By Atonia and Jo
Jo writing Maximus, Caroline, Bud, Marie, Sid, Hope, Cort, Daisy, Lachlan, Ben
Atonia writing Terry, Dee, Alex, Linda, Jack, Tarwyn, John, Bethany, Dino, Max
PART 2:
It had been a busy time for Terry and Dee. He was trying to tie up all the loose ends he could think of. He mailed a check to Dino for the helicopter he'd arranged for Alex. Not that he’d cash it but Terry felt he ought to make the effort. He called his lawyer and let him know he’d be out of the country for a month. The NanoCorp fiasco had settled down but it hadn’t died out completely.
“What time were we going over to John and Bethany’s?”
Terry checked his watch. “Oops, now.” He looked up at Dee and grinned.
The dining table was covered in real estate for sale papers, and John had his laptop open. They were looking at houses.
“I’ll get it,” Beth went to the door. “Hey, Dee, Terry. Come in.”
“We’re a little late, sorry.”
“No problem.” John stood up. “I thought we’d go over to that new Japanese restaurant that opened this week.”
“Sounds good to me.” Dee glanced around their apartment. “Somebody is looking at real estate.”
“Yeah.” John closed his laptop. “We’re gonna need some more space. Bethany and I have news. We’re getting married in a couple of weeks. Nothing fancy, just a trip to the court house to make it legal.”
Dee’s mouth dropped open. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised but I am.”
“Congratulations, John, Bethany. That’s great.” Terry shook his hand.
“I wish we were going to be here.”
“Now, Nolia,” Terry raised a brow. “We’re leaving on Monday morning for that holiday to Australia.”
“I can’t think of anyone that deserves it more, Terry. Hey, don’t worry about us. We’ll all be fine, you know.”
“Right, “Terry turned and took Dee’s hand.
“Something else,” John looked at Beth, “might as well tell them. We’re having a baby.”
Cort drove Daisy over to Marie and Bud’s apartment without calling first. He figured Bud would be home since he was still recovering. Ringing the bell, he waited outside the door, holding on to Daisy’s hand.
“Cort!” Bud’s expression changed into wide grin at the sight. “I’m so glad to…um…?” He looked quizzically at Cort.
“Daisy, Bud.”
“Daisy bud?”
Cort laughed. “Well, she’s a flower, not a bud, but she’s my wife an’ I’ve brought her to meet you.”
“Wife? You…? Well, I’ll be fu….” He caught himself. Somehow, using his usual way of expressing himself in front of Daisy would be akin to pissing in the snow. “I’m…I’m really surprised, Cort.” He looked at Daisy, his grin coming back, spreading slowly across his face. “You go off alone, heavy black clouds looming all around your head, and you come back with…her?”
“You like her, then?” Cort smiled.
“She’s…you’re lovely, Daisy. Pardon me, but I’m still in the midst of being stunned.”
“Hello, Bud.”
Bud reached out and took her free hand. “This means a lot, a whole fu…lot. Our Cort, well, we’ve all been…”
“I’m fine, Bud. Daisy’s made me fine.”
“Well, come on inside. There’s a lot I need to hear about how this came about. Marie’s at work. Wish she was here so she could meet Daisy.”
“How’re you doin’, Bud…really.”
“Getting better. Had myself a pretty wild shoot-out going there for a while.”
“All this has just floored me, Bud. So many of you hurt, Caroline gone, Hope pregnant. She told me Sid hadn’t been doing anythin’ so I guess I figured everything was quiet around here.”
“I’m glad you weren’t here. You didn’t need to be here. You had enough on your plate without being a part of this.”
Cort and Daisy talked with Bud for over an hour, filling him in on how they’d met, the things Cort had been thinking about, how and where they’d gotten married.
“Anyway, Bud, it’s just really hit me how close we all are to one another, that I have as part of me all the men Russell made before me, all he learned to do to be them, their feelin’s an’ memories, the stuff that he used in himself to portray them.”
Bud smiled, “Well, since I came after you, I guess that means I’ve got you in me, too, huh?”
“It does, Bud. It really does. We’re all…him, just him in different guises.”
“God almighty, Cort!” Bud’s eyes widened. “Sid came before me, too!”
Cort grinned, “But after me.”
“Yeah, but Hando was before you.”
“And before you, too.”
“This needs some serious thinking, Cort. I always thought of us as brothers, you know, but this is more than that, a lot more.”
“I know,” Cort nodded. “And I want Sid to know.”
“He hasn’t been around. We’ve been glad he hasn’t.”
“He’s one of us, Bud.”
“He’s the one of us who's killed others of us. You can’t forget that. Decimus with that fu… damn rebar through his chest. You can’t forget that. And you, he’s caused you as much grief as he has Maximus.”
“That’s true, Bud, but he doesn’t realize his connection. We’ve tried everythin' we can think of to get him to stop torturin’ us, an’ nothin’ has worked. Not a single thing. This might. I want to try. I’ve got to try.”
“Cort, that could backfire on you. You know that.”
“I’ll be careful, but if it’ll stop him from what he does with all of us, it’s got to be done.”
“Hello, Alex, how are you today?” Dee moved to the side of his bed.
“Hey, I’m doing good. I might get up from here and swing you around a little.”
Dee had to chuckle at Alex. “Still a cocky fella, aren’t you?”
“Hard to be cocky laid out like this. I’m getting there, though.”
“Your eye’s looking better.”
“Yeah, so I’m told. I don’t want to see it.”
Linda had Terry outside the room. “Since you’re leaving, I wanted you to know. It may all be a fact by the time you get back; it just depends on how fast I can make things happen.”
Terry was flabbergasted. “Are you sure about this, Linda? None of us know anything about the oil business.”
“You don’t have to. There are people who do that will take care of that part of it. I don’t know the business, either. I just thought it was right after what you all went through for me and Alex. It’s going to be a family business and you guys are my family.” She poked Terry in the chest. “Equal partners.”
“We’re not going to have to show up for board meetings or anything, are we?”
Linda laughed a little, “No, you are my silent partners. I wouldn’t want you guys to be in the limelight. Some folks might be movie fans.”
“How’s Alex, really?”
“He has his bad days, Terry. I won’t lie to you. Dr. Canfield has ordered him to get up at least once a day and move around but it’s painful to watch and I know it’s painful for him. It’s his ribs and the bruising that’s still causing him pain. His body is really colorful right now. A lot of the swelling has gone down and that’s good. The problem is he’s got some bone fragments floating around his lungs. He may have to have more surgery. Dr. Canfield is watching them closely.”
“I’ll go in and see him, and…Linda, thank you is not enough.”
“You’re right about that coming from me.”
“Oh, she brought you with her, did she?” Alex grinned.
“You don’t think I’d leave Nolia alone with you for very long, do ya? How are ya, mate?”
“I’ve graduated to solid food so I must be about what a year old. How old are babies when they start to eat? Dee says you’re leaving us to deal with our shit all by ourselves.”
Terry laughed, “Damn right! It’s about time you learned to clean up after yourselves.”
“Well, I hope you have a good trip, a safe one and come back soon.”
“We’ll keep in touch. You obey orders and get yourself back on your feet.”
“That’s my job right now. I’ll get there.”
“I know you will. There’s no hurry, you know.”
“Easy for you to say. I have to lie here and watch Linda shoulder it all. I can’t be there beside her running interference.”
“She’s doing a bang up job of it, Alex.”
“I know. She’s going to Dallas next week and taking Skinner with her. Not sure I like that too much. How far do you think I can trust him?”
“I’d trust him, Alex. Have a little heart to heart with him before he goes.”
“Oh, you can bet I’ll do that.”
“Well, you take care of yourself, Alex. I’ll send you a postcard.”
“Yeah, a big fuckin’ kangaroo.”
“We’re going to slip over and see Lachlan and Hope.”
“Hullo, Terry. I heard you in the hall,” Lachlan said, his voice not much above a whisper. “You’re not gonna believe this.” He nodded toward Hope’s bed. “She’s asleep.”
Terry and Dee looked at each other a moment. Hope never slept.
“We won’t be but a minute,” Terry whispered. “Just wanted to say good bye. We’re leaving on Monday for about a month, on holiday. Going back to Australia.” He smiled at the look on Lachlan’s face. “Anybody you want me to look up for ya?”
“No, I think I may get around to doing what you’re doing someday. I’ll be really interested in hearing how it goes for you.”
He looked over at Hope. “This is the first time I’ve ever seen her asleep. Worried me at first because I thought something was wrong with her, you know. Doc Canfield checked her out and said he was amazed but she is simply sleeping. Whatever having this baby inside is doing, it’s really changing things in how her body works. I’m hoping that’s a good sign, that she and the baby will be ok.”
Dee looked alarmed. “I hope everything turns out okay for her and for you, Lachlan.”
Terry looked at Hope for a minute. “It’s all uncharted territory, Lachlan.” He gave him a thumbs up and took Dee’s arm.
“We don’t want to wake her. Take care, Lachlan.”
At the elevator Dee looked up at Terry, “Did you hear what he said?”
“Yeah, I did.”
Cort and Daisy just missed Terry and Dee, arriving minutes after they’d left. When Cort came into the hospital room and saw Hope lying there so still with her eyes closed, his heart almost stopped. He looked quickly at Lachlan.
“Is she…?”
“She’s sleeping, Cort. Sleeping.”
“What?” He looked at her again. “You’re sure?”
“Canfield says so. Amazing, isn’t it?”
Cort looked at Daisy. “This may be very good, darlin’. Since the blue took over and made her grown up, she hasn’t slept, hasn’t eaten. Doesn’t need to. But look at that. Oh, Lord, Daisy, maybe she’s comin’ back to the way she was before…”
“…Me?”
Cort’s head swiveled around. Sid was standing in the doorway, smiling that superior smile of his.
“This pleases you, does it, Reverend Wells? You like that she is fading from the greatness of her destiny?”
“It was never her destiny, Sid. It was your intervention.”
“My intervention…destiny…all the same.” He started to walk toward her.
“Please, Sid…don’t.”
“Don’t? Whyever not?”
“Just let her rest, all right. Just let this work itself out, Sid…please?”
“Please? You ask so nicely…unlike your barbarian so-called brothers. Why?”
“I…I need to talk with you.”
“You, me, a conversation? Amusing thought.” He altered his course to circle partially around Daisy. “Surely not another broompusher, Cortland?”
“She’s no broompusher.”
Sid cocked his head, studying Daisy. “No, she’s far too lovely for that. And you would be…?”
“Daisy, Daisy Wells.”
“Daisy! Now that’s precious. A Daisy by any other name…eh? And you say Wells. I take it that our preacher has led you down the path of holy wedlock.”
“We’re married, Sid. Leave it at that.” Cort was frowning a little now.
“Tsk tsk. And you wish me to grant you an audience, do you?”
“I do.”
“Cort…no.” Lachlan was shaking his head.
“I shall ignore you, flyboy, since you are inconsequential, have always been inconsequential.”
“To you, maybe,” Daisy spoke up.
“Ah, you care about hubby’s bros! But, then, you are new to our little arena and unused to how the game is played.”
“No games, Sid. No more games. That’s why I want to talk with you.”
“Well, I shall give that some thought. I’m not sure I wish to waste my time.”
“It won’t be a waste of time. I promise you that.”
Sid cocked an eyebrow. “I shall come to the blue house at 4 Monday afternoon. Send the General for a walk with his dog and your lady fair. If they are within, I shall not come.” He smiled and disappeared.
“Well, Daisy, now you’ve met Sid.”
“Cort, darling, do you really think it’s safe to..to…try to…”
“It’ll be fine, darlin’. I won’t do anythin’ to antagonize him.”
Terry and Dee spent Sunday morning packing for their trip and the rest of the day with Jack and Tarwyn.
On Monday morning Jack drove them to the airport.
“Don’t worry, Terry, even if we do get moved we will be checking on the house at regular intervals.”
“I’m not worried about the house, Jack.”
“No, he’s going to worry about all of his brothers and extended family. Aren’t you, Terry?” Dee chimed in from the back seat.
“I’m on holiday as of right now.”
“Good man, leave your worries here with us.”
Terry came around and leaned in the driver’s window. “Jack, move if you want to. I’m not supposed to let this out until it’s a done deal, but you will never have any money worries again. Tarwyn will not have to work and support the two of you.”
“What do you mean, Terry?”
“Linda, and that’s all I’m going to say.” He gave the car a pat and joined Dee on the curb.
Jack waved good bye and contemplated Terry’s advice. Whatever may happen they were going to move into their new house as soon as he could arrange it. Tarwyn was a worrier but Jack had always thrown caution to the wind and would do so again.
“I do not like this, Cort.” Maximus was staring at Cort on the porch of the blue house. It was 3:50 and Sid had said he’d come at 4.
“I don’t like it either, darling.”
“Well, you two go for a stroll in the pines with Marcus an' don’t like it together.” He grinned a little.
“I do not find this amusing in the least.”
“I know you don’t, Maximus, but you know how desperately we’ve tried to get Sid to stop, even blowin’ up NanoCorp to stop him. Nothin’ works. I can’t see anythin’ ever workin’ except maybe this. It’s worth a try an’ I’ve got to do it. It’s got to be me doin’ it because I feel so strongly about it and because of, um, other reasons.”
“We won’t go far, darling.”
“It does not take distance of any sort for Sid to take advantage of a situation. I do not wish to leave you alone here with such as he.”
“He’s one of us, Maximus. That’s the point. Please…I’ll be all right.”
Daisy grabbed him for a kiss then almost ran for the pines, Maximus and Marcus close behind. “Take care of her for me,” Cort called after them.
Maximus paused and turned. “Take care of yourself for her.” Then they disappeared behind the large planting of azalea bushes.
Cort went into the house to find Sid leaning one elbow on the mantel. “You rang?”
“I’m glad you came,” Cort said.
“Maybe you will be, maybe you won’t. What is so urgent that you must call me away from important matters?”
“Please, Sid, sit so we can talk.” Cort sat down in one of the large chairs angled near the fireplace and Sid went to the other, taking out a handkerchief and wiping off the seat before he sat.
“Yes?”
Cort licked his lips. “1994.”
“What about 1994?”
“I was, well, Russell was filmin’ The Quick and the Dead startin’ toward the end of 1993 an’ continued on through the first part of 1994.”
“An uninteresting bit of trivia. Why should I care?”
“Because in November of 1994 he started to film Virtuosity.”
“The best of all his movies. I’ve always said he should have retired after that masterpiece.” He eyed Cort. “What are you getting at, Cortland?”
“I’ve just returned from Arizona…”
“With your little flower,” Sid interrupted. “I didn’t know you were into gardening.”
“Please, Sid, just hear me out.”
“Possibly. If you bore me, I’ll leave.”
“My character, the man I am because of how I was shaped for my movie, is interested in spiritual matters. It’s been bred into me.”
“Written,” Sid corrected.
“It doesn’t matter how it got there. It’s there an’ it’s a part of me.”
“Like not putting ‘g’s’ on the end of words.”
Cort sighed. “You’re not makin’…making…this easy.”
“It’s not my style. You know that. At least you don’t say ‘them there’ like Benjamin is wont to do.”
Cort ignored that. “I went to Arizona because I needed to find who I was, where I’d come from, what it meant for me to be in this world.”
“You’re here because I wanted you to be…though the reason for that escapes me now. You certainly serve no useful purpose.”
“One day I was in church with Daisy an’ it came to me that if I was just somethin’ written in a script an’ then acted out on a movie set, then I hadn’t been created by God, didn’t have a soul, might be nothin’ more than an ink blot when I died.”
“Boring.” Sid examined a fingernail.
“To me it was important, more important than anythin’ else.”
“There is a ‘d’ on ‘and’, you know.”
“It was Daisy who helped me understand the truth of who I am, who all of us are.”
“Genghis Khan?”
“Russell Crowe is a real man, born like all men, created by God, possessor of a soul.”
“That’s debatable.”
“So since Russell Crowe WAS Cort, his voice, his body, lookin’ out through his eyes, showin’…showing…expression on his face…his hand drawin’ the gun…what I’m tryin’ to say, Sid, is that I am Russell Crowe in his manifestation as Cort.”
“Congratulations.”
“An’…and…all that Russell was at the end of ’93 an’ the beginnin’ of ’94, that’s in me. That means that Lachlan, whom Russell had just finished manifesting in October of ’93, he’s part of who I am. Everythin’ Russell learned for any role he did before Cort, his experiences, his abilities, are in me, too, because they were in Russell. That’s why when Maximus went to learn how to shoot a revolver, he was so easily so good at it…because I was.”
“And all this drivel means what?”
“That just a few months after I came into being, Russell took everything he was, with ME in him, and he made…you.”
Both of Sid’s eyebrows rose. “Perish the thought!”
“It’s true, Sid. You’ve got to see the truth of it. You are closer to me than anyone else because he was fresh off creating all that I am when he began making all that you are.”
“This means…?”
“It means that you an’ I are not brothers. It means we are more than that, much, much more. It means we are the same person manifested differently.”
Sid frowned deeply and stood, going back to the fireplace. “I could not possibly be that close to someone like you.”
“But you are, Sid, you are! Ever since I’ve understood this ‘more than brother’ thing, all of them mean so much more to me. We…you, me, them…we’re the same person.”
“I spent millions to merge myself with Maximus and now you’re telling me I’ve been part of him…been him…all along?”
“Yes, Sid. You’re in him. Russell made you before him so you are in him and I’m in him, too. What I’m trying to say is that since we are the same man, maybe you could be part of us, not be so alienated from us, not play your games with us. Just know that you belong, that you an' all of us are truly one. It changes things, Sid. If you’re one with another being, then you don’t want to hurt that being. You care for him because he’s…you. Please, Sid…try to understand.”
Sid’s face was closing up, confusion appearing in his eyes. He didn’t like it, not at all. He needed to think.
“Please…Sid!”
“Shut up!”
“It’s important. You’ve got to understand how vitally important it is. I…”
“SHUT UP!” Sid bellowed and made a sharp motion toward Cort with his hand. “I need to think!” Then he was gone.
Four-thirty came and Maximus was back at the edge of the pine woods, staring at the house.
“You’re worried?” Daisy asked.
“Much.”
“Do you think they’ve had enough time?”
“I pray it is not more than enough time.”
“Maybe…maybe we should go back?”
He took a step forward. “Please remain here, Daisy.”
“No, Maximus, I can’t. He’s my husband. I can’t stay here.”
“Very well, but when we enter the house, please let me go first.”
“I can do that.”
They walked quickly across the lawn and up the steps. Maximus opened the door. “Cort?”
There was no answer, so he came on inside, then stopped so abruptly Daisy ran into his back.
“What’s the matter, Maximus?”
He said nothing, only stared in utter shock.
ON TO PART 3
BACK TO PART 1
ON TO TERRY'S SEPARATE STORYLINE, A LONG AND WINDING ROAD
BACK TO NANOCORP INDEX
BACK TO LIBRISCROWE