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Henry shines the flashlight right in my face. What the hell? It's me, you idiot. Turn the damn light off.
"It's you," he whispers.
Yes, I know. Now turn the damn light off.
"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be…" I watch him carefully.
Henry Wu was never the one to step on anyone's toes. Not even mine and I would deserve it. Then again, I have a reputation for maiming toes. He scrunches up his face searching for the right way—the nice way to say it.
"Incarcerated?" He wants to say it, but it comes out as a question. That's the sweet way of putting it.
"Locked up. See, I said it and so can you. Repeat after me, boys and girls. Locked. Up."
He shakes his head. "There's no need to be sarcastic, Dennis."
"Don't say my name. The others might hear you." I glance over my shoulder, searching for anybody—particularly Robert—that little prick would think nothing of calling the cops and having them arrest me…just like he and Ray did last time. It's their fault I landed in the slammer.
Henry shrugs. "No one's down here except me. You've got nothing to worry about."
I'm curious. "What are you doing down here?"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing."
"You won't get an answer."
"I'm not surprised."
We stand ten feet apart staring at each other. Finally, I get sick of crouching in the dark corner and stand at my full height—a few inches shy of six feet. Henry's just a bit taller than I am, but he's too humble for his own good so he always appears shorter. He slouches.
"Ray asked me to check the main board down here. Something with the electricity that's powering the island. The hydro enclosure just blanked out…so that's why I'm here."
I smirk. Ray's probably smoked five packs of cigarettes since that little accident. "At least they can't blame me this time."
Henry scowls at my comment and takes a step forward. "You need to get over yourself."
I blink. Coming from Henry…that's shocking. But he's not going to see that his little parting shot puts a dent in my ego. If anybody, Henry's the last person that I would allow to injure me like that. Still, can't blame him for trying.
"Excuse me?"
"You need to get over yourself," he says again in that matter-of-fact tone that he uses when describing to visitors that all Jurassic Park dinosaurs are female because he engineered them that way.
I take a step back and send him a murderous glare. "I'll get over myself…when you get out of my face."
"Actually, it's you who should be getting out of my face. You're not supposed to be here. If you like I can call Robert down and let him deal with you."
"That's okay. You're bad enough on your own. You don't need to call Jurassic Park's Savior to run to the rescue. Or is Dr. Grant sharing that title with him these days?"
Henry shuts off his flashlight and sets it down. He looks up and down the hallway of the shed. There's a catwalk above us and a maze of metal pipes in the shed. The hallway is narrow and smells like rust and leaking water. Gross. I don't miss this dump at all.
"So why are you here?"
Good question. If I don't miss this dump, why am I here?
"Wanted to drop in to say cheers. I haven't worn out my welcome, have I?"
Henry squints at me. "Not yet."
"Yet? What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"Meaning…well you know what it means. So why are you here?"
"I hated the place they sent me too. I need fresh air and freedom. The sort of thing you miss when you live in a cramped cell for twenty-three hours of the day. You wouldn't understand, Henry."
His eyebrows rise slightly. "That's right—the D.A. requested that you get sent to a maximum security prison. I remember that now…hmmm."
"How's Johnny?" Let's talk about anything, Henry. Anything except that place.
"Mr. Hammond's doing fine."
"Has he replaced me yet?" This I've got to know. I bet the old bastard has, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
"Actually…no, he hasn't. I don't think he's going to."
"Really?" I'm not being sarcastic this time. I'm genuinely surprised that Old Man Hammond hasn't found a replacement. Then again, I'm a damn good systems analyst. A computer programmer with my brilliance is nearly impossible to find.
"Really."
An awkward silence. I hear water dripping softly nearby. Must be one of those leaky pipes.
"So you escaped...how did you do it?"
I grin widely. "I left the premises. How I did it…that's for me to know and you to find out."
Henry shakes his head. "Well, I don't have all day to try and get it out of you as to how you broke out. But I'm sure you've got everyone on your tail now."
"Yep, they're searching for me night and day. Let them search and exhaust themselves. That's the way to do it."
"Uh-huh."
Henry picks up the flashlight and turns around as if we both decided to end the conversation. Which is weird because I didn't really end it and neither did he. Then he spins around and points at me.
"You have no idea how lucky you have it, Dennis."
What the hell! Where did that come from?
"Lucky? As in Lucky Charms?"
"Stop being difficult, but wait, you can't help that…it's who you are, right?" Now he has a tinge of anger in his voice. Okay, Henry, you need to relax. Calm down. Eat ice cream with Johnny in his bungalow. Whatever helps you work out your stress.
"Lucky because the entire world knows who you are," Henry spits out and shakes his head furiously. "Everyone knows you."
I roll my eyes as I think about it. "You're right. Everyone knows me. And everyone hates me. The police, the F.B.I., the prosecutor who doesn't understand why I did what I did, but wanted to lock me up. What a moron. Johnny hates me. Donald Gennaro? Did he get a new toupee? Anyway, he hates me for sure because now his precious little park won't open for another six months."
It's true and I know it's true because Gennaro came to the facility to exchange some words with me once about how Jurassic Park's opening date has been delayed for another half year. For crying out loud, he should be thankful it's not closed down permanantly.
"Ray and Robert simply adore me, almost as much as you do. Gerry feels the same way too."
"You can stop now, Dennis."
I stop and I wait. Plus I'm tired. Tired of this stupid place. Why did I come anyway? Must be the nostalgia.
"I worked extremely hard," Henry starts and I can see his face redden with frustration. "I worked my ass off for five to ten years to give John what he wanted: real live breathing dinosaurs."
"Tough tootsie. I worked hard for John too and where did it land me? Serving five to ten years of hard time behind bars." I pause and send him a plastic grin. "Life is sad, don't you agree?"
"You know why you got handed that sentence, so don't even compare it to what I'm saying," Henry hisses.
"Okay. I'll stop." And I really mean it this time. I'll hear out whatever he has to say. "Go on…"
"I work hard, I did things no one else has done before—and no one knows about it. No one except the people on this island. Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler and Dr. Malcolm know. But so what? They're experts in their field. Yet you," he spits out the word 'you'. "You break the law, embarrass InGen by getting us in the newspapers, and yet you're known by everyone. It's not fair."
Henry's trembling in his own fury, and if he weren't serious, I would've laughed at him by now.
"When will I be known? When can I write my research and have my name in scientific journals?"
"I don't know, Henry. Whenever you want? Why don't you do it right now?"
"Because John wants me to wait. Wait for what? I did my years of hard work. But anyway…you're famous Dennis. I hope you're happy."
He starts to leave again and something inside my mind melts. He's got it all wrong. I tell him this. "You've got it backwards. People know me, but they want no part of me. At least you still got that going for you."
I stare at the ground and wait for him to leave. Knowing him, he'll call Robert; the cops will come to the island, slap the cuffs, and then ship me back to the States. Henry calls that being 'famous'. It's not 'famous'. It's called being wanted, and looking over your shoulder every second because the man on the corner who's asking for spare change can be a bounty hunter in disguise. It's fucking scary, to be blunt about it. I don't want this life and I doubt Henry wants it. He just wants his name out there and I can't fault him for that.
"I don't blame you…"
"What do you know? You're a…"
He can't even say it.
But I can. I'm a has-been, a shadow of what I used to be. I used to have a well-respected name. Several communication companies in America knew of my reputation with computers until I screwed it up for myself by hooking up with the corporate enemy, Biosyn. I hope Henry does what he's supposed to do and stays within his boundaries. Unlike myself…but…I already made my choices and whatever. No use in living a life of regret. Henry on the other hand…he's a smart man and he won't sink that low. At least, I hope not.
"A convict."
Henry nods and picks up his flashlight. "I guess if you want to call it that."
"It's the truth, but anyway…you're a geneticist."
"I hope to be a world-renowned geneticist one day."
"You will. John hired you for a reason. He has total faith in you and he still trusts you. I'm sure he values everything you've done to make his dreams possible. Look at it like that…it's not so bad. Your day will come."
"When? It's like what's the point of working hard if you're just going to be overlooked."
I can't really answer that. I know the feeling of being overlooked and underappreciated all too well…but still…
"Henry, you'll get the fame you deserve and it won't be from people hating you. It will be from people admiring your accomplishments."
Henry weakly smiles. "Thanks…and until that day comes… I'll be here running mundane tasks for Mr. Hammond on this island." He leaves and his footsteps get quieter as he goes into the back of the maintenance shed to take care of whatever Ray sent him out here to do.
"No…you'll be famous…even more than I am."
I sneak back into the shadows where I was hiding before he came along. Fame? Ha. More like shame…
The End
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