The Future Awaits
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Chapter 4
"You guys have a good time last night?" Tor asks them at breakfast.
"Yeah. It was good seeing the guys." Mike replies.
"Tommy?"
"It was okay, sir. That sure is one sweet car to drive."
"I'm glad you like it, Tommy. Thanks for driving."
After breakfast, I tell Mike I want to see him. We go down to my lab and I shut the door. "Michael, I'm disappointed in you."
"What did I do, dad?"
"I was awake when you came in. It was clear that you had more than one beer, because I saw Tommy help you to bed."
"I had three or four with the guys. So what? Tommy drove."
"Did it cross your tiny mind how he must have felt when he had to help you get in bed, especially after his mother just died of alcoholism?"
Mike has the grace to look thoroughly ashamed. "l didn't even think. It was so good seeing the guys and all."
"Then you owe him an apology. You're underage and I don't want you drinking any more while you're here, or at school either, for that matter. Tommy's your roommate, not your mother. He doesn't have to put up with this, and if I read him right, he won't. Tor and I both like him and we hope you'll stay roommates. That's the only way we can help him."
"I'm sorry, dad, I like him, too. I won't do it again."
"Thanks, Mike. I'll send Tommy down so you can apologize."
They are below for so long, I look through the hatch to see what's keeping them. I'm glad to see them standing in the door to Tor's lab with their arms around each other's shoulders. Tommy's smiling when they come up, and Mike looks relieved.
"I can't believe you got labs like that here in your boat." Tommy says to me when they finally reappear.
"That's why we have a houseboat, Tommy. We used to do a lot of work out in the sound, so it was easier to have our labs with us. Saved us from having to come back to shore every time we wanted to run tests."
"Let me show you something," Mike says and grabs a copy of The Dying Sound from the shelf. "This is the first book Tor and dad wrote." He and Tommy sit on the edge of his bunk and look at the photos I made for it.
"How'd you make pictures like this one, sir?" Tommy asks me, pointing to a shot of plankton.
"Through a microscope. Mike can show you how if you're interested. He's good at making slides for me to photograph."
"Did he make any of these?"
"He wasn't with us then, but he did some for a text we wrote later."
Mike pulls a copy of the text from the shelf and proudly points to the flyleaf where Tor and I credited him for technical assistance.
Tommy shakes his head. "Man, you're somethin'. Even got your name in a book they use at school. Ain't nobody on the rez gonna believe I'm rooming with a guy like you."
Mike grins. "Prove it to 'em." He grabs a pen from my desk and signs the page: You're a great guy to room with. Mike. He hands it to me and I autograph it, then give it to Tor, who's just come out of the head.
Tommy hugs the book to him. "Thanks. This is really something."
"Hand me that copy of Dying Sound, Mike." Tor and I autograph it for Tommy, then Tor hands it to him with a grin. "This one you don't have to be a marine biologist to read. Now that you have the book, you should see the some of the things in it live. Let's go up to the institute so I can show you the acquaria." Tor grabs his key-ring and he, Mike, and Tommy take off, while I stay behind to straighten up the place a little.
It's over an hour when they come back. Tommy has a look of awe on his face.
"Enjoy it?" I ask him.
Tommy shakes his head. "I didn't know there was that many kinds of things in the water. I can't figure out why Mike's in school. He already knows more stuff than I ever will."
Tor laughs. "Just because he was raised with it. I bet there's a lot you could teach him."
"I don't know about much. Maybe a little about plants and things in the woods, but that's all."
"That's more than I know, unless it's under water." Mike tells him. "That's about all dad and Tor talk about. I really want to see the reservation sometime."
Tommy's answer is slow in coming. "Wish I could ask you to come home with me, but I ain't got no place but my grandpa's ol' cabin. It ain't even got 'lectricity."
Mike opens his mouth to say something, but I nudge him with my elbow. He's embarrassed when he realizes why.
"Okay, guys, time to shower and dress. We're going to the Curtises for dinner."
Mike's face lights up. "Great! You'll really like my Aunt Martha and Uncle Dave, Tommy."
"Tommy, you go first. And watch the water, it's hot." I tell him.
He quickly sheds his clothes down to his briefs, then grabs his crutches and swings easily on the ends of his legs to the head. A few minutes later he comes out in a clean pair of briefs and dresses while Mike showers. To avoid embarrassing Tommy, Tor and I wear our briefs into the head, which we never do otherwise. If Tor hadn't insisted on an instantaneous gas water heater instead of a tank type, I'd be showering in cold water.
Dave hugs Mike as soon as he opens the door, then shakes hands with Tommy as Mike introduces him. "Mike!" Martha comes out of the kitchen and grabs him in a hug. I notice Tommy has that wistful look again. When Mike introduces him, Martha holds Tommy's hand and looks into his eyes. "Drew didn't tell me you were such a handsome young man, Tommy. Dave and I are glad to have you here. You must make yourself at home."
Tommy dips his head. "Thank you, ma'am."
"You know I'm not giving you a drink, Mike, so orange juice or tomato juice?"
"Aw, come on, Dave. I'm in college so you ought to let me have a beer at least."
"College or not, you're only sixteen, young man. What's it going to be?"
"Tomato juice."
"And you, Tommy? There's beer if you'd like one."
"Orange juice, sir. I don't drink."
He gets a nod of approval from Dave. "You're a wise young man."
Mike manages to find a soccer game on TV, so he and Tommy settle down to watch. "Don't you have a TV at home?" I hear Tommy ask.
Mike shakes his head. "Dad and Tor hate it. That one in Tor's lab is connected to the microscope. Won't get regular programs."
Dave gets our drinks and we chat while Martha's in the kitchen. I'd help her, but after getting chased out a few times before, I learned to leave her alone. I wish she would teach me to cook like she does.
After he says grace, Dave begins to carve the turkey. "Light or dark meat, Tommy?"
"Can I have a little of both, sir?"
"Of course." He serves Tommy's plate generously and passes it. He doesn't have to ask the rest of us.
Martha begins to pass the other dishes, but when Tommy takes only a small amount of each, she calls him on it. "If you don't take more than that, Tommy, I'll think you don't care for my cooking. Look at Mike's plate."
True to form, Mike's plate is heaped. Tommy smiles uncertainly. "Yes, ma'am," he says and helps himself to larger servings.
When Mike's at home or here, one would think he's starving and never been taught manners from the way he eats. Tommy shows even fewer table manners than Mike, but I'm sure he's had no one to teach him. His enjoyment, however, is quite plain.
"I sure hate to go back eatin' at school, after this." Tommy says when he's finished.
"Me, too," Mike adds quickly.
"Now you see why I married Martha, Tommy." Dave teases.
"Yes, sir. I hope l can find a pretty woman like Miz Curtis who can cook good as this."
"What a lovely compliment. Thank you, Tommy. Are you enjoying your visit?"
"Yes, ma'am. Dr. Torrence showed me the fish and things this morning. Tomorrow he's goin' to take me to see the ocean. I never been down here before."
"I envy you the experience. The first time I saw real mountains I was in awe. They stretched right up into the clouds."
"It's like that a lot at home."
The boys go back to the TV and the rest of us chat over coffee at the table.
"I don't think I've ever met a young man Tommy's age as shy as he. I hope rooming with Mike will help him."
"It's slow, but I think Mike's beginning to make some progress. He's still a little uneasy around us. I think it's mostly because I told him Tor and I sleep together before he came, though he seems awed that we write and teach."
"It was kind of you to tell him ahead of time, but I see he came anyway."
"I don't think Mike gave him much choice. The poor kid had nowhere else to go, even if he could have afforded it. His mother died about three weeks ago and he has no family now. He's on a scholarship."
"The poor boy. He's awfully quiet, but he seems quite nice."
"Tor and I both like him. I wish there was some way we could help him, but he'd never take it. I've never seen anyone with so much pride."
"Then you must never push anything on him, no matter how well intentioned. That sense of pride will get him through."
To be continued...
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