“So then the horse does this weird thing. It goes completely docile. It looks around and sees this guy who seems to be in charge. And offers itself up to the guy, basically asking the guy to spare it and maybe even protect it.”
Watermelon stopped and looked at each of the four others in turn. He settled on Jeremy. “Do you see now?”
Jeremy turned to look at Aaron. Calmly he said, “Did you do this to us?”
“Et tu, Brute?”
“Answer the question.”
“Nils still hasn’t answered my question. Even if I could do something like that, why would I?”
Nils said, “Aaron, don’t do this.”
Watermelon threw his hands into the air in frustration. “Good grief, do I have to spell it out for you? He made us all this way so we would have nobody else to turn to for help. Nobody else but him.”
Jeremy said, “There, Aaron. You have your answer. Now what about my question? Did you do this to us? Did you make everybody forget us?”
“Come on, Jeremy, you know me better than that. How could you think that about me?”
“Well, for one thing you’re not denying it.”
Suddenly Page said, “Hold on a minute. Nils I have a question for you. Did Aaron ever talk about his family with you?”
Aaron said, “I told you, Foley, I never talk about my family with anyone.”
Page ignored Aaron’s interruption. “Nils?”
“Maybe once or twice. No more than that. Why?”
“What is his sister’s name?”
Aaron shouted, “Hold on a minute. What does that have to do with anything? We’re trying to figure out why you two remember people that nobody else remembers, and you want to know my sister’s name? Let’s stop this foolishness right now and–”
Jeremy said, “Aaron, shut up.”
“Don’t tell me to shut up, you little–”
“Deena,” Nils said.
Aaron shouted, “You lie. Her name is Nadine.”
Nils looked at Aaron with a puzzled, hurt look on his face. “What– Aaron, what–”
Foley said, “Earlier to day Aaron told me a story about how his sister got her nickname Deena.”
“I did no such thing,” Aaron said. “You can’t prove that.” He turned suddenly to look at Jeremy, as if remembering Jeremy’s earlier jab at him. “Well, he can’t.”
Jeremy said, “Page, what’s this all about?”
Aaron said, “That’s a great fucking question.”
Jeremy said, “Aaron, shut up. Page, why are you making a big deal about Deena’s name?”
“Because I think Aaron remembers you.”
Aaron shouted, “That’s crazy! Nobody remembers a Forgotten!”
“I do,” Page said, “and Jeremy does.”
“Well, I don’t.”
Page said, “Jeremy, how did Deena get her nickname?”
“I was two and a half years old when she was born. I couldn’t pronounce her name. I called her Deena. Gil and Aaron and Dad thought it sounded cute, so they started calling her Deena, too.”
Page said, “Two hours ago Aaron told me that it was Gil who couldn’t pronounce her name.”
“I said no such thing.”
“Then what’s your version? Why do you call her Deena?”
“I don’t. Her name is Nadine.”
“Then why did you call her Deena when you were talking to Gil?”
“When I was– How do you know what I said to Gil?”
“Because he told the police, and the police told me.”
“The police! What are you doing talking to the pol–”
Jeremy said, “Will one of you two please tell me what you’re talking about?”
Page looked at Aaron. “Do you want to tell him?”
“Tell him what? What do you think you know?”
“Jeremy, do you remember what happened with the poster I told you about? And my picture in the newspaper? And the newspaper story about you?”
“How could I forget? They changed.”
“They changed. The details about you disappeared. The details about me disappeared.” Page turned to Nils. “How about you, Nils? Do you remember what happened to the markings on your bedroom door?”
Nils nodded.
“Jeremy, as far as your family knows you never existed. If you never existed, then you were never there to mispronounce your sister’s name.”
Aaron said, “Maybe Deena got her nickname some other way.”
Jeremy said, “Shut up, Aaron.” To Page he said, “But Aaron has a point. Maybe Deena got her nickname some other way.”
Page said, “But that’s not what happened, Jeremy. Without a two-and-a-half year old Jeremy in the family to mispronounce her name, Nadine stayed Nadine until yesterday.”
Jeremy said, “Yesterday? What happened yesterday?”
“Yesterday Nadine announced that she wanted Gil to call her Deena.”
Aaron said, “Yesterday? Mister Foley, that’s a little bit too much of a coincidence, don’t you think? You’re going to have to come up with a better story than that.”
“No, I don’t think it’s a coincidence. You see, she got the idea from a strange boy who showed up at her house and called her Deena.”
“Jesus,” Jeremy said.
“So,” Page said, “Until yesterday, nobody in the world but you remembered Nadine as Deena. So why did Aaron call her Deena?”
Aaron said, “That’s not true.”
Nils said, “It is true, Aaron. You told me her name was Deena.”
“Maybe in all this confusion you’re remembering it wrong.”
Page said, “So, Aaron, when did you start calling your sister Deena?”
“I don’t have to answer to you.”
Jeremy said, “Jesus Jumping Crimeny, Aaron, have we sunk to ‘You’re not the boss of me’? Answer the question.”
“I must have heard the name from you.”
Page said, “But you used the name with Gil last night. And you didn’t talk to Jeremy until this morning.”
“Maybe Gil told me last night and he doesn’t remember.”
“No, he remembers quite distinctly. He was most upset when I knew her name, and then when you said it unprovoked a half hour later he was stunned. He was convinced that you, Jeremy, and I were all in some kind of conspiracy together.”
Nils turned and walked away from the others.
Jeremy said, “Aaron, I need to hear it from you. I want a straight answer. Did you do this to us?”
“God, no! What’s happened to all of you is terrible? Why would I do that?”
Watermelon said, “Because we worship you.”
Aaron turned to Watermelon with a shocked look on his face. “What?”
“All of these kids– all of us worship you. You’re all we’ve got. You’re the only family we’ve got now.”
Jeremy said, “A savior.”
Page said, “What?”
“Something Nils said. ‘Your brother has been something of a savior to me. To all of us.’”
Nils said, “Aaron was there for me when nobody else was. Now I understand why.”
Aaron said, “Nils, what are you saying? You think I did this to you on purpose? My God, Nils, you’re like a brother to me.”
A chill ran down Jeremy’s spine. Like a brother to me. Something about that phrase– “Oh, my God. Oh my God!” Jeremy turned and grabbed Aaron by the shirt, sending him stumbling back. “Oh my God! Aaron, what have you done? Dear God, what have you done!”
“Jeremy, I haven’t done anything. Calm down.”
“You haven’t done anything!” Jeremy said. He turned to Nils. “How old are you?”
“I’m fiftee–”
“Johnny, how old are you?”
“Twelve–”
“Nils, how many ten-year-olds do you have?”
“Ten-year– Just two. Just the two… girls.”
“Nobody older than fifteen. Two ten-year-old-girls. Johnny is twelve. How many do you have in between those ages?”
Nils thought for a minute. “There are clusters. Fifteen years old and twelve years old. And then the two girls…”
“Jesus,” Aaron said. He had a faraway stricken look. “What– What have I–”
Jeremy grabbed Aaron again. “What did you do? What did you do?”
Aaron suddenly went rigid and his face drained of color. “Guh,” he said.
Behind Aaron, Watermelon made a quick upward motion with his arm. Blood sprayed in slow motion in an arc off his hand.
“Abbit…,” Aaron said. “Eff…” And he fell. Jeremy still holding onto Aaron’s shirt, fell with him.
Nils shouted, “Johnny, no!”
Jeremy looked up at Watermelon, who was staring at the insanely tiny bloody pocketknife that he held his bloody hand. Watermelon opened his fingers and the knife fell. He turned his open-fingered hand and looked at it in fascination.
Jeremy looked down at his brother, whose eyes went in and out of focus.
Weakly Aaron said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t–”
Jeremy said, “Stop, Aaron. Don’t say anything.”
“Jeremy, I– I remember you. I–”
Jeremy threw his arms around his brother’s neck. “Shh. It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything.”
Aaron jerked in Jeremy’s arms. “Jer… family…”
Aaron deflated and went limp. Jeremy relaxed his hold on his brother. Aaron’s shoulders and head slid gently to the floor. His glistening eyes did not see his brother’s face. His pallid skin did not feel his brother’s tears.
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Okay, lemme get this straight:
* The VC did something to make Page be forgotten.
* Aaron knows how to do the same thing to make other people be forgotten, so he can get a big ol’ ego boost?
* Little ol’ Watermelon is a stone cold killah?
Whoa.