[2013] Life II Read online

  “I’m working hard on it,” Max assured her. He saw his sister scrutinizing him. “Trust me. Let Len go now. You have final exams next month. You’ll ace them. At your graduation, Mom and Dad will be bawling their eyes out.”

  “You’re right. It’d be a huge boost for Mom and Dad. They need it.” She held up her finger. “In fact, I’ll make a promise right now.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’ll stay until my graduation, but once I get my diploma, I’ll do what’s best for me. Okey-doke, Max?”

  Max’s heart leapt. In Life I, he recalled the deep disappointment on his parents’ faces on when they talked to each other about Jenny bailing out of school without her diploma.

  He clasped his hands with Jenny’s. “Jen, I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks, Max,” Jenny said, beaming. “I owe you one, bro.”

  Watching his sister go back in the house, Max felt the same nervous guilt at having altered the future once again. I’ve intervened to make Life II meaningful,he thought. Nothin’ wrong with that, is there? Things are falling into place. There’s a reason for me being here the second time around.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  September 16, 1988 at 2:35 p.m

  Max sat by himself in an empty cafeteria table at Confederation High. He kept looking at the clock on the wall.

  2:35 p.m.

  In less than an hour, it’d be exactly one year.

  One year, since his astonishing foray into Life II.

  One year, since his fateful meeting with the first Dr. Time.

  His classes were over for the day. He could go home, and chill out there—but for some reason Max felt he had to stay for this moment, and be close to the sports field where his history had been altered. He could see it right now, through the huge gleaming cafeteria window. He was bored sitting by himself, yet anxious. Fidgety. On edge…

  “Hey!”

  Startled, Max gaped up. Nathan approached him, lugging the usual bulging backpack. “I was looking for you in the library. Whatcha doing in here?”

  Max shrugged, lost in thought. “I wanted to be alone.”

  Nathan sat opposite him, oblivious of his friend’s sullen mood. He slammed the huge backpack on the table, the impact rattling Max’s brain. “Yeah?” Nathan inquired. “And what’s so important about being alone?”

  Max stared out at the gleaming ballfield. It was bathed in an otherworldly light, and Max felt it was calling to him. He sighed, opened his mouth to reply to Nathan. Just then, Garfield rolled in and waddled over to the table.

  “Hi, Max,” he said, and then added: “Hey Nathan.”

  Nathan seemed surprised to see Garfield, and scowled at his appearance. Max sensed there was annoyance at Garfield’s mere existence and friendship, which took time away from the bond Nathan and Max had forged in this new Life.

  Max still needed Garfield, though. Garfield was a connection to both his childhood, and his future in Life II.

  “Pull up some bench,” Max said.

  Garfield sat next to Nathan, opposite Max, but kept a distance of about three feet. Max glanced back and forth at his two friends, marveling that all three of them were actually together. It was the much-needed bridge between Life I and Life II.

  “Max, why are you in the cafeteria so close to the end of the day?” Garfield asked.

  Nathan trained his sights on Garfield, drilling into him with a disapproving stare. “Why are you here?” he scowled, leaning forward to make his point.

  “You know me,” Garfield replied, a little taken aback. “I’m always hungry. I stopped by for a snack.”

  Max reached out to Garfield. “Dude, I’ve just been thinking about a lot of things.”

  “Oh boy,” Garfield joked. “Here we go.”

  “No, seriously, Garfield.”

  “’Seriously, Garfield’? This sounds heavy.”

  “Not really,” Max said. “I just—”

  Nathan took over the conversation. “Look, Garfield. Max’s contemplating the college he wants to enter next year. We had a long talk about it yesterday, and he and I are thinking about the University of Calgary sciences program. It has the best medical school out there.”

  “Whoa,” Garfield said, his eyes wide open. “That’s pretty far away. Max, I thought you wanted to go to the University of British Columbia?”

  “I’m not sure,” Max confessed.

  “It’s competitive,” Nathan nearly snapped at Max. “You want to get good scholarships, that’ll help you be admitted to medical school down the road. You want good marks now so you can have your pick.”

  “Wow,” Garfield said, eyes pinned on Max. “I remember before you dropped all his business courses last year, all you wanted to do was be a stockbroker or an investment banker. Now look at you!” He laughed nervously.

  Max felt his face turn red. He hated being on the hot seat. Especially when he was living his life over again. Why subject himself to this interrogation? He attempted to deflect attention off himself. “Garfield, what about you? What university are you going to next year?”

  Garfield appeared clueless. “Ah, well, gee, I don’t know guys. I’ve thought about journalism school, but I haven’t given it much thought. Probably here at UBC.”

  “Journalism?” Nathan mocked. “Why? So you can report on the people who are actually making news?” He shrugged without looking at Garfield.

  Garfield glowered. “Yeah. So I can write about people who are making a difference in the world. Don’t worry. I doubt that will ever include you, unless I have an article about ‘The Daily Dick Award’.”

  Nathan sucked in a sharp breath of air, his fiery eyes betraying indignation.

  “Come on. If you guys are gonna battle, I’m outta here,” Max said, shoving a book roughly into his backpack.

  “Hey, what’s happening with your sister?” Nathan asked Max, all but brushing off Garfield.

  Max shrugged. “Beats me. We haven’t heard much from her. My dad says she’s doing okay in Kamloops, trying to find a job. They’re living on Len’s pay, which isn’t much.”

  ”Man, that sucks,” Nathan said. “Your parents must be bummed big time.”

  “What’s wrong with moving to a new life?” Garfield asked. “Jenny’s an adult, for cryin’ out loud.”

  “I don’t agree, Garfield,” Max said, feeling his anger toward Jenny surging again. “I know my sister. She could’ve earned good money and gotten what she wanted. Now she’s having trouble finding a job.” He recalled how floored he was when Jenny invited him to a coffee at their favorite café, and laid out the news that she was moving in with Len after all. Even though she had cleared all her exams with straight A’s and walked proudly down the aisle at her graduation ceremony weeks before. All Max could do in that instant moment was surrender out of shock and pretend he was happy for her.

  “Money isn’t everything,” Garfield noted. “The point is, you love your sister.”

  Nathan snorted loudly. “That shit doesn’t get you anywhere in life.”

  “She’s throwing everything away for that asshole,” Max said, piling on. “He’s going to ruin her life all over again. And she’s letting him.”

  Nathan lifted a curious brow. “’Again’? What do you mean, ‘again?’”

  Max gnawed on the inside of his cheek. He could feel his heart stop. “Uh, I didn’t mean anything.”

  Garfield just sat silently, staring ahead.

  Nathan grabbed his backpack. “Well, whatever. I’m off. Later, ladies.”

  Garfield watched as Nathan winked at Max, and then strutted away.

  “Nice guy,” Garfield said sarcastically, “A real warm human being.” He looked at Max. “Why do you like him anyway?”

  “You don’t know him like I do,” Max shrugged, not really wanting to explain. “He’s determined. Knows what he wants and goes for it. I’ve never known someone so unafraid to take on big challenges.” Which I need.

  “Yeah?”

  “Plus t
here’s something in him—you know?” Max reflected more. “A killer instinct.”

  “That,” Garfield agreed, “is what’s creepy about him.”

  Garfield glanced behind him, and leaned in.

  “Let me tell you something,” he said, looking around to make sure no one else was within earshot. “Did you know Nathan slept with Donna Gershwin last year?”

  Max’s brain froze.

  No, it couldn’t be true. Could it?

  Donna Gershwin was one of the hottest and most popular girls at school, very comfortable in the company of Susie, Tracy… and also Brigitta.

  “No way, José!” Max replied.

  “He did. And I’m not surprised he didn’t tell you.”

  “I’ve never even seen them alone together.”

  “That’s what’s so weird about it. Max, listen. Nathan does tend to keep secrets to himself.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Donna told me.”

  Max gave Garfield a startled look. Garfield was on speaking terms with one of the trendy girls at the school?

  Garfield seemed to understand Max’s hesitation. “I know, man, I’m not part of the in crowd. But I have my ways of getting around.” He smiled and continued. “So, yeah, Donna trusts me. She confided in me.” He pulled Max closer. “You can’t blab this around.”

  “I won’t,” Max said solemnly. “But listen…a guy like Nathan making it with Donna, he’d brag about it. All the guys do.”

  “Except Nathan’s not like the other guys. He gets what he wants, and doesn’t seem to care who he hurts along the way.”

  “No way. I don’t believe it.”

  “Ask Nathan,” Garfield shot back. “Just don’t tell him where you got it from. But I have a feeling he won’t confess.” Garfield’s gaze darted upwards, putting deep shadows in the corners of his eyes. “Donna says he just dropped her after that one-night stand.”

  Max felt uncomfortable. He was an adult on the inside. Why do I have to hear all this, and experience these feelings, about all my young horny friends, all over again? He’d already passed that stage in Life I. Before he ever met Dr. Time, all his friends were middle-aged, bored adults, having dealt with the rites of passage of sexual maturity decades ago. Mind-boggling. Freakin’ mind-boggling, man.

  Max shrugged. “Look, why should I care?” he asked Garfield.

  “I’m just saying you can’t trust the guy.”

  “Really? And why not?”

  “Because he’s got an agenda.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  November 13, 1988 at 2:28 p.m.

  Max snapped out of his trance. His throat was tight with fear. As he looked around, eyes wide, the daydream began to drain away.

  Had he screamed? He looked over at his mom. Together, hand in hand, they were strolling up the sidewalk, and into their house. No, Max decided, he hadn’t screamed, thank God. He let his mind drift back to the daydream, searching for the answer to the one question that kept hammering away at him:

  Why isn’t this turning out the way I’d planned?

  “Mom? You okay?” Max asked as his mother took off her gloves at the front hall. He hadn’t seen his mom cry once—not once! his mind thundered—during the funeral for her own mother that day. Now they were back home, and his mom was staring out the window, watching the dead leaves fall from the trees and suffocate the front lawn.

  He’d been surprised at the graveside to see the marble headstone for Emilia Phyllis Brown already in place at the time the casket was buried. Max had asked about it in the car; she’d replied that it was actually ordered years ago, and all that was needed was to insert the date of death. “Death is part of life,” she’d told him this morning. “There’s no sense in worrying about it or avoiding it. It’s just a fact of life.”

  Max’s father came in through the front door. Max wished he could see inside his father’s heart, to understand what his old man was thinking. I bet it’s not good, Max thought, watching his dad gaze all around the house, eyes tiny and red inside blank eyesockets, his feet whispering on the carpet runner as he moved upstairs. “I’m gonna get changed,” he muttered, as if he wanted to get away.

  “Okay, Bill,” his mom replied, breathing hard, clenching her fists together helplessly.

  The telephone rang, making Max jump. He heard the stealthy crackle of dead leaves outside, sweeping across the lawn. As the phone rang unanswered he walked over and put his arms calmly on his mom’s shoulders.

  “Grandma wasn’t supposed to die yet,” he said, a little scared as the words leaked out of his lips.

  “I know,” his mom replied. “It was so sudden.”

  “No,” Max insisted, “what I mean is, she wasn’t supposed to die so soon. I was supposed to see her again.”

  Max wanted to grind his brain to a halt and stop thinking about it. He felt like he was going crazy. In desperation he closed his eyes, and began to shudder helplessly.

  Why aren’t things in Life I panning out the way I’d planned?

  Why, God??

  For the first time that day he felt the sting of tears in his own eyes. How could his grandmother have died, two years early? He was certain she’d originally died in February of 1990, outliving her son, Selwyn. A part of Max’s mind felt extreme surprise and terror at this. And the repercussions, when you got right down to it, floored him. Had he hastened his grandmother’s death by having that intimate talk with her last Christmas? Do I really have the ability to change things? Was it his business—even for humanitarian reasons—to reveal things to others here in Life I, interfering with the natural course of events? For a moment his brain froze in utter panic, and he couldn’t think. Did she live a more fulfilling life to the end, even if it was shorter? Or had Max brought about an even worse fate?

  He didn’t have the answers.

  But it had happened, his frenzied mind told him, his grandmother’s death had happened, and he was responsible for it. And—

  His breath froze in a gasp. Yes, he thought. Holy shit. It’s true! It was because of me.

  At the funeral, Uncle Selwyn had appeared especially distraught and upset. Was he also thinking of his own narrow brush with fate, at Max’s prophetic hands? Max half expected, half dreaded Selwyn including in his speech to the congregation about how Max had identified his cancer, then thanking him in front of everyone. But Selwyn never once mentioned Max’s name in his eulogy.

  Thank God.

  “I would’ve loved to spend one last Christmas with her, Max,” his mom declared softly. She looked at him lovingly.

  “I’m glad I had that talk with Grandma last Christmas,” said Max, his eyes moistening.

  “You’re lucky you had that,” his mom said. “Most of us had no idea she was going to pass away so quickly.” She paused. “Last year, she talked to me just before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She was very curious about you because of the Christmas party. She said you somehow knew what was going to happen to her.”

  “Yeah, but I wish I could have said goodbye,” Max muttered under his breath, his jaws clamped together.

  Mabel didn’t have a close, loving relationship with her mother, not for Emily’s lack of trying. Mabel was more like her father, reserved and calculating.

  Max quietly remained seated.

  “Do you think you can forgive Jenny, Mom?” He spoke quietly, so quietly that he wasn’t sure she had heard him.

  “She made her choice, Max. She chose not to be part of this family. How can I forgive that?” Her voice held no anger. Mabel was tired. The days that had passed since Grandma Emily’s death had been difficult. Mabel was with her at the end, even though her mother didn’t recognize her. Max wondered how that must feel, to be a stranger to someone you loved all your life.

  Mabel stood up, walked over to him, and hugged him awkwardly. “You’re a good person, Max. You’ll make a very good doctor.”

  She appeared puzzled. “I don’t understand it, but you’ve matured a lot since last ye
ar. You didn’t seem to care about school much. But once you switched to science and became friends with Nathan, well, I’m seeing a whole new person. I’m proud of you. And, you know, it feels good to say that to one of my children.” She stopped abruptly.

  Mabel wasn’t one to wear her emotions on her sleeve. Max could see her rein in the obvious pain and disappointment she was feeling.

  They heard footsteps down the stairs. Max’s father, now dressed in more casual clothes, said, “That was a nice service, Mabel.”

  Mabel smiled at him and said, “I was just telling Max how wonderful he is.”

  Bill laughed, “I already know that.” He clapped him on the shoulder approvingly. He loosened his top button. “Say, I’m real hungry. I’ll go grab a snack.”

  Max caught his mother rolling her eyes. “Honestly, Bill…” she said, then dropped off. She shrugged, twisting her hands outwards. “The man can make me so crazy,” Mabel started, with a rare look of appreciation on her face. “And then there are times when it’s a good crazy.”

  Then Max smiled to himself, a bit smugly.

  Holy shit, I’m making good things happen, he thought. Sure, things might be different than I’d imagined. But they’re good things. He settled his cheek against his mom’s neck. But when Max looked down he saw that his hands still trembled helplessly.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  September 8, 1989 at 1:49 p.m.

  “Goodbye, Max!” his mom cried out as she waved. “We’ll miss you at home!” Tears flooded her eyes. They were standing in front of Max and Nathan’s new apartment in Calgary. She walked over for a big hug and turned to Nathan. “Now, you make sure Max stays on track.”

  Nathan’s smile grew even broader. “I’ll do that, Mrs. Thorning.”

  Max’s mom then turned to Max. “There’ll be a lot of parties during your first year,” she said with a worried look on her face. “But remember—”

  “Mom!” Max whined, rolling his eyes. He turned to his buddy Garfield, who grinned his awkward smile.