Chapter 41
Sam B’s head was still swimming with morphine, but he’d been allowed to go. As such, he had gotten himself a cab back to Bobby’s house, and as it pulled into the driveway, he prepared himself to face Sam A.
It wasn’t that he didn’t still think the guy was a jerk. He definitely was. He had the broken arm to prove that. But his encounter with Beth had made him rethink giving up. As such, he was willing to work with his twin long enough to get out of this nightmare of a leap. For the first time, he had a little hope that things might improve. That Brenda’s predicament might be solvable. That the two warring parts of himself could find a way forward together. If not for himself, then for Al.
Emerging from the taxi, he caught movement beyond the side gate, and spotted Sam A and Al standing there, both looking… emotionally raw. Maybe Al had been telling him about Beth.
He waved with his free arm.
“Whose funeral did I just walk in on?” he asked the stricken faces.
Sam A quirked a smile. “Let’s hope nobody’s, if we can figure out how to stop Brenda’s drinking.”
“I’m all ears,” Sam B said, resting his arms on the top of the gate and leaning over it. “I think we’ve overstayed our welcome here, don’t you?”
Sam A’s face lit up. “You’re gonna work with me?”
“Only if you’re gonna work with me.” He heaved a sigh, squinting at Sam A’s swollen cheeks and jaw. “Listen, I’m sorry I kinda lost control earlier. Looks painful. I didn’t break your nose or give you concussion, did I?”
“No, it just smarts a lot,” Sam A said, before gesturing to Sam B’s arm sling. “And I’m sorry about that.”
“Okay, this is good,” Al chimed in. “You don’t need to be best pals, but you need to tolerate each other enough to wrap this thing up. And in that spirit, how’s about we go inside and see what stage of hangover Brenda’s in now?”
Sam B winced. “What does she know about what happened?”
“Enough to know her husband’s sticking around a little longer,” Sam A replied. “Alicia and Marsha have been helping her out, but she hasn’t been game to come out and see me yet.”
“Maybe if we both talk to her…” Sam B suggested.
“Y-yeah. Let’s go.”
Together, the three of them headed into the house.
In the living room, Mike scampered up to them. “Hi Mister Sam,” he said with a sheepish look, taking Sam B’s free hand and shaking it. “Sorry I thought you were Al.”
“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Sam B said with a casual shrug. “Wanna sign my cast?”
“Mike doesn’t know how to write,” Sam A reminded him, before turning to the boy. “But I can probably write something on it for you. How’s that sound?”
“Okay!” Mike nodded enthusiastically. “Can you write ‘get well soon, from Mike’ and put a picture of a star?”
“I think I can do that,” Sam A said, grabbing a pen from the coffee table. As he wrote on the cast, Marsha and Alicia emerged from the hall with Brenda following behind, squinting at the sunlight streaming in the windows.
“Bobby…” she murmured, catching sight of the broken-armed Sam B.
Sam B, with the morphine still working its magic, was almost happy to see her as she regarded him with marked fondness.
“Hi Brenda,” he said with a crooked smile, and wiggled the fingers that stuck out the end of his plaster cast. “Guess you’re stuck with me a little while longer, huh?”
Brenda’s eyes moved to Mike, and confusion clouded her face. “Whose kid is that?”
“Oh, he was a stowaway on the bus,” Alicia explained. “His name’s Mike, and he’s a good kid, you know?”
Mike gave her a shy wave. “Hi,” was all he said before stepping partially behind Sam B and holding him by the hand.
“He’s the one who inspired me to build the classroom,” Sam A added, ruffling Mike’s hair before meeting Brenda’s eye. “Nice to see you again, by the way, Brenda,” he said with a genuine smile. “Sorry about the tension last time. I think my brother and I have… come to an understanding.”
Brenda flopped down onto the couch. “I guess I owe you thanks for bringing these two here,” she said to Sam A, gesturing to Alicia and Marsha. “They’ve been so kind to me…”
“That’s all you need, isn’t it?” Sam B said, sitting beside her. “People who’ll be there when you need a little help?”
He and Sam A exchanged a look as the same idea dawned upon the both of them.
Sam A took a seat on the other side of Brenda, and the two Sams looked up at Marsha and Alicia.
“Marsha,” Sam A began, “Brenda here is pregnant. And we think it’s best if she can quit drinking at least during the pregnancy.”
Sam B took Brenda by the hand. “What if one, or even both of you, moved in here for a little while? Maybe ’til the baby’s born?” He met Marsha’s eye. “You said yourself you might not be able to live at the ranch for much longer.”
At this, Sam A gave Sam B a look that showed he understood, despite the commune situation being unspoken between them.
“Would you… really do that just for me?” Brenda asked, eyes wide.
Alicia exchanged a quick but meaningful glance with Marsha before beaming at Brenda. “It’s like I said before: you don’t even have to ask.”
Marsha’s gaze flicked to Sam A. “Would… you be here too?”
Sam A took a deep breath. “I’m afraid I’ll be going to be going to jail for a bit,” he admitted. “I’m sorry, Marsha.”
Brenda stared at him, her mouth agape. “You’re gonna turn yourself in?”
Sam A nodded solemnly. “Despite what you might have heard, I’m no coward.”
“Believe it or not,” Sam B added, “he’s doing it to save me. I need his statement that he started the fight that caused this, else I might be accused of doing it on purpose to get out of serving.”
“And well, I did start it…” Sam A admitted.
A moment of silence passed as this news sunk in. Nobody spoke except for Al, who was busily receiving new data from Ziggy.
“Sam…s… I think you might’ve done it. Brenda gives birth, and get this—it’s identical twin girls. And you know what? She names them Allison and Samantha. Ha! Guess she must have heard the alien stories from the hippies.” He slapped a hand against the handlink before grinning down at the two Sams. “Ziggy says there’s a ninety-three percent chance that as soon as you make that statement, you’ll both leap.”
With enormous relief, each Sam stood from the couch and looked one another in the eye.
“Well, I guess—”
“—that wasn’t so hard. We—”
“—just needed to think—”
“—as a team.”
Sam A looked around the room at everyone. “How about we have a nice dinner, and then I’ll go face the music?”
“Okay,” Brenda said, standing, “I’ll go see what I can rustle up…”
“Brenda, you’re pregnant,” Alicia protested. “Let us cook somethin’ up, okay? You get your rest.”
Brenda looked at Alicia a moment, before sitting back down, a look of sheer gratitude on her face. “Thank you…”
Sam B smiled weakly at his counterpart. “Richie’s really okay with this, huh?” he said in a low voice in Al’s direction.
“He made his mind up, Sam,” Al explained. “He and his brother have really made leaps and bounds in their relationship while they’ve been stuck together in the Waiting Room, too.” He sucked a freshly lit cigar. “It was a rough ride, but looks like we got there in the end. Be proud of yourselves.”
But as both Sams met one another’s eye, they knew they shared a gut feeling that there was still a piece missing.