21 A Visit from Vermin

21 A Visit from Vermin

We weren’t, of course. Not for loud knockers on doors. Even River moved rapidly to get clothes on, and Tess, after pulling on a shirt, helped me frantically pull my gown together and tied it decently up. “Come in,” River said, as the last one decent, wearing a loud purple and brown dress-like-thing.

“Jervis?” I said when the door opened, startled out of countenance. He was standing the doorway, flanked by two other agents, wearing an poorly fitting suit and a bowler hat, which he took off and held in his hand. My roomates looked at me, then back at him.

“Hello Bobbi,” he said, taking a step into the door, “I wondered when I would see you here.” He turned to the rest of the room. “I am sorry to disturb you, but I have a couple of announcements to make. I have been assigned as the liason to this dorm, and will be conducting your interviews. I will post the list of times, and you will be expected to attend.”

He looked at me again, “I have already interviewed you, at least partially, so you will get to go later. None of you know anythign about the experiment, do you? Or know anyone that does?” At our stony silence he said, “It really is important, you know. For the people that have been affected so far, and for any others that might be affected.”

“What?” I asked, “what do you mean?”

“Well, he said. ”The changes all happened last semester, as far as we can tell. But they didn’t all happen at the same time. In fact, none of them happened at the same time. The last change we know about happened two weeks before the end of the semester. So we are afraid that, whatever is happening, it might go on to affect more people. That is why we are working so hard to find out what had happened.“

I almost said something, but the sound of that girls screaming was still vivid in my ears. “Bobbi,” he said, “you have something to say?”

“That, that’s terrible! You mean it might still be happening? It might happen to one of us?” I shivered and wrapped my robe more tightly around my body.

“Yes, that is what we are worried about. Well, again, if you learn anything, please come and tell me.”

The door closed, and I went to sit back down at my desk, but River said, “Bobbi?”

“Yes?”

“I knew Roberta Michelle Smith very well. Could you tell me where she is?”

I turned fully around, and stared. They were all looking at me very seriuosly. My heart threatened to leap out of my chest.

“I, uh, I…” I stammered out.

“Sit down Bobbi. Listen. We are your roomates, or we were, and we are not going to turn you in to that vermin. Stan won’t either, will you Stan?” Stan, wide-eyed, shook his head, staring at me.

“Now, what happened to our Roberta?”

“How could you tell?” I asked, stalling for time.

“How could we not tell? But the clincher was, well, two things. First of all Roberta would have died rather than let me towel her off the way I did. She would have even turned her back if I had had to help her with her bra. Secondly was the way you handled that, thing. You are a consumate actress, but we have helped you rehearse. You were acting. You know something. Now, sit down, and tell us. Tell us who you are, and what you know.”

“Ok, but you have to promise not to hate me.”

“Tell us,” River said. “You didn’t trust us enough…”

“I didn’t know you!” I cried, and the room got silent.

“At all?” Tess said, aghast. I shook my head.

“Tell us,” River said, as implacable as the Nile.

And so I did. It took three hours, but I told them all of it. They all cried at parts (except Stan, who sat with his mouth open most of the time), and laughed at parts. “Well, that is a fascinating story,” River said, “and I would have loved to have been there when you took your shirt off in front of that poor, poor, boy. No wonder he looks like he has been run over by a bus. No wonder he finally proposed. So, now what?”

“Well, I have this idea,” I said.