Before she could respond, Benjamin handed her a glass, filled to the brim. Without hesitating, Izzy took a huge gulp and felt the sweetness and burn of the cocktail. She was unused to alcohol, but she welcomed the way it smoothed out her nerves. Her milk, yes, would be ruined, but there was always more milk, a never-ending supply of milk; she needed something for herself right now.
She felt at ease in this room, drink in her hand. Benjamin, barrel-chested and imposing at first glance, was a great conversationalist, always finding ways to draw people out of their shells, able to hold up his end of any topic. Part of this must have been his previous job as a car salesman, his ability to walk up to any person and instantly know what they wanted, what they would give him in exchange. One night, while the two of them washed dishes after dinner, Benjamin had spoken so frankly of his childhood, moving from foster parent to foster parent, abused and unloved, that Izzy had, without meaning to, told him all about her mother’s death, the debilitating sadness that came in the aftermath. This was his gift, to give you enough of himself that you wanted to repay it with interest.
His wife, Alyssa, was quiet but assertive, staying silent through an entire dinner before making a casual observation that seemed perfectly constructed and true. She often looked, to Izzy, to exist in two states, the physical world of the complex as well as some secret parallel universe that was much more interesting.
Ellen was by far the prickliest member of the project, never missing an opportunity to speak to her confusion at how things worked in the complex. It was clear to Izzy that Ellen did not fully believe in Dr. Grind or the project as a whole. “If I had known . . . ,” Ellen would always say when faced with some new facet of the project. She would drift off, never once saying what was understood. Tonight, however, she seemed so emboldened by the cocktails that she acted as if she could think of no better place in the world than this strange complex.
Along with Ben, Alyssa, and Ellen, there were also Jeremy, Callie, Asean, and David. Asean and David were intently watching a mixed martial arts event on the TV, but the other parents were restless, laughing at the slightest provocation, trying to think up party games but too inebriated to remember the rules correctly. So, excited at being up so late when the rest of the complex was fast asleep, they just kept drinking. And Izzy did her level best to keep up. She thought that if she drank enough, she would forget about the party tomorrow and, when she woke up the next morning, it would be a grand surprise. She finished her second whiskey smash and Benjamin was already shaking up another batch. Callie and Ellen went to the kitchen to get the rest of the birthday cake. The fight on the TV now over, even Asean and David turned their focus to this impromptu party. Izzy watched Asean play a few hands of poker with Jeremy and Alyssa, smiling, taunting the others when he laid down a straight flush, sweeping a load of imaginary chips to his side of the table and miming stacking all of them up.
Izzy realized the interesting fact that perhaps the three most reserved people in the project, by far the shyest in the group, herself, Asean, and Callie, were all here. And yet the party seemed not to suffer from it. She turned to watch Callie eating a slice of cake with her hands, her teeth black with chocolate crumbs. Benjamin offered to top off her drink, but she shook her head. She had no practice. She was already drunk.
It was now three thirty in the morning, and the party was losing momentum. They had spent the last thirty minutes watching an infomercial for a hand-cranking vacuum cleaner that, through some minor adjustments, could turn into a leaf blower. “Can we get Dr. Grind to buy us one of these?” Ellen asked. All of them were sunk deep in the cushions of the couch, so drunk that they kept leaning against each other. When the infomercial gave way to a religious program, Asean turned off the TV and they all started to pull themselves together to return to their own beds.
“This was nice,” Alyssa said. “I feel like this has helped me feel closer to you guys than anything we’ve done since we’ve been here.”
“I love all of you now,” Ellen said.
“It’s weird,” Benjamin said. “I understand how our relationship works with the kids. We are all their parents. Each one of them is our child. It takes some getting used to, but I get it now. But it’s never been super clear on how it works with all of us, the adults. What are we to each other?”
“Brothers and sisters?” David offered.
“Maybe more like second cousins,” Benjamin said.
“I think it’s more like the cast of Gilligan’s Island,” Alyssa said. “We’re these random people who ended up stranded on an island together.”
“And once we get off the island?” Izzy asked, trying so hard to keep up.
Alyssa shrugged. “Who knows?”
Jeremy then said, “There was a lot of sexual tension on that show.”
“What?” Ellen said, laughing. “No, there wasn’t.”
“It was there,” Jeremy said. “You just had to know where to look.”
“That makes sense,” David said. “If you’re stuck on an island, it’s bound to turn sexual.”
This made everyone go quiet for a moment.
“What does that mean for us?” Alyssa said.