Aaron came down the stairs. Behind him came Page.
“Page!” Jeremy shouted. “What are you doing here?”
“Long story,” Page said as he walked to Jeremy. He extended his hand and Jeremy shook it. Page said, “It’s good to see you again. How are you? What’s going on?”
Jeremy didn’t know where to begin. “It’s crazy. There are lots of kids like me. You won’t believe how big this thing is.”
“Aaron has given me an idea of the scope. I understand you have some new–”
“Nils,” Aaron said, “tell me what happened.”
“Jeremy knows Johnny.”
Aaron looked at Page, then at Jeremy. “You two have something in common.”
Jeremy said, “We both remember somebody that everybody else forgot.”
Aaron said, “You know that that has never happened before, right? Nobody has ever remembered a Forgotten.”
“Yeah, that’s what Nils said.”
“So what’s special about you and Mister Foley? What do you two have in common that nobody else has?”
Jeremy said, “Maybe it’s something about Waterme– Johnny and me.”
Aaron looked from Jeremy to Watermelon and back. “What do you mean?”
“Maybe what’s special isn’t about who is remembering, but who is being remembered.”
“I don’t–” Aaron paused. “You’re both from Sacramento.”
“And we’re both Forgotten.”
Nils said, “You mean that the Forgotten don’t forget each other?”
Aaron spun and looked at Page, who seemed to be lost in thought. “But then–”
Jeremy said, “No, that doesn’t make sense. I remember Johnny, but he doesn’t remember me.”
Nils said, “But that’s something. You knew each other before. That’s something. All of the other kids are from all over the place. They couldn’t have known each other. But you two–”
Aaron shook his head. “I think we’re on the wrong track here.”
Jeremy looked at Aaron, as did the others, waiting for him to say what the right track was.
Watermelon said, “Jeremy, when did it happen to you?”
Jeremy remembered the awful moment that started the whole chain of events for him. He remembered the curious look on his mother’s face and the awful words What did you call me? “It was four days ago. Thursday afternoon.”
“So you were Forgotten after me?”
Page said, “No, that’s not right.”
Jeremy turned, surprised. “What do you mean, that’s not right? I was there. You weren’t.”
“No, Jeremy,” Page said. “You have that backwards. You were there when you found out. But you weren’t there when it happened. I was there when it happened.”
Nils said, “My God, Mister Foley, you’re right. Aaron told me that you called his mother–”
“I called his mother year ago. I saw that poster of him a year ago.” Page turned to Watermelon. “When were you Forgotten?”
“April.”
“Are you sure?” Page asked. “Could it have happened before or after that?”
“No, I was only gone for a few days. Dad made a lot of noise. It was all over the news for like a day, then nothing. I thought the police would find me and drag me home. A day after that I– I got hungry. I didn’t want to eat garbage but there was nothing else to eat. I didn’t dare to steal anything because I figured the people in the stores would recognize me from the news. I mean, I was really hungry. So I gave up. I went home.”
Page said, “And nobody remembered who you were.”
Watermelon started to answer, then pressed his lips together and said nothing. His eyes looked puffy.
Nils said, “So Johnny, your question was a good one. Maybe… Maybe…”
Watermelon nodded his head and said nothing.
Aaron said, “Maybe what, Nils?”
“Nothing. I had an idea, but it doesn’t fit.”
Foley said, “Let’s hear the idea. If something doesn’t fit we can set it aside.”
“I was thinking,” Nils said, “what if the Forgotten don’t forget?”
Aaron said, “No that doesn’t fit. We’ve found twenty seven kids who have been Forgotten, and until now none of them have remembered any of the others.”
Nils said, “Maybe that’s just because they never knew each other, so there was nothing to remember.”
Jeremy said, “So why doesn’t that fit?”
Nils turned to Page. “Well, maybe it fits, but it doesn’t explain how Mister Foley remembers you.”
Page said, “Maybe it does. I believe that, like you and Jeremy and Johnny, I was forgotten.”
Aaron jumped out of his chair and glared at Page. “You– you–”
Jeremy said, “It’s true. He told me about it, a little bit anyway. When he was in Vietnam in the Army.”
“Jeremy, he’s lying,” Aaron spat. “I don’t know–”
Page said, “No, Aaron. It’s true.”
“You lie, Mister Foley! You’re lying!” Aaron rushed toward Page. Page tried to step out of the way, but was not fast enough. Aaron crashed into him and they both fell to the floor.
Jesus, Jeremy thought. What the hell was Aaron doing? He rushed to where Aaron was pushing Page’s shoulders to the floor and trying to sit up.
“You’re a liar!” Aaron shouted.
Jeremy grabbed Aaron’s shoulder and tried to pull him off Page.
Nils gripped Aaron’s arm on the other side and tugged. “Aaron, get off him!”
Aaron fell backward off of Page. Page awkwardly scrambled back a few feet.
Aaron rolled and stood up. “Jeremy, he’s lying. He’s been lying to you ever since he walked into that police station. He said he was your grandfather, for Christ’s sake.”
Nils moved in front of Aaron and said, “Aaron, calm down. We’ll sort through this. We’ll figure it out.”
Foley struggled to his feet. He began to brush himself off with his hands.
Jeremy said, “Jesus, Aaron, what was that all about?”
“He’s lying, that’s what it’s about. He’s been following you around because he’s selfish. He doesn’t care about you, he just wants to believe he’s not crazy.”
Jeremy said, “What are you talking about?”
“He saw that poster of you change last year and it freaked him out. He thought he was going crazy. ‘Utter and unqualified mind fuck,’ those were his words. The only reason he came here is to ease his own panicked mind. Don’t you think it’s quite a coincidence that he never mentioned until now that he was Forgotten? He never mentioned it until Johnny and Nils–”
“No, he told me yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” Aaron turned to Page. “You never told me, old man. What else are you trying to hide.” “I never told you,” said Page. “You’re right. But as Jeremy said, I did tell him about it yesterday. Do you want to hear my story, or do you want to insist on calling me a liar?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I don’t trust you.”
“You don’t trust me? You walk into my little brother’s life and lie to the police that you’re his grandf–”
“Your little brother?” Page said.
“Yes, of course, my little brother. I know how this works. He is my brother whether I remember him or not.” Aaron looked at Jeremy. “Jeremy, look how he’s twisting my words. He says he doesn’t trust me. What reason do I have– do we have to trust him?”
Page said, “How about if I tell my story, then let these boys decide whether to trust me or not?”
“Oh, you want to tell your story so that you can spout more lies!”
Nils shouted, “Aaron! Shut the fuck up.”
Aaron stepped back, stunned. “Nils…”
Nils put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. “Aaron, it’s okay. We’ve been through a lot of confusion over the last three years. We always get through it. There’s always something new to learn, and it never fits at first. But we talk it through and talk it through and slowly we see how it fits.”
“But–”
“Let’s let Mister Foley say his piece. If it helps us to understand what’s going on, if it shows us a way that maybe we can help these kids…”
Aaron glared at Page. He walked to the third row of folding chairs and sat down. “All right, let’s hear it. But you mark my words, he’s going to play on your vulnerability. You mark my words.”
Page looked at Jeremy and the other two boys. “Why don’t we have a seat as well.”
Nils sat on the table. Jeremy and Watermelon each dragged a chair so that the four could sit in something like a circle. Page sat in a chair across from Nils, his back to Aaron a few rows behind him.
Page leaned foward and placed his forearms on his knees. “In 1961 I was sent to Vietnam as what they called a ‘military advisor’ …”
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