Page 34 of Atlas
He nodded. “River lives in London, Lumi and Nathan are still in Dublin, and Maximum…” He pushed up his glasses. “Well, he’s rootless, it seems.”
“Maybe I could interview them over the phone or FaceTime.”
“Let me talk to my siblings, and we’ll see what they say.”
“Atlas.” There was a question pressing that I had to ask him.
“Yes?”
“A friend of mine works at Harvard as a professor. I hope you don’t mind, but I asked him about you.”
Atlas watched me, his lips disappearing into a slit which was always a sign that someone didn’t like what they were hearing, so I hurried to add,
“Of course, he couldn’t talk about students, but he did mention that he knew you as a very gifted student but that you chose not to get your degree.”
Atlas looked down at his cup. “I see that you’ve been researching me more than I thought.” He met my eyes in a penetrating glare. “Did you know about the cult?”
Swallowing hard, I gave a single nod. “There was an article about it.”
“Right.”
“I wanted you to tell me yourself, though.”
He crossed his arms and pushed back against the leather bench. “And now you wonder why I didn’t graduate from college.”
“Yes.”
“You’re a smart woman, Jolene. You can figure it out.” His words were challenging and confrontational.
“You didn’t need a degree to work at the family company. You couldn’t be bothered.”
He snorted. "That’s what you think? What if I told you that I was protecting myself? If I had a degree in law or mathematics, it would be fine. But my focus has been on the study of mind control, deceit, and manipulation throughout history. I'm aware of how that could be misunderstood and turned against me. I'm the son of a crazy man, and therefore everything I do will be judged accordingly. I'm not interested in drawing attention to myself with headlines saying that I'm fascinated by my father's crimes. I'm not! I'm disgusted by it, and my mind won't stop obsessing about why no one stood up to him. Why my mother allowed him to treat her the way he did, and why she didn't try and protect me when he pulled out the guns. But most of all, I'm trying to understand why I didn't stand up to him or say something when it all went down.”
"But weren't you drugged? The article said that members of the cult were drugged before they committed suicide."
“That's true, but we weren't in a coma, just confused and hyped up. I should still have reacted. I should have stopped my father.”
“You were a child.”
“No. I was sixteen.”
“Sixteen and drugged. It wasn’t your fault, and blaming yourself will only drive you crazy.” I tilted my head and leaned across the table to touch his wrist.
When he didn’t respond or move, I added. “I’m happy you told me, Atlas. What happened back then shouldn’t be something you carry around with you as a heavy burden on your soul.”
Atlas pulled free of my touch and rubbed his face. “I’m tired. Can we go now?”
“Yes, of course.” I nodded and emptied my orange juice in one slurp. “Give me a second to use the restroom and pay the bill.”
“You don’t have to pay.”
I pushed out from the booth and stood up. “I insist on it, so don’t try to slip the waitress your credit card while I’m in the ladies’ room. I’ll be upset if you do.”
He raised both palms. “I wouldn’t want to upset a woman at 3 a.m.”
“Good. I knew you were a smart cookie.”
While in the bathroom, I took time to check my phone, and what I saw sent chills running down my spine.
