The Boy Who Understood
by Biff Spork
Chapter 23
Unexpected Guests for Supper
When David was with Zhiv, his process of floating up into the mara had become routine. After closing his eyes, he would lock onto the sensations where he and Zhiv were touching. Then his mind would lift to another level as they both opened up to the mara. At first, it was an empty black void. Then he would start to see images of Zhiv and other nearby creatures.
In his bedroom with River, David opened his mind and clasped River's hand. He tried to see River and to let River see him. It was like swimming in a darkness so complete that nothing was visible. While moving into the blackness, David kept reaching out with his consciousness, trying to touch River inside.
David felt River's hand clutch his own. At the same instant, he saw an image of River sitting at the base of a ponderosa pine. The picture wavered and faded, then returned. Then Zhiv's signature image came into focus, with a strong feeling of his presence.
River shot up on the bed. "Oh!" He rubbed his eyes and looked around. "I'm sorry. I was kinda dreamin', and I thought somebody came into the room."
"What were you thinking about?"
"It's dumb."
"Don't worry. Just tell me."
"First, I was thinking it was weird to be lying on a bed with you and holding hands. Like it was queer or something."
"Does that bother you?"
River looked down, then up into David's face, and said, "No."
"So, after that?"
"Then I decided not to worry about that, and do like you said. I tried to watch the pictures that were in my mind. There were lots of pictures, mostly stuff I saw or did today. I remembered when I went to the bike store in the mall and then seeing your mom at the front door. But there was one picture that came and went a couple of times — a lake with trees around it. Fish were jumping in the lake, and you were sitting there naked."
"How did you feel?"
"I felt good. Happy. And it seemed a little like we were together there, just for a second. The feeling came and went, but it was all good."
"What happened then?"
"I felt like you were with me in my mind. Then it was like another person was here, watching us, and I got scared and jumped up."
"Did you see anything when you felt the other person?"
"Yeah, another weird picture, just for a second or two. It was a kid sitting on a rock. I couldn't see his face, only his back. That's all I remember."
"Is that why you sat up?"
"Yeah, the feeling of another person here with us was so strong, like I could just about touch him. When I opened my eyes, it surprised me there was nobody here except you and me. It felt okay. It wasn't bad, but it was such a strong feeling — that's what scared me."
The boys sat without speaking for a minute. They heard people arriving downstairs, laughing and talking as they entered the house.
River nudged David. "How about you? Did you feel that, too?"
"Yeah. We don't have time to go into details right now, but you're right; it's all good. You'll get better at it if we can practice. We'll do it again, maybe if you can come over tomorrow. I'll try to get home a bit earlier."
"That'd be great, David. I liked it."
David walked over to the window and looked down to the driveway. A cab-over camper had parked behind his father's car. He threw River's T-shirt to him and changed into the longer shorts and T-shirt he had laid out earlier.
"Boys!" Doreen called from the foot of the stairs. "It's suppertime."
River started toward the door.
David said, "Wait a sec. C'mere."
They walked toward each other.
"I like to hug people I like." David wrapped his arms around River. River hugged him back.
David pushed away from River and smiled. "Our first hug!"
"Nobody hugs me anymore, except your mom hugged me yesterday. I like hugging."
"Not surprising. She's a great hugger."
River followed David downstairs with his fingers crossed behind his back. He hoped that 'first hug' implied there would be many more.
When the boys entered the kitchen, there was another woman helping Doreen with the meal preparations.
Doreen looked up and said, "Boys, this is Celia Duffy. Celia, this is River Jameson, and our boy, David."
Celia looked at River and said, "Hi River." Her eyes flicked over to David and widened. Her mouth dropped open. Then she recovered and held out her hand. "Hi David. I'm very happy to meet you."
"David, there's a bottle of non-alcoholic apple cider in the fridge for you boys to drink. We're drinking wine." Doreen held up her glass and took a sip. "We're going to eat outside tonight. It's too hot to sit in the dining room."
Pete was sitting at a circular outdoors dining table he had set up on the patio. A large beach umbrella shaded the table from the late afternoon sun. Wafts of coolness came from a sprinkler watering the lawn behind the house. As the boys seated themselves, he introduced them to the other man at the table. "Boys, this is Hector Sanchez. Doctor Sanchez is a professor at State. The black-haired one is David and the other is River."
"David McAdam?" Hector appeared surprised and confused. He stared at David, then at River.
"Yeah. He's mine," said Pete. "The other one's his friend, River Jameson."
"Hi David. Hi River. It's nice to see you again." He turned to Pete. "I've met River before." To David and River, he said, "Boys, please just call me Hector. 'Doctor' is way too formal." Hector's mind was racing. According to Jude Bedford, David McAdam was the mystery boy in the gravel pit. Hector also recognized him as the boy who had lolled on the back of the black horse in Jana Mountain's high meadow.
"Hector and I will be working together for a while now," said Pete.
"Let me guess, Dad," said David. "The Mafia has taken control of the county government and is setting up a string of illegal gambling dens! And you guys are gonna take them down! Wow Dad!"
Pete and Hector laughed.
"I wish!" said Pete. "No, this is weirder. It's about animals. There's a lot of unusual animal behavior lately. Hector and I have been looking into it from different angles. Now we'll be working on it together."
"Wild animals?" David said.
"Wild and domesticated animals. Insects, too," said Hector. "That's how I met River. I interviewed him about when he was attacked in the gravel pit by snakes, wasps and birds. That's a very interesting incident. Every time I talk to someone about it, I learn something new." Hector looked at David as if he were expecting him to say something. David gazed back with a bland expression. Hector switched his attention to River, who looked studiously in another direction.
Hector smiled. "There's so much we don't know. We see something, and then we find we've only seen the surface. When we look deeper, it turns out to be quite different from our first impressions."
"Hector and I have both come up with the same idea," said Pete. "Whatever is causing the animals to act weird came from around here. David, your favorite hangout, Jana Mountain Park, seems to be the center of something that's making animals act more aggressively than normal. We don't know what's causing this, and it's our job to find out."
Hector looked at David intently. "Do you ever see any unusual animal behavior when you're in the park?"
"No. I mean, it's nice up there. There's a lot of birds and animals, and they seem pretty tame. I don't think they see many people." David sipped his cider.
Hector nodded and said, "Ahhhh," as if he found David's answer especially meaningful.
Celia came out with a steaming bowl of spaghetti and set it on the table. Doreen carried a tureen of mushroom marinara. The warm evening air was enriched with the scents of oregano and basil. A minute later the women added a green salad and a cutting board loaded with hot garlic bread.
"Pasta's kind of a light meal," said Doreen, "but it's too hot for anything more substantial."
Hector and Pete talked about the latest developments — the proposed task force and the plans to search the park.
"When are they gonna search the park?" asked David.
"It'll take a while for the park rangers to assemble," said Pete, "and then another day or two to plan their search. It's not an emergency like a missing hiker would be, so there's no rush — probably nothing happening for a week or so."
Hector and Celia described the searches they had done and their encounters with the bear and the puma. The couple did not describe their successful climb up the south slope of Jana Mountain. They said nothing about what they had seen when they were above the plateau.
Hector turned to River and asked, "Was that your brother who was attacked by birds up on the mountain?"
"Yes, sir."
"Did he have any idea why those birds attacked him? Did he see anything strange happening up there?"
"No. He said he was just target shooting at cans with his new rifle. Then they started dive-bombing him, and he lit outta there."
"And it was your family's pigs that were in that famous trailer truck video?"
"Yes, sir."
"Your family's had a rough time lately. I'm sorry about that."
"Thank you, sir."
Doreen served cashew ice cream for dessert.
Celia finished her ice cream with a sigh of satisfaction. A wasp landed on the table beside her bowl. She gave it a hard tap with her spoon. It jerked in a death convulsion then lay still. Within seconds, the air around the table was filled with angry buzzing. Hundreds of yellow-jacket wasps menaced the diners. Most circled around Celia.
David stood up. "Don't move! Don't anybody move!" His voice was electric with command. There was an abstracted, distant expression on his face, as if he was looking at something the rest of them could not see. He held out his slim brown arms, the palms of his hands facing up, open and inviting. Wasps landed on his hands and arms until a dense mat of black and yellow bodies covered his bare limbs. They raised and lowered their abdomens, pulsing as if preparing to strike. Many of the insects crawled over his face and neck.
Doreen whimpered.
"Don't worry, Mom. They won't hurt me."
The last wasp landed on David's cheek. No one moved or spoke. The tsik tsik of the lawn sprinkler seemed amplified in the silence. David stepped away from the table and pointed his wasp-covered arms at a distant tree. One wasp lifted off and flew towards the tree. Others followed in greater numbers, until none remained.
David turned back to his open-mouthed parents and their guests. "Ms. Duffy, please don't kill another wasp. I don't think I could do that again." He tapped River on the shoulder. "Hey, let's go for that bike ride now." David looked around the table. All the adults were wide-eyed and speechless. David continued, "It was nice to meet you, Hector and Ms. Duffy. Mom, the supper was great. I'm gonna let River have a test drive on my e-bike now. He's been thinking about getting one."
"Honey?" said Doreen.
"Mom!" David looked at Doreen with a stern expression on his face.
"Sorry, Muscles!"
"Mom?"
"Please be careful." Two tears ran down her cheeks.
"Don't worry, Mom." David turned to River. "C'mon, Riv. Let's go."
River stood up. "Yeah, nice to meet you. Thanks for another fabulous supper, Mrs. McAdam. You're the best."
When the boys had gone into the house, Pete broke the silence. He snickered, "Muscles?"
"Yeah." Doreen sniffled and laughed. "He asked me the other night not to call him 'Honey' any more. He said 'Honey' wasn't vegan, and he wanted a more manly nickname, like 'Muscles.'"
The boys rode out of the garage and down the driveway. The adults seated around the table exchanged glances.
"Hey, Muscles!" shouted Pete.
David looked back.
"Be back before dark."
"Okay, Dad."
"I don't believe what just happened," said Celia.
"That was amazing!" said Hector.
Pete grinned. "Yeah, he's some kid, isn't he?" He wrapped an arm around Doreen. "Maybe we should try for another?"
"God!" said Doreen. "I've never prayed so hard in all my life as when he had all those wasps on him."
Hector faced Pete. "We've got to find out how he did that. We've got to find out what's going on."
"I think for now we should just be thankful we're all sitting here unharmed. And it's thanks to him." Pete paused. "We just had our own extreme animal event, but Hector, this one is a family matter. It's not something for the task force or the Governor or anybody else. I really don't know how he did that, but it's something for me and Doreen to look into. He's our boy."
Hector looked at Celia. She shook her head in a movement so small nobody else noticed. He answered Pete, "Yeah, of course. You're absolutely right. I didn't mean to trespass on your prerogatives as parents. But what he did with those wasps was incredible, unbelievable. It was amazing. I mean, he said 'Don't move!' and we all froze. None of us thought to argue with him or disobey him. And what he did with the wasps…" Hector shook his head.
"I've seen one other boy who could do that, who spoke like that, who looked like that," said Pete.
"It was Sol, wasn't it?" said Celia. "Sol Mundy."
"Yeah," said Pete. "The last pig rescue he did. He was sitting on that horse talking to the sheriff. He had that same air of being up above all this stuff, that air of command, like he could see a bigger picture."
"Maybe he can," said Doreen.
When they reached the bike trail leading to Duck Lake, David pulled over. "Let's switch bikes now."
River laid his bike down. "Can we sit and talk for a minute?"
"Sure."
They sat down on the grass verge of the trail.
"David, you just saved a bunch of people from getting attacked by wasps. I've wondered how Jude and me got stung and pecked, and you didn't, but what you did back there goes way beyond that."
"I wish it hadn't happened. Now I'm gonna have to answer a whole lot of questions that I don't want to answer."
"David! You've got powers!" River grinned. "How did you do that?"
"You can probably learn to do it, River. It's part of the mind-meld thing."
"Wow! The way you made those wasps stop buzzing around and land on you. Then you ordered them to fly away, and they did. It was like magic."
"You're wrong, River. Listen. I didn't make the wasps do anything. I didn't order them to fly away. I asked them to visit me. I begged them not to sting anyone. I asked them to fly away from the yard. I couldn't order them to do anything. Every one of those wasps is a person. They have their own lives and make their own decisions.
"You saw the way that woman killed that wasp with her spoon. She just snuffed it out without thinking about it. I felt it, in the mind-meld. I felt it dying. I felt its sadness that its life was over. The wasps knew I felt it. When I pleaded with them not to sting anyone, they agreed. They didn't have to agree."
David did not add that the wasps nearly did not agree. They were particularly ready to sting Celia Duffy, battle ready. If he had not interceded, hundreds of wasps would have injected her with venom. Even if she had survived, she would have been in intense pain.
"River, if you learn how to do this with me, you'll feel their pain, too. Every little bug and bird wants to live, to enjoy its life. Pigs and cows, too. All the animals. To really be with them, to feel with them, is wonderful. In a way, it's a power, but it has a price too." David rose and mounted River's bike. "C'mon, let's ride for a while. I need to stop thinking about stuff. I've set the e-bike controls to how I usually ride it. I'll explain as we go. Just get on it and ride like normal. It's easy."
"Okay, but I wanna be your sidekick. All the good super-heroes have a sidekick, and I'm applying for the job. You also need a name, a super-hero name, like 'Bug-Boy.' Or 'Wasp Whisperer.'"
"Please shut up!"
"The Insectorator! Yeah! That's it! The Insectorator! And uniforms! We need uniforms. Spandex! In black and yellow stripes, like wasps. The sidekick's name could be…"
"I'm leaving now!" David pedaled ahead.
River accelerated and felt the e-bike pedal assist kick in. He came abreast of David. "David, I'm dying from suspense. Please tell me. Can you fly? And how do you turn on the X-ray vision? What's our back-story? Did you get stung by a radioactive wasp? Is that the secret?"
David laughed. "You wanna know what your side-kick name is? It's 'dumb-ass!'"
"Yahoo! I'm the sidekick!" River laughed with satisfaction.
"Yeah, okay, but whenever I call 'dumb-ass' you have to come running."
"Okay, but you have to ask with respect. I'm a person, you know. I want to enjoy my life too."
"Dumb-ass, will you please shut up? Pleeeeeeease?"
Hector and Celia sat in the cab of his truck after they arrived at the campground. Hector was thinking out loud.
"I think it's the difference between sympathy and empathy. You and me, we're empathetic. When we see anything suffering, we feel sorry for it, but we remain detached. But when David or Sol sees anything suffering, they suffer with it. That's sympathy, when you share the suffering of others. That's true compassion. Those boys have locked into it. That's what gives them that special relationship with animals."
"That's a good explanation," Celia said, "but what I learned tonight is that I need to wake up. It wouldn't have happened if I didn't whack that wasp without thinking. That was a stupid, thoughtless thing to do."
"I think we've all got to start watching ourselves for the thoughtless little murders we commit or condone every day. In the past we could get away with squashing a bug, but times have changed."
"Yeah. I'm still boggled by what David did. How did he do that?"
"I happened to be looking at him when you swatted that wasp. He wasn't watching you, but when the wasp died, he gave an involuntary jerk. Immediately, he glanced over to the dead wasp. I'm sure he already knew what had happened. He only looked over for confirmation."
"Maybe some kind of psychic connection, like telepathy?"
"It's hard to explain any other way." They fell silent.
"At least, my co-conspirator," said Celia with a laugh, "we now know how to contact those boys. All we have to do is talk to David." Celia left the rest of her thought hanging.
Hector picked it up. "But when we were talking, before the wasps came, he wasn't giving anything away. He may not want to admit he and Sol are friends. He may not want to tell us anything at all, and there's no way we can make him."
"I guess we'll have to sleep on it."
"Yeah. Celia, I feel like we've had a glimpse of a fabulous treasure, but we have to be very careful how we approach it. It could disappear in the blink of an eye if we're not sensitive. Something big is happening. I don't know what it is, but we're closer to it than anyone on earth, except those boys. They're at the very heart of it."
Pete scraped the last plate and loaded it into the dishwasher. Doreen put the left-over marinara sauce and spaghetti into the fridge.
Pete said, "When David gets back, I want to have a talk with him."
"You too? I was planning on asking our dear boy a few questions." Doreen laughed.
"No, I mean I want to talk to him myself, first. It's something I should have done years ago. I realized it earlier today. It's something between him and me."
"What?"
"You remember when I took him fishing, a long time ago?"
"Yeah."
"At the time, you said I should apologize to him, for making him watch that fish die. I just realized I have to do that; I have to make it right, by myself, if possible. Then we can talk to him about what happened tonight. Okay?"
"That's great. I'm glad you're gonna fix that. It's been a long time. But please don't leave me out of the wasp thing. I really want to hear what he has to say about that."
Pete laughed. "It's hard to talk about it, isn't it? It would be easier to pretend it never happened. Because things like that don't happen, can't happen."
"Yeah, there's nothing in any parenting book about something like this. I mean, we're all sane, normal adults sitting around a table on the back patio. Then a young boy, our young boy, does something so magical that, if we hadn't seen it, we'd never believe it. It's like he's Harry Potter or something, and I'm feeling like a muggle. Oh, Pete, I loved him so much when he said, 'Don't worry, Mom. They won't hurt me.' Even though he was busy, life-and-death busy, he still thought about how I was feeling."
They heard the garage door closing. David came into the kitchen, greeted them, and raced up to his bedroom.
David was looking at his laptop when Pete knocked on the open bedroom door. As usual in the evening, David had changed into pajama shorts. He smiled at his father, invited him in, and turned in his desk chair to face Pete as he sat on his son's bed.
"What's up, Dad?"
Pete took a deep breath. "Do you remember when you and I went fishing? In a boat, on Duck Lake? This was a long time ago."
"Yeah," said David. "I was just a little kid, maybe nine or ten."
"I caught a trout and whacked it with an oar. Then I made you watch it flopping around until it died."
"Yeah."
"At the time, you said I did a bad thing." Pete looked into David's eyes. "It's taken me a long time to see that, to see that you were right. It was a bad thing to kill that fish. It was a bad thing to make you watch that. I'm here to say I'm sorry. I'm asking you to forgive me, please."
David got down from his chair and knelt between his father's knees. He took his father's hands in his and kissed them. Then he put his head down in Pete's lap and put Pete's hands over his head. "I know you've changed your mind about that kind of thing, Dad," he said. "You were doing what you thought was right. I didn't understand that for a long time, but I understand it now." He wrapped his arms around his father's waist. "You're my dad, and I love you."
"So, it's okay? I mean, between us?"
"Yeah, Dad. It's okay."
"Thank you, David. I love you, too," said Pete. They stayed in a comfortable silence for a minute. "Don't your knees kinda hurt when you kneel like that?"
"Yeah," laughed David. "A bit." He got up and sat on the bed beside his father. He took a deep breath. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you about, too." He felt breathless and again inhaled deeply.
Pete hugged him with one arm and said, "It's about that boy, isn't it, that boy up the mountain."
"Did Mom tell you? I mean, it's okay if she did. I understand."
"No, I figured it out myself," said Pete. "C'mon, two thirteen-year-old vegan boys on one mountain? Not hard to guess you got to know each other. I'm glad you decided to tell me about him. I want to know about the wasps, too."
David hugged his father. "But I'm not gonna tell you everything, dad. Some of it is his secret and not for me to talk about. But I'll tell you what I can."
"Go ahead. I'm listening."
"You won't believe most of it, but that's okay," said David. "I know you and mom love me, even if you think I'm nuttier than a fruitcake." Then he started from the first day he met Zhiv.
After a few sentences, Pete interrupted him. "Hold it, does Doreen know all this?"
"Only a little bit," said David.
"Let's go downstairs, and you can tell both of us, so we both know what's going on with our favorite son."
A minute later, David stood in front of his parents where they had seated themselves on the couch. He leaned over and pushed them together. Then he wedged himself between them. With his mother's hand in his left hand and his father's hand in his right, he cleared his throat and said, "Once upon a time…"
Two hours later, David said, "So that's how I talked to the wasps."
Pete, Doreen, and David sat for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.
"So the animals have declared war on humans? Is that right?" said Pete.
"Yeah, Dad. They didn't want to, but they don't know anything else they can do to fix the world."
"So how come they don't attack you?"
"I don't know. It's the same with Zhiv. They know we're on their side, or something. I don't understand everything. I'm trying to learn, but it's hard."
The family sat quietly, and Pete and Doreen tried to digest what their son had related. Pete looked over David's head at Doreen. David's head lolled on her shoulder. His eyes were closed.
She whispered. "He's asleep."
"It was a big day for a little man." Pete eased himself around and slid his arms under his son's knees and shoulders. He lifted David up, surprised at how light he was, and carried him upstairs to his bedroom. Doreen followed. She pulled the sheet back. Pete laid the boy in his bed. He kissed David's forehead. Doreen added her soft kiss to his. They stood back and looked proudly down on him. He snuffled in his sleep and rolled onto his side.
"Oh, Pete! Isn't he wonderful?"
"Yeah. He's the best!"
They tiptoed from the room.
When they had settled in their own bed, Doreen said, "Do we want to talk about what he told us tonight? About what he did tonight?"
"Let's not. Let's just accept it for now."
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