Time Enough For Love
by AZ Story Guy
Chapter 18
"Dr. Martin Smythe," the man said as he introduced himself to Charles.
Levi didn't like him from the very first. He was older. Maybe 60, which to Levi seemed antique. Then again, Levi saw a lot of older people on the internet who seemed pretty cool (for their age!). There was more. The man dressed in a three piece suit and was perfectly manicured. He smelled like aftershave and cheap cologne. Levi didn't know what to expect so he chided himself for being judgmental.
However it quickly got worse. Dr. Smythe kept referring to CJ in the third person as "the boy." "So this is the boy.... the boy will take some tests.... I need to ascertain the boy's developmental level...." On and on Smythe droned about "the boy." When he did actually acknowledge CJ as a real person, it was either as "Mr. Jones" or "Curtis."
Levi interrupted the man several times to say "He goes by 'CJ'" but it seemed lost on the man. Levi was beginning to feel like he was invisible!
Charles could sense that Levi was not happy. After watching Levi aggressively defend CJ when he first met Charles, and since watching the interplay between the two teens, Charles had assumed a background role in guiding the boys through their new adventure.
Not only had Charles developed a new respect for Levi's "grit," determination and love for CJ, but the man had also come to fully accept Levi's new friend. In Charles' book, CJ was the "real deal."
Dr. Smythe outlined the procedure he would be using to assess CJ's educational development and overall intelligence level. Levi objected when the man mentioned intense computer involvement in the procedure. Likewise, Charles suggested to Dr. Smythe that CJ had limited knowledge of using a computer and suggested that paper tests might be better.
Smythe discarded the concerns by assuring both Levi and Charles that he had extensive experience assessing people all around the world in many different, including some quite adverse, environments. Levi tried to point out without revealing the obvious that CJ was "completely unlike" anyone Dr. Smythe had ever met before.
Levi watched with trepidation as his friend and Dr. Smythe lead off into Charles' on-site office.
For the next thirty minutes Levi was nervous as a cat. Charles tried to calm him down with small talk about ANYTHING but nothing worked. Levi's brain was totally focused on the boy he loved. He knew CJ had to be assessed so that he could receive the proper education. However, CJ was completely unique for the obvious reason.
"Maybe we should have told the Doctor about CJ's origin!" Levi said to Charles.
The man shook his head "No!"
"He'd never believe us!" he replied, "And would probably want to put us in a rubber room!"
Levi bristled at the remark even though he saw Charles' point.
"I'm not ashamed of him!" Levi barked.
"Nor should you be, Levi.... But you have to remember people don't travel through time every day!"
Both of them laughed at the remark.
Finally, after forty-five minutes, Dr. Smythe emerged sans CJ.
Levi shot Charles a look before he asked, "Where is CJ?"
"Mr. Jones is still in the office," he replied, then turning to Charles he continued, "We need to talk!"
Levi shot down the hall like a rocket and entered the room. The lights were out and only the glow of the computer and the screen-filtered sunlight provided any illumination.
Levi thought maybe CJ had left to go to the bathroom but then he heard a sound.
Crying. Sniffling.
Levi bounded over the furniture and found CJ curled up in a ball in one corner.
"Baby? What the fuck?" Levi cried, "What happened to you?"
Seeing CJ, who Levi thought was the definition of a total stud, crying like a baby made a host of emotions flood through his brain. He dropped to the floor and cradled the young teen. CJ's bright blue eyes were dull and full of tears.
"What the fuck? Tell me... Come on!" Levi prodded.
CJ shook his head "No!"
A terrifying thought hit Levi.
"Did he... Did he... fuck.with..you?" Levi asked softly.
Levi was ready to strangle the man if CJ said "Yes."
But that answer was "No."
"Then what?" Levi asked.
"I shoulda stayed in my time!" he sniffled.
Levi's mind reeled.
"Tell me baby.... You know I love you... You're not going anywhere.. especially back to the Hell you lived in before!" Levi cooed in the boy's ear.
More sniffles and crying.
Levi wasn't crying. Anger was welling up in his eighteen year old body. Something had really gone wrong for his friend to be acting like this....
"He... the 'Doctor man'...... He... He said.... I needed to be.... uh....!" the boy stuttered, looking for the right words.
His brain, which seemed to be able to copy and process data at an amazing rate, finally came through....
"He... said... I needed... to.. be ins.... ins..... insti.... twooooo.... shun.... alllllized!" CJ struggled to get the word out.
Levi was livid. His face was crimson red at the thought.
"WHAT?" he barked.
CJ told, in halting terms, how Dr. Smythe had tried to set up a computerized assessment of his educational literacy. It didn't work well. CJ got confused as he had to move between windows on the computer. The assessments were timed and CJ completely failed them, one after the other.
Dr. Smythe became more and more impatient as CJ became more and more confused and scared. He finally shut down and just sat there while Smythe harangued the boy's lack of cooperation.
Levi flew up on his feet in a nanosecond.
"Come on, babe! It's judgment day for that fucking quack!" he barked.
Levi led CJ into the den where Dr. Smythe was talking to Charles. He heard the end of a conversation that launched the older teen into an attack.
"...Definitely evidence of Pervasive Developmental Disorder and ADHD... I would recommend being placed in a professional care setting until we can do further testing."
Charles seemed taken back at the Doctor's comments.
"Really... Are you sure... I never saw any evidence of anything like that.....!" Charles replied.
"It's difficult for a non-professional.....!" Dr. Smythe started to reply.
Leading CJ by the hand, Levi entered the room.
"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HIM YOU SON OF A BITCH?" Levi screamed at the man.
Charles and Dr. Smythe both turned to Levi at his outburst.
"Now Levi.....!" Charles started to say.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LISTEN, CHARLES....!!!! This asshole told CJ he needed to be institutionalized; he even told him he's at least mildly retarded and called him stupid because he couldn't perform the computerized tests!" Levi yelled.
Charles turned to the Doctor.
"Well... Dr. Smythe... Is that true?" he asked.
"The boy.....!" Dr. Smythe started to explain.
"HIS GODDAMNED NAME IS CJ. THAT'S WHAT HE GOES BY. THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS TO BE CALLED. YOU KEEP REFERRING TO HIM IN THE THIRD PERSON AS IF HE'S NOT EVEN REAL!" Levi bellowed.
"The boy.... uh... Curtis.... uh.CJ refused to follow simple testing instructions.... He refused to use the standard computerized......!" Dr. Smythe started to reply.
"I TRIED TO TELL YOU, YOU STUPID GOD DAMNED FUCK! HE'S NEVER SEEN A COMPUTER BEFORE UNTIL... JUST A FEW DAYS AGO.... I TRIED TO TELL YOU TO DO PAPER TESTS... YOU'RE THE FUCKING PROFESSIONAL HERE.... YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FIGURE THAT SHIT OUT!" Levi raged.
Dr. Smythe was taken back at Levi's passion. All the while, CJ remained seated in a chair as Levi stood behind him. He kept both his hands on CJ's tight, muscled shoulders. He wanted to calm his friend down and let him know that what Dr. Smythe had said was total bullshit.
Again the doctor was taken back by Levi. Then he made a big mistake.
"First of all, I don't know why I have to listen to this kid....!" he pointed at Levi, "When I was called here by Mr. Baker to perform an assessment on this boy.... Just who are you to talk to me like that anyway?" he asked Levi.
Levi saw that the man was profusely sweating.
Charles rolled his eyes. He knew what was coming next.
"I work for him!" Charles said, nodding towards Levi.
"THAT'S RIGHT. MOTHERFUCKER. CHARLES WORKS FOR ME AND SO DO YOU. YOU WANNA KNOW WHO I AM? I AM LEVI AARON ROBERTS.... AS IN 'ROBERTS INTERNATIONAL' .... DOES THAT NAME RING A FUCKING BELL WITH YOU?" Levi replied.
Dr. Smythe gulped a load of air.
"OH YES MOTHERFUCKER!!!! I AM YOUR FUCKING BOSS!!! I TOLD YOU CJ WAS DIFFERENT. I TOLD YOU NOT TO USE A FUCKING COMPUTER..... BUT CALLING MY FRIEND 'STUPID' AND THREATENING TO PUT HIM IN A FUCKING INSTITUTION?" Levi continued his outrage.
He continued, "CHARLES... THIS FUCKING LOSER IS OFF THE PAYROLL OF ROBERTS INTERNATIONAL. I WANT HIM GONE NOW!! LET HIM PAY FOR HIS OWN FUCKING PLANE TICKET BACK TO L.A. HAVE SECURITY OR HUMAN RESOURCES OR WHOEVER CLEAN OUT HIS FUCKING DESK!! AS FAR AS I CARE, HE'S NOT QUALIFIED TO WORK AS A GREETER AT WALMART!"
Dr. Smythe started fidgeting in his chair; as if ten thousand ants were crawling all over his body.
Charles turned to the Doctor, "If what Levi said is correct...I consider your conduct to be highly questionable at BEST... and worthy of disbarment if found to be true!"
Dr. Smythe loosened his tie.
"I.. Uh... The boy... He....!" he mumbled.
"STOP CALLING HIM A FUCKING BOY!" Levi screamed, "You just don't get it, do you... You're so fucking regimented in your thinking because of what you have been trained to expect and what you have seen before.. I tried to tell you CJ is special. Unique... VERY different.like..NO ONE you've ever met before... I KNOW because I went back to find him, to convince him to come here with me... I've spent every fucking minute of my time with him for the past...I don't even know how many days. I've talked to him, laughed with him.... NOT 'AT HIM!'.... Almost died with him.... LITERALLY..... Showered with him... Slept with him... made love to him....!!!!"
The doctor squirmed in his seat when Levi made that revelation.
"Oh yeah!" Levi said, reacting to Dr. Smythe, "Does it bother you that we spend a shit load of time fucking each other in the ass?"
Levi grinned his "eat shit" smile; CJ giggled at his friend's assertiveness.
Charles interrupted Levi's dissertation, "Dr. Smythe... Levi is correct. CJ is not like anyone on this planet living today... I can guarantee you that point for sure.... You are the professional here. You should be able to recognize.....!"
"What? That he is just another teenage boy... You talk about him like he's from Mars or something!" the Doctor replied.
Apparently Dr. Smythe was trying to grow, and show, a little backbone.
"He still remains a boy, in my professional opinion, possessed with very limited mental reasoning abilities and a chronic.!" the Doctor started to explain.
"Hold the fuck up!" Levi interrupted.
"Limited mental reasoning abilities?" Levi parroted back to the Doctor.
He tossed Charles a calculator.
"Charles.... follow along if you can!" Levi grinned.
The man had not seen CJ's unique mathematical skill set yet.
Levi looked at his young friend. They did not need to speak; it was like both boys' minds were tuned in to the same wavelength.
"Okay babe.... Just relax and do your thing!" Levi assured his friend.
CJ had calmed down to his normal self. Watching Levi rise to his defense left an imprint in his mind that would never be forgotten.
Levi lead off, "CJ... 8,962 times 1478 equals....!"
Levi barely had the equation out of his mouth when CJ gave the answer.
"13,245,836!" he said calmly.
Both men stared at each other.
"Now... can you give me the square root of that?" Levi asked.
"Is that the number that...!" CJ started to ask.
"Yeah babe... times itself....!" Levi shot back.
CJ started to reply, "3,639...... Uh..How... 'fur' do ya want me to cipher it out for you?"
"Two or three places is good!" Levi smiled.
"Uhhhhh.... Point 482....!" he started to say.
"Great!" Levi laughed.
"9" CJ finished.
The three looked at him.
"Point 4829... The answer.... It is 3,639.4829!" he said.
For the next fifteen minutes Levi rattled off one series of basic math equations after another. Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction. Some were string equations and Levi laughed as Charles could barely keep up with CJ's answers!
"There!" Levi said, bending over to kiss CJ on the mouth. A tent formed in the young teen's shorts.
"Are you fucking happy now? Is CJ 'retarded' or 'stupid?'" Levi barked.
Charles could only reply with, "Amazing!"
The Doctor looked like he wanted to shrink right off the chair.
"That's impressive but does not prove.... Uh... many people can be trained.....!" the Doctor started to say.
"TRAINED? Like he's a fucking PARROT or a DOG?" Levi growled.
"You said the boy.... Uh.... CJ.... You went 'back' to find him.... I'm curious what you meant......!" Smythe said.
"Yeah... Hold on to your nuts If you've got any.... I went back.... back in time.... Don't even ask how, what or why.... And found CJ... He's not FROM here! He's not FROM anywhere HERE! He's from 1912. Arizona in 1912. Pioneer Arizona at that... A fucking wide spot in the road town that doesn't even exist any more except in a few history books.... Until I met him a few days ago, he'd never seen a computer, a car, a flush toilet, a light bulb... Anything that you and I take for granted... He's a very special guy. Very smart. Very adaptive. And you treated him like shit.... There's no fucking way I'd ever let YOU tutor him for anything. I think CJ could show you a lot more than you could ever offer him. He lived in conditions that I can't even call 'primitive' because that would be too generous. He's been abused, ridiculed, and left to fend for himself... In a place that's a lot fucking different from what you may have seen in a western on TV!" Levi explained.
"Charles!" Levi concluded, "This guy's outta here.... I'm through with him..... And I meant what I said..... He's fucking gone from my Company!"
Levi gently pulled CJ out of his chair.
"Now if you don't mind...... we're gonna go fuck each others brains out!!!! We've earned it!" Levi concluded.
Dr. Smythe gasped; Charles laughed at Levi's boldness.
"Doctor!" Charles said, "I think it's time for you to leave! You had a chance... Despite your impressive credentials I think.... Well let's say you have caused enough harm for one day... And... If you don't see the value; The amazing talent that CJ has with numbers... Christ he's faster than a computer... You think someone TRAINED him to do that? With the right..... The proper tutelage.... And nourishing, he could become anything his mind can imagine. He certainly does not belong in a 'home' or an institution for.... People who are truly challenged. No.... You..In Levi's parlance, 'fucked up big time' ..... I'll call you a cab and.... Unless I can change Levi's mind.... I suggest you get your resumé in order!""
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