really put us in a position to do anything.'
Karl looked at the ground and shook his head. He was quiet for a long time.
'I can get the specifics. Would that make a difference?' He didn't look at me.
'Well, yeah, I guess it would.'
Karl lifted his head and looked me straight in the eye.
'Duffy, since those kids died, I ain't been right, I know that. I also know I went from being a hero to being a crazy person everyone laughs at. They did that to me, they fucked me, and they're fucking with a lot of people.'
'Karl-'
'If we're going after them, I'm going to want to finish it and know I've finished it. I don't want them getting away with anything and knowing they're getting away with it.'
'I think I understand,' I said.
'You want to do this?'
'Yeah, I think I do.'
'And you're sure you're ready to hear what I can tell you?'
'Yeah, Karl I am. What I really want to know is how they are able to pull this shit off with other people.'
'Some of its easy-I mean setting a fire isn't hard. What gets more tricky is when they have to manipulate people.'
'Huh?'
'This guy Rukhaber. No doubt he was CIA or Secret Service or something. He probably fucked up and they got to him like they got to me-except he took to the programming.'
'Programming? What the fuck are you talking about?'
'You said you saw my file right? How about all the drugs they had me on? And what happened to me after they started giving them to me?'
'You got worse.'
'Exactly-I fought them. Maybe Rukhaber had a different reaction, maybe he gave in. Who knows, maybe he was nuts. The important point is they set it up for him to flourish, then they went in and blew him up.'
This made my hair hurt. I couldn't tell if Karl was nuts or a genius, or whether I was the one who was getting nuttier.
'So you're talking about mind control?' I said.
'Yeah, but not like Star Trek stuff. The military is good at it and Newstrom was their very best. When they combine it with the right pharmacology they can be very, very good at it.'
'How would they set up a Columbine type thing?'
'Easy. Find the right group of disenfranchised kids, get them to take drugs-nothing hard to do there-give them the right suggestions and access to guns and sit back.'
'Is that what happened at Columbine?'
'It could have. You got a better explanation?'
'Holy shit, Karl. Is this really possible?' I shook my head.
'Now you know why I don't tell everyone the details.'
'Maybe Karl, I just don't know. If it is happening, how come no one is doing anything to stop it?'
'Anyone who believes it is considered crazy,' Karl said.
'Yeah, I guess you're right,' I said. It became quiet between the two of us for a couple of moments.
'Duffy, you mind if I ask you something?'
'No, go ahead,' I said.
'You think I'm crazy and you're worried you might be getting crazy if you follow what I'm saying aren't you?'
'Maybe a little.'
'You still want to get involved?'
'Yeah.'
'Why in hell do you want to do this with me?' I thought about it for a minute. I wasn't sure of the answer, but I had an idea.
Elvis sang If I Can Dream, a song about visualizing a better world where all types of people walk hand in hand. He reached the crescendo.
'A few reasons,' I said.
'You want to share them with me?' Karl sat still and looked right at me.
I thought about it for a second before I said anything. I wasn't sure if I could get the words around what I felt, but I gave it a shot.
'I think it's something like this, Karl: One, I don't like people fucking with other people who can't defend themselves. Two, I don't like the fact somebody fucked with you.' I hesitated.
'Is there something else, Duff?' Karl said.
'I don't like the fact three guys suckered me in the back of the head.'
24
I may have gotten hit in the head too many times, but I had never spent a lot of time following my head anyways. Still, deciding to listen and believe Karl Greene told the truth was something else. I wasn't so confident about my own sanity, and now I teamed up with a guy who liked to wear a football helmet as his main sartorial statement.
Nuts or not, if we were going to foil world-changing terrorist events, I was going to make damn sure I did my homework. Despite how silly even thinking it sounded, I believed it. If you believe something hard enough it becomes true-at least to you.
It was time to talk to Kelley. He'd chew me out and tell me I was nuts, but he'd listen and tell me what he thought. We met during his lunch break at AJ's, which would mean me taking a long lunch at the clinic, but I figured I could call it a consultation with a community member. The Michelin Woman had her door closed, so got out without reliving her version of the Spanish Inquisition.
Only Jerry Number Two sat in AJ's at this early hour. He sat at the bar with his laptop, sipping a Cosmo.
'Hey Jerr, you look lonesome,' I said.
'Nah, spending some quality online time with my D amp;D friends,' Jerry said without taking his eyes off the screen.
'D and D?'
'Dungeons and Dragons. You know, role playing.' I didn't really ever get what that was all about, but when your main hobby is getting punched in the face repeatedly youdon't spend a lot of time making fun of other people's pastimes. AJ stacked boxes. He stopped to slide me a Schlitz, without saying anything by way of greeting.
Kelley came in on cue and in uniform. He got a diet coke and ordered a burger.
'I don't got a ton of time, Duff,' he said 'How's your noggin'?'
'It's mostly all right.'
'So what are we here about?'
'You're going to think I'm nuts.'
'Too late. Let's hear it.' He sipped his diet coke and ran his hand through his flat top.
'All right, you know Karl, my client from the clinic?'
'Yeah-he was in the other night.'
'I told you how he's been making predictions about tragic events and terrorism.'
'Yeah.'
'It turns out its not just crazy paranoia stuff. He got a little fucked up in Iraq because he accidentally shot and killed a couple of little kids.'
'That'll do it. What does that have to do with him being able to predict his or anybody else's future?'
'Well, his best buddy, a guy he enlisted with, finished out his tour and joined a private security force over
