Posted by PK on December 21, 2001 at 18:35:15:
Suddenly the motion stopped and the machine's hum died to nothing. What had happened,
Marcia wondered gratefully.
"Nice thinking, son," said her father, relief in his voice too. "I'll have to check that switch, of
course, maybe put in a cutout. Quicker than pulling the plug. That might be awkward when
we're outside on an extension, though I guess we won't need it then. Still, I think it went well,
don't you?"
"Pretty well," Nick admitted. He privately thought that if he hadn't been there his father would
have dithered over the switch until his sister had been fatally impaled, which would have
taken a lot of explaining to Janice, but he didn't want to be a wet blanket. It had worked far
better than he'd expected, and he said so.
Chatting amicably about the relative success of the test and experiments to come, father and
son released Marcia and helped her to stand.
"Thanks, sweetheart, you've been a big help," said Tom. Nick handed her her clothes.
"You did good, sis," he said generously. "See you later?"
She massaged her throat. "Maybe," she croaked, "I think I'll just go and lie down for a bit
now."
Over the next few days, Nick spent at least part of his evenings after school helping his
father with his project. Janice viewed this with mixed feelings. She wasn't sure it was a good
idea for Nick to get caught up in his father's eccentric enthusiasms but she couldn't bring
herself to critcise anything that promoted family harmony, and it was nice to see them getting
along so well, so she said nothing. She had a shrewd idea what Tom was up to but preferred
not to ask, she didn't want to get her hopes up again, that was a mistake she had learned to
avoid years before. Marcia was unusually subdued for a few days but eventually perked up
again. She stopped eating junk food between meals and started taking more exercise. This
was an enormous relief to Janice. Marcia had been getting a little pudgy and was very self
conscious about it, though she wouldn't admit it. A little puppy fat was all very well, but there
was such a thing as too much of it. God forbid that the census cull should take her this early
in life, but if it should happen, Janice didn't want to see her daughter ashamed to take her
clothes off in public.
For his part, Nick was almost too busy to have a social life. He came straight home from
school, had his dinner, diappeared into the garage and, unknown to the others, contrived to
rendezvous with Marcia for the promised math tuition when everybody thought he was out
with one of his girlfriends. Jill didn't ask too many questions about what he was doing, she
just assumed it was one of those unfathomable boy things. When she did mention it he just
said, "Oh, it's just some old gizmo of Dad's, I thought I'd put in some hours on the wiring. I'm
thinking about a career in electrical engineering, and anyway it's useful stuff for a guy to
know."
Wiring was not an enthusiasm of hers. The matter was dropped hastily before he started
explaining it.
By Friday, father and son had done all they could do and Tom declared himself satisfied.
They had tested very circuit and every moving part. All the switches had been checked, the
faulty one replaced and a cutout spliced into the power line. They had run tests on home
made dummies, some of which had taken quite a bit of cleaning up afterwards. The one with
the old leather coat and a bag full of offal begged from the local butcher had been
particularly messy. One problem remained.
"We really need a live test," said Tom worriedly.
"Why, Dad? Everything works. We're not going to get any volunteers to test it, and anyway.."
His father nodded resignedly. It would spoil the surprise if Janice knew. Besides, Nick was
right. Nobody, even a cull, would want to offer herself as a test subject and risk messing up
her big day.
"I guess we could get Marcy to do another run through," he mused. "D'you think you
could...um..talk to her?"
Nick sighed inwardly. More tuition loomed in his future. Still, this meant so much to his
parents.
"I'll try, Dad," he said. "Give me a day or two."
"Thanks son. Don't leave it too long, though?"
He needn't have worried. Marcia had more on her mind than further education. When Nick
finally broached the subject she just nodded absently.
"Do you think I'm too fat?" she wanted to know. She stared at him, defying him to lie to her.
Nick considered a glib reply and dismissed it. "You're a bit..ah.. well covered," he admitted,
"but looking pretty good lately. Been working out?"
"Yeah. You think I'll get culled?"
"Fat chance." He winced. "I mean, the odds are against it. Look, don't worry, it won't help...."
Marcia looked at him seriously. "I've been thinking about it. If I get picked I'll do it. On Dad's
machine, you know. It'll help Mom, won't it?"
This was totally unexpected. Her brush with mortality had brought out a new aspect of
Marcia.
"Well, yeah, it would. But it's not gonna happen, sis. Not in time, anyway." He gave her a
brotherly hug around the shoulders. "We just want a little help. Hey, I'll even do your science
homework.."
She shook her head. "Whatever. I'll do it."
They did it. In the garage, Marcia stripped off almost defiantly, and submitted to the tests
without a whimper. Nick had expected to have to demonstrate the cutoff and explain why it
was really safe now, but she didn't even ask. Nothing went wrong. In the end, she was
unstrapped and stood up on her own. "That okay?" she asked only a little shakily.
"Terrific, sis," said Nick and hugged her. "You were great."
Tom put a fatherly hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "I'm very proud of you,"
he said.
She left walking confidently, feeling more of a woman than she ever had before.
"Well, what do you think, Dad?" asked Nick. "Are we ready for Mom yet?"
They would have to make a decision soon. Thanksgiving was drawing nearer and there
would be lots of arrangements to make. Nick knew his father wouldn't settle for anything less
than a really big send off for his wife.
"What do you think?" Tom echoed. He was staring at his dream machine blankly.
What was wrong with him? Nick wondered. Was he so amazed that he'd finally got it to work
that he couldn't take it in? He shrugged. "I think we're ready. We can't do any more without
really using it. Come on, Dad, we've got to. There's never going to be a better time." He was
thinking what this would mean to his mother, to Jill, to all of them.
Tom was thinking only of Janice. All these years he had looked forward to this with a
combination of expectancy and dread. At the threshold of the irrevocable leap, he was
frozen.
"I don't suppose one of your girlfriends would....?" he ventured.
"Gee, I don't know, I 'll go ask," said Tom heavily. He could just imagine the expression on
Corinne's face if he asked her whether she'd mind being skewered as a rehearsal for his
mother's feast. And besides, "Dad, none of them are old enough," he reminded his father
practically.
Tom shook his head as if throwing off a reverie like water. "Sorry, silly idea," he muttered. "I'll
sleep on it, okay?" He smiled and patted his son's shoulder. "Thanks for all the help."
Nick rolled his eyes and made a helpless gesture heavenward. He decided to go and visit
Corinne, while it was still light. He hadn't seen much of her outside school, lately. She must
think he'd gotten tired of her, a common enough occurrence in a society with an excess of
available girls.
Corinne was where he'd hoped she'd be, in her tree house. It was where she went to escape
the overcrowded house she shared with her father, stepmother and numerous sisters. Nick
climbed up easily and swung himself in. She was reading a book, and glanced at him with
feigned indifference. At least, he hoped it was feigned.
"Hi there, lover," she drawled in the peculiar Anglo-Caribbean accent he still found
captivating. "Surprised you could spare the time." She raised one eyebrow quizzically.
Corinne was just a year older than Nick and still made him feel gauche whe she wanted to.
"I was busy, honest. Dad's project, I told you."
"Sure, I believe you. That is, I wouldn't if I didn't know Sue and Clara haven't seen you all
week either. What's the story? You gone gay on me, boy?"
Corinne loved to be outrageous, it was something he'd taken a while to get used to. In fact,
her whole family were a little strange by local standards, which of course were the only
standards that mattered. At first, Janice had been very dubious about his dating one of the
newcomer Hopkins clan, but after the late Mrs Hopkins had offered herself at a
housewarming party to which the whole community had been invited she had mellowed a
little.
"There really was - is - a project," he said. "It's just.." He shook his head helplessly. Corinne
uncurled, stretching her long brown limbs in his general direction. Very sexy limbs too, he
couldn't help observing. In her frayed cutoff denims and bare feet she always reminded him
of a sort of black female Huck Finn.
"Tell me about it, boy," she demanded.
Nick gave in. She had that effect on him. "Just don't tell anybody else, okay?" She looked at
him, expressive eyebrows reproving him for doubting her discretion. He told her everything,
at great length and it was a vast relief to him. By the time he ran down it was getting dark,
and Corinne lit a candle inside a pumpkin lantern. It cast oddly cosy shadows over the little
den.
"And that's the truth," he conluded, wondering why it mattered so much that she should
believe him. She was just a girl, after all.
She nodded. "So, your mamma wants to get cooked before she's too old, your Dad wants to
do her in style, you're all upset because of how it looks, and Jill's getting into fights about it."
"Right..."
"And now your Dad's got it all together but he's got cold feet and you wonder why?" She took
his hand. "They've been together a long time, boy. It can't be easy for him."
Nick shrugged. "Maybe I should tell Mom..."
"Don't you dare. Let him be, he'll do the right thing. You wanna stay the night?" She indicated
the ratty old mattress she sometimes slept out on.
Nick wanted nothing more, but he should get home. He looked at Corinne again and
suddenly it dawned on him. He wanted to marry her when he was old enough, give her a
home and children before he ate her. It was silly, there was a good chance she'd have been
taken already by then, it was absurd for a boy his age to expect to marry his first serious
girlfriend, it would be perfectly normal to have eaten one or two of them before settling down,
but still....
"Yeah, I'd like that," was all he said. He began to understand his father's state of mind. Like
his sister Marcia, Nick had taken a step towards growing up.
He woke the next morning wrapped in those long brown limbs, along with a mess of blankets
and an old coat. The warm scent of girl surrounded him. He felt immeasurably content,
despite the fact that the room seemed to be swaying. Corinne, waking as easily as a cat,
raised her head.
"Mornin', lover," she said.
Oh, shit, he thought. Mom will be wondering where I am. "Morning,"he said. "Uh, what time is
it?"
Corinne smiled indulgently, maybe a little mockingly, and lifted one licked finger to the air.
"Around eight thirty," she pronounced.
"I've got to get back," Nick said, immediately feeling awkward. "Mom's really got this thing
about breakfast...."
She grabbed his head and kissed him. "Later?"
"For sure." He scrambled into his clothes and down the tree, wondering what time it really
was. The walk took him twenty minutes. He arrived home halfway through breakfast, the
clock read ten of nine. "Where the heck have you been?" his father greeted him. "Your bed
hasn't been slept in, your mother's been worried sick."
"Up to mischief, bro?" Jill put in, a mischievous glint in her eye. "J and M thought you'd run
off to join the circus."
"Oh, shit - sorry Mom - nothing like that. I was sleeping with Corinne, that's all. I should have
said where I was going but I got caught up in something."
"Just try to remember to tell somebody next time, dear,"said Janice mildly. She didn't know
whether to be relieved that Nick was acting normally again or disappointed that it was
Corinne he'd stayed out with. For the past week or so he'd hardly had anything to do with
girls, other than his sisters, and she'd been a little concerned. It wasn't that she disliked
Corinne exactly, but she wasn't sure if the girl was entirely suitable for her son. She had
rather hoped he'd settle for a nice local girl like Clara. Still, it was early yet and there was no
point in making a fuss, it was the surest way to make things worse.
"How is Cory?" Jill asked pleasantly. It wasn't so long since she'd hated her for taking up so
much of Nick's time, but recently she'd come to terms with her brother's natural development
and found that she quite liked the girl.
"She's fine. Sends her best. Anything happen I should know about?" He tried to catch his
father's eye without being too obvious about it, with no luck. Everyone looked blank.
"Here you are dear," said Janice as she produced a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs, fried
tomatoes and hash browns out of nowhere and slapped it down in front of him. "Got to keep
your strength up."
Jill giggled until a raised eyebrow from her mother silenced her.