I started to wake up the next morning expecting Glenne to still be there lying next to me, but my eyes shot open as I realized I was alone. I sat up and looked around the room, but Glenne was gone. I panicked and got to my feet, trying to fix myself to look human again. After looking at myself in the mirror to ensure I seemed legit, I walked to the bathroom door and knocked on it.
"Glenne?" I called. I didn't receive an answer and I threw open the motel door in a haste, stopping in my tracks as soon as I stepped over the threshold. "Glenne," I said, looking at her from behind as she leaned against the railing of the banister. She didn't turn to me or respond, so I approached her carefully. "Glenne, what are you doing out here?" I asked, coming to her side, the door softly shutting behind me.
Glenne continued to stare down over the railing at something on the ground floor. I followed her gaze and saw Lorrie and Georgie, talking and laughing as they danced to the lobby music that came from the speakers outside the motel. I turned back to Glenne, who was watching them with an indecipherable expression.
"Glenne, what are you —"
"We have to stop," Glenne said quietly, cutting me off.
I furrowed my brow. "What are you talking about? Stop what?"
She finally looked over at me. "Look at them, Dave. Go on, look."
I hesitantly looked down. "Okay. What?" I asked as Georgie held Lorrie in a dip.
"Do you really think they deserve to be conned out of their money?" she asked.
I made eye contact for a moment, and then I rolled my eyes. "Glenne, I don't understand. We've gone over this over and over again. I don't know what you want."
"I want to find another way to get to New York," Glenne persisted.
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Glenne, I really wish you'd make up your mind. Every time we talk about this, you seem to understand why we're doing what we're doing, but then you just revert again."
"Well, this time, I mean it," Glenne replied. "I've thought a lot about what we talked about last night. This is not the right way, Dave. How would your penguins feel if they found out you conned your way back to New York? Conned innocent people out of their money?"
I suddenly felt defensive. "They won't find out," I argued. "They don't have to know anything."
"And you're comfortable with that?" Glenne asked, turning her body to face me. "You're comfortable with lying to your own boys?"
I could tell she thought that was a horrible idea, and that I was horrible for even thinking of that as a plan. On one hand, I did feel a little guilty for even thinking of lying to the penguins, but on the other hand, I didn't have any other ideas of how to get to them without lying to people. There's no way we could walk all the way to New York, and without money, we didn't have many other options.
"I don't know what else to do, Glenne," I admitted. "I don't want to lie, but we don't have any options. I've told you this over and over."
"I didn't say anything about lying, Dave," Glenne replied, causing me to furrow my brow in confusion. "I said conning. What's a few lies as long as no one's giving us free money?"
I wasn't following. "So, what exactly are you suggesting?"
"I'm suggesting that we start working for money. Little jobs here and there along the way. I know it'll take longer, but, Dave . . . at least we'll get to New York the right way," she said.
I took in her words. "You realize that in doing that, it's going to be far from easy," I told her.
"Well, for me, it's even harder to do this," she said, looking back down at Lorrie and Georgie.
I thought for a few minutes before I let out a deep sigh. "Okay," I said, giving in. "We'll do things the right way."
Glenne started to smile. "Really? Just like that?" she asked as if she were expecting me to be more difficult.
I nodded. "Yeah. I don't want you to think any less of me, Glenne. You say you don't think I'm a monster like everyone else, and I want it to stay that way," I admitted, looking down at the floor. I flinched with surprise when Glenne threw her arms around me in a big hug.
"I'm proud of you, Dave," she said over my shoulder. "And I know your boys will be too. I don't think you could ever become a monster."
I felt my hearts skip a beat as I awkwardly returned the hug. She was . . . proud of me? I wasn't sure why, but it just felt . . . good. It felt good that she thought so highly of me. And the thought of the penguins being proud of me for putting so much work into getting back to New York made me feel that much better. I smiled and pulled away.
"I guess I'll have to go tell one final lie to the Crawfords, then," I said. "You go back in the room. I'll tell them you aren't feeling well and that we can't go on their hike. I'll also tell them that I called a friend from the room phone and they're sending someone to get us, someone that lives near here, so we'll be long gone by the time they get back. Then we can go find some work to do. Okay?"
Glenne smiled back and nodded. "That sounds just fine. I'll see you in a minute," she said, turning and going into our room.
I took a deep breath and started heading downstairs, where the Crawfords had just finished a waltz to a slow song. They turned to me when they saw me approaching.
"Oh, hello, Octavius," Lorrie said with a smile. I realized that was the first time she'd addressed me by my alias. "Where's your sister?"
I sighed. "It appears Melissa has come down with something. She isn't feeling well. I'm afraid we won't be able to join you on your hike," I said regretfully.
Lorrie and Georgie looked disappointed.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Lorrie replied. "Has she eaten breakfast?"
"Yes, I got her something with the money you gave me last night a few hours ago," I lied, "but she couldn't keep it down."
"Hm, sounds like she's got a stomach bug," Georgie mused. "Our kids used to get them all the time when they were little."
"I'd hate to leave you two here all by yourselves, though," Lorrie broke in.
I waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it, Lorrie. I appreciate all you've done for my sister and me. And, actually, I was able to get in touch with an old work buddy this morning. Turns out he has connections near here. He said he'd help us get to New York," I told them.
"Oh, really?" Georgie said, his curiosity piqued. "You have friends up in Carlsbad?" he asked, pointing roughly northeast.
I thought for a moment. "Yes," I said, feeling that agreeing was a good idea. "Well, technically, my friend has friends in Carlsbad."
"Well, hon," Georgie said, turning to his wife, "we could drive them up there real quick before our hike if you want."
"Sure, if that's what they want," Lorrie replied. She turned to me. "Do you think Melissa would be able to stand a half-hour drive?"
"I'm not sure," I replied, "but you two don't have to go to all the trouble of that."
"No trouble at all, chérie," Lorrie replied with a kind smile. "Consider it our last little trip together. That is, of course, if Melissa is feeling up to it."
I smiled. "I'll go ask her," I said. "Thank you both. You're such kind people. It's a shame the world doesn't have more of those."
"Amen to that," Georgie replied. Lorrie nudged him playfully as I turned and headed back toward the stairs.
When I entered the room, Glenne was pacing back and forth by the bed. She stopped and turned to me as I shut the door behind me.
"Hey, what's going on?" Glenne asked.
"Well," I started, "I told them that you weren't feeling well and that a friend would be helping us get to New York. They offered us a ride up to Carlsbad, but only if you're feeling up to it."
"I guess that'd be okay," Glenne replied, "but I have no idea how to act like I'm not feeling well."
"It's not that hard," I told her. "Just hold your stomach and act like you're struggling to relax."
"Okay," Glenne said hesitantly, "I have no idea where the stomach is on this body."
I found myself frustrated. Not at her, but at myself. I kept forgetting that she was new to all this human stuff. It was strange, really. We hadn't really known each other but for just a few weeks or so, yet I felt like I'd known her for so much longer.
"It's here," I said, placing my hands over my faux abdomen. "Just cross your arms over it, lean back in the seat, and stare out the window. It's that easy."
Glenne shifted. "I don't know. I'm not as good at acting as you," she said insecurely.
I smiled and stepped up to her, placing my hands on her shoulders. "I assure you, you'll do better than you think you will. Besides, this is only the beginning. If you want to start earning some money, you're gonna have to learn how to act fast. But I know you can do it," I told her.
Glenne arched an eyebrow. "How are you always so confident about this stuff? About me?"
I thought for a moment. "There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. I'll be with you the whole time. When in doubt, just defer to me. Okay?" I promised her.
She smiled a little. "I'll probably be deferring to you a lot, then," she admitted.
I shrugged. "Ah, you'll get used to it," I told her. "I'll go tell the Crawfords we accept their offer."
After informing the Crawfords that we would be grateful for the ride to Carlsbad, they brought the car to the front of the motel as I fetched Glenne, who hobbled down the stairs holding her stomach. I was so proud.
When we climbed in, Georgie looked back at us. "You sure she isn't gonna upchuck in my car?" he asked.
I shook my head and waved a hand. "Nah. I don't think so."
"All right," he said. "Everyone buckle up. We'll be there in no time."
And he was right. After we pulled into the highway heading east, we arrived in Carlsbad in just under half an hour. Georgie came to a stop at one of the first pit stops we came to, a little restaurant called Happy's.
"Well," I said as Glenne and I prepared to depart the vehicle, "I guess this is goodbye, then."
"I guess so," Lorrie said disappointedly. "I hope you two can make it to New York safely."
"Thank you, Lorrie," I replied. "And we hope you two have a wonderful hike and that you enjoy the rest of your honeymoon."
"We will," Georgie said, winking at Lorrie.
Glenne and I got out of the car and shut the doors behind us. Lorrie rolled down her window.
"Hey," she called.
"Yes?" I replied, stopping by the passenger door.
"Remember what I said," she said, reaching out and taking my arm. "Never give up."
She smiled encouragingly and gave my arm a firm squeeze. Then her brow furrowed and she retracted her hand, staring at it as she flexed the fingers. She smiled awkwardly at me for a moment as if she wanted to say something, but thought better of it.
"You two kids stay safe," she said with a nervous laugh before quickly rolling up the window.
"We will," I replied.
I noticed a look of perplexion on her face as the car moved forward again. She was absolutely caught off guard when she felt how unnaturally squishy my arm is. They waved as Georgie pulled the car away. We waved back and I smiled at Glenne.
"Did you see the look on her face?" I asked, chuckling a bit.
Glenne shot a look at me, obviously bothered by it. "As a matter of fact, I did," she said, obviously not finding the situation as humorous as I did. "I didn't realize how easy it was to figure us out. I've been so worried about us screwing up our cover story when I've obviously been focusing on the wrong thing. What if someone figures us out like she almost did?"
"You worry too much," I replied. "We'll be fine."
Glenne sighed. "I really hope you're right, Dave."
"I am," I replied confidently. "Oh, but you might want to get used to calling me Octavius."
Glenne shot a warning look at me. "Excuse me?"
"That's right, dearest. You're about to get in the game," I told her.
Glenne shook her head. "Dave, no. I can't do this. I'm perfectly content being a mute. Trying to act silently is hard enough. If I end up having to actually speak to the humans, I know I'm going to screw up."
"I need to ask you something, Glenne," I said. "Why are you so determined to believe that something will go wrong? Your pessimistic attitude is getting quite frustrating, to be honest."
Glenne huffed irritably. "Because I'd rather believe that something will go wrong and be relieved than to believe that everything will be okay and be disappointed."
I sighed. "Fine. Touché. But I need you to trust me. With the Crawfords, it was easy to pretend you were mute and have me do all the talking. But if we're going to be working for money, it'll be much easier if you communicate with the humans. That way I don't have to be right at your side the entire time and we can make that much more money," I explained.
Glenne suddenly looked uncomfortable. "We might separate?" she asked timidly, hugging herself.
I shrugged a little. "Not separate, per se, more . . . not be in the same room," I said. "Don't worry. Just don't speak unless spoken to and when in doubt, lie. Just be sure to tell me what you lied about so I don't contradict you."
"What happened to 'when in doubt, defer to me'?" she asked.
"You still can," I assured her. "Just not every second. Trust me, this will be good for you."
Glenne didn't look convinced.
"Come on," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go see if we can find some work."
We walked inside Happy's, where a handful of people were around eating and conversing. There were two cooks behind a counter in the kitchen area and three waitresses walking around refilling drinks, taking orders, or cleaning up. We approached the counter and waited for one of them to become available. Finally, one came over with a nametag that read MAG.
"Welcome to Happy's," she said with a forced smile. "What can I get for you?" she asked, holding up a pen and paper.
"Actually," I replied, "I was actually hoping you could help us. You see, we're from out-of-state, but our luggage was stolen at an airport back in Arizona. We've been trying to work our way eastward, but we don't have any money. We were just wondering if you knew of any place where we could score some temporary work."
Mag thought for a moment as she pocketed the pen and paper in her apron. "Let's see," she mused, biting her lip in thought and folding her arms over her chest. "I know we're not hiring right now. I'm definitely thinking restaurant work would be your best bet to find someone to hire you for just temporarily. I can't say I know of anything definite, but I do know my way around this town. If you start heading north up 62," she pointed left across the restaurant, "and turn on San Jose Boulevard, you'll go through a few neighborhoods a few miles before you get into town. There's some restaurants there that I bet'll hire you. There's a Pizza Hut, a donut place, a little Italian restaurant, a Sonic, and a few others. Just ask around."
I nodded. "I thank you for your help," I told her.
"No problem, hon," Mag replied. "Good luck to you."
I nodded again and led Glenne out of Happy's and started walking down the side of 62, as Mag instructed.
"So, you really think this is going to work?" Glenne asked after a couple of minutes of walking.
"You know what my answer's going to be to that question," I replied, sideways-glancing at her with a smile.
Glenne was silent for a moment. "Can I ask a hypothetical question without you getting defensive?" she asked.
I arched my brow. "Okay."
"What are we going to do if someone does figure out what we are?" Glenne asked, finally looking over at me.
I thought for a moment. "Well, the way I see it, we'll just have to make them look crazy, like we did with that guy back in London," I replied.
"Okay," Glenne mused, "and if we're exposed in front of more than one person?"
I had to think a little harder on that one. "I guess we'll just have to improvise. Humans are pretty gullible. If you make a confusing situation look like something believable, they'll just brush it off like it's nothing."
Glenne nodded. "Okay," she said doubtfully, "I guess I'll take your word for it."
I took her arm and held her back. Then I forced her into eye contact. "Hey," I said softly. "What is your deal lately? No matter how hard I try, you just won't get away from this insecurity."
Glenne sighed. "I just don't want to be put back into a tank, okay? If the humans catch us, there's no telling what they'll do to us. They might even experiment on us like we're some kind of freaks."
I smiled a little and held her closer. "Hey," I crooned, "I meant what I said and I said what I meant. I will never let that happen. I haven't let you down so far, have I?"
Glenne shrugged a little. "No," she admitted.
"If they want to put you in a tank, they're gonna have to go through me, first," I told her. "Okay?"
Glenne held eye contact a moment longer before responding. "Okay," she said softly, letting off a small smile.
"That's the spirit," I said, nudging her. "Come on," I said, pulling her forward again. "Let's see how lucky we get."
We passed a handful of hotels before we came upon San Jose Boulevard, which branched left off of 62. Then we walked for several minutes past quaint little homes to our right and large fields to our left. Most of the journey we took in silence. Finally, buildings started to pop up on both sides. Suddenly, Glenne grabbed my arm to bring me to a stop.
"What about that one?" she asked, pointing to a building on our right up ahead. I followed her finger to see a sign that said Rojas Mexican Grill & Restaurant.
"Let's go check it out," I said, leading her forward by the arm.
We walked through the front door, where there were some people seated at tables and a couple waiters and waitresses going around taking orders, refilling drinks, and cleaning tables. After a few moments of standing there, a tan-skinned man came to us and clasped his hands together.
"Hola, señor y señorita," he greeted. We had no idea what that meant, but we just smiled politely. "I am the manager, Manuel. May I show you to a table?"
"No," I replied. "We're here looking for some temporary work."
"Oh," the man mused. "Well, I've got a full staff of waiters. Do either of you know anything about cooking Mexican dishes?"
"No, I'm afraid not," I replied.
"Then I'm afraid I have no positions available. There are some more restaurants if you keep heading north, however," he suggested.
"Okay," I said with a nod. "Thanks anyway."
"Are you sure you will not have a seat? We give free salsa and chips with every meal," he said.
"No, thank you," I replied. "We don't have any money."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. I hope you two have some luck in your search, then," he said as he led us out the door. Glenne and I blinked as he went back inside and slammed the doors.
"Well," Glenne said. "That was rude."
"You're surprised?" I said. "Number one rule with humans: Buy something or get out."
Glenne looked down as we started walking again. "But not all of them are like that, right?" she asked. "Lorrie and Georgie weren't."
"Okay," I said, "that's the number one rule for ninety-five percent of humans."
"That's a pretty cruel rule," Glenne replied, folding her arms. "You're telling me they'd rather watch someone starve than to give them a small morsel for free?"
"Yeah," I agreed, "it's pretty sad. But, we digress," I said as I continued to move forward. Glenne trailed along beside me.
We walked for about another twenty minutes before we saw a donut shop called Sarina's Donuts. We walked inside and were immediately hit with the sweetest smell either of us had ever smelled.
"Wow," Glenne said, "I've never smelt anything quite like that before."
"Same," I replied. "Let's go find someone to talk to us."
We went up to the counter and, a moment later, a tan brunette woman wearing a red shirt and an apron appeared behind the counter with a smile.
"Good afternoon, folks," she said. "I'm Sarina. What can I get for you?"
Again, I explained our completely legit situation and asked if she had any positions available.
"Hm," she mused, "I have a full staff here, but I'll tell you what. You two come by anytime and help keep the kitchen clean, I'll give you each five dollars an hour under the table for however long you work."
I exchanged a glance with Glenne, who just shrugged a shoulder. I turned back to Sarina.
"That sounds like a fair deal. When can we get started?" I asked.
Sarina checked her watch. "Lunch rush starts in about an hour. We could use the extra hands," she suggested.
I nodded. "That sounds great. We'll see you then."
"Okay," Sarina replied. "Oh, what were your names again?"
"Oh, I'm sorry," I said. "How rude of me. I'm Octavius, and this is my sister, Melissa," I told her, gesturing to myself and Glenne, respectively.
"Nice to meet y'all," she said. "See you in a bit."
"You too," I replied. "Thank you."
Glenne and I left the donut shop and turned to each other.
"So, we have our first job," I said with a smile.
Glenne smiled back. "So we do. What do we do for the next hour?"
"I say we have a look around. We'll probably be here for the next few days at least. Might as well get a little familiar with our surroundings."
There was a grocery store to one side of Sarina's Donuts and a restaurant called Pizza Hut to the other side. Across the street, there was an Animal Care Center. Walking northward up South Canal Street, we passed a place called Allstate Insurance Hester Agency. Further up the street, we passed a place called Dave's Triple A Muffler Shop, and Glenne couldn't help but tease me with jokes about how it had to be my shop. While the jokes were pretty lame, she looked pretty cute trying.
We passed several other joints, like Danny's Place, Action Auto Sales, Sonic Drive-In, and some other restaurants and stores, until we finally came to pass a lovely restaurant called Sakura. In a town we least expected, we found some choice Japanese food. Here we were wondering how we were supposed to eat, and all we had to do was have a look around. We headed inside to have a look at the prices.
The prices ranged from around thirteen to around twenty-three dollars. They were open from ten in the morning to nine-thirty at night every day, so I became confident that after working for a few hours at Sarina's, we would be able to have a nice dinner here. I realized it would be the first time either of us ate while in our human disguises.
Our shift at Sarina's actually went quite well. Glenne and I brought dirty dishes to the dishwasher and mopped the floors. We also kept the counters clean and took out the trash. It actually kept us pretty busy for the time that we were there.
After we finished working at Sarina's for four and a half hours straight, right up until closing, we earned ourselves twenty-two dollars and fifty cents each. That would be enough for tonight's dinner and breakfast in the morning if we ate cheaply. As we walked down the street toward Sakura as the sun started to set, Glenne looked over at me.
"Today was fun," she said with a smile. "Doesn't this feel better than ripping off old people?"
I smiled back at her. "Honestly, yeah," I answered. "I didn't think it would make that much difference, but it feels pretty good to actually earn money. And I think you did pretty well interacting with the humans. Don't think I didn't see you laughing with the person making the donuts. I think you made a friend."
I didn't let her know this, but I actually didn't care for how friendly he was getting with her. I didn't know why, but it bothered me.
Glenne's face seemed to darken a little. "Thanks," she said bashfully. "I thought it would be more difficult, but it wasn't so bad. I think I've got this human thing down."
"I'd say I agree to that," I replied, stopping in front of the door to Sakura to look at her. We maintained eye contact for a moment before we headed inside.
We seated ourselves in the corner of the restaurant, farthest away from where all the other humans were seated. A waitress came by our table and took our orders. I ordered the Gold Dragon dish while Glenne ordered the Sunset dish. About ten minutes later, our food was brought to us.
"So," I said as I grabbed the fork and inspected it, "shall we do this the octopus way or try it the human way?"
Glenne thought for a moment and looked over at some humans across the restaurant. After watching them for a few seconds, she picked up her fork. Then she studied it before stabbing a piece of shrimp. "Look, I'm a human," she said, eating the shrimp off the fork as if she were doing a cheap imitation of a rich person.
I smiled and stabbed a piece of my shrimp, eating it in a similar fashion. "I dare say, this shrimp is absolutely divine," I said, holding my chin up.
Glenne laughed and stabbed at another piece of shrimp. "And I dare say the sauce gives it the perfect twang. It's absolutely exquisite."
The two of us laughed a little louder than we intended, earning us some looks from the other humans. We didn't particularly care, though. Nor did we realize at the time that that kind of behavior was thought inconsiderate by human standards.
After we finished eating, I called the waitress over so we could pay the tab, which turned out to be twenty-five dollars and ninety cents. The waitress offered us their tempura cheesecake, but we declined. We didn't need to spend all of our money at once. We couldn't afford a hotel room, so we found an alley next to an auto shop and curled up inside a large crate, covering it with newspaper so no one would see us.
"Well, good night, I guess," I said to Glenne.
"Good night, Dave," Glenne replied. After a moment, she said, "Can I ask something?"
"Sure," I replied.
"Why did you agree to this so easily?" she asked.
I smiled. "I guess . . . maybe what I really wanted was to prove that I could do things right," I told her.
"I thought you were doing this for your boys," she inquired.
I took her arm in mine. "I am. But really, I think I'm doing this more for you."
Glenne smiled. "I think we're going to get to New York before you know it."
I smiled back. "I think so too. What could possibly go wrong?"
I never did learn to stop saying that.
— § —
Note: The quotes in this chapter were: "There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think," spoken by Christopher Robin (portrayed by Brady Bluhm) in Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997); "I meant what I said and I said what I meant," spoken by Horton the Elephant in Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss; and "Maybe what I really wanted was to prove that I could do things right," spoken by Mulan (portrayed by Ming-Na Wen) in Mulan (1998).
Next chapter will be posted on September 2, 2023.
