“You’re still upset.”
“Oh yes. You’ve trapped me for at least an hour in some metal room that smells like sweat and stupidity. You had me watch women die.”
“You didn’t have to watch. I didn’t force you. Your curiosity did.”
“Nevertheless, I hate you.”
“That’s fine.” He closed his eyes again as he rested his feet on the electronic panel. “I, for one, am happy I met you. Michael never captured your true beauty. He thought you were full breasts and long hair. He never discovered the true person within you. I did. Didn’t I affect your life in some good ways? I can’t be that bad of a person.”
“No, you’re not, but everything good you’ve done will be pretty much forgotten because of this craziness.”
“None of it will be forgotten. It hurt that you told me I was just like my dad. He killed women for immortality. But in the end. What you said was true, and even better, I got my immortality. I took it, and my art will teach my lessons to the world, things that people will be dissecting and analyzing for years to come, until some other mad genius thinks of something even better. Either way, my project will be the mad genius’s muse. Somewhere a little kid will open a magazine about my installation or walk into a museum where my exhibit will be and it will capture his heart. It will twist his mind so hard all of the things he thought he knew will seep out, and in its place will be space for his truths of life because in the end, that’s what it is. His truths. My truths. Your truths. We all see life in our own way, not one way. But his truths will spark more. That’s what all of us believed when we decided to do this installation. We hoped to inspire the next philosopher or leader of a country.”
“And did you realize that you would go to jail?”
“We won’t.”
“You will. There is no defense for willingly letting people die.”
He turned his face to me and opened his eyes. “Elle, you still didn’t guess it, did you? Do you think we all got together to watch ten women die? Do you think I would involve myself in something and not put my own actions where my mouth is?”
I tensed and sat up in my chair. “What are you talking about?”
“You asked about the jar and the penis inside. It’s mine like I told you. You want to hear about the collection?”
“I want to know what you mean about putting your actions where your mouth is.”
“How about I tell you about my collection, and then it will all click.” He cleared his throat. “My whole collection will be presented at X-lab. I didn’t think any other gallery would have the balls to show this, so I started my own gallery. Your painting with the cancer victims starts the whole collection. It’ll be the first thing the viewers see when they walk into X-lab. I have precise instructions for everything. A whole forest will be on the second level. It will be a maze of high walls within dim lighting and the walls’ surface will be TV screens. Videos of the women’s deaths and the world’s reactions will play as the viewer walks through the maze. Step by step they’ll go through our journey. There will be four paths through the maze, but each one will lead to the center where my penis will be resting in the jar. No matter where the person walks, all paths will lead to that jar. I considered my body to be the centerpiece, just a fully preserved corpse in a glass box, staring at the viewer as they walk into the center. Everyone said it would be too much. I thought it would be unique and—”
“Hex, wait. What do you mean, your corpse?” My hands shook.
“I’ll be gone in fifteen minutes tops, Elle. Let me tell you everything. No one else wanted to talk before they died. I always said I would talk if there was someone around to listen. I like talking and interacting. I think that would be good to do right before I die.”
I jumped up and went to him. “No. Hell no. You’re not dying right now, are you? No—”
“Do you know how important this is for me? I’ve always wanted to die. Always. But then Al left the navy and rushed to take care of me, and Grandma flew to the states with her chants of strength and hope. So I stayed for these years for them, so it all wouldn’t be a waste, but I always wanted to go to the other side. It’s peaceful over there.”
“You don’t know what it is. H-how would you know? Hex, please don’t do this.” My movements were quick and jittery as I paced next to him. “Did you take something? Okay, wait. What did you take? We still should have time.”