The Pandora Effect

by Olivia Darnell

  “I know that’s right,” Joanne nodded. “What about your woodworking? You’re real good at that.”

  “Naw, that’s just a hobby,” he said sadly. “I ain’t no salesman, Joanne. I just like to piddle around with stuff. If I could make a livin’ like that, it’d be too good to be true.”

  “You could just make it and find somebody else to sell it for you,” she suggested. She’d seen some of the chests and what-knot shelves he’d made. He was very good. “I see guys on TV all the time doing stuff like that and some of it ain’t half as good as yours. I’ll bet you could get good money for it.”

  “Naw,” he looked down at the floor.

  “Take that clock you gave me for instance,” she said enthusiastically. “I know if you had a place to display ’em, you could sell more than you could make. I’ve had a whole bunch of people try to buy it from me...hey! Why don’t you bring some in here to the store and I’ll hang ’em over there by the chips. It can’t hurt to try.”

  “Hmm.” Mike looked up at her and smiled. “I appreciate that, Joanne. Maybe I’ll bring some around. I know people like ’em, but they want me to just give ’em away. Where’s Chris? I really come by to see him, I guess.”

  “He’s over at Carrollton,” she told him and picked up her pencil “Went to get some new boots.”

  “New boots?” Mike shook his head. “Why, he’s got at least a dozen pair already. What’s he want new boots for?”

  “He’s got a new hobby,” she said. “He’s takin’ up a social life. He’s goin’ over to the Aligers for dinner Friday night and he’s takin’ Cheryl Martin. Wants me to come along.”

  “You goin’?” Mike perked up.

  “I haven’t decided.”

  “I don’t know if I would,” he said thoughtfully.

  “Oh, yeah?” She looked over her glasses at him. “They ain’t been stealing people’s souls, have they?”

  “That ain’t funny, Joanne,” Mike frowned at her. “I was over at Chilly Willy’s a little while ago and Willy told me that there was a ruckus over there this afternoon and Louis ended up takin’ Mrs. Aliger and little Reggie Greene over to her place.”

  “What?” Joanne was surprised.

  “See.” Mike leaned to look out the door to make sure no one was around before continuing. “Willy says that Mrs. Aliger and Sam Morris was hidin’ in the video racks and Reggie climbed up on ’em and turned ’em over. Then there they was. Willy says they was spyin’ on Mr. Aliger and Maureen Fitzgerald cause they were sittin’ at a table eatin’ ice cream real cozy-like. It must have been a sight. Anyhow, Maureen and that Aliger fellow, they left together and nobody could find Bobby anywhere so Willy called Louis over from the station to take care of Reggie and that’s when Ms. Aliger took Reggie home with her and Louis gave them a ride. He said that Louis went right upstairs with her and didn’t come back down until after it had started rainin’ and after Mr. Aliger had gone home from bein’ with Maureen wherever they went.”

  “That’s a real tall tale.” Joanne sat back in her chair to stare at him. “How did Willy know how long Louis stayed over there?”

  “He watched from the windows of his store. You can see their place from his. You know how things are in a small town,” Mike said solemnly.

  “Well, Bobby and Louis are good friends,” Joanne told him. “He probably just went in to make sure Reggie was all right.”

  “Nope.” Mike looked at her wide-eyed. “You ain’t seein’ the whole picture, are you? See, Louis has it real bad for that Aliger woman. Hell, he was down at the lake asking me and Tyler for permission to make a move on her. Damnedest thing I ever heard. I know that Louis has had his flings in the past, but I ain’t never seen him like this before. Willy said Louis was gallopin’ acrost the parkin’ lot after her like a love sick puppy. It don’t look good, I’m tellin’ you. And if Julia finds out...” His voice trailed off.

  “Willy sure sees a lot!” Joanne said in disgust. “I hardly think Mrs. Aliger would be interested in Louis Parks. Not when she’s got a husband like Perry Aliger.”

  “Oh, now, there you go!” Mike shook his head. “It seems mighty strange to me that ever woman in town that meets this guy seems to go all soft in the middle. I got to meet him, but I don’t know if I really want to.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about me,” Joanne told him defensively. “I don’t go all goo-goo eyes over pretty faces.”

  “No?” Mike looked at her closely. “I just hope not.”

  The only thing that concerned Joanne about the juicy bit of gossip Mike had told her was that Reggie Greene was involved. She did have a soft spot for the little red-headed tornado and she had an even softer spot for his dad, Bobby. She hoped everything was all right and that the boy had not witnessed anything he shouldn’t have. He had a hard enough time of it already. If she could just think of some way to get Bobby’s attention...

  “But gettin’ back to Chris,” Mike interrupted her thoughts. “Maybe you should go with him, Joanne. Don’t you dare tell ’im I said so. You know he ain’t stuttered a bit since... well, since that night when he come home from bein’ with the Aligers and Cheryl Martin and then he went over to take their car back and he’s been like....different somehow.”

  Joanne frowned. Mike was right. Chris had stuttered all his life. It was not something that just went away overnight. And, yet, it had. She’d pushed it out of her mind and had just been glad it was so. In fact, she had made it a point to ignore his sudden improvement. Chris had always liked Cheryl and they had dated off and on over the years. She’d always expected him to marry Cheryl some day, but then they had been so comfortable with the way things were...

  “Maybe you’re right, Mike,” she said thoughtfully. “It’d be something different anyway and I could take a closer look at the Aligers. Who knows? I might have some inside information for you on Saturday.” She laughed nervously and picked up a bag of popcorn to tear off the plastic wrapper. She got up to put it in the microwave.

  “Don’t be joking about it,” Mike told her. “I almost wisht I could go myself. I need to get a firsthand look at these folks. You know? Take a long hard look and just listen. See if I get any feelings off of ’em.”

  “Have you even seen him or her?” Joanne did not like for Mike to talk about his ideas, but she knew he really did have some sort of sixth sense that most people didn’t have. “He has such strange eyes.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Mike nodded. “All the more reason why you should go. They say the eyes are mirrors of the soul.”

  “You're givin' me the creeps, Mike,” Joanne shivered. “I said strange, like in color, not like weird. And he didn’t seem the least bit evil or mean.”

  “All the same,” Mike told her and stood up. “You’d best check it out.”

  Chapter Sixteen:.

  Louis dropped his keys twice in the floor board before he finally got the car started. He was dripping wet, his hands were shaking and he could feel the water which had puddled in his seat from the open window soaking clean through his underwear. His heart pounded and he knew that beneath the shivering, he was sweating. What in hell’s bells had he been doing up there? What was it that he had almost said to her with her husband listening? He couldn’t even remember! It had been bad enough that he had answered her question, but then he couldn’t remember what he was saying or what she was saying and what Perry Aliger might have overheard. He only knew that her last question still rang in his head like a huge iron bell. “Tell me, Louis, are you physically attracted to me?” And he had said yes. Oh, God, he was in trouble and deserved whatever happened. His head still hurt and driving in the rain made it worse. He by-passed the station and went on toward home to change into a dry uniform. He pulled the little bottle of aspirin he kept in his pocket out and took three dry. He would just have to face the music sooner or later. He would have to apologize to Perry Aliger and take his medicine. If the guy wanted to punch him out, he’d have to let him. His worst regret was le
aving Reggie Greene there with them. What if they were having a real knock-down, drag-out fight and Reggie was there to see it? It would be his fault. He needed to get out to Bobby’s house and leave that note. He felt physically sick. How would he ever face Bobby if something happened to that boy? How would he ever face Perry Aliger again? How would he face Julia if she found out? Why in the world had he gotten himself into such a predicament? He bemoaned his situation.

  “Well done,” Perry told Angelica as she brushed by him in the hallway. He followed her to the bedroom carefully stepping over Reggie and the cat.

  Angelica went directly to the window to watch Louis Parks pull away from the curb. She was worried about him. He’d seemed very upset when he left. She turned back to face Perry.

  “Well done?” She looked at him frowning. “What do you mean, Peregrin?”

  “You’ve probably managed to frighten him away forever,” he told her and sat on the edge of the bed to take off his wet shoes and socks. “All your theories and postulations. What did you hope to accomplish?”

  “I don’t think I frightened him,” she said thoughtfully. “I did embarrass him. He told me as much. You are the one who frightened him. Why did you do that?”

  “I don’t doubt that you embarrassed him, Angelica,” he said incredulously. “And yes, I suppose I was the one responsible for his fright, but then, when a husband finds another man in his home telling his wife that he is attracted to her, it is customary for the husband to be... defensive.”

  “Oh, is that what you were doing?” She asked. “You told me that the thoughts of others were important. I was just trying to learn something about that. I merely wanted to hear some of their thoughts firsthand, rather than read about them in a book.”

  “And what did you learn?” He asked her as he fished a clean pair of socks from his dresser drawer.

  “That Louis Parks is very much like you,” she said. “He feels that these physical attractions are the most important part of human existence. He believes that life would not be worth living without them. He also gave me some very valuable insight into your behavior. He pointed out that it was a genetically inherent trait in men.”

  “Really?” Perry sat on the bed to put on the socks. “I must have missed that part of the discussion. You mean to tell me that Louis Parks actually discussed genetics with you?”

  “I would not go so far as to say that.” She looked out into the hall to check on Reggie. “We didn’t actually discuss genetics. I believe though that your erratic behavior is spontaneously produced by your genetic makeup which induces you to respond bio-chemically to stimuli whenever certain conditions are met. In other words, you cannot help it.” She frowned at his socks. One brown and one blue and went immediately to his drawer to search for a matched pair. “I believe that you have not had enough experience to control the natural reactions of the human hormonal system and that, with time, you will overcome them.” She raised up with a pair of blue socks to hand them to him.

  He eyed the socks with an amused expression.

  “I see,” he nodded. “Much like your response to my inability to find the proper socks. You did not decide consciously to come to my aid, you merely responded to an innate mothering instinct to help me find a matched pair. This mothering response is typical in females.”

  Angelica’s face darkened.

  “You are making no conscious effort to control your basic instincts. That is not a good thing, Peregrin, and it will only lead to trouble. It is detrimental to our work. You must see to it that you pay more attention to these things in the future.”

  “I was not aware that I should be doing that. If we are to draw any valid conclusions from our observations, we need to know what motivates our subjects. Why do they do what they do? Not just merely that they do things. We need to experience the life. What was the purpose of making our observations on the personal level if we are not going to be personal? To draw conclusions based solely on outward appearances seems unfair to them.”

  “Unfair?” She asked. “We are not here to be fair or unfair. Fairness never entered into the equation. How many times do I have to remind you that we are here to observe and report?”

  “And I submit to you that we cannot observe from the outside. We have to experience the inner being and we must base our findings on the whole picture, not just part of it. Wouldn’t a three-dimensional profile be more revealing than a one-dimensional portrait? Certainly you must admit that the soul is the innermost part of the being and not even remotely visible on the surface? You must develop empathy. How else can you experience the life? In order to do that you must put yourself in their place, see things from their point of view, experience what they experience. Feel what they feel.”

  “Such involvement would cloud my objectivity,” she told him again.

  “What is your objective, Angelica?” He asked.

  “You know very well what it is, Peregrin,” she said. “This conversation is pointless.”

  “But what do you ultimately plan to do?” He asked.

  “I plan to complete the study and make my report!”

  “Angelica.” Perry stood up to look down at her. “You can do anything you please. Go anywhere you please. Be anything you please. Have you lost touch with the universe? Have you forgotten who and what you are? You have been working for a long, long time.”

  She stiffened slightly at his nearness and closed her eyes briefly.

  “I have forgotten nothing.” Her eyes flashed when she looked at him and he knew she was angry again. “It is you who have forgotten who I am and that you are here to assist me, not hinder me.”

  “I am trying to assist you,” he said softly. “But you will not allow me to do it. The very essence of this life flows from the soul you search for. It is all around you and you fail to see it because you fail to feel it. The answer is right in front of you and you are blind to it. I am growing quite perturbed with you.”

  “How dare you say such a thing to me!” She snapped and then lowered her voice. “You are totally out of line. We will not have this discussion again. Or any other like it for the duration of our stay here. Reggie is hungry. I am going to give him some milk and cookies and don’t you dare remark on my motherly instincts!”

  He watched her go and then sighed. Anger. The only thing he could seem to elicit from her was anger. He needed to make a breakthrough in some other venue. He had touched on jealousy, but was it real jealousy or was it just anger in another form? It was most likely a response to what she perceived as his interference in her objective. He found Reggie in the living room sitting on the floor. The cat had abandoned him and he sat holding the koosh ball with a decidedly dejected look on his freckled face. Perry sat down next to him and took the koosh ball from him. He tossed it into the air and the boy caught it automatically.

  “I think I can honestly say that I know how you feel,” Perry told him. “Everything I do goes all wrong.”

  “Yeah,” Reggie nodded and made a face.

  “Yeah,” Perry agreed with him. “But things are not always what they seem.”

  Reggie tossed the ball in the air and Perry caught it and then held it in the palm of his hand. He stretched his arm out and concentrated his attention on the rubbery strands. “Watch,” he told Reggie as the strands began to vibrate and then sway like tall grass in a breeze. Reggie sucked in his breath and his eyes grew wide with fascination as the ball floated into the air just above Perry’s hand. The ball swirled back and forth very slowly as it floated like a mysterious sea creature. Tiny sparks appeared at the dense center and flowed outward to the tips of the swaying tendrils and began to jump from one to another.

  “Wow!” Reggie said after a few moments. “How’d you do that?” He asked quietly.

  “Would like to learn how to do it?” Perry snapped the ball from the air and deposited it in the boy’s hand. “You can’t be afraid of it. It might even hurt you a little bit, but sometimes it hurts to do neat stuff.”

>   “Yeah?” Reggie looked up at him. “Like ridin’ bikes and climbin’ trees?”

  “Uh, huh.” Perry smiled at him. “Sometimes you fall down, but you have to get back up again.”

  Reggie held the ball close and peered at it cautiously.

  “Go on,” Perry told him. “Try it.”

  Reggie held the ball out in front of him and stared at it, frowning intensely.

  “That’s a beginning, but I want you to think about it for a while before you decide if you really want to try it.” Perry stood up and reached down to pull the boy up by one hand. “Angelica has some cookies for you right now. You can take your time. I want you to be perfectly sure that you’re not afraid before I teach you the secret of the dancing ball.”

  Reggie nodded solemnly and allowed Perry to lead him into the kitchen.

  Samuel Morris tapped on the door frame of Maureen Fitzgerald’s office in an almost timid manner.

  “Yes?” She looked up and took off her reading glasses before she realized who was there.

  “Maureen?” He stepped inside and closed the door. “Have you got a minute?”

  “Sure,” she said and put her glasses back on to resume her reading. He took the seat in front of her desk.

  “I just wanted to apologize,” he said. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

  “Really?” She picked up her pencil and punched some figures into the computer with the eraser. “I didn’t realize that you had.”

  “I’m trying to say I’m sorry about what happened earlier,” he said. “I know it looked like I... I... I was spying on you. How long are you going to stay mad?”

  “I didn’t realize that I was mad at you,” she said lightly and continued to punch and read and write down figures on the form.

  “I just wanted to see what he was up to. That’s all,” Sam explained in spite of her attitude. “You have to admit that you don’t usually conduct your business in Chilly Willy’s. I didn’t know what was going on.”