Dr Jew

by pulling up a distant reference and launching into the inevitable fantasy.
    "She? I think you misunderstand, Mr. Simpatico. It's Glassdick. Philip K. Glassdick. He's dead."
    "Philip? Not –"
    I composed myself and cursed my weakness, stupidity.
    "Philip is dead? I… see. What happened?"
    The cop scratched his crotch and said, "His daughter found him last night at home. He was working on music or something and they think it was his condition."
    "O h, the AIDS," I said.
    " They're doing an autopsy and will have a report this afternoon."
    "I see. Well, this certainly is a shock. Working up to the last. Good man. It was a pleasure to know him. I'll send flowers to the family. Thank you, gentleman, for breaking the news so gently. Was there any reason you had to tell me this in person?"
    "Oh, we just wanted to see you up close. It's been a pleasure. Say, you wouldn't mind autographing –"
    Pricks. Yes, I signed a photo for each of them.
    The cops left. I made Rooibos tea. Only when they were gone and I needn't hide my emotions did it come across: Philip was dead. He'd been recovering, doing some of his best music in years, and had looked better than ever. And now he was gone. Dr. Jew had –
    Dr. Jew . That man. Dr. Jew. He'd insinuated himself into another moment of my life. His medicine for Philip… I didn't believe for an instant that Philip's AIDS had progressed so rapidly. That foul little man was involved.
    T hat thousand miles that kept me from Lise… I would crawl it if I could get her away from Dr. Jew in time.
    But whatever had happened, had happened. It lived in the past. When I would hear the circumstances they would take place in the present for me. I was insanely curious, yet also feared to walk through the moments she and Dr. Jew had already lived.

XXXV.

    Adam, Eve, Ueda, and Swan were having dinner at Ueda 's apartment. Swan's head was lowered, almost buried in his food.
    "What 's the matter with him?" said Adam.
    "He hasn 't spoken in days," said Ueda. "And he won't go home. I tried calling his uncle. I tried Vinny. No one answers. Very strange."
    "That 's weird," said Adam. "We once saw a TV show where a kid wouldn't talk to his parents for four months because a wild man had sawed his tongue off and the kid didn't want anyone to find out about it because he was embarrassed and he thought they would laugh at him. His grandmother finally learned his secret when she looked in his mouth while he was sleeping."
    "Fascinating," said Ueda.
    "Swan, what is it?" said Eve. "What's the matter?"
    Swan looked at Eve. His lips moved. No sound came. His forked fingers combed Ueda's famous mashed potatoes. Rain broke from clouds to hit city roofs.
    "What is it , Swan?" said Eve. "You can tell me."
    Swan hunched down and Ueda hoped he'd made the potatoes firm enough to act as a cushion. Swan ceased his forehead dive and the vegetables were not tested.
    "Swan?" said Eve.
    "I want…" he finally said. "I want to go home."
    "Oh, Swan." Eve put her arms around Swan and hugged him, held him, as he started to cry.
    "Why does he cry?" said Ueda.
    "Shh, shh," said Eve. "That doesn't matter. Everything will be alright. Won't it? Of course it will."
    "Sure," said Adam. "Everything will be better soon."
    "I do not understand him. I am only his teacher."
    "You 've helped him enormously," said Adam. "He's told us so."
    "But something has happened which I did not prepare him for. I feel responsible."
    "You can 't always be there for him," said Adam. "He has to learn. Just like us, out here in the world."
    "You said you have some information on Dr. Jew?" said Ueda.
    "Yeah. Sergio Simpatico told us where to find him."
    "You made it into Simpatico's house then? Amazing! I've tried so many times. What's he like?"
    "He told us that Dr. Jew is in Mexico. If we go to the doctor's home now we can get evidence from his lab and take it to a lawyer, sue him for holding us, send him to prison for all his crimes. His evilness."
    "That is a fantastic plan," said Ueda.
    "Then you'll come with us?"
    "Pfeh!" Ueda coughed on his food. "Me?"
    "Sure. In case there's trouble. Bring Swan too. It'll be good for him. Get him out of the house."
    "It w ould be breaking the law, Adam," said Ueda.
    "To do what is right. To restore justice."
    "That is rhetoric. It is still breaking the law."
    "You know," said Adam, "the Nazis weren 't breaking the law. Not in Germany. And they sure didn't do the right thing. So you won't help us?"
    Eve still held Swan,