mother? Is that what you’re hiding up there?”
“That’s enough, Vess,” said Lyle, more fervent now. “Back off with the Mom-talk, I’m serious.” He glared at his new employer, and Vess halted. The pale scientist smirked and nodded, but didn’t say anything. “What is it? Why are you looking at me that way?”
“It’s just that I’ve always found people’s fears fascinating, that’s all. Most people’s issues can be traced back to their parents. It’s part of the human condition, I guess. What about your father? What was he like?”
Lyle cringed and shook his head. “Nothing special.” He hadn’t been close to his father, but he would never forget the man’s final few weeks as the formerly tall, robust man had succumbed to polio. He’d been forced to lie in an iron lung for several tortuous months before he passed. Lyle was haunted by how his father had gone into the machine looking strong and thick, but when they pulled his body out he’d wasted away to nearly a skeleton. In his casket, his father had been draped in an old suit of his that had once been snug, but now hung from his skeletal shoulders. “He died when I was young. Why? What’s it matter?”
“Nothing to be concerned about, my good man. Nothing at all,” said Vess.
“You’re a peculiar sort,” said Lyle as he stuck his thumbs beneath his suspenders and wandered to the edge of the ship. The ledge was high, but he was able to look out into the greenish water of the bay. “Before today, I thought you were all hot air.”
“Did you?” asked Vess. An emerging tickle turned into a cough, and made his question sound malicious, though he hadn’t intended it to be. He hacked, the force causing his back to arch, and then wiped his lips with a handkerchief pulled from an inside pocket of his blazer. “Then why did you accept the job?” he asked after recovering from his fit.
“I’m not the sort of guy that can afford to turn down a paycheck. Especially now that I’m not gambling no more.”
Vess leaned against the rail, his arms draped over the edge as he watched the gulls spinning above the bay. “I wouldn’t think an able-bodied chap like you would have trouble getting work, what with most gents at war and all.”
“Able-bodied?” asked Lyle with a laugh. “Why do you think I’m not fighting Japs in the Guadalcanal?”
Vess glanced at Lyle curiously. The stout man was shorter than Vess, but sturdy, with strong arms and a thick chest. He bore no visible signs of illness or anything that would make it obvious why he would’ve avoided conscription. “I thought you were an immigrant.”
“Me? No, sir. Born and bred in the fields of Kansas. My parents were immigrants, but I’m American-made.”
“Then how’d you dodge a trip overseas with the rest of them?”
Lyle tapped his barrel chest. “Got tuberculosis when I was a kid. Damn near killed me and drove my parents into poverty. My lungs ain’t never been the same. When I registered, they told me I’d never be allowed in with the rest of the boys, but that they’d stick me in with some pencil-pushing unit. Never got the call, though. Guess I lucked out. What about you? How come they didn’t snatch you up?”
“Who said they didn’t?” asked Vess with a smirk.
“You went to war? How’d you make it out?”
Vess shook his head and explained, “I’m not the sort of soldier that gets a gun put in his hands. There are other ways of killing people.”
Lyle became uncomfortable, and he started to try and figure out what Vess meant. “Science and stuff? Is that how you knew old crazy-hair back there?” He thumbed back at where they’d boarded the ship.
“You know the interesting thing about science?” asked Vess, as if almost entirely ignoring or avoiding Lyle’s question. “It’s just an attempt to explain the unexplainable. Science is like an adult, standing over our shoulders, reaching past us to help put a puzzle together that we can’t
“That’s enough, Vess,” said Lyle, more fervent now. “Back off with the Mom-talk, I’m serious.” He glared at his new employer, and Vess halted. The pale scientist smirked and nodded, but didn’t say anything. “What is it? Why are you looking at me that way?”
“It’s just that I’ve always found people’s fears fascinating, that’s all. Most people’s issues can be traced back to their parents. It’s part of the human condition, I guess. What about your father? What was he like?”
Lyle cringed and shook his head. “Nothing special.” He hadn’t been close to his father, but he would never forget the man’s final few weeks as the formerly tall, robust man had succumbed to polio. He’d been forced to lie in an iron lung for several tortuous months before he passed. Lyle was haunted by how his father had gone into the machine looking strong and thick, but when they pulled his body out he’d wasted away to nearly a skeleton. In his casket, his father had been draped in an old suit of his that had once been snug, but now hung from his skeletal shoulders. “He died when I was young. Why? What’s it matter?”
“Nothing to be concerned about, my good man. Nothing at all,” said Vess.
“You’re a peculiar sort,” said Lyle as he stuck his thumbs beneath his suspenders and wandered to the edge of the ship. The ledge was high, but he was able to look out into the greenish water of the bay. “Before today, I thought you were all hot air.”
“Did you?” asked Vess. An emerging tickle turned into a cough, and made his question sound malicious, though he hadn’t intended it to be. He hacked, the force causing his back to arch, and then wiped his lips with a handkerchief pulled from an inside pocket of his blazer. “Then why did you accept the job?” he asked after recovering from his fit.
“I’m not the sort of guy that can afford to turn down a paycheck. Especially now that I’m not gambling no more.”
Vess leaned against the rail, his arms draped over the edge as he watched the gulls spinning above the bay. “I wouldn’t think an able-bodied chap like you would have trouble getting work, what with most gents at war and all.”
“Able-bodied?” asked Lyle with a laugh. “Why do you think I’m not fighting Japs in the Guadalcanal?”
Vess glanced at Lyle curiously. The stout man was shorter than Vess, but sturdy, with strong arms and a thick chest. He bore no visible signs of illness or anything that would make it obvious why he would’ve avoided conscription. “I thought you were an immigrant.”
“Me? No, sir. Born and bred in the fields of Kansas. My parents were immigrants, but I’m American-made.”
“Then how’d you dodge a trip overseas with the rest of them?”
Lyle tapped his barrel chest. “Got tuberculosis when I was a kid. Damn near killed me and drove my parents into poverty. My lungs ain’t never been the same. When I registered, they told me I’d never be allowed in with the rest of the boys, but that they’d stick me in with some pencil-pushing unit. Never got the call, though. Guess I lucked out. What about you? How come they didn’t snatch you up?”
“Who said they didn’t?” asked Vess with a smirk.
“You went to war? How’d you make it out?”
Vess shook his head and explained, “I’m not the sort of soldier that gets a gun put in his hands. There are other ways of killing people.”
Lyle became uncomfortable, and he started to try and figure out what Vess meant. “Science and stuff? Is that how you knew old crazy-hair back there?” He thumbed back at where they’d boarded the ship.
“You know the interesting thing about science?” asked Vess, as if almost entirely ignoring or avoiding Lyle’s question. “It’s just an attempt to explain the unexplainable. Science is like an adult, standing over our shoulders, reaching past us to help put a puzzle together that we can’t
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