She couldn’t stop herself. The words came out sharply: “I was busy.”
It just felt too close to every argument they’d had about their marriage. When he wanted to talk to her, she wasn’t available. Except this time, Manny did something different. He apologized.
“I’m sorry, and I know, but this isn’t personal. It’s official.” He motioned to Steph. “We needed to talk to you. I was going to send somebody to get you and bring you to the White House, but Steph thought you wouldn’t come unless they arrested you. Seemed counterproductive if we wanted your cooperation.”
Melanie leaned against one of the lab tables. She looked at Manny and then at Steph. She didn’t say anything. She liked watching Manny fidget.
“Look, the truth is that I, that we, me and Steph and Billy . . . I can’t remember. Have you met Billy before? Billy Cannon. Secretary of defense.”
Billy’s handshake was firm, but before he let go of her hand, he nodded at the insectarium that was behind her. “Ma’am, if I can ask, what the hell is that spider behind you?”
“That one?” Melanie turned and gently touched the glass wall. She was so used to the spiders in the lab that she forgot how much they freaked people out. Particularly the bigger, hairy ones like the one Billy was looking at. “Theraphosa blondi. Or, more commonly, a Goliath birdeater, though they don’t really eat birds. Usually.”
“Jesus.” Billy leaned forward and tapped at the glass.
Melanie grabbed his wrist. “Don’t do that.”
Billy stood up straight again. “Why not? Is the thing going to kill me?”
“They don’t like it. That’s why. You wouldn’t like it if somebody sat outside your house banging on the window. They’re sensitive to vibrations. And no, it won’t kill you, though it hurts like a fucker if it bites you. Like getting stung by a wasp. And they have urticating hair. It gets on your skin and stings and itches, and if you inhale it, you’ll be coughing and unhappy. It’s obnoxious. But they’re like most spiders. You leave them alone and they’ll leave you alone.”
“Most spiders?”
“They hunt,” she said. “Bugs. That sort of stuff.” She turned to Manny. “Okay. What’s the deal?”
Manny ran his fingers through his hair. It was a familiar gesture, something he did when he hadn’t had a lot of sleep and when he was feeling overwhelmed, and the sight of it made Melanie smile a little. But only a little.
“This might sound crazy,” Manny said, “but are there spiders that eat people? I mean, giant swarms of spiders? Does even asking the question make me sound like I’m out of my fucking mind? If there are, it seems like the sort of thing you would have brought up at a dinner party.” Melanie smiled for real this time. She’d been to so many boring political dinners, and her one solace had been scaring the shit out of whoever was sitting next to her with stories about all the dangerous creepy crawlies out there. “Are there?” Manny said. “Are there spiders like that?”
To Melanie’s right, Billy had drifted over to a shadow box on the wall that held a mounted spider. For a second he looked as though he was going to tap on that glass too, but then he saw Melanie watching. She glared at him and he lowered his hand. Melanie looked back at Manny. “You know how many phone calls and e-mails we get a month from people who think they’ve gotten bitten by a spider and are going to die?” she said. She stepped over to the smaller dorm fridge that was next to the larger lab fridges. She opened the door and pulled herself out a can of soda. She held one up to Steph and then Billy, both of whom shook their heads. Without asking, she handed one to Manny. She didn’t have to ask. He never turned down a Diet Coke. She cracked open the can and took a swig. The bitter sweetness felt like an extra hour of sleep under her belt.
She hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to share her new spiders with anybody outside the lab yet. She’d never seen anything like them, and she knew the discovery was going to be the next big step in her career. The ten-thousand-year-old egg sac hatching, the spiders themselves, and then the way they interacted? How many papers would she get out of this? And then she looked over at Steph and remembered again that she wasn’t just Steph. She was the president of the United States. “May I ask what this is about?”
Manny glanced at Steph. Steph gave a small shake of her head. Manny sighed and popped the top on his soda. “Take my word for it,” he said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”