Symby (19 page)

Jody rushed about the kitchen, trying to coordinate breakfast for three. He caught the toast just before it would have blackened and attempted to butter the slices before they turned cold. He wasn't quite successful, having to break off from the buttering task to prevent the bacon from burning. As Jody patted the bacon on paper towels to eliminate the grease, he noticed that the eggs were rapidly hardening and the butter in the pan was turning black and smoking. He grabbed the spatula and scraped the eggs out of the pan as best he could. Whoever had coined the term for the eggs he was preparing was wrong. Eggs over easy were not easy.

Today marked a major milestone in the rejuvenation of his parent's relationship. Jody had lain awake the night before, his mind flooded with thoughts of Missy's latest idea and his father's return to the household. His father had been living with them for more than two weeks, but Jody was disappointed. Spud and Kim were getting along well, but not getting involved with each other as much as Jody had hoped. Last night might have changed all that. Jody had heard footsteps crossing the upstairs hallway from his mother's room to his father's room directly above Jody's. There had been whispered conversations for a while, and then the bed had started creaking. Jody didn't have to be Einstein to understand what was happening. He couldn't decide who would be more euphoric about this latest development, his parents or him.

Jody placed the cold slices of toast, the hardened eggs and the blackened bacon onto his plate and put the better items on his parent's plates as he greeted them. They arrived together for the first time since his father had returned. They seemed to be in high spirits. Jody couldn't resist teasing them.

"Morning Mom, morning Dad," he said. "Did you two get a good night's sleep?" He enjoyed watching them exchange knowing glances, sharing what they thought was their little secret.

"Slept straight through," said his father, winking at his mother. "How about you, Kim?"

"Like a rock," she said. "I'm feeling refreshed, how about you?" Jody caught his mother winking back at his father.

"Oh, yeah, refreshed," his father answered. "Really refreshed." The two of them giggled like children, thinking they had put one over on Jody.

"That's great," said Jody. "I made breakfast for you."

"I can see that," said his father. "It looks delicious, thanks. For some reason, I've got a big appetite this morning."

"Me too," agreed his mother. "I guess we're in sync today." The two of them giggled again.

Their charade continued through breakfast, with oblique references to what had happened the night before bandied about. Jody loved it. Keeping what they thought was their special secret from Jody would help bring them together even more. Just after breakfast, he decided to confide in them.

"Mom, Dad," he said. "I have to ask you something about Symby, something Missy and I have been thinking about."

"It can't hurt to ask, right?" said his mother. She had learned of Symby's existence only a week ago. Jody's father hadn't needed any help from Telly to stay sober since he returned home. Jody and Spud had finally decided to let Kim in on the secret without telling her that Spud's recovery had been sparked by Telly. She had been incredulous about their story. Jody and Spud still weren't quite sure that they had convinced her that Symby and Telly had cured Jody and Missy.

"Missy's worried about Symby. He's gotten all bloated and he doesn't vibrate or do anything anymore. She's still getting her medicine from him, but she's worried that he might be sick or dying. If Symby dies, we're in real trouble. Missy thinks we should give Symby to Mr. Belden to see if he can figure out what's wrong with him."

"Are you talking about your biology teacher?" asked Spud.

"Yeah," said Jody. "We checked him out on the web and found out that he used to be a research biologist at the university. We were thinking that he might be able to tell us more about what Symby is and what's wrong with him, maybe even tell us how long Symby can live. Besides, if Symby and Telly really can cure people and even dogs like Snuffles, then shouldn't we at least tell someone who might be able to tell us if Symby's medicine can be manufactured? It's not fair of us to keep Symby's medicine a secret."

Until now, Spud and Kim had been in favor of keeping Symby and Telly a secret between the Mattlins and the Bryants. After all, there weren't enough of the little creatures to cure all of the sick people in the world. Jody and Missy had to come first. If either Symby or Telly were to die, though, then all bets were off. Jody's and Missy's diseases would return and the world would be deprived of the ultimate drug. This was a quandary of unimaginable consequences.

"Has Missy told her parents about her idea?" asked Spud.

"Yes, they've agreed to it," Jody answered. "Missy's thinking about bringing Symby to Mr. Belden today."

"What do you think, Kim?" asked Spud.

"I think that if something is wrong with Symby, Mr. Belden might be our best option for keeping the secret while still getting some help for Symby. Jody's right that it is selfish of us to keep Symby and Telly from the world if other people can be cured too. Besides, aren't you curious to find out what species Symby and Telly are and learn more about them? My biggest concern is ensuring that Mr. Belden keeps the secret. If there are no more of these little creatures and it turns out that their medicine can't be put into a pill or a tube, then we need to make damned sure that Jody and Missy get to keep Symby and Telly."

Kim's reasoning made sense to Spud and to Jody. It was agreed that Symby could be brought to Mr. Belden, provided that Mr. Belden kept him for no more than one night and promised not to disclose their existence.

"I'm glad you two are okay with this," said Jody. "I have a feeling that Missy was going to do it without me anyway. She's really worried about Symby."

Kim and Spud both had looks of concern on their faces. The looks they exchanged told Jody all he needed to know about what they were thinking. They were worried about what might happen to him if Symby and Telly died. Spud couldn't handle watching Jody decay the first time around. Would the same problem arise again?

"Do you want the bike?" asked his father.

"No thanks, Dad," answered Jody. "I'd rather run. It's good for me."

Jody had kept the bike hidden behind the garage until his father had come back home. As it turned out, his father needed a way to commute to the hardware store and the bike had served that purpose well. His father hadn't even applied for a driver's license yet, saying that three years without a car had kept him in great physical condition despite his drinking. Jody believed that the truth was that Spud just didn't want to relive the bad experiences he had had driving while he was still drinking.

Jody waved goodbye to his father and mother and began his jog to school.

Missy was waiting for Jody at the school steps when he pulled up, catching his breath and wiping sweat from his face with his sleeve.

"My parents said it's okay to give Symby to Mr. Belden," he said. "Did you bring him?"

"Yep," answered Missy. "He's in my knapsack. Did you bring Telly?"

"Yep," replied Jody. "Poor little things, we're always sticking them in places they don't want to be."

"They'll be all right," said Missy. "Especially if Mr. Belden can figure out what's wrong with Symby."

The school day dragged. Neither Jody nor Missy could think about anything but the missions they had planned for this afternoon. Their anticipation grew as they sat through Mr. Belden's lecture, a relatively dry lesson about fruit-fly genetics. When class was finally over, they waited for the classroom to empty out before approaching his desk. He smiled as they stood before him.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked disarmingly. "Having trouble with the material?"

"Actually, we're here for a different reason, a very important reason," said Missy.

Mr. Belden peered at them above narrow glasses perched near the bottom of his nose. "Oh? And what reason might that be?"

"Mr. Belden, what we're about to tell you is going to sound unbelievable and maybe it is," she said, "but we feel like we can trust you and you have to promise that you don't tell anyone ever."

"Tell them what? You haven't said..."

"You have to promise not to tell anyone what we tell you forever, or we won't be able to show you Symby." said Jody.

"Forever is a very long time," said Belden, looking bemused and confused. "What's a Symby?"

"Promise first and then we'll tell you," said Missy.

"Well, it looks as though we've arrived at a bit of an impasse," said Belden. "I can't promise to keep a secret if I have no idea what I'm committing to and you can't reveal your information unless I promise. Is there a way you can provide me with some information about what I'll be promising without giving away anything critical?"

Missy thought about his request for a moment and then answered.

"Remember when you gave us that lecture about the three different kinds of symbiosis?"

"Yes, parasitic, commensal and mutualistic, as I stated in class."

"In class you said that the best type for evolution was mutualistic, where both species benefit," said Missy. "We think we've discovered a species that belongs to a new class of symbiosis."

"Ah, the student becomes the teacher," said Mr. Belden. "Go on."

"You know that a few months ago, Jody and I both had horrible diseases, right?" asked Missy.

"Yes, I was worried about you both, but you do seem to have rebounded. I'm happy for you both."

Missy continued. "Well, now we don't have diseases, even though we were supposed to be incurable. We've been cured, at least for the time being. Besides us, Jody's dog had arthritis and he's fine now and Jody's father was an alcoholic and he's recovered now. We know why all of us have been cured. It's because we've all been in contact with a fourth class of symbiotic species. That's all I can say unless you promise to keep everything a secret."

Mr. Belden wasn't sure whether he was amazed or amused. Eighth graders were universally imaginative, constantly inventing stories, but he couldn't deny that something had helped both Jody and Missy overcome their supposedly incurable diseases. Ultimately, his curiosity could not be contained.

"All right, you win, I promise to keep your secret," he finally agreed, wondering what he might be getting himself into.

Missy and Jody glanced at each other. Jody nodded and Missy removed her knapsack, pulled Symby out and attempted to hand him to Mr. Belden. Mr. Belden shied away from accepting the little creature.

"Missy, I don't see how a rat qualifies as a different species," he said, failing to hide his displeasure.

"Symby is not a rat!" protested Missy. "He just looks like one when you first see him, but he's not anything like a rat. He's nice and he's cute and he's not anything like anything! That's why we need you to figure out what he really is!"

Mr. Belden peered more closely at the feared rat and quickly realized he had been mistaken in his initial assessment. The little ball of fur had no eyes, no ears, no nose and no legs, just a round orifice at its bottom. He relented, taking Symby from Missy and holding him in his hand. He was beginning to feel sorry for the little thing. How could a creature like this even manage to survive? The creature began to vibrate in his hand, startling him and almost causing him to drop it.

Missy laughed and Jody smiled.

"He likes you!" said Missy. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you. Do you have any diseases, Mr. Belden?"

Belden pointed to his heavily padded shoes. "I've had a problem with plantar fasciitis for years," he said. "It hurts when I walk."

"Why don't you stroke Symby for a while?" said Missy. "If he gives you his medicine, you'll probably feel a whole lot better by tomorrow. Then you'll believe us. Don't get scared if he puts his medicine on your hand, though. Just wipe it on your skin. It goes away like lotion."

Belden was still skeptical, but if the children's outlandish story just happened to be true, then there was something in it for him. What did he have to lose?

He began stroking the creature, feeling its vibrations increase in intensity. True to Missy's word, the little ball of fur began emitting droplets of clear liquid onto his hand. As Missy had instructed, he rubbed the liquid into his arm until it was absorbed into his skin, feeling foolish as he did so. Regardless of whether Symby could actually cure anything, he suddenly realized that he was beginning to feel something akin to affection for Symby. There was something compelling about holding such a helpless little creature.

"How will you go about figuring out what Symby is, Mr. Belden?" asked Jody. "Will you use the school lab? If you do, please make sure that nobody sees Symby. Symby has got to be a secret."

"If it's all right with you two, I'd like to bring Symby home tonight," said Belden. "I have a fairly sophisticated lab in my basement. It's a legacy of my tenure at the university. I'll probably start by analyzing Symby's DNA and then I'll take blood and tissue samples. I'll also perform some tests designed to determine what this magical liquid is that you two keep talking about."

Missy and Jody exchanged looks, nodding to each other. "Okay, Mr. Belden," said Jody. "You can bring him home, but we have to have him back tomorrow at class, otherwise Missy will start to get worse again."

"So the effects of Symby's medicine aren't permanent?" asked Belden.

"Not as far as we can tell, at least not for physical problems," said Jody. "When my dog found Symby, I got better in just a few weeks, so I gave Symby to Missy. She got better right away but then I got worse. When Jimmy Hines stole Symby from Missy, she got worse again and almost died. When he gave Symby back, she recovered almost completely. My dog Snuffles has arthritis and he followed the same pattern that I did with and without Symby. The only disease that stayed cured without Symby was my father's alcoholism."

"So the reason you're so concerned about secrecy is that you're both afraid you'll regress without him, is that the case?" asked Belden.

"That's right," replied Jody. "We want to find out what Symby's medicine is so maybe we can help the whole world, but if it turns out that Symby's medicine can't be duplicated, then we need to have him back. We're also worried that Symby might die, because he's been sluggish and fat lately."

"You do realize that you're giving me an exceedingly difficult task?" said Belden, bemused again. "Saving the world in just one night might be more than I can handle."

"We have faith in you, Mr. Belden," said Missy. "If you think there's a chance that Symby's medicine can be manufactured, but you need more time, we can talk then about sharing him with you."

"Fair enough, I promise I'll have him back to you tomorrow," responded Belden. "One more question, though. Why do you think that Symby represents a fourth class of symbiotic species?" Missy provided a straightforward answer.

"Because Symby does more than even mutualistic species do. You said in class both species benefit in a mutualistic relationship, but Symby goes beyond that. He actually improves the health of anybody he comes in contact with. Remember you said that cooperation might have had as much to do with evolutionary success as competition?"

"Yes," said Belden.

"Well, I think that Symby ensures his survival by making sure that his host becomes stronger and thrives. If we take care of him, he ensures that we are taken care of in return. Wouldn't that be the ultimate evolutionary mechanism?"

Belden was impressed. Whether these two kids were making this all up or were simply wrong about their theories, they had obviously been paying attention in class. He beamed at his two students. "Yes Missy, I can't think of a better survival strategy. Whether you're correct or not, you're both getting A's in my class just for developing such a theory!"

Missy and Jody high-fived each other and thanked him profusely. Missy handed Belden her knapsack and instructed Belden to place Symby inside it.

"I've got a small bag of cat food in there. He doesn't eat much, but you will need to feed him. You won't need a litter tray. The only thing Symby excretes is his medicine. He never poops or pees."

"Really?" said Belden. "That's peculiar!" The more he learned about this little creature, the more intrigued he was. This would be a most interesting night.

After Missy and Jody said their goodbyes and left the classroom, yet another peculiarity drew his attention. As a biologist, he was well aware of the power of the placebo effect. The power of the mind often caused people to believe that their pain had been mitigated by simple sugar pills. He still believed that Symby's liquid was probably just a powerful placebo. He tried hard to shake off the placebo effect, attempting to objectively analyze what he felt was happening to him. Ultimately, he simply could not deny that his feet already felt vastly better. He peered into the knapsack at Symby and spoke to him softly.

"What exactly are you, little one?"