Hi Mum, It's Sammy (Clone 63 - Part 3)

Well, no matter what you get up to in the evening, the next day it's back to the grind. Or at least so it seems. I should have the weekend off but that's never going to come quickly enough for me.

I had to head back to the station and get buried alive in books again. Damn, this police stuff is very tough.


My housemates were having a much better day. Howie was making more inventions. About the only time he leaves that bench of his is when he takes new ones to the consignment shop. He has way too much brain for his own good, that one. He needs to take some time off, or he'll over stress himself far too young.

 Jericho spent his day fishing. A pleasant way to spend a day. He's still experimenting with locations and baits so he's not catching the really valuable fish yet.

He also found that herd of wild horses. He was a bit more drawn to one of them that is reminiscent of a primitive horse breed.

On the way home, he also found a parrot looking for seed pods on the ground.

It must have been an escaped tame bird, he coaxed it on his arm in no time flat. He brought it home and so now we have a new pet.

I think that Jericho is planning on advertising the bird, see if anyone in town has lost it. While he has a lot of charm, taming a bird in ten minutes seems rather unlikely for anyone. We'll see if anyone puts in a claim for the bird.

Eddie had the day off and was practicing his guitar skills.

It was close enough to the police station that I heard the guitar when I was leaving work and walked over to investigate. There I found Eddie playing his heart out.

"Dude, that's a lot of effort for one dog and one woman."

"Effort?" Eddie laughed. "Dude, I play for me. I don't care if I have an audience of none, of two or of thousands. It's always just me, my guitar and my music as far as I'm concerned." He looked ruefully at the empty guitar case at his feet. "I will admit that some more appreciation would be welcome. I know you can't start rich and famous but it would be good to be a little closer to that mark."

"Eddie, I'm glad I found you. I was wondering if you'd like to go out on a date?"

"Damn straight I would, Sam. I was wondering how long I'd have to wait for politeness sake before I could ask you out."

"You too? I mean," I stuttered for a moment.

"Howie's in the middle of one of his inventing phases, so you must be talking about Jericho." I looked away, a bit embarrassed to have been caught out. "Sam, don't worry about it. I know a lot about Jericho. I was the first to be asked to move in after Jericho had an unfortunate encounter with an angry husband. It didn't take me long to work out that Jericho doesn't do jealousy or monogamy." He gave me a grin. "Neither do I. And so far, he has excellent taste in housemates that he thinks might be interested in a more intimate relationship."

"So, Eddie, where should we go?"

"First up, let me take you to the theatre."

"I've seen the movie that's playing. It was good but not nearly good enough to see again already."

"No, I want to take you backstage. You can see where the orchestra practices, the costume room for the live plays, we might even sneak into the projection room while the movie is running."

So for the second time in two nights, I found myself in the theatre. It was a good tour. Eddie took me through most of the back rooms, if you only ever see the stage, you have no idea how tiny and cramped the rest of the building is.

"Where to now, Sam?"

"I don't know Eddie. Know any quiet, out of the way place? Some place we can be alone?"

Eddie took me to a little park on top of a hill near the cemetery. That's when I discovered why Jericho kissed me so lightly the first time. Because that's exactly what I did to Eddie.

"Shy much?" he chuckled at me.

"I was giving you a chance to say no. It wouldn't have taken much to back away from that kiss if you wanted to."

Eddie grabbed my hands. "Backing away from you is the furthest thing from my mind just now.  So tell me, Sam. What brings a guy like you to a burg like this?"

"In all honesty, Eddie, I don't know. I'm part of ... something. I can't remember exactly what but I know I have clone brothers. I'm not the only Sam Grant." Eddie stared at me. Not every day you have someone tell you they are one of many. "I think they did something to my memories before they moved me in town. But there are times when I have memories that I think must belong to another Sam. Names can remind me of faces of people I've never met. Objects remind me of events that didn't happen to me."

"That sounds seriously disturbing, Sam."

"It's fading. The longer I stay here, the less I feel that I've forgotten things. Georgia, Sunny, Savannah, Charlie are just a few of the names I was feeling I should connect with. Now they are just names."

"I know just the thing to make you forget those memories. Let's go home Sam."

Eddie had a unique way of pushing away memories. Very effective too. If a good romp in bed isn't enough to chase away your demons, then almost nothing would be. And it was a very good romp in bed.

While Eddie and I were having a very special encounter of one type, Jericho was having a special encounter of a different sort.

He had found that most rare and illusive of beasts, the unicorn.

From Jer's description the next day, it's a spectacular animal. So bright it nearly glowed in the darkness.

"So, Sam, feel better?"

"Much better. Those other memories are nearly gone." I didn't tell Eddie that our session triggered a different set of memories. Eddie was my first that wasn't my first. It would be more disturbing if the memories weren't fading nearly as fast as they were arriving.

I wonder, did something go wrong when I was sent out into the world? Or do all my clone brothers have memories of others? Just a mystery I'll have to live with. I'm sure I won't be able to ask any of them.

Another night of sleeping with someone.

The date with Eddie was pretty amazing. He's a direct kind of a guy, he knows what he wants and he's not afraid at all to ask for it.

I did love the date with Jericho too though. It went a lot slower but I think it's because Jericho is very intense at everything he does.

It's odd being the only person with a fairly normal day job in the house. I'm the only one who has to get up and about early in the day. Eddie's job starts in the afternoon and the others work when they feel like it.

It does mean things are pretty quiet while I get ready for work. Instead of cooking breakfast, quick bite from the fridge will do me.

Then I made myself study logic for an hour before work. The trainers have been putting a big emphasis on how important logic is for police work.

I have a hard time imagining that myself. I mean, I want to be a patrol cop. I'm not detective material for heaven's sake. How logic helps you arrest someone for speeding is a good question.