“I’m the youngest in my family.”
Eddie made his BUZZER sound. “You are not the youngest.”
Jerome shook his head. “I got four younger sisters.” He thought about what a power Eddie possessed. And what a burden. “Goddamn.”
Eddie looked puzzled. “Are you angry, Jerome?”
“No, Eddie. Look, I just better go, okay?”
“Okay. But I wanted to tell you the vanilla pudding got a five plus, and I almost never give any food a five plus.”
Jerome nodded his appreciation. “Is that your highest rating, five plus?”
“Yes. It’s only the second five plus I’ve given this year. The first one was for the green beans served for dinner on Wednesday, February 22, because they were the best green beans I have ever tasted.”
Jerome moved closer to him. “You know who made the pudding today?”
“The same person who always makes the pudding. You, Jerome.”
“Give the man a booby prize.”
“What’s a booby prize?”
“It’s something you win.”
“Why is it called a booby?”
Jerome shrugged. “Got me.”
Eddie looked confused. “Got you what?”
Jerome noticed his boss, Ida Peroni, moving toward them from across the cafeteria. She was shaking her head with displeasure. Jerome spoke quickly. “I got one last pudding. I was kinda saving it for myself, but you can have it if you like.”
“For real?” Eddie asked the question like Jerome had.
“For real.”
Eddie looked thrilled as Jerome handed him the pudding. He held it like a prized trophy as Ida arrived. Trying to hide her concern, she asked, “Eddie, is everything okay?”
“Everything is a lot better than okay, Ida. Jerome is the best vanilla-pudding maker in Harmony House. You should give him a booby prize because it’s something you win.” He brushed by her, finishing the pudding before he reached his seat, where he was surprised to find Skylar waiting for him. There was pudding all around his mouth. She offered him a napkin as he licked the dish clean.
“I guess that pudding was pretty good.”
“Your guess is correct, Skylar. It was five plus.”
“You look like you slept well.”
“I did. For over sixteen hours. How long did you sleep last night?”
“A little over four hours.”
“Do you feel tired?”
“A little.”
He made his BUZZER sound.
“Okay, a lot. I’m very tired, if you want to know the truth.”
“You can take a nap in my bed if you want to. I can tuck you in like you tucked me in. My pajamas will be too big for you, though.”
“Thank you for the kind offer, Eddie, but no thanks.”
“Why did you only sleep for four hours?”
“Because I was reading about you.”
“Why were you reading about me?”
“Because I think you are one of the most fascinating people I have ever met.”
“I think you are one of the most fascinating people I have ever met, Skylar. Can I read about you?”
“I’m afraid there hasn’t been much written about me.”
“If you wrote your autobiography, I could read that.”
“I’ll make you a promise. If I ever write my autobiography, I’ll give it to you to read.”
“Then I will put it on my bookshelf right next to my Book of Questions, because I think your autobiography will have a lot of answers to the questions in my book.”
She smiled at him with genuine affection. “One of the things I learned about you last night is that you think too much about the echo box.”
He stared at her. “I think about it a lot because I am very close to figuring out why it won’t work.”
“Eddie, how long have you been very close?”
He blinked several times. “Eleven years and three months.”
“That’s a long time to try to think about only one thing.”
“I’ve thought about it for a lot longer than that, but that’s how long I’ve been very close.”
“How much progress have you made in all that time?”
“Fourteen percent.”
She nodded. “Just over a percent a year.”
“One point two four repeating.”
“At this rate, you’ll need another seventy years to finish it.”
Eddie corrected her. “Sixty-nine point one zero nine.”
“That’s a long time, Eddie.”
“Yes, it is. A very long time. I don’t want to have to wait that long to hear my mother’s voice.”
“Which means in order to finish it, you’re going to have to come up with a completely different approach. Something new. It might be surprisingly simple, but it also might be terribly complicated. There’s no way to know what it is right now, but to reach a different destination, you first have to change the journey.”
Eddie looked confused. “How do I change the journey?”
“It helps to first clear your head.”
“I don’t want to clear my head.”
“I didn’t mean literally. It’s only an expression.”
“I don’t like expressions.”
She marveled at how easy it was to forget his limitations. “When I want a fresh start, I like to take a walk.”
“Where do you walk?”
“Somewhere I haven’t walked before.”
“Antarctica. I have never walked in Antarctica.”
“Neither have I, but I was thinking somewhere a little more accessible.”
“Miami Beach, Florida, is more accessible.”
“It’s beautiful outside. Why don’t we go out in the yard?”
A gentle afternoon breeze greeted them as they exited the building. The sun shined brightly as they walked onto the rolling lawns surrounding Harmony House. Eddie paused, closing his eyes. He slowly rotated his head from side to side.
Skylar watched him. “What do you hear?”
“Everything.” He focused on a bird flying overhead and watched it land in a nearby tree. It was an American goldfinch, the New Jersey state bird. The goldfinch chirped. Eddie chirped back. Looking reassured, he continued walking. “Where are we going on our walk, Skylar?”
“Nowhere in particular.”
“That’s a strange destination.”
“Haven’t you ever walked just for the sake of walking?”
“No.” He kept walking. Listening to his footsteps. And to traffic somewhere off in the distance. Staring at the ground in front of him, he was trying to process the notion of walking nowhere in particular. “This is kind of like when you were communicating nonverbally, isn’t it?”
“How do you mean?”
“We are doing one thing, but we’re really doing a lot more than that.”
“That is very perceptive of you.”
“This is also very memorable, just like that was.”
“I think walks are good for people.”
“So are eating fruits and vegetables, and not smoking, and drinking only moderate amounts of alcohol.”
“Those are all true.”
“According to the surgeon general, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects.”
“That is also true.”
“Have you ever been pregnant, Skylar?”
She hesitated slightly. “That’s a very personal question, Eddie.”
“Dr. Fenton says I should not ask very personal questions.”
“Unless you know someone very well, that’s probably a good idea.”
“I don’t know anyone very well.” They kept walking.
This was an important opportunity, and she knew she had to take it. “Yes, Eddie, I was pregnant once.” Her voice quivered almost imperceptibly. On her list of memories she’d rather forget, this was number one.
“Was it a boy baby or a girl baby?”
“Neither.” She thought about how to admit to an abortion without actually saying it, but without lying, either. “The pregnancy stopped. I never had the baby.”
He took a moment to process the answer. “Will you try to have another one?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so, Eddie.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s just not something I can ever see myself wanting.”
He studied her. “My mother wanted me, but she died when I was born.”
“I am sure she wanted you, too.” She briefly thought of how little her own mother had wanted her or her brother. How else could a woman abandon her small children?
“I’m going to hear my mother sing one day.”
“I believe you will.” She was firmly reassuring.
Eddie stopped suddenly, rotating his head slightly.
“What’s wrong?”