Infinite Testament (10 page)

The sun shone brightly on the theme park. Colors seemed
more vibrant and attractive girls more beautiful. Stephen and Bruce, not
yet aware they would be meeting Lisa and Kristen, waited in line for a motion
simulator,
Space Escape
.

Bruce stared into the distance as he waited in line.
The packs of people were enough to keep his attention. Meanwhile,
Stephen’s eyes locked with another man waiting in line. The man’s eyes
darted away.

“Hey Bruce, look at that guy.”

Bruce looked, not sure who Stephen was referring to.
“Huh?”

The man had short black hair. His clothes were wholly
plain: beige and white. He wore an old backpack that flimsily rested on
his shoulders. It seemed like he came to the park by himself; he was
alone whenever Stephen saw him. And he didn’t appear to be having a whole
lot of fun. In fact, it looked like he wasn’t happy to be there at all.

“Forget it,” Stephen said. He didn’t want the guy to
know he was talking about him. It seemed to Stephen that he had been on
every ride right behind them. Like he had been following them. It
was unlikely, but it was odd how often Stephen had seen him.

Stephen peered back toward the man. He was
gone. He must have moved. Maybe he was stuck behind one of those
giant stuffed animals people were holding. There was a big green frog
floating above the line, sitting atop someone’s head. As the line dripped
forward, Stephen peered beyond the frog. Nope. He wasn’t
there. He wasn’t anywhere. The man wasn’t in line anymore.

Strange.

Later, Stephen and Bruce stood outside the
Paramnesia
roller coaster with Kristen and crutch-bound Lisa. Hoards of people
whizzed by them. Some walked by, visibly irritated by their intrusion in
the middle of walkway. No matter, Stephen and Bruce were formally meeting
two girls who would be tied to them forever.

It was among Bruce’s finest work in action. Kristen
grabbed the picture out of Bruce’s hand and looked at their goofy faces.
Kristen looked up at Bruce. Her metamorphosis from stuck up beauty to
friendly was complete.

“My name’s Kristen.”

Bruce coolly held out his hand. “Bruce.”

Kristen shook it. “I still think you’re a jackass.”

Bruce smiled. “You’re not alone.”

Kristen tried to pull her hand away. Bruce held on
and tugged it back. He inquired, “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

Her eyes squinted in thought. “I don’t know. I
might be busy.”

Stephen and Lisa watched on as Bruce and Kristen openly
flirted with each other. Stephen shot a glance at Lisa. She found
the whole escapade hilarious and smiled back. Woah. There it was
again. The
smile
. Had there ever been a more lovely sight
than the smile he just witnessed? He paused to catch his breath.
Stephen could only smile back.

Bruce let go of Kristen’s hand. “Well, my lady,” he
said with a forced British accent, “I would be honored if you would accompany
me to dinner tomorrow evening.”

Kristen laughed. She replied with a playful British
accent of her own, “I don’t know, sir. I simply think I may be too busy.”

Bruce got down on one knee. “But my lady, it would be
of great honor to myself, my family, and the Queen if you obliged and
accompanied me to dinner. Or supper. Call it what you will, it
doesn’t matter to me.”

“Well sir,” Kristen replied, “If it will please the Queen
then I will accompany you.”

Bruce hopped to his feet. “Splendid!”

Stephen chimed in, sans accent, “This is the stupidest
thing I have ever seen.”

Bruce, keeping his accent, grabbed Stephen’s arm, “I
forgot! This is my slave. Slave Stephen.”

“Really?” Stephen asked. “The British have slaves
now?”

Kristen grabbed Lisa, “And this is
my
slave!
Lusty Lisa!”

Lisa tilted her head. “
Lusty
Lisa?”

“This is wonderful!” British Bruce proclaimed.
“Perhaps our slaves can join us?”

Stephen’s heart stopped. Even though the whole
exchange was lighthearted, Bruce basically just asked Lisa to go out with
Stephen. He hoped she would. His eyes nervously darted
around. Wait a second, there he was again! There in the distance:
the guy who was following them! He stood with his plain clothes and ugly
blue backpack staring at them. What a strange man. Whatever.
It wasn’t a concern right now: Stephen wanted Lisa to go out with him.

Kristen shook her head, “Unfortunately, my beautiful slave
is seeing another slave already.”

Stephen tried not to show it, but he was disappointed.

British Bruce relented, “And this is to stop our slaves
from coming with us because…?”

Stephen looked at Lisa. He expected her to be wincing
like he was. It was becoming terribly uncomfortable. But she seemed
to be enjoying it.

Lisa spoke up in her attempt at a British accent, “May
Lusty Lisa speak?”

“Permission Granted,” Kristen responded.

“I would like to join my master on her date with the master
and his slave.”

Stephen lit up as discretely as he could. Yes!

“Then it’s official,” Bruce said, now accentless, “Double
date tomorrow.” Bruce gently took Kristen’s hand and kissed the top of
it. She smiled, loving every second of it.

Stephen turned to Lisa. “You don’t really have to do
that tomorrow.” Lisa, now a master on crutches, easily placed her hand on
his shoulder. “It’s okay Stephen. I do what my master says.”
She peered into his eyes and confidently added, “And I think you’re sweet.”

Stephen smiled at her and said, “You’re not so bad
yourself.”
You’re not so bad yourself?
Stephen nearly
slapped his head.

Lisa laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You guys are leaving?” Bruce asked Kristen.

“Yeah, we’re spent.
Paramnesia
was our last
ride.”

“But
we
can entertain you.”

“Tomorrow,” Kristen said. “It will be… glorious!” she
added with an accent.

The two pairs shared a brief goodbye. They would be
reunited shortly.

Stephen looked in the distance and made eye contact with
the man who had been following them. “Hey Bruce,” Stephen said.
“You see that guy over there with the backpack?”

“The one dressed like a dope?”

“Yeah, that guy.”

“What about him?”

Stephen kept eye contact with him. The man didn’t
break this time. “He has been everywhere we have been today. It’s
kind of weird.”

Bruce chuckled, “It’s not that big of a park. We’ve
probably seen a lot of people like that.”

Guess so, Stephen surmised. He broke eye contact with
the man as the two of them prepared to resume their journey.

Lisa and Kristen walked toward the mystery man. They
had enough fun for one day. Tomorrow would bring even more excitement.

The man looked at them as they walked past. He
smiled.

Kristen smiled back.

Stephen was right. The man
had
been following
them. Making astute observations, his job today was done.

The identity of the man would mean nothing to Stephen and Bruce.
At least not yet. The man, of course, was Moros.

“What?” Stephen asked. He heard Bruce
perfectly. Every syllable uttered from his mouth was entirely
understandable. His ears just refused to believe what they heard.

“I’m going to live with Kristen this year,” Bruce
reiterated.

They sat in the living room, on the blue couch (the most
comfortable spot in the world). Bruce rested his feet on the small table
in front of them. The daylight burst through the windows behind
them. Stephen sat up, attentively digesting Bruce’s nonsensical idea.

Stephen declared, “Michigan State is an hour and a half
away.”

“We found a place right smack in the middle of Michigan and
MSU,” Bruce replied.

“You’re going to drive 45 minutes to class every day?”

“I’ll just have class three days a week, so it’ll be fine.”

Stephen was stunned. Bruce was abandoning him,
leaving him to fend for himself in what was supposed to be the most fun-filled
year of their lives.

“But what about senior year? We were going to ‘light
it up’. Remember?”

“We can still light it up. It’s not going to be that
big of a difference. I’m just going to live with her instead. I can
still spend a couple nights here and there at your place.”

Stephen knew that wouldn’t happen. He was losing his best
friend. Bruce had fallen hard for Kristen. He had lost the ability
to manage his relationship and the rest of his life, including Stephen.
Bruce simply stopped caring about anything but Kristen.

“You and Vince will be fine,” Bruce reassured.

Stephen stared in the distance.

There she was: Lisa Binsby, crutches in tow, moved
effortlessly
through the sliding doors of the restaurant with Kristen
right behind her. Stephen waited with great anticipation as Lisa
approached.

Lisa and Kristen met Stephen and Bruce the day before at
the theme park. Kristen seemed to like Bruce. But why was Lisa
doing this? She asked herself that question many times throughout the
day. She had a boyfriend. A loving, caring boyfriend. But she
came anyway, convincing herself it was for Kristen’s sake.

Bruce exaggeratingly held out his arm to Kristen.

Kristen accepted, tucking herself close to him, and the
four embraced the restaurant ahead of them.

The restaurant was elegant. Bruce spared no expense
when picking this place. The lights were dim. Fancy paintings and
mirrors adorned the walls. The ceiling shot high above them, the
restaurant showing off its massive size. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin
soothed over the conversations of the people eating and bustling.

“Can I just say,” Kristen exclaimed, “I love this place!”

Lisa glanced at Stephen. He was cute and seemed like
a nice guy. She didn’t want to hurt him. “Can I talk to you for a
sec?” Lisa asked Stephen as she nodded her head in the opposite direction of
the dining area.

“Uh-oh!” Bruce declared.

“Shut up,” Kristen said as she grabbed Bruce’s arm and led
him away from Stephen and Lisa.

Stephen asked, “What’s up?” His face was bright and
he was obviously excited about the dinner. Lisa struggled with what to
say. She dug around her mind for words. “Well, I just want you to
know that…” She looked at him. He was smiling ear to ear. She
didn’t want that to go away. But she had to continue. Her eyes strayed
away, far from his, as she continued stumbling along, “… I just want you to
know I have a boyfriend. I’m not sure exactly what you’re expecting from
this whole thing. I just think it can be fun, ya know? You seem
really nice. But I don’t want to... I don’t know. Make you sad I
guess? I mean, if that’s you were looking for: to be more than
friends. Or something.”

She looked at Stephen. He was still smiling. In
fact, he was borderline laughing. Oh God. What did she just do?

Her words didn’t bother Stephen in the least. “Don’t
worry. I know you have a boyfriend,” he said, reassuring her.

Huh? This baffled Lisa. He had made it pretty
obvious that he liked her. She expected him to be down and upset about
what she said. At the same time, she was flattered that he respected the
fact she had a boyfriend. Lisa was officially intrigued.

“Are you ready to join them?” Stephen asked as he offered
his arm for Lisa to lock with.

Lisa stopped. She thought. No. She didn’t
want to join them. It would be better if they didn’t.

“No.” Lisa stated. “I have a better idea.”

Stephen and Lisa sat in an ice cream parlor dressed like
they should be in a nice restaurant. The parlor was small, with high-rise
stools holding them up to their table. Clearly into each other, they
munched on their ice cream. Stephen went with chocolate while Lisa opted
for vanilla.

Lisa not only wanted to give Kristen and Bruce time to get
acquainted with each other, she wanted to get to know the mysterious Stephen.

She asked, “So what are you majoring in?”

“Biology. You?”

“Communications.”

Stephen nodded. Her idea to get ice cream instead of
eat dinner with Bruce and Kristen was genius. He loved getting to spend
time with her alone. Boyfriend or not.

“The bigger question,” Stephen asked, “is what do you want
to do with your life?”

“Umm.” Lisa pondered. She didn’t know. She was
a hummingbird: constantly flying, sometimes stopping, but always on the
move. The idea of committing to one job for the rest of her life scared
her. “I don’t know. I guess I’ll figure it out somewhere along the
way.”

“I hear you,” Stephen said. “Aren’t we all in that boat?”

Lisa chuckled a nervous laugh. Not really. Most
people she knew had their lives figured out. If she was in a boat, her
friends were all in a cruise ship, destination known. “I guess,” she
said, “It’s tough though. Sometimes I feel like the only one who doesn’t
know what I’m doing.”

“You’re not,” Stephen reassured.

There was something about him that felt right. There
was a brightness in his eyes, a warmth that filled her soul. Oddly, Lisa
felt as if she had met him before. It was like she knew him all her life
and was finally reuniting with him. It was strange, like déjà vu, but
instead of feeling it in her mind, she felt it in her heart. She never
felt that way about someone before.

Stephen continued, “You’ll figure it out. We all just
need a little time. I have no idea what I’m going to do… What about your
boyfriend?” He knew he shouldn’t have gone there. But he had to
know.

Lisa was slightly taken aback. He wanted to
know about her boyfriend. Okay. “Well, he’s the quarterback for the
football team.”

Stephen jerked back in surprise. “What? The
Michigan
State
football team?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow. That’s impressive.”

“Yeah,” Lisa said begrudgingly. She didn’t want to
talk about him. She wanted to talk about Stephen. Granted, she
loved her boyfriend Matt. Loved? She used the word but maybe
‘enjoyed being around’ was a more accurate description. Either way, Lisa
had a penchant for scrolling through boyfriends. Most didn’t last
long. The fact that she was out with Stephen would not come as a surprise
to anyone who truly knew her. Nothing was scarier and more foreign to
Lisa than commitment. Whether it was jobs, relationships, or
anything. “Yeah. He’s a good football player.”

“That’s good,” Stephen said.

“But I want to know more about you,” Lisa confessed as she
unconsciously leaned forward, itching to get closer to him.

Oh really? Music to Stephen’s ears. Maybe wooing
her wouldn’t be as hard as it initially seemed.

“Well, I much prefer chocolate to your vanilla.”

Lisa giggled. “Why is that?”

“I find it to be much more…” Stephen paused.
His mind raced but couldn’t find the word.

“Delicious?” Lisa offered.

“No, that’s not it.”

“Tasty?”

“Nope.”

“How about sweet?”

“No.”

“Then I have no idea!”

Stephen’s light bulb switched on. “Endearing! I
find it much more… endearing.” Lisa took note as she twirled her
brown hair in her fingers.

Lisa asked, “Do you like Michigan?”

“The state or the school?” Stephen asked back.

She chuckled. “The school, goof.”

“Well to be honest, I love both. So I guess I don’t
know why I asked,” Stephen said. He laughed; sometimes he just amused
himself. “Do you love Michigan State: the school?”

“Yeah it’s okay,” Lisa replied

“Just okay?”

“No, it’s good. It’s real good… Actually me and
Kristen are having a party next week. You should come!”

“Absolutely. That would be awesome. Can’t say
I’ve ever been to an MSU party.”

“Great,” Lisa said. And it
was
.

About an hour later, Stephen and Lisa rejoined Bruce and
Kristen. They walked back to the fancy restaurant that Bruce and Kristen
dined in. Lisa asked them, “How was your date?”

“It was great!” Bruce responded. “And how was yours?”

Stephen smiled at the notion. It wasn’t a date.
But it kinda was. “Our
outing
was fine, thank you.” Lisa
smiled at Stephen and squeezed his arm. He laughed, prompting Lisa to do
the same. “Well you two hit it off right away, huh?” Kristen asked,
puzzled by their instant chemistry.

“Yes. But we are just friends,” Stephen robotically
emphasized, mocking the fact.

“Right,” Lisa reinforced.

Lisa pulled Stephen’s arm and leaned on him while he
supported her up. The two giggled and poked at each other like there was
some kind of hilarious inside joke.

Bruce and Kristen stared at them, dumbfounded. Bruce
thought maybe, just maybe, he should try that ice cream place they went to.

“Hey Stephen, why don’t you take Lisa home in your car, and
then you can come back and pick me up after?”

Huh? The idea baffled Stephen. “Why?”

“Well, Kristen and I can go get ice cream. And you
and Lisa can keep… hanging out.”

Oh. Stephen understood: Bruce wanted more alone time
with Kristen. Fine. Stephen would take Lisa home; it would give him
more alone time with her. Perfectly fine.

“Sure Bruce, I’ll pick you up after I drop her off.
Sounds good.”

So Stephen drove Lisa home. On the way, they laughed,
joked, and talked seriously about their lives. Stephen and Lisa knew the
parameters for which their relationship would be allowed to work, and they were
slowly becoming best of friends.

“My apartment is over here,” Lisa said as they reached her
home. It was too bad. Stephen drove well below the speed limit to
keep this moment from happening. He pulled over next to her apartment
building: a tiny, worn down complex. He could barely spot it in the
darkness. Stephen parked the car and looked at Lisa.

“Well, it’s been fun,” Stephen said, regretful that it had
to end.

Lisa pleaded quietly, in almost a whisper, “I hope you come
to the party next week.”

“I will.”

Lisa nodded and forced a smile. The mood in the car
grew somber. A longing between them was formed. It was like they
had been thirsty all their lives and now, just now, they found the water to
quench it. Unfortunately, they didn’t allow themselves to drink it; they
forced their feelings away. And that created the pain that resounded
within them. The circumstances of their lives mandated it. The
tragic irony of all of this is they would spend most of their lives feeling
this exact way.

“I’ll see you next week then,” Lisa whispered. She
unbuckled her seatbelt and gripped the crutches that sat alongside her.
Stephen darted out of the car, hustled to her, and offered his hand. She
gently grabbed hold and rose to her feet. As she put her weight on the
crutches, she smiled back and faced Stephen. “Thank you. For
everything,” she whispered.

She leaned in and softly kissed him on the cheek. It
marked the beginning of a great relationship.

“So that’s it? There’s no changing your mind on
this?”

Stephen and Bruce sat on the couch in their apartment.

Bruce replied, “No, man. It’s going to happen.
I’m moving in with Kristen.”

And that was that: it marked the end of a great
relationship.