rifle’s pretty big. Couldn’t you duck?”

“Duck?” Jake shook his head and when he turned back around he saw Cal was standing there.

“Jake, I’m sorry,” Cal said, “I should have told you I left.”

“No, that’s
 
. . .”

Rickie laughed. “He was jealous, babe. Getting all upset because Don Juan was moving on you.”

Cal broke a smile at Rickie and looked up to Jake. “I’m ready.”

“Let’s go.” Jake took hold of her arm.

“Hey!” Rickie called out to them. “Can I hang with you two for a while?”

Jake saw Cal getting ready to answer and he interrupted. “No!”

“Let me hang with you. It’s like all boring.” Rickie pleaded. “Come on Marine guy. I won’t say a word.”

Jake released Cal’s arm and whispered to her. “Go on ahead, I’ll be right there.”

“You won’t hurt him will you?”

“Nah.” Taking a breath Jake marched back to Rickie. “You cannot come with us.”

“But . . .”

“And if you
ever
call me a marine again, I will sneak into your room, flush your drugs, rip up your magazines and cut off every
fuckin
’ strand of your hair. You got that?”

“Yes, I do.” Rickie stepped back from him. “And you know what? I don’t think I like you anymore, wanting to mess with my do.” He protected his ponytail. “And I’m chatting to Carlos about stealing your babe.” Snickering first just to irritate Jake, Rickie then turned and ran as fast as he could into the gathering room.

^^^^

Rickie was in a socializing mood, besides feeling really good at the moment, he was still shaking off a bit of the fear he acquired from irking Jake. Running into the gathering room, his squeaky high top tennis shoes coming to a stop caused everyone to look up from what they were doing. “Hey.” Rickie raised one hand, snickering, while rubbing his boney bare chest with the other. He lifted his baggy Levi Jeans which were unbuttoned and almost falling off of his body. “What’s going on?”

No one responded.

“OK.” He shrugged, stalking out the participants of the experiment like prey. One at a time, hoping to get someone to—as Rickie would put it—chill with him.
Carlos
. “Hey, dude.” Rickie took the seat that Cal had been sitting in a few minutes earlier. “How’s the playing going? Dude,” Rickie sniffed. “Guess what. I think that Cal-babe likes you.”

“Rickie?” Carlos stopped playing. “Why are you telling me this? If Cal’s with Jake . . .”

“No, no.” Rickie held up his hand. “I don’t think she is. I think he’s keeping her prisoner. I think like, you should go in there and rescue her from the guy.” Rickie nodded. “And not to mention, he’s not very nice, not at all. You know he told me that he was going to cut off my do.”

“So that’s it.” Carlos smirked at him. “He made you mad.”

“Yeah, but. You like Cal. I think right is right and you should just tell him that you want . . .”

“Rickie.” Carlos’ hand slapped down on the hollow body of his guitar. “Are you that bored that you’d deliberately try to start trouble? For example, making Jake pound me?”

“Well . . . yeah. But . . .”

“Get the hell out of here.”

“Gees,” Rickie said and pulled a small note book from his back pocket. “Look, it’s my
Blue’s Clues
note book.” He saw Carlos didn’t laugh at all at his children’s program reference. “That’s fine.” Taking the small pencil from the spiral, he flipped open the pad. “I’ll just scratch your name off of my friend-for-a-day list.”

Scouting out the few people remaining in the room, Rickie spotted his next target. John sat with Jennifer, both of them suspended over his laptop. Clearing his throat and noisily pulling up a chair, Rickie joined them. “How’s it going?”

Jennifer immediately pinched her nose and scooted back. “God Rickie, how much weed did you smoke today?”

“Not all of it. Have to make it last. Of course, when I saw it all, I was like, whoa
 
. . .”

John’s fingers tapped loudly on the keyboard of his laptop. “Rickie, go away.”

“Why?” Rickie asked. “I just want to chill with you guys.”

Jennifer rolled her eyes. “Right now, we don’t want to chill with you, Rickie. You overdosed all of us at lunch.”

John, trying to concentrate on the story that he and Jennifer were collaborating on, focused his green eyes with annoyance on Rickie. “Look. When you have something with meaning you would like to share with us, please do. But for right now, in your state, I highly doubt that you do, so get lost.” John pulled his laptop closer to him and Jennifer.

“Fine,” Rickie said and again reached in his back pocket. “I’ll just pull out the handy dandy note book and . . .” with a whip of his pen across the paper, Rickie shut the pad, “. . . scratch you two right of the Rickie list.”

Both Jennifer and John responded at the same time. “Good.”

Still not letting it get him down, Rickie went to the quiet section. Fr. Dan sat with a tablet, sending notes back and forth to Griff, apparently deep in a conversation. To Rickie they looked as if they needed livened up and perhaps were in need of some assistance. “Hey, Padre,” Rickie called as he waved. Then he turned toward Griff and mustered up his loudest voice and called, “Hey, Griff!”

Fr. Dan plugged his ears and shook his head. “He’s not hard of hearing Rickie, he’s deaf.”

“Oh . . . should I yell louder?”

“No,” Fr. Dan replied. “Can I help you, Rickie?”

“I thought I could help you talk to Griff. I’ve learned a lot from Cal with that hand thing she does.”

Fr. Dan looked impressed. “Rickie you should have said it before. Please, that would be great.”

Rickie clasped his hands together, extended them and cracked his knuckles as he stood in front of Griff. “Griff, I’m going to sign.” Rickie’s lips annunciated carefully as he talked.

Griff understood him, was a bit apprehensive, but spoke through sign language to Rickie.

Rickie nodded, arms crossed leaning his weight more on one leg then the other, and watched Griff as he signed. “Ah . . .uh huh.” He closed his mouth as if taking it all in. “He said that it has been lovely weather we are having here.”

“Hmm, that’s odd.” Fr. Dan tilted his head. “Tell him I agree and would like to finish our talk about the book of Revelations.”

“OK.” Rickie faced Griff. With a sigh he moved his hands about in no particular motion.

Fr. Dan knew immediately. Especially when he saw the clueless glare cross
Griff’s
face and he lifted his hands in a surrender signal. “Rickie!” The usually soft spoken priest shouted. “I can’t believe you lied to me. That was the most insulting thing I have ever witnessed. Lying to a priest and deceiving a deaf man.”

“I’m sorry.” Rickie started to laugh. “But I just couldn’t resist. You have to admit it was pretty funny.”

“No, it was not. Now please find someone else to bother.”

“What is with everyone today?” Rickie reached into his pocket. “Though I hate to do it,” Rickie said as he scratched his pencil on the paper, “religious man or not, Dude, you’re off my list.” He stuck the notebook back in his pocket and left the gathering room. They were all too boring for him anyway.