Part 7 (2/2)
”Those two, Carter said they were under control, right? And that they were breathing super fast, like they were winded or something?”
”You've seen something like this before,” Dad said, more of a statement than a question. ”What do you know?”
”It's coming out of Europe, I don't know the exact source,” Barbara said. ”They call it Amp. You guys remember that old movie, Limitless?”
”Sure,” I said. ”About that guy who took a pill, and it woke his brain up. Guy made Einstein look like an idiot sort of thing.”
”Well, Amp is for the body, does the same thing,” Barbara said. ”From what I've heard, the stuff turns your average doofus into a super-athlete for a hour or more at a hit.”
”s.h.i.+t,” Mark said. ”What's the catch? If this stuff was so good, I'd have heard about it being used here in the States.”
”The catch is that not only is it addictive, but it has quite a few side effects as well,” Barbara said. ”First, you can tell from the video, too high a dose will put you into cardiac arrest. I've also heard of people getting aneurysms too. On the low end, those guys will wake up with just about every muscle in their body feeling ready to die, like taking the worst workout that Mark ever put any of us through and magnifying it by ten. Oh, and the fact that their broken bones will now be felt.”
”They don't feel pain?” I asked, not all that surprised. ”No wonder it's addictive.”
”Yeah,” Barbara said. ”I was going to tell you guys about it when I came back for the wedding. Wish I had told you about the rumors I'd heard sooner.”
”Well, you're here now honey,” Patrick said. ”Let's get you unpacked, and all of us will talk later.”
Chapter Twelve.
Barbara
We didn't move Carter into his bedroom. Despite the fact that Andi would have been more than willing to be his nursemaid while she was home, Sophie's deep den mother streak interjected. In the end, Carter walked his way from the infirmary to the entertainment room, and settled himself in on one of the reclining chairs.
”You know, other than getting up to use the toilet, I could stay here for the entire four weeks,” he joked as he elevated his feet. ”In fact, maybe we can invent one of these that has a toilet built-in?”
”Already been imagined by lazies ever since the Barcalounger was introduced,” Mom said with a laugh. ”So no Carter, you don't get to sit on your b.u.t.t for four weeks.”
Carter sighed, then grinned. ”Worth a shot.”
Andi made sure Carter was comfortable while I put together dinner. Besides studying overseas, I'd picked up a flair for cuisine, probably because one of my lovers was a trained chef. I enjoyed the process, and decided to display some of my skills for my family, as everyone else seemed busy. Well, except Riley, who's almost never busy, but was getting ready for a date with his new girlfriend. I reminded myself to ask about her later.
While I was chopping some mushrooms, Andi came into the kitchen. ”Whatcha making?”
”A chanterelle mushroom risotto,” I said. ”I'll pair it off with some pan-seared duck b.r.e.a.s.t.s that I saw in the fridge, and some of the broccoli rabe too, maybe sauteed in a bit of b.u.t.ter.”
”You do that, and Riley won't want to take Janet out for a date. They'll just keep cras.h.i.+ng dinner here,” Andi said with a small smile. ”Can I help?”
”Sure,” I replied. ”Grab another cutting board and a knife, and cut up the rabe into about one inch pieces.”
Andi did what I asked, starting on the vegetable. While she cut, we fell into a comfortable silence. We'd grown up as sisters, and despite having periods of not really getting along, there was n.o.body in the world I was closer to. Even Riley and Carter were different in my relations.h.i.+p with them. Carter was always my big brother, but he and I were different enough that we just mutually agreed unconsciously to be different. Riley was the opposite in that we were almost freakishly similar, and therefore too close. We were friendly rivals, and yes, immediately comfortable with each other.
Andi was somewhere in between. Besides being a girl, there wasn't a lot we shared in common, at least spiritually. At the same time however, for some reason the two of us always tried to reconcile our differences and work together, succeeding more often than not. Andi was like my sister and my best friend. As such, we actually worked together better than I did with either Carter or Riley. ”So Carter's doing good?”
”As good as he can be,” Andi said. ”Riley told me about the new drug, Amp. Is that what he ran into?”
I shrugged. Finis.h.i.+ng the mushrooms, I set them aside in a gla.s.s bowl before starting on scoring the duck b.r.e.a.s.t.s. ”I haven't seen it in person, but from what I've heard about, that's what I'd guess. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it by e-mail or something earlier.”
”You couldn't have known that this Mr. Clean is bringing this stuff into the city,” Andi said. We fell silent, both of us working, before she spoke up. ”Sorry if this screws up your vacation plans.”
”I'm fine,” I said. ”Summer break is soon, like Riley. And I'm in the Master's program, I can even take a semester or two off and not suffer for it. I mostly just have my thesis to go anyway, and that I can work on in my spare time. I'm sorry your wedding is delayed. I know you and Carter have really been looking forward to it.”
Andi chuckled, then shrugged. She finished the broccoli rabe and set her knife down. ”Carter and I are together, regardless of whether the law recognizes it or not. The only delay is in me coming off the birth control pills.”
I nodded in understanding. That was Andi, always the responsible one. ”You know you don't have to,” I said. ”If you do the math, you and Carter both were conceived before our parents were officially married.”
Andi nodded and shrugged again. ”I know, but I guess I just want things to be as simple as possible for Patrick and all. We dance on the edge of disaster anyway with doing all of this, and we've gotten away with it. It wouldn't really be a scandal, but you know how politics is. I wouldn't want to hurt Patrick.”
I laughed and set my knife down, giving Andrea a careful hug with my dirty hands. ”Andi, this is what makes you so d.a.m.n adorable. You worry about everyone else, when you should worry about yourself more often. I swear, I've only seen you act without worrying about how it'll make the rest of the family look only once.”
”Oh? When was that?” Andi asked, looking at me curiously.
”When you finally did what I'd seen in your eyes and my brother's eyes for years, and get together. Seriously, you two were literally made for each other. It was like the universe righting a wrong or something.”
”The universe righting a wrong?” Andi asked. ”Have you been taking up theology as well as everything else over there in Europe?”
”Why not? Business is boring, and my MBA is a walk in the park,” I replied. ”Now, how about you get the chicken stock from the pantry, and I'll show you how to make the best risotto on the planet?”
”Canned or the boxed stuff?”
I s.h.i.+vered in revulsion. ”Never, ever use canned stock, it tastes like the tin it comes in. In fact, tomorrow when you take me to the pistol range, remind me to bring those canned stocks. They'll make good targets. Guess I'm going to have to teach Sophie about food.”
”Oh, I wouldn't worry about it too much,” Andi said with a laugh. ”I don't think this house is suffering too much in terms of food. But if you insist.”
”And she'll promptly dismiss it if she doesn't like it,” I said with another laugh. It was something Sophie and I had gotten used to. She wouldn't try to shut me up when I felt she was doing something wrong, but at the same time I knew she wouldn't accept everything I said. ”I think that started when I tried to show her a better way to vacuum the living room rug.”
Andi laughed, tension loosening from her shoulders as she did. ”Thanks Barb. Having you around is nice.”
”That's what I'm here for. Now, how about you tell me about this new girlfriend of Riley's while we get this dinner finished?”
Chapter Thirteen.
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