.........*** Chapter 6 ***.........
"No sé Tú!" Javier crooned, worse than the last time. Esther laughed even harder from the passenger seat.
The road stretched ahead of them, a two-lane state highway without much traffic. Miles of brown plowed fields mixed with the deep green of a few early winter crops. Javier had never driven this far up the state, but he had to admit it all looked pretty much the same once you got into the enormous bowl of the Central Valley. Even the radio all sounded the same. But he was unexpectedly happy. The bright sun, Esther's laughter, the open road — he didn't want it to end.
They stopped for gas in a little farming town. Javier went in to ask for the women's restroom key for Esther, who was almost too nervous to leave the car. He sometimes forgot how closed-off her life experience had been so far. Javier chatted in Spanish, making up a story about his nervous Anglo girlfriend here in deep farming country, and got a knowing smile from the bored cashier as she handed him the key. They could do this. He'd always known how to talk to people, if he just paid attention.
Esther made a face when she emerged from the bathroom.
"That was the worst restroom I've ever seen," she said. "The sink didn't even work."
"I bought hand wipes," Javier said sympathetically. He was starting to get worried about how Esther would manage if they had to live more roughly. But then he remembered her expression that one morning, dressed in just a towel, covered in her own blood, yet with her pride still intact. He smiled.
Esther was a fantastic navigator once she'd studied the map a while. But she'd never learned to drive, and the heavy traffic as they approached their destination was exhausting for Javier.
"It's too late in the day," he said as they finally reached the corner of Stanford campus. He'd hoped it would feel like more of an arrival than this. "We'll have to wait until tomorrow."
"Can we walk around at least?" Esther asked. "We could see the library. That way we can be all set for the morning."
It was exhilarating to walk hand in hand with her. In the lowering light they could almost be any pair of young college students, and Javier indulged himself in the fantasy. They found a sign with a campus map and Esther memorized where the math department and the library were.
"It's so beautiful," Esther said as they walked. Javier could see the money everywhere. Esther should be attending here, with the brightest and the best. Not begging for help because it was the only place they could think of.
They picked out the library meeting spot and then returned to the car. Esther was exhausted from all the walking by the time they arrived.
"I have to find somewhere to park overnight where they won't hassle us," he told Esther, who nodded and slumped further into her seat.
They were well out of town on a dead-end off the freeway before he felt secure about that. He could already tell they weren't going to be able to spend much time in nice suburbs.
"I'll just sleep here in my seat," she said. "I practically dozed off already."
Javier had already flattened the back seat, and he'd hoped maybe they could squeeze together in the long space. Memories of doing that with Clara floated up, of the creative positions they'd tried. He had to admit it had been really good sex. He didn't exactly miss Clara, but he couldn't deny the way his dick hardened at the memories.
"Too cramped for me up here," he admitted, getting out of the car and wriggling into the back. Soon he was stretched out on his sleeping bag, his head as close as he could get to Esther. He pulled off his pants and lay still, hand resting on his hard dick. It didn't feel right to do anything with Esther right there. But as her breath deepened, he found himself stroking lightly, thinking about last night. About learning more of what unexpected things gave Esther pleasure. And maybe her small hand, or her mouth, touching him just so ...
* * *
"I thought I was going to burst," admitted Esther when she emerged from the bathroom. Javier had made do with some scrubby bushes off the road, but Esther couldn't bring herself to try that, and she'd waited until they got to campus. It was so much easier for boys.
They were hungry, grubby, and a little cranky. It hadn't been a very comfortable night, and Esther didn't think she'd try sleeping in the seat again. But Javier didn't seem that much better off. She'd heard him tossing and grunting a few times during the night. At least he didn't snore.
Now came the really scary part. She'd agreed to wait out of sight while Javier went to figure out the department mail system. The last thing she needed was to run into Professor Patel or his colleague before they'd prepared.
"OK," he said when he returned. He had a big reusable envelope and some sheets of paper. "Just tell me what to write."
'
Dear Raj,
' she dictated. '
I received a reply from that school librarian I told you about. He said the books they're deciding about are these:
'
She rattled off her own list of textbooks, in the same order she'd said during her meeting with the professors.
'
I'll be looking through them in the library study room on the third floor. Please come by any time this morning if you have ideas. Best wishes, Anatoly.
'
"All right," said Javier. "I assume the Professors will know what this means."
"They will," she said.
"And you're absolutely sure about them?"
"Father said I had to trust someone," she said. "I knew to trust you, and I was right. And I choose to trust them. Professor Patel in particular. There was something in his eyes."
* * *
"Where are they?" Esther said nervously. They'd been pretending to work in the study room for over two hours. "What if they're already watching the professors? What if they found out about the offer they gave me? Maybe we weren't careful enough."
"Maybe he just hasn't checked his mail yet," Javier said. "I know I dropped it in the right bin, but there were a couple other things in there already." But he could feel his leg shaking. In the light of day the students around them seemed so mature, so intent about their studies. He was sure everyone knew they didn't belong here.
Esther suddenly smiled, and Javier looked up to see a very young professor matching Patel's description and carrying a couple books. He was alone and he looked nervous.
"Ms. Thompson," he said when he closed the door. He didn't look surprised to see her, or for that matter entirely happy. He glanced meaningfully at Javier.
"This is Javier," she said. "My closest friend. Thank you so much for coming, Professor Patel."
They were silent for a bit.
"I knew the note was not from my colleague, of course," the professor said. "It could only have been from you. And I had to ask myself why you would arrange such a convoluted meeting. Did you drive all the way here?"
They nodded.
"Ms. Thompson," he said uncomfortably. "I did not involve my colleague, because I could only imagine you thought you were in some kind of trouble. Perhaps you are correct, in which case I would prefer Anatoly not be involved, as he has his own responsibilities. And perhaps you are mistaken, which I fervently hope, and then I can help you fix up whatever difficulties your spontaneous trip might have produced. Now, suppose you explain to me why you have come."
Esther nodded seriously, and Javier relaxed. It was a fair and generous reply.
Javier let Esther tell the tale. She recited it exactly as they had agreed, down to the word, with all the relevant details they could think of, including her parents' worries. Of her own peculiarities, however, she only referred to her unusual memory and mathematical abilities.
Patel stared at her with an unblinking intensity through her story, never interrupting. At the end he sat back, not looking at either of them.
"It is an incredible tale," he said. "And I'm glad to hear you are worried about overinterpreting the evidence. But I'm afraid there are two reasons I'm hesitant to dismiss all of your concerns. Yesterday, I was visited by two men, one of whom was Fred Daniels. I had never met them before, though they seemed to have a legitimate association with the scholarship committee. Now, right after I left you two days ago I made my little report by telephone, saying simply that I was fully satisfied, and that you were a very bright student. I expected that to be that last of it."
"The two visitors yesterday wanted far more information. Some kind of quantification of how unusual you were, the extent of your abilities. Everything about my visit with you, including anything odd I noticed, and any promises I had made. I disliked everything about the interaction, which felt like an interrogation. So I feigned ambivalence about your talents, and I did not disclose our offer to you. Anatoly agreed with me on all of this when I talked to him. We didn't know what to make of it."
"But your story makes more sense of it, supposing he is part of some aggressive intelligence recruiting effort. Doing background checks. Perhaps they were even so bold as to watch your house, and they discovered your father's death in the process. Daniels was an obnoxious, pushy man, but it's a giant leap from there to cold-blooded killer."
Javier tried to relax. Perhaps the professor was right. It was all so far-fetched.
"What was your second reason for worry?" Esther asked.
Professor Patel sighed and rubbed his face.
"Would you mind giving us a few minutes, Javier?"
Esther squeezed Javier's hand and he reluctantly left the room.
* * *
"You remind me of someone," the professor said to Esther. "I attended college in London, and I had a classmate named Lukas. You must understand, until university I had a lifetime being told how precocious I was, having my mathematical intuition marveled over. No young Indian boy like me was unaware of Ramanujan's story. I did not entirely believe the flattering comparisons, and meeting Lukas was the final straw, because he truly was brilliant in a different way from anyone I have met. Until you."
He rubbed his eyes again and Esther realized he was trying not to cry.
