eyebrows raised in surprise.
'Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to stay for a while.' Jade pulled his badge from his back pocket. 'Jade Marlow, FBI.'
The concern on the man's face lessened. 'Oh. Thought you were one of those fellows from A Current Affair or Hard Copy. They've been calling all morning.'
'I can imagine,' Jade said. 'I just need a few minutes of your time.'
'Well, I suppose I should invite you in. I'm Thomas Atlasia. You like soup?'
'You keep the lights off to keep the house cool and then you cook soup?'
The man laughed. 'If you eat hot, your body cools.'
Jade nodded politely at his logic, or lack thereof. 'I see. But I think I'd better pass.'
Thomas showed Jade to the living room. Brown furniture and thick brown carpeting made the room darker than it should have been; it seemed to devour all the light let in by the windows.
The fireplace was composed of large white-and-beige rocks that stuck out at strange angles to form an uneven surface. A Haydn symphony played in the background, the roll of a drum momentarily filling the air.
Jade sat in a large brown chair, sinking in until he felt as if his knees were touching his chin. Mr. Atlasia sat down on the hearth. Apparently, he wasn't bothered by the jagged edges of the rocks.
'Now,' he said, then paused as if summoning his courage before turning his mind to the subject. 'My son. I would like to reiterate that my son has not tried to contact me. I haven't visited him or spoken to him in over eleven years, nor has my wife.'
'Deborah?' Jade asked, just to break up the rehearsed speech.
'Yes. Darby. She just went to the store. She'll be back soon. What exactly can I do for you?'
'Mr. Atlasia-'
'Please. Call me Thomas.'
'Okay. Thomas. What was he like before his childhood incident?'
Mr. Atlasia paused and cast the line of his memory back, disturbing still waters. Jade watched his face to see if he told everything that was dredged up.
'I'd like to say that he was a normal boy. Well-adjusted.'
'You'd like to or you are?'
'I'd like to. You see, he was always extremely sensitive. We used to joke that he was trouble from the first because he was a C-section delivery. Made him more… fragile, I guess. One foot still in the womb, so to speak.'
He raised his head and smiled. 'I remember when he was in kindergarten, one of the beefy kids called him 'The Salamander.' He used to come home crying even though he didn't know what it meant.'
Allander the Salamander. Kids' true brilliance shows in how effectively they hurt each other, Jade thought.
Thomas laughed a sad, hollow laugh. 'I still don't know what the hell it means. But anyway, Mr. Marlow, he would react to everything. He was very fragile and very alive.'
Jade was impressed that Thomas had remembered his name from the informal and rude introduction he had forced at the door.
Thomas continued. 'You see, we're simple people, Mr. Marlow. We believe firmly in education and hard work. We had that boy reading from the day he could stand up. By kindergarten he was at the reading level of a sixth- grader. And what a voracious reader he was. He used to go to the library every other day and stack the books right up to his chin.'
His eyes sparkled fondly at the memory. 'The librarians used to tease him that he would have read everything in there by the time he finished high school.'
He paused for a moment reflectively, then chuckled. 'Well, he never finished normal high school, but I'll be damned if he didn't read every book in that library by the time he was sixteen. That was before… before he left, you see.'
'We got hold of some of Allander's IQ tests from before he was committed,' Jade said.
He noticed Thomas tense up as Allander's name was said aloud. It was as if Jade had released it into the stagnant air of the house for the first time in years. So far, Thomas had used only euphemisms for his son's name.
Jade continued with his question. 'Was he always so bright?'
Mr. Atlasia smiled, the side of his mouth twitching slightly. 'He takes after his mother's father. That's whom he was named for. Allan Darby, God rest his soul. He was a kind man, a brilliant man. He taught English literature at the state college here for a number of years. His students loved him passionately. He died the week before Allander was born. Heart attack.'
He shook his head slowly. 'So young. Such a wonderful man. He was the youngest professor ever to get tenure there. I recall one of his colleagues said at his funeral that he was the only man he knew who could recite Paradise Lost beginning to end.'
Jade shuddered. 'A dubious distinction.' He was testing Thomas, but even this jab didn't draw an angry response-only a disapproving stare. Very level man, very controlled, he thought.
Mr. Atlasia squinted over at him, his voice becoming serious. 'That's the kind of man he was. He was fascinated by everything. He beheld life through the eyes of a child. Reminded me of that picture of Einstein on a bike.'
Jade cleared his throat. 'I'd like to see Allander's room if that's all right with you.'
'Please, Mr. Marlow. This isn't Great Expectations. We weren't exactly going to keep a boy's room untouched in our house to remind us. Memories can be painful. We cleaned out his things years ago.'
Jade leaned forward, placing his thumbs under his chin. He stared intently at Thomas and the small yellow ring in his green eyes seemed to glow with anticipation.
Thomas, obviously intimidated by Jade's glare, braced himself for the next question.
'How do you feel about your son, Mr. Atlasia?'
The door from the garage banged open. 'Hello, honey, I'm back. You should've seen the look the kid at the counter gave me when I went through the whole line just to buy a single carrot.' A pocket-book banged down on the kitchen table and then some keys. 'Thought I was some kind of pervert or somethi-'
Mrs. Atlasia came around the corner into the living room, and upon seeing Jade, stopped mid-sentence. She blushed, covering her mouth with her hand.
Although she was in her sixties, Deborah Atlasia was an extremely attractive woman. Her smile radiated charm and grace, and she had a becoming self-assurance. She could fill an empty room with her smile. Her warmth carried over to her eyes. Jade recognized her eyes-they were Allander's down to the crow's-feet that wrinkled from the sides.
It was eerie looking at those eyes, Jade thought, wondering how Thomas Atlasia could look into them every night and not see his son's reflection. Maybe he did.
Jade struggled to rise from the plush seat.
'I am dreadfully sorry. And rather embarrassed, too, now that I think about it. I'm Deborah, but you can call me Darby.' She extended a hand and several elegant silver bracelets jingled around her wrist.
'Jade. Jade Marlow. You go by your maiden name, Mrs. Atlasia?'
Again, Jade was unsuccessful in his attempts to stand. She walked over and gently pushed him back into the chair, placing her hand on his shoulder and applying pressure.
'Please. Not Mrs. Atlasia. It makes me want to look for Tom's mom.' She laughed an elegant, womanly laugh. 'And believe me, I'd rather not.'
Thomas tilted his head and gave her a look of mock warning.
'Just kidding, hon.' She smiled at her husband.
Pushing her light brown hair behind her ear with a cupped hand, she looked at Jade as if for the first time. 'So what do you do, Mr. Marlow? I mean, why are you here?' She stopped. 'Oh no. That sounds atrocious, I don't mean that.' She smiled again. 'I mean, what allows us to be graced with your presence?'
'Nice recovery,' Jade said, smiling and still trying to stand up.
'Thanks. I thought you wouldn't notice.'
'FBI. Sorry-I notice everything.'
