15. Gerard #2
“All three of us were so tired of rejection at that point, so close to quitting the entertainment industry altogether, that we were desperate for something new. I think that’s the only reason Gavin and I said yes,” he relayed, soaking in the ice-cold bath of memories.
The chill cut him to the bone. “When we got that first record deal, we baked in the hiatus. Three albums and then reevaluate. We promised.”
“Promises are wasted air.” Emory’s tone was as jagged as a serrated knife.
“That may be true, but I think we can both agree neither of us is in a position to leave here,” Gerard said.
“Yes. I guess we both need to be invisible for a while,” Emory said, contemplation cast over his words.
“In a less literal way for me, at least. I’ve been known to faint at the sight of blood,” Gerard said, followed by a small laugh.
“I’m not in the market for test subjects at this juncture anyhow,” said Emory. “I have not deduced the dosing and duration of the serum in a human being.”
“So you are stuck like that?” Gerard asked, trying not to sound as pleased as he was.
“I am temporarily fixed in this state,” Emory said, which almost made Gerard roll his eyes.
“When I tested the serum on Marvel Jr., I was able to calculate the half-life of the drug and the blood substitute. But I was not thinking about metabolic rates and organ function when I decided to inject myself. Allometric scaling is a predictor, but it’s not necessarily consistent across species. ”
“I’m going to pretend I understood most of what you said,” Gerard joked. “For me, I just want to know what it’s like to not have eyes on me for a while and to explore my own interests and desires outside the band and the business. I never got my own young adulthood.”
“Me neither, really,” Emory said.
“There’s one piece I’m still not understanding. Why invisibility?” Gerard asked.
A hmm came from Emory. Gerard imagined Rodin’s The Thinker come to life, sitting across from him. So much stoic intensity.
“At one of the homes I was in, one of my foster brothers was obsessed with superheroes. The family had a small collection of old DVDs they’d let us watch on Friday nights.
Whenever it was his turn to pick, he chose Fantastic Four,” Emory said.
“I must’ve watched it at least five times in a single summer.
I took to Sue Storm, who goes by the Invisible Woman.
I liked the way manipulating light rays helped her fight science-based threats. ”
“You want to be a superhero?” Gerard asked.
“Just a hero would suffice,” Emory said, clearly brushing off any childish insinuations. “There could be real medical, personal, and military uses for an invention like mine once I understand how to fully harness it. I want to help people.”
“By pranking them?” Gerard asked, referring to the stolen golf carts and the floating apples and the vandalized signs.
Emory said nothing. Whether embarrassed or pleased, Gerard couldn’t tell.
“Look, if we’re going to both stay here in this room, we have to make some promises, at least with each other,” Gerard said, since he was from the land of contracts and clauses. “We should set some base rules for the space, starting with no more breaking mirrors and no more throwing my stuff.”
“What if you piss me off?” Emory asked teasingly.
“Listen, I’m no Marcus Marvel. I know how to do my own dishes, and I wipe the seat after I take a leak,” he said.
“Neither of us can be arousing suspicion right now. Our best chances of staying undetected are by sticking together.” It was the truth, even if he didn’t exactly like it when he came to Iping for solitude.
“What are you proposing?” Emory asked, setting his mug down.
“A roommate agreement,” he said. “Since neither of us has anywhere else to go, it only makes sense that we share the space.”
“How exactly are we going to share one room?” Emory asked. “There’s barely enough space for my experiments. Plus, there is only one bed.”
An unexpected heat swept through the room. Gerard shook away any rumbling butterflies that unhelpfully materialized in his stomach.
When We the Wells first started touring, doing tiny gigs in midsize cities, he’d shared cramped tour buses and small hotel rooms with his brothers and their road crew, so he understood the importance of a timetable, especially as someone who needed his alone time to get by.
“I think shifts would work best. Would you say you’ve always been a night owl? ”
“I adapt to work when I can and sleep when I need to. Time of day has never factored into that for me. Why?” Emory asked.
“We could adopt a bed-share. I’ll take the bed nights while you work.
Clearly, your experimentation hasn’t disturbed me before, so I should be able to sleep right through,” Gerard detailed, agreement forming in small chunks.
“We could convene over breakfast, then I could go out late mornings and afternoons to give you time to sleep.”
“What will you do all day?” Emory asked.
Gerard recalled the church choir practice that Regina had been leading when he went in search of guidance from Father Daniels. “It’s been six years since I’ve had time all to myself. I’ll think of something.” Think, he thought, is literally what I need to do.
“Okay. That brings us to dinner,” Emory said, clearly laying this out in a neat calendar like Gerard had been doing in his head.
“You said that you cook, right?” Gerard asked, nearly hopeful.
“I can cook, but I’m no chef,” he said, sounding insecure.
Gerard shrugged his shoulders. “Simple is fine by me. I prefer it, actually.”
“You want me to cook for you?” Emory asked.
“I figure if I pay the rent and buy the groceries, you can make the food and clean up a bit every now and then.” Gerard sensed they were eye to eye as they spoke but could not—for obvious reasons—be sure. Leveling with someone was hard this way. “Isn’t that fair?”
“I don’t have time to be cooking and cleaning. I never bother with any of that stuff,” Emory said, and it had to be the truth, given the state the apartment had been in when Gerard arrived. “I’m not going to play your stay-at-home husband.”
Words stalled in Gerard’s throat. That’s not what he’d meant at all, and anger sparked fresh in his belly.
“You can’t keep going around joyriding and stealing like a common criminal anymore.
If you keep drawing attention to yourself like you’ve been, you’re bound to get both of us caught.
I understand people have not been the kindest to you and you were just doing what you had to do to get by or whatever, but for now, I have the money to float us both, and if I’m going to do that, I expect a little bit in return. ”
Emory replied, “Well, don’t expect it from me.” The arms of the robe folded across the chest.
“That’s my final offer,” Gerard said, only to be met with silence, which he took personally.
Gerard stepped toward the door where his shoes were.
“I’m going for a walk. If you’re not here when I get back—and I will be coming back because I’m the one paying rent on this place—then I will happily forget this nightmare ever happened.
But if you are here when I get back, I hope you’re ready to figure this out. ”
Gerard didn’t have an expression to go off of, so he couldn’t tell if Emory was thinking or scowling or appearing remorseful.
All he heard was crackling silence. All he saw was a propped-up robe and a pair of downturned glasses.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t believe that you’re a monster,” Gerard said before he left with his jacket in his hand, “but I do think it’s easier for you to believe that you are so you don’t have to face the fact that maybe you’re just a self-absorbed asshole. ”
With that, he slammed the door.