The Immortal

Rachel rolled her eyes and walked out of the room leaving Frank and I alone. There was a silence for a few seconds before he let out a low whistle.

“She’s somethin’, isn’t she?” He asked.

“Rachel?” I asked.

“She told you her name on the first day?” He asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “Damn it took me a week before she told me.”

“Oh…” I said slowly. “Wait, how long have you been in here?”

“Oh I’m in here in and out almost every month.” He said laughing. “I get hurt all the time.”

“Intentionally?”

“No not exactly.” He said. “But I’m not entirely what you’d call safe when I’m onstage.”

“Onstage?” I probed.

“Yeah I play guitar.” He said. “But I always end up hurting myself somehow while playing. The worst was probably when I broke my toes.” He paused for a moment to look down at his legs. “Well…I guess this replaces the worst thing I’ve done.”

“Were you plating guitar when you fell down the stairs?” I asked.

“No.” He laughed. “I was helping my friend move and he let go of his end of the couch when we were on the stairs.”

“Ouch.” I said wincing slightly. “So the couch fell on your legs?”

“Yep.” He sighed and started looking around the room. “Hey, do you wanna watch TV?”

“Sure.” I shrugged.

I never watched much television, though it was impressive how much modern technology had evolved. The actors on the TV had gotten better too, but most of the story lines got rather predictable after a while.

“Ooh! Cool Jeopardy’s on!” Frank said excitedly, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I turned my attention back to the television screen just in time to see Alex Trebek talking with the contestants. God he had gotten old. I laughed inwardly to myself a little. I remembered when his hair was still dark and he had a mustache.

“Um…I’ll take sports for two-hundred.” One of the male contestants said.

“Alright here’s the clue.” Alex started, holding up one of his question cards. “The first baseball World Series game played outside the U.S. was played in this city in nineteen ninety-two.”

“Toronto.” I said automatically.

“What is…Ontario?” The contestant asked.

“No, I’m sorry.” Alex said. “Ken?”

“What is Toronto.” The other contestant, Ken, said confidently.

“That’s correct.” Alex said. “You choose next Ken.”

“How did you know that?” Frank asked, looking over at me.

“Went to the game.” I shrugged. Toronto Blue Jays versus Atlanta Braves as I remember it. The Jays won four to two.

“You like baseball?” Frank asked, looking at me in surprise.

I shrugged again and turned my attention back to the television set where the man named Ken was choosing the next question.

“I’ll take American Lit for three hundred Alex.” He said.

“Answer…” Alex started lifting his question card. “It was the shortened name of Scout’s brother in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.”

“Jem.” I said lazily.

“Who is Jem?” One of the contestants asked unsurely.

“Correct, you choose now Lydia.” Alex said.

“You’re good at this.” Frank said, looking over at me as the contestant Lydia made her selection.

“I just read the book.” I shrugged.

“I did too but I don’t remember that.” He said. “I’m pretty sure my English teacher had me read it in the ninth grade.”

I had actually read that book when it was first published. But I wasn’t about to let him know that so I turned back to the television screen once again.

“I’ll have Shakespeare for one hundred.” Lydia said.

“This character’s last line is ‘Then fall Cesar.’” Alex said.

“Julius Cesar.” I said.

“Who is Brutus?” Lydia asked.

“No…Andrew?” Alex asked, looking to the next person that buzzed in.

“Who is Julius Cesar.” The other male contestant, Andrew said confidently.

“I take it you read that one too?” Frank asked, looking at me expectantly.

“Yep.” I answered as the questions continued.

“The opinionated comic strip cat Garfield was named for this cartoonist’s opinionated grandfather.” Alex said.

“Jim Davis.” I said.

“Who is Jim Davis.” One of the contestants answered.

“Correct.” Alex said.

“Damn that’s four in a row.” Frank said.

The game continued for a while, stopping for commercial breaks now and then and with every question, Frank became more and more impressed at how many answers I knew.

“I’ll take football for eight hundred Alex.” The contestant Ken, who was now in the lead said.

“It’s the only NFL team to play its home games out of state, in a stadium named for another team.” Alex said.

“Jets.” I replied lazily.

“Who are the New York Jets?” A contestant asked.

“How did you know that?” Frank asked.

“They play in the Giants stadium.” I shrugged. “You didn’t know that?”

“No.” He said slowly as he turned his attention back to the show where the Final Jeopardy question was being showed along with the unmistakable thirty-second tune.

“This nine hundred mile eastern European mountain range shares most of it’s name with a ship famous for its nineteen twelve actions.” Alex said.

“Carpathian Mountains.” I answered.

The camera view switched back to the contestants to show them revealing their answers. Ken was the only one to guess Carpathian Mountains, the other two guessed the Titans.

“Ken you are correct and still our champion!” Alex exclaimed. “And do you know the connection between the ship and the mountains? The Carpathia was the ship that came to the rescue of so many people that survived the Titanic disaster.”

“Some rescue.” I thought to myself.

“I don’t suppose you were on the Carpathia too, now were you?” Frank asked laughing.

“It was really crowded.” I said absentmindedly. “Uh-oh”

“Wait…what?!” He asked, looking at me in shock.

“Kidding.” I lied quickly. “It was a joke Frank.”

“Ha.” He said slowly. “Oh.”

The show ended with Frank still marveling over how I knew every answer. I had to admit, it was rather amusing. He was convinced I was some super genius or something. But being a genius had nothing to do with it. I was just there when most of the events the contestants were being questioned over took place.

“You could go on that show.” Frank said, pointing at the television screen that was now running the credits as the contestants all shook hands with Alex. “You could be like the next Ken Jennings or something.

I could be wrong, but I think it might be considered cheating if I went onto that show. I’d know all the answers anyway and I’d probably feel guilty for taking all the money I’d get. Plus it would get awfully boring after a while. I’d have to let the other contestants get some answers right as well. It would look rather suspicious if I was saying all the right answers without missing one. No normal person can know absolutely everything, but I guess I’m not exactly what you’d call normal. And you never know, maybe Ken Jennings is immortal too.