"We're here to see Mr. Alabaster," Amber announces.
"That's not going to happen," the shorter guard deadpans.
"It's important," I say. "Tell him it's his son."
"Nice try. The boss has got no kids."
"He has me. He just doesn't know it yet. I only found out myself a few days ago." I add, "How do you think Mr. Alabaster will feel if he finds out you sent away his only son?"
"Wait here," the taller guard orders, and disappears into the house.
He returns a few minutes later with an older bald man who says, "You look just like him."
The guards stare and he snaps, "Idiots! You think the boss was always old and sick? This kid's the spitting image! What's your name, son?"
"Malik Bruder," I say, knowing that if I start a lie now, I'm going to have to continue it. "And this is Amber, my – friend."
"She stays here," the bald guy decides.
Baldy takes me into a big room. There's an old man in a wheelchair surrounded my medical equipment. We come closer and Baldy performs the introduction.
"Boss – this is the kid. This is Malik."
In a papery voice, he asks, "Who's your mother?"
I hesitate. Who is my mother? Do clones have mothers? Should I lie and make up a name, or tell him the truth? If I don't do it now, than I never will, so I ask "Do you remember Osiris?"
Gus thinks for a minute.
"Osiris? They did it? That's you?" Gus asked.
I nod.
"So you're not my son. You're me?"
"Physically, anyway," I confirm. "You as a kid."
"Are you kidding?" Despite his feebleness, Gus breaks into a grin. "This is great! It's like I'm still alive and healthy, out of jail. And the cops will never know!"
I hesitate. Amber would definitely want the cops to know. Why did I have to get stuck with that Laska? As I'm trying to figure out a response to that, a loud bark makes me jump. A German shepherd lopes into the room and starts licking my face.
A weak cackle comes from the wheelchair. "You're me, all right. Counselor hates everybody."
"He was just a pup when I got him," Alabaster goes on. "He's an old man now, with one foot in the grave – not that I'm anyone to talk. But he remembered me, even after fourteen years in the can. Half licked my face off. Almost took out all these tubes and wires and contraptions."
Baldy finally comes to my rescue, grabbing the dog by the back of the collar and pulling him off me. Counselor nearly bites his head off. "You'd think he'd be a little more grateful by now. I've only been feeding him for fourteen years."
"Loyalty," Alabaster approves.
"More like fear." The words are out before I have a chance to think about what I'm saying.
"You know," I backpedal. The damage is already done, so I've got no choice but to finish the thought and hope for the best. "Because it's no good for your health to be the guy who got rid of the boss's dog."
All at once, Alabaster brays a raspy laugh that finishes in a spasm of coughs. "I love this kid, Lenny! Where'd you find him?"
Baldy – Lenny – manages a slight shrug while struggling to restrain the dog. "He and his girlfriend just walked in off the street."
"Girlfriend?" Alabaster grins, stretching his pale skin even tighter across the bones of his face. "I knew you were me!"
"I thought he's your son," Lenny said, confused.
"It's a long story," Alabaster said, "and it's Malik's story, not mine. I only know the beginning."
"Well, the same way that I'm you, the girl I came with is Mickey Seven," I tell him.
"Where are you from? Where is Osiris?" Alabaster wants to know.
"New Mexico," I reply. "I always thought the Bruders were my parents until my friend Eli, who is Bartholomew Glenn, figured it out. Five of us escaped, but we got separated, and only Amber and I made it here."
He nods understandingly. "I left home at fifteen. My old man kicked me out. Said I'd never amount to anything. By the time I was eighteen, I made more money than he'd ever seen in his whole life."
Lenny has a question. "What is this Osiris that you're talking about? How can you be the boss, and how can your girlfriend be Mickey Seven? What were you kids escaping from?"
"Mr. Alabaster knows the beginning of the story better than I do," I tell him. "I only know that a bunch of mad scientists cloned eleven criminals and raised them in a desert town in New Mexico in order to prove that DNA doesn't make you bad. Only five of us clones know the truth, and we ran away when we found out, but we were chased through Texas and got separated."
"I thought human cloning is impossible," Lenny said, surprised. "Are you sure you're not making this up?"
"That's why I asked Mr. Alabaster if he remembers Osiris," I explain. "If he does, he knows he was cloned."
"I do remember," Alabaster said, "But I didn't think they would really do it. I'm happy they did though, as it means I'm still alive and well, or at least one of me is."
Lenny has another question. "How did you find us? Where'd you get the address?"
"From the cops."
He's incredulous. "And they gave it to you?"
"Not all of them," I admit. "But it only takes one."
"To protect and serve," Alabaster snorts in disgust, dislodging the oxygen feed from his nostrils. "Well, Malik, I know it's been a long trip, but I'm glad you came. The thought of a younger me marching into the police station and demanding my address – it's classic. And then showing up here. You've got some guts, I'll say that for you. Or maybe for me."
Alabaster removes his mask and shoos the nurse away. "All right, kid. You wanted to meet me. So you've met me. Now what? What are your plans?"
I hesitate. He doesn't look able to answer all my questions without going into a coughing fit. Besides, Amber is the one who wants to get them in trouble. I don't need to ask him to tell our story to the cops. At least I get to know the awesome person who made me.
I shake my head. "I don't have any."
"Where are you staying in town?" he persists.
"It isn't your problem," I tell him.
"It is my problem," Alabaster shoots back with surprising force. The voice is still reedy, but there's authority, even vigor behind it. For the first time, I see how this weakened shell of a person used to be what the newspapers called the most successful gangster in American history.
"You're me," he goes on. "You're staying with me. Lucky for you, a dying man doesn't take up much space. Your girl too. Bring her in here. I want to meet her."
Lenny has a concern. "Boss, putting up runaways – the cops'll make trouble for us if they get wind of it. They're already bent out of shape that the judge sprung you."
"Let them," scoffs the old gangster. "My last stop was Joliet and my next is a hole in the ground. What can they do to me – arrest me again?"
That's why, a few minutes later, I'm back outside.
"How did it go?" Laska whispers.
"He wants to meet you," I tell her. "He invited us to stay with him for a while."
"Did he tell you anything about Project Osiris?"
"Only that he can't believe they really did it."
Lenny opens the door and ushers us into the room. I'm hoping Amber will do a better job than I did.
