Free Jump When Ready by David Pandolfe Page B

Nikki was just good at being Nikki.
    As promised, Martha opened her door and smiled at the two
of us. “Hey, guys. How’s it going?”
    Nikki shot me a look like I’d just ruined her day. “River
Rat has an issue.”
    Until that moment, I hadn’t realized Curtis’ nickname for
me had caught on.
    “I see,” Martha said. “Please come in.”
    We stepped into a space I couldn’t have possibly
imagined, a room the size of a house with gleaming wood floors and windows that
reached the ceiling. Outside, I saw the snowcapped peaks of giant mountains
where clouds drifted by, reflecting sunlight. Large snowy white eagles, unlike
anything I’d ever seen even photographed on earth, rode currents of air, their
wings spread.
    “Can I get you anything?” Martha said.
    “Do you have any root beer?” Nikki said.
    “Sure.”
    “How about a cappuccino, Red Bull or Fuze? Or maybe a
chocolate milkshake?”
    Martha smiled. “Of course.”
    “Mountain Dew?”
    Martha played along. “Just ran out.”
    “Then that’s what I’ll have.”
    Martha laughed and looked at me. “Having fun getting to
know Nikki?”
    “I think so,” I said.
    Nikki punched me in the arm, pretty hard.
    “I mean, yes. She’s very, um, different.” The funny thing
was that I could now feel Nikki smacking me. Before, when she’d thrown that
cone at my head, I hadn’t felt it. I wondered if this might be another one of
those “between lives” deals. Maybe our reality sort of adjusted as we got to
know each other better.
    Martha, I saw, was trying not to laugh. “Good, glad to
see you’re getting along. Grab a seat and I’ll be right back.”
    Suddenly, I felt like slapping myself for having just been
goofing around. What the hell was wrong with me? Something about this place
made our old world seem less real. Like, just as suddenly, that other realm
could become the dream and this the reality. I told myself I was going to need
to stay focused.
    Nikki and I took a seat on one of Martha’s white leather
sofas. Martha came back a moment later with cans of Mountain Dew and a bottle
of water for herself. She placed the drinks down on her glass table and sat
across from us.
    “Okay, what’s going on?” Martha’s expression told me she
was ready to take our visit seriously.
    As I told Martha about what had happened, she listened
calmly, pretty much as Nikki had before. She seemed concerned, definitely, but
more about me than Bethany. She kept asking how I’d felt, how I’d reacted and
if I was okay—almost as if what had happened on the other side barely mattered
except for how it had affected me. When I finished, she finally asked, “Do you
feel Bethany’s life is in danger?”
    I gripped the arm of the sofa, my fingers digging into
the leather. “Yes! I don’t know what those two people are about. They could be
total psychos for all I know.”
    Martha sipped her water and set it back down again. “I
just need to be sure about what you’re feeling. You do realize that if Bethany
dies, she doesn’t actually die. Not like you’re used to thinking.”
    The strange thing was that until Martha said it that way,
it hadn’t once occurred to me. The worst that might happen would be Bethany
ending up here with us. Or at least someplace like this.
    I relaxed just a little. “I understand, but…”
    Martha kept her eyes on mine. When I didn’t say anything
more, she asked, “But what?”
    “Look, I know I drowned and now I’m okay,” I said. “Nikki
died too but here she is sitting right next to me. I get that. But I still care
about what happens to my sister, even if she’ll end up being fine and between
lives or whatever. I care about my brother too. And what about my parents? They
can’t take it. Not enough time has passed for them to take another hit like
this! I’ve got to do whatever I can. I just have to.”
    Martha glanced at Nikki.
    “I already warned him,” Nikki said, apparently
understanding words that hadn’t been