Denny spoke up. “I don’t know much about it–”
The doctor jumped up, startling the duo. He knocked over a Styrofoam cup, spilling its contents in the process. As the coffee dripped over the edge of the desk, the doctor continued to his destination. Baby again reached for Denny’s hand and squeezed.
Behind the desk sat a freestanding blackboard full of mathematical formulas. Dr. Farkis stood and pondered for a few seconds before erasing a small section in the right upper corner. He proceeded to draw a thin, yet hour-glass body, with stick arms and legs and a circle over the body, presumably to represent the head. He took a few extra seconds to add squiggles to the top of the circle to represent hair. He placed a bold X through the head of the body, pressing the chalk down so hard the screeching noise had Baby covering her ears, forgetting about the comfort of Denny’s hand.
He drew a round circle with small stick arms and legs and did the same thing, placing an X through the head. He placed two arched arrows between the drawn figures, facing in opposite directions.
“Say this is you.” He pointed to the round shape. “You hate your body. You want a new body. We operate, infusing your head on the other body.” Here he pointed to the thinner drawn shape. He put the chalk down and swiped his hands together to get the chalk dust off his fingers. He shrugged. “Simple.”
Denny stood. “What the‒‒? You call yourself a doctor?” He tugged at Baby’s arm. “Let’s get out of here! This man’s a nutcase!”
“Daddy, I really, really want a new body. And you promised! The doctor explained the procedureto me on the phone the other day‒‒”
Most of the time when she used her nickname for him, she received anything she wanted. But not this time. “What? You listened to this crazy man?” He stared at the doctor, not believing this was happening. Was he tripping in the Twilight Zone?
“You hypnotized her!” he demanded, his mind frantic to search for a logical explanation for this absurd scene.
“No, listen to me, Denny! I heard the truth! Listen.” Baby turned to Denny and pulled on his forearms forcing him to sit again. “Babe, this is real. It’s a new procedure, sure, but listen.” She took in a deep, excited breath, her eyes bright and sparkling. “Just think! I’ll be one of the first recipients of this ground-breaking surgery. I’ll be famous! I’ll go down in history!”
“Mr. Denny, if I may,” the doctor chimed in. He walked around to the front of the desk and half sat on its edge in front of them, his left leg swinging. “True, this procedure is new, but it works. In a nutshell, we take a body of your choosing and place your head on the body. See how easy it is?” The doctor grinned.
He held his hands out, palms up. “Now, I know what you’re thinking. Is it legit? Yes. Please allow me to explain. We have a team of twenty-six doctors standing by, all of them famous the world over. They are ready. The operation takes over thirty-two hours to perform, you know, attaching arteries, nerves, spinal cord, etcetera, but it can be done. We’ve been successful on rats and other small animals.”
“Rats?” Denny yelped.
The doctor leaned over and placed a hand on Denny’s arm. “Yes sir, rats. They have nerve endings similar to ours, you know.” Farkis rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and held his index finger in the air, thinking. He turned and shuffled around his desk, and turned back, producing a large black and white photo of two mice, one black and one white.
What Denny saw was mind-boggling. The black rat’s head was on the white rat’s body, and the white rat’s head was on the black rat’s body. They each had deep, jagged, red marks around their necks, and staples connecting their heads to the foreign body.
Baby gasped, her right hand flying up to her neck. “I’ll… I’ll have scars!?”
“No, no, dear, beautiful lady. Only for a few months.” Farkis reached over and drew an imaginary line across Baby’s neck. His touch was light, almost sensual. He finished with a caress on her earlobe. “On your follow-up appointment, we provide free laser scar removal.”
“This is crazy!” Denny jumped up again. He paced, not sure where to go. He didn’t want to leave without Baby in tow, but she acted like she wanted to stay. Well, she could stay if she wanted to… alone.
He rushed to the door of the office, but when he tried to get out, it held fast. He noticed the three deadbolt locks above the door knob could only be unlocked with a key.
“I hate to tell you this, but once people come in, they can’t leave.” The doctor was calm as he gestured with his chin to the locked door as if to prove his statement. “Well, after the head transplant surgery they can leave, of course.” He giggled. “And only after they’ve recuperated.”
Baby frowned, even though she almost believed every word he said and she was beginning to be smitten with the almost-famous doctor. “What are you saying, doctor?”
“I’m saying you can’t leave.” Farkis acted nonchalant. “Not now after you’ve heard about our little operation here. You see, once you have the surgery, we erase your memory of the pre-consultation. Instead, you’ll think you were on a fat farm for six weeks.” He leaned in towards them and whispered dramatically. “That was my idea, by the way. The fake memory. Clever, eh?”
“Of course,” he said, “you can leave after you recover from the operation, since you won’t remember anything. And if you see anyone with a faint scar around their neck in the future, because this is sure to catch on, you know, you’ll be conditioned to ignore it.”
Denny stopped pacing. “Is this a joke?” His eyes were wild, like a caged animal’s.
“If it’s a joke, it’s not funny,” Baby said. Her voice trembled and she hiccupped.
“Oh, believe me. It’s not a joke.”
Farkis stood up from the desk and walked over to the wall adjacent the door. He pressed a fist-sized red button. The wall behind the chalkboard slid open. A cold blast of air swept into the room as if a freezer door had been left open.
“Follow me,” the doctor commanded. “I’ll show you the available bodies. You can choose the one you like.” He grinned, directing his comment to Baby.
“Well, as long as I don’t have any long-lasting scars…” Baby commented in a soft, distant voice.
The crazy doctor turned to Denny. “Of course, I’ll need a $1.2 million deposit from you, dear Mr. Denny. Don’t worry,” he said when he noticed Denny’s face became flushed with astonishment. “Baby’s given me a few of your account details…”
Before Denny could protest and insist the doctor show them out ASAP, they’d stepped inside the cold room. He saw the frozen naked bodies stacked up on a Ferris wheel-like contraption. Denny promptly fainted.
Baby stepped over him and followed the doctor. She couldn’t wait to pick out her new body.
Chapter 19
Barry Spills the Beans - Oakland
Barry, Joey and Jenny watched the two newcomers disappear inside and heard the steel front door close with a firm slam. Barry rolled himself out from behind the dumpster and swore.
“That son-of-a—!” he growled in anger.
Jenny and Joey glanced at each other, perplexed. Jenny cowered behind Joey.
“Hey, hey, calm down, man!” Joey said, trying to keep his voice even. It wasn’t every day he saw a man in a wheelchair throwing a tantrum. “What’s wrong?”
“The doctor… The doctor…” Barry’s was now holding his chest and breathing hard. “Oh my god…”
Jenny threw caution to the wind and raced toward Barry, who was in distress. “Barry? Barry, please calm down!” She crouched down beside his wheelchair and placed a hand on his arm. Jenny had dealt with stressed customers in the past, and knew how to reason with them. She used her HR director’s skills to calm and soothe now. “Barry, lean forward.” She patted his back as he leaned forward.
Within a few minutes, his breathing became normal again. He leaned back up and took a deep breath, pulled off his glasses and wiped at his red-rimmed eyes. He retrieved a cloth from his pants pock
et, and tried to clean his tear-blotched glasses. But instead, his arms went limp and his shoulders began heaving as he started sobbing.
Jenny watched Joey as he walked to the other side of Barry’s wheelchair placing a hand on his shoulder.
They didn’t say anything for a few minutes as Barry cried, teardrops dripping onto his lap. Jenny waved behind Barry’s back and gestured towards Joey’s hoodie, pantomiming she wanted it.
Joey frowned and pointed to his hoodie, his brows scrunching together. Jenny nodded. He grudgingly handed it to her.
Joey grimaced when Jenny balled the hoodie up and stuck it under Barry’s face. “Here, hon. Wipe your tears.” She took the cleaning cloth and his glasses out of his hand, exchanging items. Barry sniffled as he wiped his eyes and nose. Jenny took the time to clean his glasses as he finished making himself presentable.
Barry told them a story that was hard to believe. He told them about the head transplants, how he’d stalked the doctor and had volunteered to be a patient.
“Wait,” Jenny said shaking her head. “Let me get this straight. You want a head transplant operation?” Barry nodded. “But why were you so upset when the couple drove up? I don’t understand. Why are they here?”
“I assume to talk to the doctor about having an operation.”
“What would they need the operation for? He was in great shape for an older guy, and she was gorgeous! I mean... wow!”
Barry shook his head. “Listen, I don’t understand why they’re here either. All I know is I want—no, need—this operation—”
“Come on, man!” Joey said. “Can’t you see, number one, if a doctor is really doing what you say he’s doing, he would be considered crazy? I mean, get real. Number two, I hate to burst your bubble, but fairyland is about six hours from here. At Disneyland. You need to go there with all your babble—”
“Joey!” Jenny said. Barry drooped in his wheelchair, crestfallen. Inside, Joey was trembling with fury. Had his brothers known about this?
“Come on. We’re going to get to the bottom of this, once and for all!” Joey said, turning toward his truck.
“But what about Barry?” Jenny called after him. “We can’t leave him here like this!”
“Bring him with us! Now come on!”
Jenny flinched at Joey’s furious command, but she understood more was going on here than she knew. “Come on Barry, you’re coming with us.” He was despondent and she didn’t want to leave him here alone.
Jenny wheeled Barry to the truck and Joey stayed silent as he helped him in, folding and placing his wheelchair in the back. Jenny ran to the driver’s side and scooted into the middle. Barry closed his eyes as he leaned his head on the passenger window.
Chapter 20
Ferris Wheel - Oakland
When Denny came to, he was shivering and alone, half-sitting against a concrete wall. He heard muffled voices from somewhere deep within, and tilted his head to listen. He recognized the light, singsong lilt of Baby’s voice, never having noticed the whiny, nasal quality it had until now.
As he sat into a full sitting position, he cursed himself he hadn’t broken up with Baby weeks ago. He kicked off a thin fleece blanket twisted around and between his legs. Someone must have tried to cover him up, but he couldn’t recall. He groaned when his fingers skimmed over a knot on the back of his head. What had happened? He felt he was on the verge of remembering, but instinct told him not to.
He couldn’t tell how long he had been out. As Denny’s foggy mind recalled what had happened, a migraine came on. It felt like someone had punched him in his forehead and kicked him in the stomach at the same time.
He gagged when sudden realization hit him.
The doctor was a mad scientist! Now he knew what he was trying to remember. Talking about taking bodies and performing head transplants? Puleese!
Denny shook his head, trying to clear it. When he heard a loud clanging and whirring in the distance, his survival instinct kicked in. He knew he had to do something to get out of here. What if Baby didn’t want to go with him? Well, that was her problem.
Denny stood and stumbled toward the voices and the odd sounds. He couldn’t go the other way, the heavy door they’d come through earlier bolted shut behind him. He felt like a slab of meat in a walk-in freezer as he walked farther down the crude, dim hallway. The farther he went, the colder the air became. His nervous breaths came out in puffs of steam, and he rubbed his hands together and blew on them.
He stopped and backed up against the wall when he heard nervous laughter.
Baby.
What the fuck? I’m knocked out and lying on cold concrete while she’s giggling like a school girl?
He heard the doctor’s deeper voice respond. Farkis wasn’t laughing, but he did sound excited. Most likely more medical mumbo-jumbo he’d made up to impress Baby. Denny didn’t know if he should be proud or disgusted with her apparent lack of judgment. What did it say about him?
He heard a tinny, warbled tune like something he’d heard once from the neighborhood ice cream truck when he was a kid. No, his grandmother’s jewelry box with the twirling ballerina. He wasn’t sure which.
“Damn it… What’s going on?” He stumbled forward, his legs heavy and stiff from the cold. He gasped as a charlie horse bit into his right calf and he stopped, doubling over, panting and grimacing.
He frantically rubbed at his calf, but decided to keep going, half running, half hopping to his destination. Denny was desperate to get out of this eerie place. It was now or never.
After he turned a corner and came out into an opening, he blinked at the burst of lights and loud carnival music. He realized the music was coming from an antiquated piano that played itself, out of tune, and looking as if a spirit was playing it, the keys and pedals below pumping up and down by themselves. His eyes stayed on the haunted piano and its unnerving music for only a few seconds, the large object in the center of the floor catching his attention. His mouth dropped open.
A Ferris wheel. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, now remembering why he’d fainted. His stomach was in knots, threatening to bring up remnants of breakfast at any second. Denny could handle the visual input of the Ferris wheel and haunted piano any day, but not the objects riding in the Ferris wheel cars themselves.
Bodies. Bodies, each of different skin tone, hair color, shape, and gender.
He exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding when his brain registered there were no children among the bodies. He felt a second of gratitude towards the crazy doctor for having limits.
No! he scolded himself. Don’t give him any credit! He’s a monster!
Denny crept closer to the Ferris wheel and its occupants. Ah, they’re dummies! No… wait. Are they? His mind jumped from one thought to the next, one theory and then another as he tried to rationalize what he was seeing. He couldn’t comprehend the bodies riding around in their continuous circle were human beings and not mannequins. Mannequins his psyche could handle, but actual people? He wondered when his meltdown would occur.
He tilted his head back to get a better view at the Ferris wheel. The cars were custom made and crude, welded onto the frame of the wheel itself. They were long and narrow, eight of them in total. The narrow ends of the troughs were open and flat so the feet and heads of the naked bodies could extend out almost comfortably, and were large enough for two bodies to lie side-by-side.
Denny reached out a shaky hand, but he was quick to pull it back, the touch shocking him. The trough was cold, almost frozen to the touch. Denny stood there numb, as if in shock. His mind went blank for a moment, the world threatening to go dark. He forced himself to blink, bringing the Ferris wheel back into focus again.
When his mind finally concluded this was in fact a Ferris wheel with frozen, dead, naked bodies riding in it, Denny noticed new bodies were now coming around. He didn’t like puzzles, so his eyes followed one trough as it came down from the top of the wheel. He kept his eyes on the trough as it ma
de its way around again, the trough’s gears keeping it steady and balanced.
As he watched, it headed back up to the top of the wheel, startling him when a loud clanging noise sounded as the trough slid to the other end of the bar and tilted. The bodies on the trough slid onto a conveyor belt hidden behind the twinkling lights and spokes of the Ferris wheel. An extension slid out from the bottom of the trough and slid under two other bodies moving by on the conveyor belt at slow speed. It tilted back up so the new bodies slid into the trough, their feet landing on the welded footrest sticking out at the opposite end. The Ferris wheel continued through two sluggish cycles before the gears stopped again, sliding off two bodies and exchanging them for two new ones.
Denny shivered. This was one ride he’d never buy a ticket for.
Poor bastards.
“Ah, you’re alive and well, Denny!” The doctor was in a jovial mood as he and Baby walked out from behind the Ferris wheel.
Denny grimaced in disgust. The doctor was acting like they were the best of buds meeting at a backyard barbeque, ready to share a joke and a beer.
“I was showing Baby here my wonderful design. Not everyone gets a special tour of the underbelly of the great wheel, you know!” Farkis made a grand sweeping gesture with his arm, showing off his marvelous invention. “What do you think?”
“Really? Really?” Denny managed to spit out. “Baby… let’s go. Now!”
Denny felt disgusted with himself. All he’d managed to say were a few one and two syllable words. He was too cold to think, rubbing at his arms to try and create some warmth. His mind was spinning, thoughts bombarding him too quick to handle. This doctor was mad. This situation was unbelievable. Where were the cops when you needed them?
His cellphone! He patted his back pocket, but there was nothing there. Had he lost it when he fainted? Did the doctor take it from him?
Heads Will Roll Page 8
