“You’re wrong. There’s nowhere I belong.”
“Well, you certainly don’t belong out there. The fact that you almost blew yourself up proves it.”
Lev doesn’t want to talk about his days as a clapper. Not to Una. Instead he decides to share something else. “I haven’t told anyone this, but I had a dream before my fever broke. I was jumping through the branches of a forest.”
Una considers it. “What kind of forest? Pine or oak?”
“Neither. It was a rainforest, I think. I saw this animal covered in fur. It was leading me.”
Una smiles, realizing what Lev is getting at. “Sounds like you’ve finally found your animal spirit. Was it a monkey?”
“No. It had a tail like a monkey, but its eyes were too big. Any idea what it could have been?”
Una shakes his head. “Sorry. I don’t know much about rain forest animals.”
But then Lev hears a voice behind him. “I think I know.” He turns to see Kele standing in the doorway “Big eyes, small mouth, really cute?”
“Yeah . . .”
“It’s a kinkajou.”
“Never heard of it.”
Una smirks at Lev. “Well, it’s heard of you.”
“I did a report on kinkajous,” Kele says. “They’re like the cutest animals ever, but they’ll rip your face off if you mess with them.”
The smirk never leaves Una’s face. “Small, cute, and not to be messed with. Hmm . . . Who does that remind me of?”
That makes Kele laugh and Lev scowl.
“I am not cute,” Lev growls.
“Matter of opinion, little brother. So tell me, did your guide give you any sort of task?”
Lev hesitates, but then decides to tell her, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. “I think he wanted me to pull the moon from the sky.”
Una laughs. “Good luck with that one.” Then she snaps the rifle closed with a satisfying clang.
21 • Cam
Cam and Roberta’s Washington town house becomes the place to be invited to. Dinner soirees abound with international dignitaries, political movers and shakers, and pop culture icons, all of whom want a proverbial piece of Camus Comprix. Sometimes their attention is so aggressive, Cam wonders if they actually do want a piece of him as a souvenir. He dines with the crowned prince of a small principality he didn’t know existed until the entourage showed up at the door. He does an after-dinner jam with none other than music superstar Brick McDaniel—the artist who comes to mind when you think of the words “rock star.” Cam is actually so starstruck, he becomes a gushing fan—but when they jam side by side on guitar, they are equals.
The heady lifestyle he leads is addictive and all-encompassing. Cam keeps having to remind himself that this is not the prize—nor is it the path to the prize. All this glitz and glamour are merely distractions from his purpose.
But how can you bring down the people who’ve given you this extraordinary life? he occasionally asks himself in weaker moments. Like the moment when Brick McDaniel actually asked for his autograph. He knows he must be careful to ride the tornado—and not be drawn into it.
* * *
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“I’m needed back on Molokai,” Roberta tells him one evening. She’s come down to the basement where they’ve set up a full gym for him. His old physical therapist, back when he was first rewound, used to say that his muscle groups didn’t work and play well with others. If only he could see Cam now.