"Pleiotropy," Professor Evans pauses. "It is what we call when some genes affect many different characteristics, not just a single characteristic. As you can see here in the presentation, an example of this is a syndrome called the Marfan syndrome."
"Marfan syndrome results in several symptoms (unusually tall height, thin fingers and toes, lens dislocation, and heart problems). These symptoms don't seem directly related, but as it turns out, they can all be traced back to the mutation of a single gene." Professor Evans explains as he points to the pictures in his presentation.
One of the girls sitting in my row raises her hand and Professor Evans gives her permission to talk. "Professor Evans, isn't pleiotropy the same concept as a polygenic inheritance?"
Professor Evans shakes his head. "I'm afraid you're incorrect Ms. Adams, it was a great question though because that is a common misconception many people have and since it is coming in your final partial exam of the semester, I must explain to you the difference."
"Thank you, Professor." The girl offers a smile.
"As you can see in the next slide, the major difference between the two is that pleiotropy is when one gene affects multiple characteristics (e.g. Marfan syndrome) and polygenic inheritance is when one trait is controlled by multiple genes (e.g. skin pigmentation). Meaning that they are completely different since a gene is a unit of heredity which is transferred from a parent to offspring and a trait is a specific characteristic of an organism." Professor Evans pauses. "Do you have any more doubts about the topic?"
The auditorium stays silent. "Very well, let's move on to the next slide. Ten minutes are remaining of today's lecture and I want to cover one more slide before you leave."
Ev's obsession with having organized notes, unfortunately, has rubbed off on me. The girl color coordinates everything within her subjects. At first, I thought it was something stupid and completely unnecessary but that aged well. I ended up going to the Apple store and I bought myself an iPad. Now, for every one of my subjects, I color coordinate just like her. I will say that it does make things easier when it comes to sitting down to study for my exams, but the thing is that I never saw the day coming when I would be doing the same thing Ev does in class.
"On that same note, there's something that needs to be mentioned. Students, listen carefully, please. This one of the many reasons why many students also fail the exam. Codominance and incomplete dominance are not the same." Professor Evans pauses. "In codominance, neither allele is dominant over the other, so both will be expressed equally in the heterozygote. In incomplete dominance, there is an intermediate heterozygote (such as a pink flower when the parents' phenotypes are red and white)."
The ten minutes passed on by quicker than it felt like. Professor Evans is a great professor, you learn a lot in his lectures but many times the lectures can get monotonous. And it feels like an eternity before it's time to leave. "Remember students, your final partial exam is next week and your essays on your assigned syndrome are due as well. Have a lovely rest of the day and I will see you all in our next lecture."
I put my things away in my Axis Day Billabong backpack and I walked out of my aisle exiting the classroom. When I walked down the small steps of the Biology building I bumped into Inez. "Hey, stranger,"
"Hey," I smile.
"It's been quite a long time since I last saw you," Inez pauses as we walk through campus. "Are training after hours?"
I shake my head. "Practice runs late once in a while, but I've just been busy."
"I see," Inez replies. "I wanted to ask if you would want to hang out later tonight at your place, we can study for the Genetics exam and work on our assignment. I have a feeling that even though the subjects for this exam are easy, it will be much more complicated than what it seems."
"I would, I could use all of the help for this one as well. I visited Professor Evans during his office hours and I have a ninety on the class so far, I can't afford to fail this exam. Not with the final exam left."
"I feel like there's a but coming," Inez says and I give her the I'm sorry look.
"It is," I reply. "I'm going to have to take a rain check on the study session, I have plans with Ev tonight."
It wasn't a complete lie. I had plans with Ev but my night wasn't involving just Ev. Trust me, I wish it did. I had a race tonight. And for obvious reasons, I couldn't tell Inez about my other plans. Inez wasn't fond of the idea of me hanging out with Ev from the look on her face.
"You and Everest?" Inez asks. "Since when are you and Everest hanging out again?"
"Since we came back from Nebraska," I reply shortly. I knew that Inez felt like I owed her answers but the truth of the matter is that I don't. I didn't then when we were fucking around and I don't now.
"Connery, I know it's none of my business but how can you possibly trust her after what she did to your family?" Inez asks and I was starting to get annoyed by her hostile attitude.
"You're right Inez, it isn't," I reply. "I don't owe you any explanation for what I do or don't do. You don't have to trust her, I do. And just so you know, Conrad destroyed my family, not Ev. She just uncovered the truth about who he really was."
"This clearly has to be a sick joke," Inez huffs.
"Look I have to go, I'm picking up Emma for lunch before I head off to practice," I tell her as I begin to walk away. "I can meet you tomorrow at the library to study if you would still like to. Just text me to let me know and I'll be there."
My car wasn't parked that far away from the Biology building but since there were so many students on campus unless you got here at the break of dawn, you would never find a parking spot a few steps away from the building.
Emma was staying at the apartment my mom rented until she could find a house for herself with her. My mom tried to stay in the same house with Conrad until the trial was over but she couldn't bear spending another second in that house. Especially when she had to see his face every day. She was still going to be at trial like she promised she would be, but living with Conrad was too much for her.
Before driving off to the apartment building I texted Emma that I was on my way. Just like Ev, like every girl I know, my sister takes three hours to get her hair and makeup done. Add another two for choosing what clothes she was going to put on. I knew that she probably wasn't nearly done getting ready so I gave her a heads up so she could speed up the process.
[CONNERY]
Em I'm OMY
[EMMA]
I just got done with my hair
[EMMA]
I'll be ready by the time you get here, don't you worry ;)
[CONNERY]
I doubt it
[CONNERY]
But I'll see you in ten
[EMMA]
TEN MINUTES?!?
[EMMA]
FML :)
I laughed at my sister's response as I drove to the apartment building. To give Emma a little extra time to finish getting ready, I stopped at the gas station to refill my car's tank. Twenty-five minutes later, I was parked in front of the apartment building. I quickly texted Emma that I had arrived and she replied telling me that she would be coming down in two.
"Matthew," Emma grins as she gets inside the car.
"Emma," I grin back at my sister. She looked different, her hair was short like it always has been, but the color was way lighter than it usually was. "Did you color your hair?"
"Yes, do you like it?" Emma dramatically poses. "Mom almost passed out when she saw me. Daniel loved the drastic change though."
"Platinum blonde suits you well, I love the drastic change too." I smile at my sister as I drive on the highway. "Was mom home?"
"Thank you," Emma grins. "And no, she wasn't. One of her friends, Alice, came to pick her up. They were going out for lunch as well if I'm not mistaken."
"Did she seem okay to you?" I ask.
"This morning yes, but I could hear her crying last night from the room where I'm sleeping," Emma replies. "I haven't heard her cry like that in years. The last time I heard the same kind of sobs was when she was still with dad."
I felt my muscles tense at the mention of my dad. Emma was right, the only time when my mom would cry herself to sleep at night was when she was still with my dad. After she met Conrad, I never heard of her crying herself to sleep as she used to until now.
The drive to Alejandro's was about a fifteen-minute drive, on our way there Emma and I talked more about my mom's situation. Emma thought that it would be a good idea to take mom out of Bowling for a while and I agreed with her. She needed time to heal, Paris sounded like a great place where she could be and not have to be reminded constantly about what happened with Conrad. Emma had a nice two-bedroom apartment where my mom could stay in so the sleeping accommodations were the least of our worries. Getting my mom on board with our plan, now that was going to be complicated.
"What is your go-to order here?" Emma asks as we stood in line. "All of the options on the menu sound great to me, I'm having a hard time making up my mind on what I want."
"I don't have a go-to order," I reply. "Every time I come here Ev is usually with me so she orders for the both of us. It's the empanadas de enchiladas de pollo."
"Empanadas de enchiladas de pollo it is for the both of us too then." Emma smiles.
"Buenos días parcero," Alejandro greets with a smile. "What will you be having today Mateo?"
"Buenos días Alejandro," I smile back. "Me puedes dar dos órdenes de empanadas de enchiladas de pollo, lo mismo que pide Ev."
"Seguro que sí," Alejandro replies. "Serían $12.66 por las dos órdenes de empanadas de enchiladas de pollo."
I take out my wallet from my back pocket and I hand Alejandro the money for the order. "Here you go."
"Gracias parcero, que te las disfrutes." Alejandro smiles. "Espero verte pronto por acá con Everest. Envíale un saludo de mi parte."
"Seguro Alejandro, I'll let her know," I reply.
When I turn around to face Emma she looks at me with a shocked expression. One of Alejandro's employees hands us our order and we head to one of the tables nearby. "When did you learn to speak almost perfect Spanish?"
"Ev's been trying to teach me, she was on the brink of giving up at first but she kept insisting until I learned a few words," I tell Emma as I take a bite off of my enchilada. "The only word I can pronounce perfectly is preciosa."
"She's a great teacher, I'm impressed," Emma says. "How are you guys doing by the way?"
I smile widely. "We're doing great, she's amazing sis."
"I'm so happy for you guys," Emma grins. "Ever since the party, I knew she was an amazing girl."
"It's obviously not perfect, but the truth is that no relationship is," I say. "With everything that happened with the article, we both hurt each other a lot, but we're working through it. Starting with rebuilding our trust in each other. Even with the ups and downs, we go through some days, I wouldn't have it any other way."
"No relationship truly is, it's a rollercoaster really. And through those hard times when nothing seems to be going your way trusting each other is one of the most important things." Emma expresses. "It makes me so happy to know that you're working towards a future with Everest. To be honest I didn't see that day coming when you finally decided to settle down. But now that it's here, I'm happy that it's with a girl like Everest. For a second I thought it would be Inez, thank God it wasn't."
I laughed at my sister's last sentence. Emma never liked Inez, not even as my friend before we started to fuck around. She would never tell me the reason why when I used to ask her though. "I never understood the reason why you never liked her. She's not that bad."
Emma gives me a look. "Not that bad? I could go on, on the many reasons why I have never liked her. And trust me I would, but it would take me days. You have practice in an hour, an hour is not enough for me."
I laugh once again. "I did want to talk to you about a particular subject." Emma pauses and by the look on her face, I knew it wasn't something I was going to love to hear.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Dad told me that he went to visit you after you came home from Nebraska," Emma pauses and I instantly tensed up. "He just wants a chance to talk to you, Connery."
"He did and I told him that he was nine years too late Emma," I tell Emma and I could feel myself getting agitated. "He also mentioned that you told him where he could find me. Why the fuck would you do that?"
"Connery," Emma sighs. "He just wanted to make things right with us, with all of us."
I sarcastically laugh. "He wants to make things right? You do know he has a family? He straightened the fuck up when we left, why didn't he come looking for us then huh? Now he wants to make things right, get out of here. He should've thought about that before he replaced us."
"I know Connery, I know all of it." Emma frowns. "He contacted me right before I left for Paris, I hesitated about meeting him, but I met with him anyway. I went for myself, I needed to heal those wounds that were still bleeding."
"I have no problem with that Emma," I say. "But that's the thing, that was your choice. You wanted to hear him out and if it brought you closure, great. Just because you gave him that chance, it doesn't mean that I have to as well."
"Mom met with him too," Emma says and I almost jumped out of my seat. "She what? When did that happen?"
"The same week he came to see you," Emma replies. "And before you come at me, it was all her. She wanted to talk to him. I was against it at first, but she deserved the closure that I did. The closure that you do."
"So mom is on board with this stupid thing too?" I ask.
Emma nods. "She thinks you should talk to him, you have unresolved feelings that you need to sort out. You have questions that only he can be the one to give you the answers."
"I rather live for the rest of my life not knowing anything at all before I ever sit down to have a conversation with that man," I tell Emma. "He's not my dad. He stopped being it a long time ago Emma. I have nothing to say to him."
"Connery," Emma sighs. "Please, it's just one conversation."
"I don't fucking want to, why can't you respect that?" I ask agitated. "Why are you so insistent on me having a conversation with him anyway?"
"Because he's dying Connery, he's dying," I repeated that sentence over and over in my head. He's dying. "He has Pancreatic adenocarcinoma, it's one of the most aggressive types of cancers. By the time they diagnosed him, it had already spread throughout his entire body."
"He's dying?" It was all I could manage to get out.
"They gave him three months if he even makes it by the end of those three months," Emma says. "He's in the hospital, they admitted him a few days ago. It's not looking good Connery, mom, and I, we don't want you to live to regret that you never gave him the chance to explain. Don't do it for him, do it for yourself."
Emma kept talking but I wasn't listening to anything that she was saying. Her voice suddenly became distant and the only thing I heard was the same thing I've been replaying in my head ever since she said it. He's dying.
Do you know what was the worst part of the day we walked away from my dad was? It's hoping. Hoping that he would run after us. That he would tell us to stay because he couldn't bare losing us. That he was going to get help for him, for us. That he needed us, that he loved us. But he never did.
Family is supposed to be your safe place. The place where you feel secure, the place where you feel at peace. But very often, it's the place where you find the deepest heartache.