It's hard for him to write about, so I guess I have to. Only I don't really know what was going on in his head just then, so all I can say is what was going on in mine.
I could hardly believe Mom's story. Dad, lashing out from a surfeit of morality? And so unnecessary, too, since the stuff he "did" as an "Author" were really his Origional, acting through him. I knew good and well that on his own Dad never took advantage of people. Darla and I could both attest to that, from our own upbringings. I'm the one who finally had to write him into having sex with me!
But obviously he was bugged. His Origional too, from the way he acted when I tried to get to the bottom of all this through him.
They needed help. But how was I supposed to help them when they kept slamming doors in my face?
Meanwhile, Darla realized something that should have been obvious, but I hadn't thought of. "Mom," she asked, "how are you feeling?"
I could've hit myself. 'Cause Mom's a duplicate of Dad in everything but sex and power. So if he used to be Landis, she had been too!
"I'm ... okay," she said, but she sounded a bit worried. "A woman reacts to this sort of thing differently, I guess. And even though I used to be part of him I don't really identify with him that much any more, in the identity sense. I've always looked at my memories of what I did as Zorlond as his actions, dating my 'birth' from my splitting off from him. And afterwards I was never the Authors, never the one making other people do things. Maybe because of these things the scandal D.J. Woohoo uncovered didn't affect me like it did him. Or maybe it's because I wasn't at the Board meeting and he was. But anyway, for whatever reason, the trauma didn't wake up the Landis memories in me, like it did in him. So I don't have quite the angst he does. Still, it's ... troubling. I know what he's told me about being Landis, and I know I must have been Landis too."
Babble, babble, babble. Can't fool me, Mom, and you shouldn't even try. I could tell you were a lot more bugged than you let on. But since you weren't frothing at the mouth and slashing at poor pixies I let it pass. "We've got to do something," I said. "What's your plan, Mom?"
She looked at me weird. "What makes you think I've got a plan?"
"The way you looked when you came out of the suite, just now. You weren't just getting kicked out, you had some goal in mind. So what is it?"
She did this sort of sighing thing. "I was planning to go see D.J.," she said. "Or maybe even F-Cup Fitzgerald. They're the only ones who've been through this sort of thing themselves. The only ones I'd feel comfortable asking for help, that is."
I got what she meant. You wouldn't want to go to MarkT or L.E. for help, and Deja Voodoo, well, I don't care if he and D.J. do have the same mind, she's a friend and he's just spooky.
Darla acted kind of confused when Mom mentioned D.J., since in her mind D.J. means her, Darla Jean Jaeger, as I've mentioned before. Between the two of us in private she's D.J. too, but since I'm writing for silly little boys who might get them confused if I call her that in print I'm calling her Darla and Ms. Woohoo D.J.
"Great, let's go, then," I said, then had a second thought. "Only, maybe someone should stay here and keep an eye on the suite, maybe? In case Dad like totally flips out and tries to blow it up or run away or something?"
Mom looked indecisive, which she almost never is, which just shows how all this had gotten to her. Reluctantly I made the choice for her. "Right, I'd better stay here then," I said. I mean, what else could I do? Mom was the obvious choice to see D.J., and Darla wasn't experienced enough with Authorial bullshit to make a good watchdog here. That left me.
"Meanwhile, you might need a place to stay till Dad's himself again," I went on. "So I'm mentally rekeying my own suite to let you use it like you're co-owner. Darla already has drop-in privileges. Okay with you?"
Mom was practically gushy the way she thanked me. Things had been touchy between us, which is one reason why I moved out and got my own suite in the first place. She knew this was my way of making up.
"I wonder if one of the other Russell cabalists might help?" Darla asked.
"The what?" Mom asked, in a way that said she didn't like the phrase.
Darla got defensive. "Well that's what the Enquirer calls them," she said. "You know, Dabbler, JigSaw, that You Wish guy?"
Mom said no. Apparently Dad kind of blamed Dabbler for breaking the story, even though he did it for D.J. to save her life and probably those of everyone else in MarkT's 'family' too. And JigSaw was too into sex to be a real heavy hitter in the smarts department, and You Wish was a grouch who didn't get along with anybody, and besides she didn't know him all that well, and besides besides she didn't think any of those guys had gotten their Character memories back so they wouldn't really know what Zorlond was going through.
Just as well, I figured. I mean, Dabbler at least sure had reasons not to want to do me any favors.
So we split up as I suggested, Mom and Darla going to see D.J. and me settling down to wait outside the parental digs to make sure Dad didn't do anything weird. Or at least nothing weirder.
And I suppose someone else should tell the next bit, because Dad didn't stir, and Mom and Darla weren't back for a while. TTFN.
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