by David Harp
Chapter 17
The Geneticist
Matt became the boys’ unofficial counselor despite his own problems. He was a good listener, the person Brian asked for advice after his trip to Archbold. Matt sat quietly as Brian talked for over an hour, recounting the whole story from his childhood encounter with Archie to the recent meeting when Anastasius gave him the gold medallion. Brian sounded ashamed as he described his guilt for mistreating Haley.
“I started spreading untruthful rumors when she was struggling with her disability. I still haven’t apologized; I wouldn’t know how. She treated me like a friend, but I’ve been a jerk.” Brian explained how his feelings for Haley changed over the past year from fear to esteem.
“It doesn’t matter what we call her. I see Haley for what she is, a good and caring person. I’ll visit Becky’s tomorrow to give her the medallion. A jeweler confirmed it is an alloy of 18 karat gold with several unidentified metals. It must be worth a fortune. Maybe it will help make up for some of the misery I caused.”
Matt appeared undaunted by the incredible story until he remembered the Indian Chief’s words, “Haley is not like you.” If that’s true, he thought, maybe the Chief isn’t a hallucination. Have I been talking to a ghost?
Matt realized his apparition of an Indian Chief, the lightning strike, and the revelation about Haley might all be connected. Haley seemed like a different person with her new contact lenses. Her recent transformation suddenly appeared much more mysterious. Brian had concluded Haley was a force for good, but Matt’s struggles had taught him people aren’t always as they seem. He considered his response carefully to avoid the appearance of attacking Haley.
“I think we should wait a while before telling Haley anything. We should learn more about her. I have never seen Haley happier since her vision was corrected. Do you really want to upset her with this crazy story about the queen of an ancient civilization? Besides, there may be another way to find out if the story is true. Steve can help; it’s called a genetic test.”
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Steve Davis was last of the boys who shared Haley’s birthdate. His parents knew he was special when he started talking at six months. He memorized the periodic table of elements by age four and could perform basic math better than most teenagers. At age six, The American Association of Gifted Children at Duke University confirmed he was a genius.
His interest in the human genome began indirectly from the death of his older brother, John. John wasn’t anything like Steve. He had blonde hair like his mother while Steve’s hair was jet black like his father’s. Steve was considered a tough kid while classmates referred to John as a wimp. Steve idolized his brother, but was embarrassed when John cried in public.
John was teased ruthlessly by a group of tough kids, so he avoided them by spending time with Steve and his friends. They frequently visited an abandoned limestone quarry near the house. It was located in an area so overgrown with palmetto and scrub oaks that most people didn’t know it existed. Steve’s parents didn’t have a clue, but it was a great secret hangout for kids.
Sometimes an entire group of a dozen kids would go. They ignored no-trespassing signs and slipped through barbed-wire fences to throw rocks into “the pits.” The pits were massive craters over 40 feet deep dug out of limestone. The stark contrast between the sparkling green water in the bottom and the sheer white cliffs created a surreal landscape, a strange alluring place that excited their imagination.
A few months before his fifteenth birthday in the summer of 1993, John became despondent. He went out alone one morning and didn’t come home. His parents were concerned and asked Steve if he knew where his brother had gone. Steve remembered the slippery cliffs of the quarry, but was afraid his parents would be angry to learn about the secret hangout.
He slipped out of the house to check without telling them. His big brother’s body was floating face down in the pits. John’s death was classified as an accident, but it was widely rumored he committed suicide. Steve was only nine years old when it happened.
Dan’s mother had died of cancer in April, two months before John’s death. The pastor who also served as grief counselor suggested Steve and Dan spend some time together. Dan’s father met with Steve’s parents at a church luncheon and invited him to spend a week at the river.
Mr. Naidoo picked Steve up on Friday, June 7. It was a rather ordinary day, but the date was memorable because reports of the O.J. Simpson car chase were on the news the following day. After a Sunday morning breakfast at Perkins restaurant, Mr. Naidoo settled in front of the TV to catch up while Dan and Steve took off in a canoe.
As they passed under the bridge near Rogers Park, two kids jumped off and swamped the canoe. Dan and Steve managed to get afloat, paddling in damp silence for the next hour. The landscape became less crowded and more natural as they traveled further up river. It didn’t immediately occur to Dan to take Steve to his secret hidden spring. It was a private place, but he found himself wanting to share it as they got closer.
“There’s a hidden creek around the corner which leads to a small spring. You should see it,” Dan said.
“Sure, I’d like that,” Steve answered.
They arrived to find thick vegetation despite the clearing Dan had done a month earlier. It took a half hour to cut through enough vines to get started. They pulled the canoe into a shallow creek and paddled 300 yards to the spring.
Steve jumped into the water. Dan heard the splash and struggled to keep the canoe upright but when he turned around, Steve was nowhere in sight.
Alligators were common in that part of the river, so Dan began to panic. It was several minutes before he heard him.
“Cannonball!” Steve screamed as he jumped from the top of a large oak tree. The splash was so big, it sent a plume ten feet in the air.
“Come on in” he called to Dan, “the alligators won’t bite.” After checking the area thoroughly, Dan secured the canoe and they swam. It was the first time either of them had relaxed since the death of John or Dan’s mother.
They talked for over an hour before heading home. Dan told Steve stories about his mother; Steve talked about John, admitting there was a suicide note. He felt an unwarranted guilt for his brother’s death saying, “I should’ve told my parents about the abandoned quarry, or at least asked John why he was always sad. He was my brother, why were we so different?”
Steve suspected John was gay, but in those days the subject was too awkward to discuss. It was during the conversation with Dan that Steve decided to find out what made John different; what made him kill himself?
Only an hour of light remained when they left the spring and rode the current back to the cabin. The day was turning to night by the time the cabin was in sight. Steve’s dad was standing on the seawall.
“Hey guys,” he shouted as they paddled near. “I thought we might have to come looking for you. It’s getting late.”
Mr. Davis appeared nervous. Dan felt sorry as he realized it had only been a couple weeks since John drowned.
“Sorry to worry you Mr. Davis.” Dan replied. “We went swimming at a spring near the tourist attraction.”
“That’s O.K., as long as you had a good time,” he said.
“Hey Dad is there a problem?” Steve asked, wondering why his father was at the river instead of working at the medical clinic in Wildwood.
“Everything’s fine. There’s something I’d like to discuss after you help Daniel put away the canoe.”
Steve and Dan carried the canoe to the cabin to place it on a rack. Mr. Naidoo had spent the entire afternoon cooking mullet in the smoker, so he invited Mr. Davis for dinner. They feasted on smoked fish, grits, hush puppies and conk peas. Halfway through the meal Steve asked his dad, “So what was important enough to make you drive sixty miles?”
“I came to take you home. I’ve enrolled you in a science camp,” Mr. Davis replied.
Steve appeared puzzled. Most of the
science camp programs were childish, even for someone his age. He gave his dad the “what?” look and waited for an explanation.
“I received a telephone call from Doctor Eckstein. He was a professor at Duke when your mother and I attended. He’s at Harvard now, but he has been asked to conduct a Science Camp for kids your age.”
“I don’t know Dad. Those camps sound lame. I don’t want to spend two weeks making paper mache volcanoes or playing with static electricity.”
“This one is different son, it’s for gifted students. In fact,” he paused with a grin, “It may be more than you can handle.”
“Very funny Dad, what’s the topic of study?”
“It’s the study of DNA. It’s titled ‘An Introduction to Genomic Science’.”
“What’s DNA,” Dan asked.
“Deoxyribonucleic acid,” Steve answered casually.
“Duh,” Dan responded while trying to be funny.
“It’s the basic code that determines whether you grow up to be a pig or a human,” Steve added with a smirk. “Which one are you?”
“Is there another choice?” Dan was still trying to be funny. He knew what Steve meant, but didn’t understand his fascination with science.
“When does it start?” Steve asked.
“At 8 a.m. tomorrow in Orlando, so we need to get on the road if you’re interested. This is an incredible opportunity son. The same corporation funding Dr. Eckstein’s research at Harvard is sponsoring the science camp. They consider it an investment in the future and plan to stay in contact with the students who attend.”
“Count me in,” Steve replied.
Dan was disappointed his friend would not be spending the week at the river, but summer camp turned out to be a defining moment in Steve’s life. Mr. Davis thought the camp would help Steve focus on something other than John’s death, but he didn’t realize that understanding John is why Steve wanted to go.
The IMICRON Corporation became a second home to Steve. They provided annual follow-up classes, seminars, field trips, and access to state-of-the-art facilities.
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By the time he graduated from high school, Steve had already published several articles in science magazines describing the Human Genome Project. The average person had no idea what he was trying to explain but Matt was above average. He realized from reading Steve’s articles that a simple DNA test could unravel the mystery of Haley’s past.
Steve had a special arrangement with Weston Laboratories to conduct basic genetic research whenever he wanted with all expenses paid by J. Alfred Weston. Rather than telling the whole incredible story, Matt convinced Steve that Haley would make an excellent genetic test subject because of her unknown adoptive background.
Questions concerning Haley’s Indian heritage had haunted her, so it was easy to convince her to participate. Matt was eager to hear back from Steve, but when the results came in, they didn’t match anything in the Weston Laboratories data base. In fact Steve said, “The sample must have been contaminated because it didn’t even register as the same species.”
The results may have appeared inconclusive to Steve, but they told Matt more than he wanted to know.
