| General Fiction posted October 9, 2024 | Chapters: |
...44 45 -46- 47 
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A visit from old friends
A chapter in the book DUEL with the DEVIL
DUEL with the DEVIL - Chapter 46
by Jim Wile
| Background A brilliant young chemist creates a new painkilling drug with unknown benefits and pitfalls. |
Recap of Chapter 45: Brian invites Paul Rieke for a visit to discuss his ideas about using gene manipulation to cure the recent problem with Dipraxa. He relates everything that happened over the past few months, including the initial success, the accidental double-dose, the resulting high, the two-month binge, the overwhelming depression, and then the idea for fixing the drug. Paul understood Brian's struggles and believed he was on the right track to fix Dipraxa.
Chapter 46
Summer, 2023
Over the next few months, with help from Paul, I was able to determine the structure of the pituitary-produced endorphins without digging into my brain. Want to hear how? No? I don’t blame you.
Suffice it to say that I was able to reconfigure the Dipraxa molecules into Glyptophan molecules to address the so-called spiky appearance of the endorphins and prevent their binding to the opioid receptors, which creates that unwanted euphoria. Finally, it still has the incredible analgesic effect of Dipraxa but none of the euphoric effect.
How do I know this? As with Dipraxa, I did more animal testing, and I tested it on myself for several months. This included working up to a double dose and even a quadruple dose to see if I really solved the euphoria problem, and never once did I experience any euphoric effects from taking the drug. No discernible side effects either. Of course, that was certainly not conclusive, and a much larger group will need to be tested.
It was during this testing period that I finally heard from Fran again. I hadn’t spoken to her for well over a year—since that party right at the end of 2021 before everyone parted ways.
“Hey, little brother. Guess who?”
“Not the prodigal daughter, returned from her deep, dark, secret mission to save the world, is it? Where have you been and what exactly have you been doing, big sis?”
“Now, you know if I told you, I’d have to kill you. Let’s just say I was deep in the belly of the beast for a while.”
“Hmm. That’s about as clear as when I try to explain to you what I’m involved with. At least I try. God, I’ve missed you and Mike, Fran. Is he back too, wherever they sent him?”
“Yep. We were actually there together.”
“Where?”
“Oh, you are wear-ing on me, little brother.”
“Okay, okay. I’m a-ware you can’t tell me. You and Mike are none the worse for the wear, though, I hope?”
“Uncle!” she laughed. “I’ll never best you in this. Mike and I are fine. Now tell me about you and Jules.”
We talk for almost two hours. During this time, I fill her in on everything that’s happened since the last time we were together in December 2021. She is shocked and dismayed by the negative parts—the failure of Dipraxa and the subsequent pain, addiction, and depression—and tells me she is so sorry she couldn’t have been there to support me during this extremely trying time.
I tell her about the current status of my testing of Glyptophan, and she’s very pleased with the promise of this new drug, which will prevent the ability to get high with it.
One thing really struck me about what she said of the old Dipraxa. She said, “Brian, you must never let that drug get out because of what it would do to the population. Look what it did to you. It would inevitably become so popular and hard to resist, that it would destroy us as a civilization. Many think that’s what drugs in general have done, but this super-drug of yours would just finish us off.”
We end by promising that the four of us will get together soon. It was so good talking to her again. I didn’t realize how much I missed her until that moment.
A few days later, my phone rings, showing an unfamiliar number. I almost let it go to voicemail, but for some reason, I decide to answer the call.
“Brian, my old friend. This is Daniel Molebatsi.”
“Daniel! What a nice surprise. God, it’s been a few years since we talked last. How are you and Kimi and the baby?”
“Which one? We have three now!”
“Oh, that’s terrific, my friend. Tell me about them.”
“I have a better idea. Would you like to meet them? We are here in the states for a vacation, and Kimi and I would love to get together with you and Julia if you wouldn’t mind a few tagalongs.”
“We’d love that, Daniel. Where are you right now?”
“We are in Raleigh, showing them where Kimi and I met. You are still in Charlotte, correct?”
“That’s right. It’s about three hours from Raleigh. We would love to have you come here. Or, we could come to meet you. Whatever suits you.”
“I have rented a recreational vehicle for three weeks, so we will be traveling around for a while. How about if we stopped in Charlotte one afternoon to see you and Julia?”
“That sounds wonderful. When were you thinking of coming?”
We continue to make arrangements and agree they will be here the day after tomorrow, a Wednesday, around noon. It will be great to see him and his family. We have talked a number of times over the years, but this will be the first face-to-face meeting since our undergrad days at NC State, going on 10 years now.
I go downstairs to tell Julia, who is practicing for an upcoming pair of concerts in Portland and Vancouver next week. She is thrilled to hear about Daniel and Kimi’s visit. They will be here for the day, spend the night in the RV, parked in our driveway, and depart the following morning for destinations west. We plan a few meals, and I make up a grocery list. We’re both excited about seeing them again.
The huge RV pulls into our driveway just past noon today. Julia and I hear them pull in and go out on the front porch to greet them.
Daniel looks much the same as he did 10 years ago, with perhaps a slight paunch. Kimi looks amazing for a mother of three young children. She has put on a few pounds too, but they look good on her. She had always been very slim back in the day. And then there are the children—two boys ages 7 and 5, and a girl age 10 months. They are cute as can be. The boys look like a young Tiger Woods, who is also of mixed race, with an African American father and a Thai mother.
After introductions, the boys begin chasing each other around the front yard. The girl more closely resembles Kimi, who is holding her. She appears very shy and buries her face in Kimi’s shoulder.
I guess Julia and I haven’t changed that much in appearance, either. Julia wears her hair longer now—shoulder length and layered—and I’m thinner and not nearly as muscular as I once was. All of us look well and happy.
After hugs and kisses, we usher them into the house, including the rambunctious boys who complain a little when asked to stop their game of tag and come in with us. I see Daniel kneel down face-to-face and remind them about being polite and not talking back.
Nadia greets us when we come in. She is a friendly cat who often comes to the door when strangers arrive. The boys are instantly attracted to her and chase her into the family room, where Daniel has to remind them to be gentle with her or they’ll frighten her into running away and hiding. They immediately calm down, and I tell them she enjoys chasing strings, and I show them where her cat toys are kept. With the boys now occupied with the cat, Daniel and I retreat to the kitchen, where Julia and Kimi, with the baby across her shoulder, are already getting some refreshments.
I offer Daniel a libation, and he readily accepts a Heineken, which I have too. The four of us spend the next hour sitting in the kitchen and then on the porch, catching up.
Daniel and Kimi had gotten married during their grad school years. Both of them had had F-1 visas, which allowed them to remain in the US for graduate programs following their undergrad years. After they had both earned master’s degrees—he in finance and she in biomedical engineering—they returned to Botswana, where Kimi established citizenship. A couple of years went by, and they began having babies.
Daniel had gotten a good job as a financial analyst, and Kimi worked for a couple of years in the private sector before deciding to stay home for a period with her children. They seem very happy with their situation.
“Do you miss working?” Julia asks Kimi.
“Sometimes a little, but I’m happy being at home with the children for now. I will go back to work one day when they are all in school. They are wonderful, and I wouldn’t miss these years for anything.”
“Same for you, buddy?” I ask Daniel.
“It is different for me. I am the breadbaker for now, and I did not have to stop working at a job I loved to have babies. But Kimi wanted to stay home with them from the start, and it has worked out well for us. I too love being a parent, and having children has been a very rewarding part of our lives so far. They say, ‘Wait until they become teenagers,’ but I am not worried about that. They are very good children, especially this little one here,” he said as he took the baby, who had fallen asleep and remained in Kimi’s arms the entire time, into his own. She stirs but doesn’t awaken and snuggles into her daddy’s neck.
I stare at him for a long moment when he’s finished. “Breadbaker, Daniel? Seriously?” He winks at me, and I know he has said that for my amusement.
The boys come onto the porch and ask if they can go outside and play. The porch overlooks the backyard, and we can keep an eye on them, so Daniel gives them permission to play there. I had set up a badminton court, and they begin batting a shuttlecock back and forth after I spent a few minutes showing them how to play.
When I return from this brief interruption, Kimi asks, “And how about you two? Are you happy with your lives?”
Julia waits for me to answer first. “To be honest, these past couple of years have been rough.”
I then share with them the initial success and then the devastating failure of Dipraxa and the subsequent depression I had suffered, and they are very sympathetic to the situation. I assure them that things are much better now, and that there is new promise with Glyptophan, which I am hard at work testing while writing my Investigational New Drug application to the FDA for approval of Phase 1 testing.
Julia continues with her part in our story. “I had been touring steadily for almost six years before Covid put an end to that. I loved it, but I also loved being at home with Brian. I didn’t know how long I would want to keep touring because it took me away from home so often, and I loved our time together. Traveling has also become such a chore. When Covid hit, I was perfectly happy to stay home, and we enjoyed working together on his drug.
“By the time the restrictions had been relaxed and touring was now possible, I looked forward to it again, but I had some unexplainable misgivings about it too. It was just a feeling I had that something was about to change, and my intuition was correct because everything fell apart during the two months I was gone, as Brian told you.
“Things are going much better now, and I’m going to do a couple of concerts on the west coast in a few days. We’ll see how much longer I want to do it and be away from home so much.”
She doesn’t say it, but I know she worries about me now when I’m on my own without her, and I can’t blame her after what I put her through.
With this heavy stuff out of the way, we have a grand time during the rest of their visit. We share some good meals; Julia plays a little music for them; we play games with the kids; and we reminisce about old times. The older boys have become fast friends with Nadia, and the baby seemed entranced by Julia’s violin playing. I wish they lived closer because we really enjoy their friendship.
The next day, it’s sad when they have to leave, but we promise to do a better job of staying in touch.
After we say goodbye and they drive away, Julia and I stand together, hand-in-hand on the porch. We are silent for a while, and I wonder if she is having the same sort of thoughts I’m having after seeing how happy the Molebatsi family appears to be.
(The final chapter will be posted on Sunday, Oct. 13.)
 Recognized |
Brian Kendrick: The narrator of the story. At the beginning of the story, he is 12 years old and in 6th grade in Kernersville, North Carolina. The story traces his life into his 30s.
Julia Kendrick: Brian's wife whom he met at rehab when they were 16. She becomes a premier violinist.
Francine (Fran) Kendrick: Brian's older sister. She is 18 at the beginning of the story and goes to junior college, where she studies law enforcement.
Rafael Ortiz (Raffi): Youth therapy group leader at the rehab facility.
Robert Entwistle: Julia's father.
Dr. Marie Schmidt: Julia's mother.
Mike Pekarsky: Fran's boyfriend who she met on her Caribbean cruise.
Daniel Molebatsi: Brian's undergrad college roommate. He is from Botswana and is a business major.
Kimiko Yamada Molebatsi (Kimi): Brian's organic chemistry lab partner. She is from Japan and also resides in his and Daniel's dorm. She is now married to Daniel.
Dr. Paul Rieke: Brian's organic chemistry professor.
Willy Stubblefield: The leader of the Clark Creek Drifters bluegrass band that Julia joins.
Shannon Stubblefield: Willy's wife and the drummer of the Clark Creek Drifters.
Nadia: Brian and Julia's new kitten.
Chloe: Brian's childhood pet cat.
Picture courtesy of Flux-Pro
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