Phoenix Lights - 8. HOMUNCULUS II

Thursday, April 3, 1997

Sean started awake having felt his mattress heaving under the weight of someone else. He rolled back and saw Jeffrey, in his underwear, trying to sneak into his bed. “It’s you.” He collapsed back onto the mattress.

I was trying to be all sneaky and surprise you, Jeffrey thought. I wanted to be sexy.

You did surprise me.

Jeffrey slid under the covers and spooned against Sean’s back.

And I think you’re kinda sexy no matter what. Sean rolled to his back and turned his head toward Sean. I wish we could just spend the rest of the week doing sleepovers.

Maybe we can, Jeffrey thought.

Don’t think my mom would go for it. We can hang out, though. Maybe do one.

Your house this time?

My mom’s a light sleeper. If something happened with… you know… them, she’d royally freak out on us. And she likes to check in on me in the middle of the night. Don’t think she’d be down for us sharing my bed.

My house is fine, if you’re okay with it.

Why wouldn’t I be?

Thought you’d never come back because of what happened yesterday. Jeffrey got up on one elbow and kissed Sean’s shoulder.

Your house is fine. It’s only your basement that’s evil. Sean chuckled. We could go to the pool today. My mom was going to come home for lunch. I could get her to drop us off on her way back to work.

How would we get back? I don’t want to walk five miles in this heat.

Probably the bus or something. We’ll figure it out.

Can I figure this out? Jeffrey asked, squeezing Sean’s package through his shorts. I owe you one.

*****

Sean happily waded through the shallow end of the pool at Jeffrey’s elbow as they just stood around thinking to each other. The pool was packed with kids celebrating their week of freedom from school, everyone just trying to stay cool in the hot Arizona heat.

Suddenly, Jeffrey wrapped his willowy arms around Sean’s body, and pulled him backward--a la WWF Wrestling--and dunked him into the pool.

Sean came up sputtering, wiping his eyes and looking around for Jeffrey so that he could get his revenge, a hard proposition considering their bond.

In his mind, he heard Jeffrey humming the Jaws theme; he scanned the water, looking for his friend beneath.

Jeffrey hugged around the back of his legs, causing Sean to buckle and fall back. He came up laughing as Sean struggled to keep his balance.

“Hey!” Sean protested, laughing. He wiped the water off his face. “I want to hit the diving boards.”

Jeffrey turned and glanced at the wall behind them. “I need to use the restroom. Meet you over there?”

“Okay,” Sean replied. Together, they waded toward the ladder. Jeffrey pulled himself out of the pool first, and took a right turn toward the locker rooms.

Sean went left, and walked toward the deep end. He stood in a short line and waited for his turn. After several jumps, he spotted Jeffrey walking back onto the pool deck. He was next in line for the board.

Suddenly, he felt as if something was off. His hand, rested on the rail leading up to the diving board, shook. A tone filled his ears. Even though he could see Jeffrey standing a little over fifty yards away, the shadowy figures started filling the corners of his vision. Something’s wrong. Jeffrey… something is very, very wrong.

I feel it, too, Jeffrey thought. He could see Jeffrey glancing around cautiously, spinning in slow circles; as he did, the strange feeling between them seemed to pulsate as he faced away from Sean. I… I think I saw a homunculus again.

Sean gritted his teeth. What the hell is this? He scanned around the pool. They wouldn’t take us right here. In front of all these people. They couldn’t.

I don’t think it’s that, Jeffrey thought. He walked several steps up a set of bleachers to get a better look.

“Hey, kid. Are you going to go?”

Sean glanced back over his shoulder, then at the empty diving board before him. He stepped back. “You go ahead.” He sidestepped the boy behind him and walked to the other side of the pool. When he reached the opposite side, whatever was wrong just cleared up. That was strange.

The shadows, the tone, had just stopped.

Sean decided to backtrack and walk around the pool the other direction to rendezvous with Jeffrey in the shallow end; he didn’t want to get to far away from him.

He’d taken three steps and the sound ripped through his head again. What the fuck is that?!

Suddenly, three short whistle blows pierced the air. A lifeguard stood on her stand, toward the middle of the pool, and leapt into the water with her rescue tube tucked beneath her arms. Once she resurfaced, she began to swim toward the center of the pool.

A long whistle came soon after, all the other lifeguards standing, clearing people out of the water, other lifeguards running along the deck with equipment and backboards.

What’s happening? Jeffrey wondered.

The lifeguard who had jumped in stopped, right in line between Jeffrey and Sean. She pushed the tube to the side and went under, the strap to the tube still around her torso. After a second or two, the rescue tube floated a little to the side, then shot upright, pointing toward the ceiling, as the lifeguard tugged on the strap to pull herself to the surface.

Sean held his breath.

The lifeguard resurfaced, her arm wrapped around the torso of a teenager. She expertly pulled the tube between them and leaned back, pulling him to the side. The boy’s head rested limply on the lifeguards shoulder, his lips blue, as she worked to pull him back to the side of the pool.

Once the crew had pulled him out onto the deck, Sean stared across the pool at Jeffrey.

*****

The boys sat on a curb, staring blankly into the distance. Neither one had words nor thoughts, they just sat there, drained and confused.

Finally, Jeffrey had a thought.

“No, this doesn’t make us super heroes,” Sean mumbled, crossing his arms across the top of his knees and resting his chin on them.

Jeffrey scowled.

“I hope that kid is okay,” Sean said.

“Me too,” Jeffrey replied. He sighed deeply.

“Is there anything we could have done?”

Jeffrey sat up. “Dude, we didn’t even know what was going on. That’s never happened to us.” What does this mean?

We can sense drowning victims, Sean thought glibly.

It’s got to be more than that. We can only sense each other. How did we sense that kid?

How did you move that glass the other day?

I don’t even remember doing it, Jeffrey thought back. More fucking questions than answers.

Just don’t start bending spoons on me. Sean could tell that Jeffrey was thinking it; they had to figure things out.

*****

The smell of hamburger cooking on the stove permeated the air. Tom gently whistled as he slaved over the stove getting dinner ready. Nearby, the boys stood just inside the hallway leading to Jeffrey’s bedroom.

Your sister? But she hates us.

Jeffrey looked over his shoulder, toward his sister who was sitting on the couch watching Friends. Well, she’s sitting in the middle of the couch. We could sit on either side of her.

Why not your Dad?

There’s not enough room in the kitchen for us to stand next to him. And what if we accidentally talk to him? With my sister, we could at least say she’s imagining things.

Seriously? Sean craned his neck and glanced into the living room.

Eeeemmmiillyyyyyyy, Jeffrey thought, trying his best ghost-of-Christmas-past voice. EEEEEEEMMMIILLLYYYYYYYYY! It’s MEEEEEEEE! Matthew Perryyyyyy!

Sean snorted, which drew Emily’s attention, and ire. She squinted and frowned at them.

Jeffrey pulled Sean back into the hallway, out of her view. Well, how else would we test this one?

Sean shrugged. I don’t know. Couldn’t we try it with one of our friends? Go to a movie and have him sit between us or something? It would be less risky.

Jeffrey sighed. I don’t have enough allowance to see a movie. I used part of it to pay for swimming today.

You have that jar with all the money in it.

But, that’s my savings for a new car!

Sean cocked his eyebrows and crossed his arms. A new car? With a hundred and sixty two dollars in loose change? Your Firebird is gonna cost way more than that.

I have a savings account, too! Jeffrey blinked at his friend.

This is sort of an emergency. What’s five dollars?

But… my car!

Sean dropped his arms. Okay, fine. But Emily is going to think something’s up if we’re sitting on both sides of her.

Let’s just see where it gets us. Remember, concentrate.

Sean nodded, and followed Jeffrey into the living room. He sat down to her left, and Jeffrey sat down to her right.

She looked from one to the other. “What are you doing?”

“Watching TV,” Jeffrey snapped back. “We’re allowed to watch it, too.”

“No, really. What are you doing?”

Jeffrey held his hand toward the television.

“You don’t even like friends. Go watch TV in the basement.” She crossed her arms.

You hear anything? Sean asked. He closed his eyes, and tried to concentrate on Emily.

I don’t hear a thing. Emily? EMILY? HELLOOOOOoooo?”

“You guys are so stupid. What are you doing? You’re both being weird.”

Sean opened his eyes, and found Emily staring at him. “What?”

I don’t think it works. Retreat!

The boys sprang to their feet and ran back to Jeffrey’s room.

“What did you do?” Emily called after them. “If one of you farted, I’m going to murder you both!”

“Emily!” Tom scolded from the kitchen.

Jeffrey closed the door behind them. I didn’t feel anything.

Maybe she has to be in danger, Sean thought. He pondered for a moment.

Well, as much as I don’t like my stupid sister, I’m not going to put her in danger to test anything out. I’d be grounded for a year.

There’s got to be a way to figure all this out.

Maybe we could ask a homunculus.

Sean glanced around the room. We’d have to catch one of the bastards, first. They don’t show up unless something’s about to happen.

Are we really seeing them, though? Jeffrey wondered. They could just be in our imagination. Kind of like when we… do… things, and it happens to both of us. He threw himself onto the bed.

We might need outside help on this, Sean thought.

Where would we find that? People would think we were messed up or something.

What about my therapist? Sean thought about all the times his therapist had helped him when dealing with the loss of his brother.

Bad idea. Jeffrey held up his hands. Woah, bad idea. He’d find some fancy word to call you, some sort of mental disorder, then they’d put you on some sort of drugs and you’d spend all of highschool walking around wearing white pajamas in an asylum.

But if we could prove-

Dude, just… no!

“Boys!” Tom called from the kitchen, “dinner’s ready.”

Slowly, they shuffled into the kitchen.

Emily was first in line. She served herself a small scoop of hamburger helper and a large helping of salad with Dorothy Lynch. She returned to her spot on the couch so she could finish her show.

“Don’t spill anything,” Tom called after her. “Boys?” He took the spatula and slopped the main course onto a paper plate, thrusting it toward Sean. “You’ll have to make yourself at home. Some sodas in the fridge, if you want one.”

Jeffrey looked up at his dad. “Where’s mom?”

“Working late. She said she’s eating at the office, so it’s just us.” He handed Jeffrey a full plate. “Us gents, I guess. A full-scale thermonuclear war couldn’t take your sister away from that dumb show.”

“It’s not stupid, Dad,” she called from the living room. “Jeez!”

Jeffrey and Tom sat at the table nearly in tandem; Sean noticed that they shared a lot of the same mannerisms.

Sean cracked open a can of Mountain Dew. “Mister Marek, can I ask you kind of a strange question?”

Don’t you dare! Jeffrey thought.

Jeffrey’s dad stopped chewing and stared at Sean for a second. “Call me Tom.”

Don’t!

“Do you think telepathy is real?”

Tom shoveled another heaping fork-full of meat-goop into his mouth, and after he’d swallowed, he squinted at Sean. “Why?”

“We were talking about it earlier.”

God, I hate you sometimes, Jeffrey smouldered.

Tom shrugged. “I don’t know. I think psychics are full of shit, and I don’t think that telepathy is a real thing.”

“You don’t?” Sean asked.

“I’ve been around a long time. Never seen anything that would make me believe that reading people’s minds is real. Or making things float or any of that stuff. You guys have been watching those Lady Cleo ads on TV, haven’t you?”

Stop it, Jeffrey groaned.

“No,” Sean said. “Not at all.”

“Emily told me about your little magic trick, so you two don’t even think about it. And don’t call Lady Cleo, either. All she wants is money, and I don’t want to see any phone bill charges running $3.99 a minute. Capisce?”

*****

The boys were in Jeffrey’s bed, lying naked in the dark and staring at the ceiling.

Sean looked over at Jeffrey, studying his shape in the dark. Maybe we should just figure things out as they come.

Maybe that’s all we can do.

Sean got up to one elbow. We have time to figure this out. It’s not like we’re up against some sort of doomsday clock.

Suddenly, Sean felt something in Jeffrey that was a little like guilt. Maybe uncertainty. He wasn’t sure why, but it was blocked from him. Everything else had been so open, but the lack of a response concerned him.

Hey, Jeffrey thought, You’re right. Let’s deal with things as they come along.

Sean nodded. Yeah, sure. He laid back on the bed, folding his hands over his stomach, imagining shapes in the popcorn spackle on the ceiling.