Symby (21 page)

Jody could barely contain his excitement when he heard the doorbell ring. He called out to his parents from the bottom of the stairs.

"They're here! Hurry up!" He heard scrambled footfalls upstairs and prodded his parents again as they descended the stairs. "Come on, hurry up!"

Spud opened the door and greeted his guests with a pre-planned icebreaker. "Hi Missy, it's so nice to meet you in person! I was beginning to think that Jody had created a fake virtual girlfriend on his computer screen!" He extended his hand to greet the Bryants as they laughed. "And you must be Ken and Lisa, correct?"

Ken's huge hand engulfed Spud's as they shook hands. "I thought I was going to be the jokester tonight, but it looks like you beat me to the punch! Nice to meet you, Spud. I have a feeling we're going to get along just fine."

Lisa and Kim embraced each other as they exchanged greetings.

"Thanks so much for inviting us," said Lisa. "We've enjoyed your son's company many times. He's a wonderful boy." Jody blushed.

"We just thought it was time for us to meet and get to know each other," said Kim. "After all, we have something uncommon in common!"

"You can say that again," said Ken. "Have you two been keeping the secret? We've been doing our part."

"Absolutely," said Spud. "We need to put our heads together and agree on how we're going to handle all this craziness."

"Maybe it is all crazy, but I think we've been blessed," said Lisa. "Our little girl is still with us and healthy now, thank the Lord."

"Yeah, we even stopped going to that stupid clinic with their silly-assed remedies," said Ken. "Mega-vitamins and acupuncture just weren't getting the job done. I'd be depressed about moving out here, but we got lucky in another way, so it turned out to be the best move we ever made!" He put his arm around Missy and squeezed. Lisa chimed in next.

"Ken and I are so grateful for your son's selfless actions in giving Symby to Missy. We know that he paid dearly for that decision and we'll never be able to repay him for his kindness." Now it was Jody's turn.

"Missy repays me every day with love," he said. "Besides, I'm fine now."

"Come on into the living room so we can sit down and talk," Kim interjected. "I've got some appetizers in there. What can I get you all to drink?"

Ken and Lisa looked hesitant. Kim smiled, understanding their reluctance.

"Spud and I discussed this before you arrived, so don't worry about it. We've got chardonnay and beer. You might as well drink it, because it goes down the drain tomorrow. Sorry, but we don't have a license for the hard stuff!"

Ken and Lisa laughed and handed their small brown bag to Kim.

"Here, you take this," he said. "It's our contribution to the party. I'll take a real beer and I'll bet my wife wouldn't mind a glass of that chardonnay."

They all laughed heartily when they viewed the contents of Ken and Lisa's bag. Kim pulled out a six-pack of non-alcoholic beer and a bottle of alcohol-free white wine.

"Hey, you can't say we didn't have good intentions!" proclaimed Ken. He was already enjoying the company of Spud and Kim. As they walked towards the living room, he shot Lisa an approving look. She agreed, without speaking a word. They had yet to make any friends since moving from California. That might change tonight, they hoped. The living room was small, with only a sofa, a recliner and a cushioned chair available for seating. Spud motioned Lisa and Ken to the sofa and retrieved Jody's chair from his room. When he returned, he found his efforts wasted, as Jody and Missy had taken seats on the floor together. They were already holding hands and chattering away. Spud smiled.

"I'll just leave this here in case you two lovers ever decide to separate," he said mischievously.

Ken picked up on Spud's gentle teasing. "Don't hold your breath on that, Spud," he grinned. "Not if what they do at our house is any indication."

Jody fired back, enjoying the repartee. "Maybe after we've been married for fifty years like you folks we won't mind sitting separately."

"Whoa, now hold on there, don't age us like that," said Ken. "We've only got forty-eight years behind us, not a day more! Hey, this cheese is delicious."

The happy banter continued for a while. Missy and Jody exchanged furtive glances frequently. They wanted their parents to like each other.

Ken and Lisa were surprised at how forthcoming Spud was about his alcoholism and homelessness. He made frequent references to both problems. It was almost as if talking about his past problems was therapy for him. Ken finally decided to ask him the question that most intrigued him.

"Spud, you can say what you want about homelessness, but the fact is that you managed to survive for more than three years in the woods on your own. That's quite an accomplishment if you think about it. How did you manage it?"

"Bottles and cans, Ken, bottles and cans," cracked Spud. "First I'd drink what was in them and then I'd turn them in for the deposits so I could drink more!" After the laughter subsided, Spud began to explain how he had survived. He was actually pleased that someone had recognized that surviving homelessness required a measure of skill and savvy. He talked about his luck at finding a permanent camp that remained undiscovered by the police despite its proximity to the town and the river. He talked about collecting bottles and cans for the deposits and standing near the railroad tracks with the illegal immigrants, hoping for an occasional work stint when he wasn't too incapacitated. He concluded by saying that if Telly hadn't arrived, he'd still be there.

Lisa felt compelled to ask. "Do you still need Telly's help?"

Spud was honest with his reply. "I'll always be a recovering alcoholic. Telly got me started on the road back and I haven't needed him for quite a while now. Jody needs him more than I do and I'm going to make damned sure that he gets everything Telly's got to offer. But if something really traumatic happens, like Jody getting worse again for some reason, I'll turn to Telly if I have to rather than going back to the bottle."

The room fell silent after Spud's blunt statement. Spud realized that he had perhaps been too candid. It was time to change the subject. As if on cue, Snuffles entered the room, wagging his tail. Spud seized his chance to change the mood.

"Speaking of Telly, here's somebody else who needs him!" he said. "C'mere Snuffy!" Snuffles padded dutifully over to Spud, who patted him on the head and scratched him under his chin. Normally, Snuffles would have been content to settle down in front of Spud, but today the dual pleasures of company and the aroma of fresh steaks required investigation. He broke off from Spud and began making the rounds, sniffing for food and licking the people who might give him food.

"Don't worry, Snuffles," said Spud. "There's a steak with your name on it!"

Laughter rippled through the room once again, to Spud's relief. Lisa spoke next.

"Jody, do you and Snuffles share Telly?" she asked.

"Yep," replied Jody. "There's just enough of Telly's liquid for both of us. Snuffy's arthritis was so bad that we sometimes thought we might have to put him to sleep. Now he bounces around like he did when he was little."

"That's wonderful," said Lisa. "Has anybody here ever thought how odd it is that Symby was found by Snuffles and Telly arrived at Spud's camp?"

"We think about that all the time," said Kim. "It's an amazing coincidence."

"Perhaps it's providence," said Lisa. "The Lord works in mysterious ways."

The room fell silent again. Missy flashed a look at Jody. Before Missy's disease, her mother had never talked about God, but now she spent much of her time reading scriptures and listening to gospel on the radio. Missy wasn't sure that she liked this development and had told Jody. Surprisingly, Jody had sided with her mother.

"I kind of think that somebody up there really likes us too," Jody had said. "Otherwise you'd be dead and I'd be joining you in a few years."

Ken wasn't about to let his wife's newfound faith destroy the mood. He abruptly changed the subject.

"Am I the only one who's worried about giving Symby to the kid's teacher?" he queried. "I'm having second thoughts about that."

Missy protested. "Dad, we already talked about that. Mr. Belden gave Symby back, just like he promised and he told us a lot about Symby."

Kim spoke up next. "I agreed to it because I thought it was important to find out if Symby and Telly could help more people. We still don't know the answer to that. I'm not sure it was worth it."

It was Jody's turn to defend Mr. Belden. "Mr. Belden still has samples of Symby's liquid and his blood. If anybody can figure out how to make Symby's medicine artificially, it's him. He was a biology researcher at the university before he came here. I trust him."

Spud backed up Jody. "So far, we have no evidence that Belden has let anyone in on our secret. I say we give him the benefit of the doubt. The horse has already left the barn anyway. We probably should have held off until after we met for this dinner, though."

Silence suffused the room again. As he had once before, Snuffles saved the day, but not in a good way.

"Is that Snuffles making all that noise in the kitchen?" asked Spud, panic in his voice. Kim jumped up.

"Not the steaks!" she cried, launching herself out of her chair. She was too late. Snuffles suddenly appeared in the hallway with one of the steaks held securely in his mouth.

Laughter filled the room. Kim scolded Snuffles as she ran out to the kitchen to check on the steaks. "Bad boy," she said. "Bad boy!"

Snuffles was already busily chewing on his steak, looking not at all like a dog in a lot of trouble.

Spud stood up and pulled the steak out of Snuffle's mouth. Snuffles looked up at him with uncomprehending eyes. "Come on boy," he said. "Out you go!"

As Spud escorted Snuffles outside, Kim returned with a scouting report.

"I think Snuffles just grabbed one steak. Everything else looks undisturbed, but I can't be sure. We have ground meat for burgers and hot dogs available, so we're not going to starve," she said hopefully.

Ken smiled. "If it's all right with you, I'd still like to have that steak. After all, Snuffles started the ball rolling on saving my daughter, so I might actually give him my steak too." Lisa, Missy and Jody concurred.

"No need to give up your steak," said Spud, returning from the backyard. "Snuffles is doing just fine with the one he's got. What do you say we all retreat to the deck so I can start grilling? I promise I'll wash them thoroughly before we cook them. How do you folks like yours done?"

Lisa offered to help Kim in the kitchen, but her help was not needed.

"We're having homemade potato salad, tomato and cucumber salad and corn on the cob," said Kim. "I already shucked the corn and placed it in the pot, so all I have to do is bring everything out when the steaks are ready. The table's already set, too."

Lisa was impressed. "That's genius!" she exclaimed. "I'm getting the feeling I can learn a few things about organizing meals from you. I never get much of a chance to talk to my guests when I have people over."

"Well, let's go out and talk then," said Kim, winking and grinning at Lisa.

The dinner conversation was lively and spirited, even thrilling at times. Jody and Missy were thrilled with the way their parents were getting along. Ken and Lisa were thrilled at the prospect of making new friends. Spud and Kim were thrilled with the compliments they received about the meal. Just before dessert, a thought occurred to Ken.

"I've heard you folks say that Telly looks exactly like Symby," he said. "We've never actually seen Telly. I don't suppose we could have a look?"

Jody got up from the table. "Sure, Mr. Bryant, I'll go get him," he answered.

Jody opened the door to his room and walked over to where he had left Telly. Telly was lying on the desk next to his food bowl, apparently asleep. When he picked up Telly, he noticed that Telly had left something behind.

"Geez, I thought you didn't poop!" he said, placing Telly on his shoulder. "What the..."

Jody did a double take and leaned closer to the desk. Telly had actually left two tiny conjoined somethings behind.

"Holy shit!" he screamed. "Holy shit!"

Spud came running in first, mortified at his son's use of foul language with guests present. He looked at Symby on Jody's shoulder and then scanned the desk.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed. "Holy shit!"

Kim was the next one to race into the room. "I can't believe you two are using language like that when we have... Holy shit!"

When the pandemonium finally subsided, Lisa was the only person who hadn't uttered the profane phrase. She substituted "Oh my God!" in its place.

"Babies!" shouted Missy. "Telly's had babies!

"I told you Symby and Telly were getting it on at our house!" shouted Ken. Lisa slapped Ken's shoulder for that remark.

Jimmy was bored. Hospital life had been interesting and comforting at first but he had been there too long. The nurses told him that despite his pain he was healthy enough to be released, but for the moment there was no place to release him to. The nice lady from the Department of Children's Welfare visited him every other day, but the only news she imparted was that they were still working on finding a place for Jimmy to live.

Tedium was a new experience for Jimmy. Most of his short life had been spent worrying about his father's moods and his mother's slow, painful decline before she finally let go. As much as he regretted terrorizing the other kids at school, his role as a bully had at least kept life exciting.

He had never been much of a reader, which left the tiny television above his bed as his only source of entertainment. He was too old for cartoons but too young for the stupid judge shows, inane talk shows and ancient sitcoms that dominated daytime television. Some of the game shows were kind of cool, but they all seemed the same after a while. From the time he woke up to the time he went to sleep, the only things he looked forward to were nighttime cop shows and visits from Missy.

Missy had visited him every day except weekends, just as she had promised when they carted him off in the ambulance. Sometimes she was with Jody, sometimes she came alone. When she left, she always planted a kiss on his cheek, his only physical contact with another human being except when the nurses examined him. He hated the examinations, so they didn't even count.

Missy's hair had grown longer, auburn curls framing her face. Even when Jimmy had thought she might be dying, she had retained an ethereal, delicate beauty. Now her limpid emerald eyes sparkled, her skin had morphed from translucent to lustrous and her petite body was supple and lithe. She was radiant.

With nothing else to distract him, images of Missy constantly crowded out all other thoughts. He struggled against it, but ultimately he had to be truthful with himself. He had fallen in love, deeply and irrevocably. Love for another girl would be exhilarating, but love for Missy was just frustrating. His odds of winning a joust against the nearest windmill were vastly better than his chances of winning Missy from Jody. Jody was now healthier than he was and had selflessly given Symby to Missy, saving her at his own expense. Jimmy had taken Symby away from Missy and allowed her to wither away, relenting just before he might have killed her. The scales were irreversibly tilted in Jody's favor. Besides, he liked and respected Jody. New Jimmy could not abide hurting Jody again.

As the time neared four o'clock, Jimmy's anticipation grew. Missy usually arrived at about this time. He couldn't wait to see her again. The television was on, but he found himself staring at the clock instead, watching the minutes change on the digital display. At seven minutes after four o'clock, Missy's melodious voice interrupted his clock watching. He turned in his bed and felt pangs of both elation and disappointment. Missy had arrived with Jody.

"How's my favorite damaged guy doing today?" quipped Missy.

Jimmy knew that she had intended her greeting as a joke, but she had inadvertently reminded him that he was now broken while Jody was not.

"Like that ancient Beatles song," he said as cheerily as he could. "It's getting better all the time."

Missy seemed surprised. "Really? No pain?"

"Naah, I'm getting better, but most of me still hurts like hell," replied Jimmy. Jimmy noticed that Missy and Jody were exchanging mischievous glances. Were they laughing at him? With effort, he managed to stifle his initial inclination to have old Jimmy make a comeback and mess them up as soon as he got better. So far, though, they had been nothing but kind to him and deserved the benefit of the doubt.

"Hurts like hell?" said Jody. "Gee that's a real shame. A real shame, isn't it Missy?"

"Oh yeah, a real shame," said Missy, flashing another puckish look at Jody. "I can't think of anything we can do about that, can you?"

"Not a thing that I can think of," Jody said impishly. "Guess he'll just have to suffer."

"Yep, suffer," agreed Missy.

This was too much, Jimmy thought. His only two friends were obviously mocking him. Why had they suddenly turned against him? He felt himself sinking somewhere below despair.

"Hey, wait a minute!" said Jody. "We forgot about something. Before we left, remember? You put it in your backpack! Do you think it might still be there?"

"Ohhh, right!" exclaimed Missy, playing out the drama for all it was worth. "How could I have forgotten? I'll bet it's still there! Why don't we take a look?"

Jimmy was bewildered now. He already knew that Missy had Symby in her backpack. She always brought Symby, so why were they making such a big deal out of it? When Missy brought Symby out, Jimmy panicked.

"What happened to him? He's so much smaller! Is he sick or dying?"

Jody and Missy giggled. "It's not Symby," said Missy. "It's Symby's baby. Actually, it's not even Symby's baby, it's Telly's baby."

"Huh?" said Jody. "Who's Telly? And how could Symby have a baby, and why is it Telly's, not Symby's? Geez, what the heck is going on here?"

Jody and Missy giggled again. Missy began moving her free hand over the tiny creature. Narrowing her eyes and deepening her voice, she began imitating the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz.

"All in good time, my little pretty, all in good time!" she said.

Jody suddenly felt sorry for Jimmy. "Okay, that's enough," he said, addressing Missy. "He's not little and he's not pretty."

He turned back to Jimmy. "This is the offspring of another creature just like Symby named Telly."

"Another one? Then how come you two got so sick again when I took Symby?" asked Jimmy.

"Because we didn't have Telly when you took Symby," replied Jody. "My father found him."

"I thought your father was gone," said Jimmy.

"He was gone, but when he found Telly, Telly cured his drinking problems so he came back."

Jimmy was incredulous. "So Symby might have cured my father too?"

"Maybe," said Jody. "My father thinks that Telly's medicine got him started on beating his alcoholism, but he's not taking Telly's medicine now and he still doesn't drink."

"Jeez," said Jimmy. "If I had known that Symby could cure my father, maybe I wouldn't have..."

He stopped short and looked at Missy. Her eyes locked onto his.

"No, I would have returned Symby to you anyway," he said. "That was the right thing to do, no matter what."

Missy walked over to him, handed the baby to him and kissed him gently on the cheek. "This one's for you," she said. "Please keep him a secret and return him when you're better so we can give him to other people who need help. Promise?"

Jimmy tried not to give away his secret crush on Missy, but found that he was failing miserably. The best he could do was to avert his eyes from hers when he answered.

"I promise," he answered.

The baby was tiny, no more than one inch in diameter. Jimmy wondered whether this new little one could provide enough medicine to help him heal. He stroked the little thing, cheering when he felt a few drops of liquid pool into his cupped hand. He quickly massaged the liquid into his bare arm.

"Medicine!" he said triumphantly. "This little one has medicine too!"

"Yep, just not as much, so make sure you use everything he gives you," said Jody. Jody's response raised an interesting question in Jimmy's mind.

"How do you know it's a he?" he asked.

"We don't, so we just default to 'he,'" replied Jody.

"Yeah, it's sexism," said Missy. "You can call it a 'she' if you want. I do sometimes."

Jimmy leaned back in his bed, already enjoying the effects of the baby's medicine. His pain seemed to recede by the minute and he began to experience the familiar, wonderful feeling of well-being that always occurred after a dose of the creature's elixir.

"Thanks, you guys, I feel better already," he said, flashing his first smile since escaping his home.

Jody and Missy answered in unison. "You're welcome."