Chapter 2

23. October 2009 by admin.

Previous chapters

Preface
Chapter 1

Light

Arthur Lewis was five years older than his friend Michael. He was not as smart, not as skilled, not as creative. But he had many other things going for him. He was good looking, or so said the many women who were hoping to get him settled. Arthur, Art as his friends and acquaintances called him, was a scientist. The kind of scientists who would twist the results of an experiment, omit some, even make up some to prove his point. So far, he was not unsuccessful in doing so. With the kind help of his friend Michael Moore, he made a reasonable reputation for himself. Michael didn’t mind the relationship at all. He knew that there was a price to pay for his inability and unwillingness to be in the spotlight. He left all the legwork and all the begging to his charming friend who somehow knew exactly when to show up and ask for a grant, how to make companies interested in what they were doing.

Arthur had some dark sides as well. While Michael was his best friend and colleague, his loyalty to him and in fact to anybody at all, was questionable at best. In the past, on more than one occasion, Arthur submitted Michael’s papers as his own, edited the results of failed experiments. But there was a lot more. Arthur was an opportunist.

Arthur Lewis was born in Newark. His parents, a housewife and a navy NCO, had four more children. Arthur was the one in the middle. Even as a young boy, he had to fend for himself. He had to wrestle with his older brothers, earn his place in the large family, and endure the occasional spanking from his strict father. Arthur was not a spoiled child. The family moved every few years to navy bases around the United States, Asia and Europe. Arthur learned to communicate with different people, in various languages. He knew just about enough about a large variety of topics, and just enough to get by in a few languages. He was an average student, an average friend, an average son to his parents. He was a classic jack of all trades, and master of none.

For Art to be hooking up with Michael was far from natural. The two were so different in almost every aspect of life. They grew up in different places, different backgrounds. They aspired to different things. Art was out for glory and riches. Michael was only looking to satisfy his own curiosity. It was a match made in heaven.

Arthur Lewis hung up the phone, and went straight to the large walk-in closet. He carefully picked a conservative grey suit, a white shirt with his initials on the pocket, and a blue tie. For a second he was considering a Fedora hat, he thought it would be appropriate for his new stature, but dismissed it. He was dressed in no time, sprayed a little Cool Water, took the wallet and the car keys, locked the apartment and headed for the elevator. The hallway was well lit, lit enough to see how pretty the woman waiting by the elevator was. Art Lewis was rushing, but he wasn’t rushing enough to not even consider making a pass at this lovely woman. Who knows? Perhaps she was living across the hall. How convenient. He put on one of his best smiles, the one with the slight twist on the right side. She turned slowly towards him, smiled politely and reached for her purse. From then on, everything went very quickly. The elevator arrived, the doors opened. The woman went in, turned around and put a single bullet between Arthur J. Lewis’ eyes. Arthur collapsed next to the elevator. The doors closed. It was over. Art’s last thought was “what the hell?”

Michael Moore was starting to worry. He didn’t know why, but he felt a growing sense of trouble. He looked at the clock and realized that over an hour passed since he called his friend and colleague. Art lived practically around the corner. His phone call didn’t leave much room for interpretations. He was playing the conversation back in his mind, and realized that he couldn’t have been clearer. They both knew what was at hand, they both knew what the results meant, they were both waiting, expecting, weighing the possible consequences. It was clear. Michael’s discovery spelled money, lots of it, and glory to last more than one lifetime. What was keeping him?

He decided to look into it. He took a minute to burn a DVD with the experiment process and results, locked the computer, turned off the lights and left the lab. He didn’t even bother to pick up his raincoat, knowing that he would be back in a few minutes. As he was locking the door, he had a disturbing thought. He never called Barbara. He took out his cellular phone, speed dialed his home, and when Barbara picked up, he didn’t even wait for her hoarse voice to ask who it was. He said right away, “Barbara, I love you, I always loved you, everything will be better now. I promise”. She gave a sigh and said: “Well, Michael Moore, you have a lot of explaining to do, but I love you too. Please come home soon. The three of us are waiting for you”.

Michael wiped his eye of the tears, and took the elevator to the surface. It was dark outside, the street was completely deserted. There was no taxi to hail, and his car was a few blocks away in a parking lot that was closed between midnight and 6:00 AM. He decided to walk. Ten minutes later he was on Art’s block. An ambulance with red flashing lights was parked outside, and a couple of police cruisers as well. It was the Crime Scene Investigations truck that caught his attention. It appeared that a crime was being investigated. He was curious, but continued on to the building. The lobby was swarming with detectives in uniform and in plain clothes. As he was walking in, the elevator doors opened, and a gurney with a body strapped onto it was rolled out by two plain clothed Coroner’s Office employees. As they were moving the gurney to the truck waiting outside, a serious looking middle aged man went over and asked to see the deceased. The men stopped, the body bag opened, and to his complete surprise, the very familiar face of Arthur Lewis, white faced and blue lipped. He was dead. His eyes were still half opened, and his constant smile was still there. Two thoughts came to Michael’s mind. The first was that his friend, his only friend, was dead. The second was that a woman must have been involved in his friend’s death, as the smile on his face was reserved to pretty women only.

And then the third thought came to his mind. It was a most disturbing thought. Arthur’s death came minutes after a phone call placed by him. Was it possible that the death and the call were related?

Michael Moore was not very well acquainted with the law. He never had any business with the police. In fact, he never even received a parking ticket. But he clearly understood that if the call and the death were indeed related, and if he wanted to understand the connection, he needed to stir clear of the police. He turned around, and left the lobby. He knew that he will be back here some time. He had no idea how soon.

With no car, there was only one person to call. He took out the phone and called the number of his wife. “Barbara”, he said, “I’m in trouble. Please come and pick me up from the park next to the lab”. Just before hanging up he added, “And Barbara, please do not call anyone. It’s a matter of life and death”. The was silence on the other end of the line, but then the soft reassuring voice of a long lost friend said, “On my way”.

Barbara wasn’t always a frustrated wife. There were other times. Right after they met, Barbara showed Michael a completely different world. With her father’s almost unlimited money, and her carefree spirit, she made him, almost forced him to open up, to experiment, to feel. They started attending to jazz clubs, restaurants; they even went to an arcade and to several amusement parks. At first, Michael was very apprehensive, but after a while he learned to like it. He found the thrill in roller coasters, the interesting taste and strange textures of sushi and sashimi. He developed a taste for music. But most of all, Michael was thankful for Barbara’s presence in his life. It was as if he was born when she showed up. He simply couldn’t have enough of her. Not too long after they first met they moved in together. Michael gave up his single dorm room, and Barbara rented a larger apartment in Brooklyn. They bought a car, and two pairs of bicycles. Some commented about Michael becoming bourgeois, but it was mostly done in good spirits and intentions.

Arthur was an exception. He did not like the new presence in his friend’s life. He felt as if he was pushed aside. In fact, it was worse. He felt like his investment is going down the drain. After all, he thought, what would Michael be worth without him?

Barbara picked up the phone and called her mother. Quickly she said that something came up, and that she needs someone to watch the sleeping girls while she was out. Her mother, a forty year veteran as the wife of a businessman, learned not to ask questions. She said she was on her way, and indeed, fifteen minutes later there was a soft knock on the door. The two women exchanged quick kisses on each other’s cheeks, there was a short exchange of words: “be careful”, and “the girls are fast asleep”, and Barbara was out the door.

Fear. Danger.

Posted in History of the World | 2 Comments »