“Well, no. But I’m a man, same as you.” Jared didn’t know what to say, so he waited. “My name is Ethan, and now that your eBay listing has been removed, I think I can help you.”
“Help me how?” Jared knew he should be suspicious, but at that precise moment, Glio was consuming a memory of Jared bathing Jackie when she was a toddler—the warm water, the soap bubbles, her toy boat, her unfettered laughter—and it was releasing a wash of melatonin over Jared’s gray matter.
The memory had been buried so deep in his brain that it wasn’t directly available to Jared; when Glio found it, flooding his host’s basal ganglia with the calming enzyme, the side effect was to help Jared focus.
“I’d like to meet you in person to explain,” Ethan answered.
“Hey, wait.” Jared thought hard for a moment before realizing what it was he needed to ask. “How did you get this number? And how did you know the listing had been removed?”
“I got your number from Hannah Hinawi.”
“The lobbyist? Are you a lobbyist? If so, you should call my number in Salem, and—”
“Hannah works for me. Or, to be more accurate, she works for someone who works for someone who works for someone who works for me.”
That was a lot of someones for Jared’s brain to process, but he got the point. “So what do you want from me?”
“I can help ease your suffering, and I can make sure your family is well provided for. I’d like to explain in person.”
The wave of melatonin was fading; it was being replaced by a rush of adrenaline. Jared’s heart was racing, and his mind was fogging up again. Not knowing what else to do, he said okay.
“Great. Where can we meet?”
Even in this less than fully lucid state, Jared knew the answer. It was public, comfortable, and one of his favorite spots in the world. “When?” he asked.
“Now.”
***
When Jackie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes the next morning, Megan was gone. She grabbed her iPhone and saw that it was already eight forty-five. She was missing first period. Why hadn’t anyone woken her up?
She was just about to go downstairs and find her parents when she noticed she had a new Facebook message.
Max
I am sorry I miss you. Yes, this was bad time because I am in school. LOL! Will you be online at school today? I will like also to talk to you. I will look for you.
Jackie loved how Max typed a broken version of English. She thought it made him seem even cuter than his photo. He had been teaching Jackie Russian a few words at a time. Her favorite was “nimnoshka,” in English, “a little bit.” She liked the way it sounded.
“As in ‘I don’t like school, not one nimnoshka’?” was Jackie’s response when Max had taught her the word. Jackie wasn’t playful like that with anyone other than her dad, but with Max being so far away it was easy. She got an LMAO from Max, and wondered if he knew what the acronym stood for.
Jackie pocketed her phone and went in search of her parents.
She wasn’t two steps outside her door when she ran into her father.
She looked at her feet and mumbled, “Hi, Daddy.”
Jared wrung his hands and cleared his throat. “Why don’t you go downstairs, Snowflake. Your mom and I want to talk to you. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Jackie nodded. The walk from the second floor to the kitchen felt miles long. She found her mother at the kitchen table, staring blankly at the wall, a coffee cup clutched between her hands. The cup was empty save a few drops of brown liquid littered with black specks.
“Mom?”
Deirdre hadn’t noticed Jackie come in, and she jumped at hearing her daughter.
“Oh, Jax! You scared me.”
“Why didn’t you wake me up?”
Deirdre didn’t know how to respond. “I thought maybe you needed sleep,” she said in a quiet voice.
“Because of Dad?”
“Because of Dad.”
An entire conversation passed between mother and daughter unspoken: the knowledge that nothing about their lives would ever be the same again, and the helplessness in their complete, utter, and mutual inability to do anything about it.
Jared rounded the corner into the room, gave Jackie an awkward pat on the shoulder, and took a seat at the table. He struggled for words but came up empty. His shoulders sagged, he shook his head, and he finally said, “I’m so sorry.”
Jackie didn’t understand. Why was he sorry? Not knowing what else to say, she asked: “Is it all true?”
Jared nodded.
“Even the eBay stuff?”
Jared nodded again.
“Can’t you stop it?” Jackie asked, trying to keep the hopefulness out of her voice.
“I wish I could, but the doctor said there’s no cure. I’m going to die.”