Icarus

Kid glanced down. Peeking out from the bottom of his T-shirt sleeve was a hint of a white bandage. 'It's nothing,' he said.

'What happened?'

Kid hesitated. 'A cut.'

'How?'

Now Kid fidgeted. He bit his lower lip, chewed it until it turned white, swiveled his head uncomfortably and finally said, 'The Mortician.'

'She cut you?'

'I… I talked about the idea of breaking up. She got upset and-'

'Kid, did she do that with a knife?'

Kid nodded. 'It was mostly an accident.'

'I think this is getting out of hand.'

'Look, can we not talk about this? I don't want to talk about the Team anymore.'

'Why not?'

Kid now pulled out a small chart. 'There are six hundred muscle groups in the body, comprising forty percent of your body weight-'

'What's happening that you don't want to talk about?'

Ignoring him, Kid went on, looking only at his chart. 'We're gonna go to town on those muscles now.'

'Kid-'

'No!'

Jack was startled by the vehemence behind Kid's shout. He said nothing until Kid looked up and their eyes met. Then Jack nodded. While he nodded, the thought that was in his head was: He ran before. I don't want him to run again. Something's going on and I don't understand it – but I don't want to push him away. I don't want him running. So he didn't go beyond the nod, which let Kid know that he was willing to drop the subject.

'Here's a schedule.' Kid tapped his chart again. But before he could go any further, Mattie came running into the room.

She looked around frantically, expecting to find something wrong, and was surprised that the room was calm. 'What was that screaming?' she said, and though her voice was even, her eyes were fierce. Her anger was directed at Kid, and when he didn't answer she said, 'Don't you start screaming and upsetting things,' she said.

'It's all right, Mattie,' Jack told her.

'I don't want him screaming at you. And I don't want him hurting you more than you already been hurt.' She faced Kid again. 'You understand what I'm telling you?'

'Yes,' Kid said, all force gone from his voice.

'You hurt him once. And you are not going to do it again.'

'You're right. I'm sorry.'

She stood in the doorway, scowling, until Jack said, 'It's really okay. I swear.'

Mattie nodded, satisfied that she'd done her job, turned, and headed back to the kitchen. There was an awkward silence in the room until Kid said, 'She protects you.'

'Yes.'

'Well, she's right to.'

'Right or not, I'm glad she does.'

Kid cleared his throat, tapped his chart again, and said, 'Okay, for now, we're gonna follow this four times a week.'

Jack frowned and looked over the chart in Kid's hand. There were all sorts of columns, neatly printed out on a computer. The exercises were impossible. Kid wanted him to do things he could not do.

'You are joking, right?' he asked Kid. 'You want me to run?

'We're not gonna get there tomorrow, Jack. But a year from now, yeah, I think you'll be able to do all this. And you don't have to run a ten-minute mile. We can start at fifteen. Or twenty. I just want you to get on the treadmill and-'

'You're completely out of your mind.'

'When are you gonna learn to trust me?'

'I trust you.'

'You don't.' Kid's voice had no anger in it now, just a quiet determination that was as strong as the day he'd shown up in the living room and challenged Jack to get well, challenged him to fight back against the pain. 'I'm serious. How can you not believe me when I say you're going to do something? How can you not trust me after all this?'

Jack took a long time before saying, 'Kid, to be perfectly honest, I think I had all my trust shot and cut out of me.'

Jack could see the hurt on his face. But Kid just nodded and said, 'Okay, will you at least try the treadmill? I promise we'll go slow. All you have to do is say when it hurts and I'll stop.'

Jack didn't say anything. But he stepped onto the treadmill and, as Kid pressed the start button, he began walking, gradually picking up speed, then a bit more, and then more until he was moving at a light jogging pace. He waited for the pain to come crashing into his hip but it didn't. It was there, but not a crash, more of a wave, and for a moment he broke stride. But he saw Kid watching him and he thought he could run through this particular pain. He knew he'd ache like hell the next day and the one after that. But it was okay. He could do this. He was running. It was the slowest damn run in history but he was running.

'I met someone,' Kid said quietly. 'It's been pretty intense.'

'A new Destination?'

'It's the perfect nickname for her,' Kid said. 'In every possible way.'

'Congratulations.'

'Except… There are things about her… I don't know how to put it.'

'She's another one who scares you?'

Kid did his best to smile but he only managed a glum shrug. 'Jack,' he said, 'everyone I know right now scares me. This one, the new Destination… I don't think she's what I thought she was.'

'Do you want to tell me what's going on,' Jack asked, 'or are we just going to keep talking in riddles?'

'I do.' Kid nodded, as if making a decision. 'And I will. Soon. There's a lot I understand now, but I just have to figure a few more things out. Then I'll tell you everything.'

'Well, in the meantime, can I stop running? I think I'm going to pass out.'

'Lemme tell you a story,' Kid said as Jack moved at his easy pace. Kid's voice was calm now, and soft. Jack knew that tone was as close as he'd get to an apology for Kid's unwillingness to bring him into his personal life. 'When I was playing football, in high school, we were playing this huge team. I'm talkin' huge; their line averaged two hundred and eighty pounds and ours was maybe two-twenty-five, two-thirty. We thought we were gonna get slaughtered. But our coach said we could win. He said if we could keep it close till the fourth quarter, our aerobic training would kick in. We were in much better shape, he said, and they'd get tired and, even as big as they were, once they were tired, we'd be able to outmuscle them. And you know what? He was right. We beat 'em. And in the fourth quarter, we stomped all over those big fuckers.'

'That's good to know. Maybe I'll re-enroll in high school and try out for the football team.'

'I'm just saying that running's important. You never know what you're going to come up against out there, Jack.' Kid's voice got even quieter, seemed to come from someplace far away. 'You just never know,' he said, 'what kind of huge fuckers you're going to come up against.'

TWENTY-ONE

There she was, totally unsuspecting.

You didn't have to know her, just by looking at her you could tell she was a nice woman. There was something so warm and pleasant about her. So likeable. She was clearly a very loving and caring person. It was all over her face, in the way she walked, as if she were hugging the whole world in her bony arms. It was nice to see. It was