The Twelve-Fingered Boy Read Online Free PDF Page B

Mr. Graves?”
    â€œNo, it isn’t. I don’t understand what you want.”
    â€œObviously not. Let us move on to other matters. The word you’re searching for is polydactyl. Indeed, it is a word you’ve been searching for all your life. It is my honor to present it to you.”
    â€œPolydactyl? I don’t understand.”
    â€œSupernumerary digits. It’s a congenital condition that occurs once in every five hundred births. However, multiple instances of polydactylism in one person, well … this is considerably rarer. Exceedingly rare, occurring in less than one in one hundred thousand births.”
    â€œYou’re not really with the Department of Health and … whatever … are you?” For a moment my heart goes out to the little dude. He’s showing backbone, he is. Get him, Jack.
    â€œAh!” Quincrux talks in the same inflectionless way Jack does. His “ah” sounds like a sigh. Like he doesn’t care one whit about what’s going on, he’s just doing his job. Or maybe he wants to die and all life is just misery. Misery and unhappiness.
    That’s frightening to think about.
    â€œNo, Mr. Graves. No, I am not affiliated with the Department of Health and Human Services. Should anyone wish to contact the DHHS to confirm my employment, I say to him, feel free to exercise your curiosity. My employment will be confirmed. However, you have guessed correctly. I have never once entered the DHHS building.”
    There’s a shifting, a cough. A grunt.
    â€œMy apologies. One moment. Allow me to readjust Mr. Booth.”
    â€œYou didn’t do anything.”
    It’s Quincrux’s turn to remain silent.
    â€œWhy’s he just standing there like that?”
    â€œIn your case, perfect postaxial polydactylism. Perfectly symmetrical. Now, may I ask you a few personal questions? Yes?”
    â€œI … I guess.”
    â€œHow many toes do you have?”
    â€œTwelve.”
    Holy crow. Jack’s got stuff sprouting everywhere.
    â€œAre they postaxial? Do you have two pinkies or two big toes?”
    â€œPinkies.”
    â€œPostaxial, then. Any malformations? Will you remove your shoes so I might see?”
    After a moment, I hear the clop of a shoe dropping. In my mind’s eye I can see Jack’s bare feet bristling with angry toes.
    â€œAh! That looks uncomfortable.” Quincrux chuckles, a dry sound. “Diphallia?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œDo you have more than one penis?”
    The way Quincrux asks this, with a little trill at the end, surprises me. The suit’s been deadpan this whole time, but with that question he showed his interest. He’s not bored anymore.
    Creep.
    â€œI’m afraid silence is not a suitable answer. Please disrobe so that I might observe.”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œI can compel you.”
    â€œNo.”
    Don’t do it, Jack
. I’m going to get Norman.
    Something is happening now. I can feel it through the cinder-block walls. A struggle is going on in there, even if I can’t hear anything. I’m about to jump down and get Norman when Quincrux says, “So, you are not as docile as you seem.”
    â€œI don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    â€œShow me your hands.”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œI’ve seen them already, in the cafeteria. Let me examine them.”
    â€œNo.”
    Something is building in there. Something like an electrical charge, the feeling you get standing near a transformer during a thunderstorm. It’s like the walls are vibrating without moving, streaming with unseen energy.
    It builds. It surges, crests, and recedes. It’s like a tidal pool, sinking back into the ocean. I hear a sigh, maybe of relief, but I can’t tell which of them it comes from. The man or boy.
    â€œHmm. Your special condition seems to … to … prevent me from using my normal methods of investigation.”