AllFreeNovel
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The circle, which is at the center of the garden, is marked by stones, each one engraved with the name of a part—even the parts that aren’t there have a place. Everyone sits in front of their respective stone, and someone—anyone—begins to speak. There seem to be no rules beyond that. It’s a free-for-all, and yet they never seem to speak over one another. Risa notices that it’s the people who got Tyler’s brain that seem to motivate most of the conversation, but everyone participates.
“I’m pissed off,” someone says.
“You’re always pissed off,” someone else responds. “Let it go.”
“I shouldn’t have stolen all that stuff.”
“But you did, so get over it.”
“I miss Mom and Dad.”
“They unwound you.”
“No! I can stop them. It’s not too late.”
“Read my lips: They . . . unwound . . . you!”
“I feel sick to my stomach.”
“I’m not surprised the way you scarfed down that brisket.”
“It tasted like Grandma’s.”
“It was. I convinced Mom to give us the recipe.”
“You talked to her?”
“Well, to her lawyer.”
“It figures.”
“I remember Mom’s smile.”
“I remember her voice.”
“Remember how cold she was toward the end?”
“Sorry, not part of my memory.”
“There’s so much stuff I wanna do, but I can’t remember what it was.”
“I remember at least one thing. Skydiving.”
“Yeah, like that’s gonna happen.”
“Maybe it will,” says CyFi. Then he asks, “How many of you would skydive for Tyler?”
About half the hands go up immediately, then a bunch more with mild reluctance. There are only a couple of holdouts.
“Great,” says CyFi. “It’s a done deal. I’ll have the dads make the arrangements. Tyler’s going skydiving!”
Risa feels like the ultimate outsider, and she can’t help but feel these people are deluding themselves . . . but she also can’t help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, Tyler is really here in some real but immeasurable way. Whether it’s an illusion or not, she’ll never know. Like CyFi said, it’s a matter of faith.
One thing’s for sure, though. If Tyler really is “present,” then he’s got a lot of growing up to do. Risa wonders if a divided person can grow up. Or if they’re stuck at the age at which they were unwound.
When the circle chat is through, CyFi walks Risa back to her room, and Risa can’t keep herself from giving at least one opinion.
“It’s all well and good what you’re playing at here, Cyrus,” Risa says, “but when you stood in front of Congress and fought for the Cap-17 law, you were doing something truly important.”
