| General Fiction posted October 1, 2025 | Chapters: |
...17 18 -19- 20... 
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Marie plans to visit her family in NC
A chapter in the book Beating the Devil
Beating the Devil - Chapter 19
by Jim Wile
| Background A cancer researcher invents an early cancer detection system. |
Recap of Chapter 18: Brian calls Mal in Cleveland and offers him his job back. Mal is very grateful and agrees to come back. Brian shares the good news with Julia, who shares some bad news with him: Earl chewed up one of Brian’s running shoes and vomited and peed on Lindsay’s bed. Despite this, she loves the dog and will enroll him in puppy kindergarten.
Mal moves his family back to Charlotte, where they will live with his mother temporarily until they can find a home closer to Cherryville. Mal and Bertie hit it off as Brian predicted. The team makes good progress on the breathalyzer testing and begins work on the nanoparticle pill.
We meet Julia’s mother, Marie, in New York, who has survived stage-4 breast cancer for five years and is still doing well.
Part 2
Chapter 19
June 2033
Two years later
Two years later
When the caller ID indicated “Ms. Schmidt,” Cedric Washington answered with, “Why, hello, Ms. Schmidt. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“It’s Dr. Schmidt, Cecil.”
“It’s Cedric, ma’am.”
“Whatever,” they both said, laughing. This had become a longstanding joke between them, dating back to their earliest days together when he was a doorman at her apartment building.
In those days, she was a self-absorbed, entitled snob with little tolerance for people. When she first called him by name, she’d called him Cecil by mistake. When he told her it was Cedric, her reply was, “Whatever.” He started calling her “Ms. Schmidt” consistently, even though she had corrected him that it was “Dr. Schmidt,” due to her PhD in music. They developed a fondness for each other, and the joke remained a constant.
“Cecil, you have a car, don’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“What would you say to driving me to LaGuardia on Thursday afternoon? I know that’s your day off. In exchange I’ll give you a free lesson this week.”
“Oh, Ms. Schmidt, I’d be happy to drive you, but I don’t need a free lesson.”
“You still need a ton of lessons, Cecil.”
“I meant a free lesson.”
“Alright. Pay me a dollar then.”
He knew he wouldn’t talk her out of it. “It’s a deal.
What time should I pick you up for the airport?”
“How about 1:30?”
“You got it. 1:30 Thursday.”
“Hi, Grandma.”
“Hi, Johnny. How’s my favorite grandson?”
“But Grandma, I’m your only grandson, so doesn’t that make me your least favorite one too?”
“Absolutely, you wicked, wicked boy! Are you still playing nasty tricks on your sister?”
“Yeah, but she likes it.”
“Mm-hmm. I’ll bet. So how is that smelly mutt of yours?”
“Oh, Grandma, you love Earl.”
“Well, I don’t love that awful musician you named him after. Earl Scrubbrush, right?”
Johnny laughed. “That’s a good one. You know it’s Scruggs.”
“Even worse!”
“Hey, Grandma, I’m working on a piece even you might like. It’s Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1.”
“Hmpf. I’ll be the judge of that when I hear it. Bach played on a banjo. Sheesh!”
“When are you coming down?”
“I’ll be there on Thursday. Seriously now, I can’t wait to see you again and hear you play. Can I talk to Lindsay?”
“She’s not here. She’s over at Samantha’s house.”
“Tell her I’m sorry I missed her. Why don’t you put your momma on now? I love you.”
“Love you too, Grandma. Here she is.” Johnny put the phone down and ran off with Earl.
“Hello, Mother. Earl Scrubbrush, huh?”
“So, you heard all that?”
“Johnny had it on speaker. I love the way you two banter.”
“He’s a bright kid. How are you, Julia?”
“I’m great, Mother. Pretty busy now with the therapy dog training, but Earl is doing really well. He’s so good-natured that the instructor says he’ll make a wonderful therapy dog… if we can get him to stop licking faces. So, how are you?”
“Can’t complain. I occasionally get a little tired, and my back gets a little sore, but that’s mostly due to aging, I think, and lack of exercise.”
“Have you seen the doctor lately?”
“Please don’t worry, Julia. I’m fine. So, here’s my itinerary for the trip….”
At the Roberts’s house in Shelby, where Lindsay was having a play date with Samantha, Mal’s mother, Letitia, passed by the living room and caught a glimpse of what the girls were up to.
“Now you girls leave that po’ cat alone. He gone scratch you good, you ain’t careful.”
“We were just playing with him, Gramsy.”
“Turnin’ Max upside down an’ droppin’ him ain’t playin’. You teasin’ him.”
“He doesn’t mind. He always lands on his feet. Every time, no matter how high we drop him from.”
“Samantha, you and Lindsay leave that cat alone, an’ find somethin’ else to do. Go on now.”
“O-kay,” she said in that peeved tone children have when their fun is spoiled.
“You watch that tone, young lady.”
“Sorry, Gramsy. C’mon, Linds. You want to play with Barbies?”
“Yeah, I brought Wonder Woman Barbie.”
“I think I’ll play with Fashionista Barbie. We can see which one Ken likes better. Maybe Max can be Ken. C’mon, Maxie.”
“You girls!” said Lettie Roberts, shaking her head and chuckling at the two retreating figures. Max, however, did not follow.
“Good boy, Earl! Good boy. Here’s a treat. You stayed nice and calm when Momma turned on the vacuum cleaner. Good job.”
Julia and Earl had begun practicing some of his therapy dog lessons in the family room after she’d gotten off the phone with her mother. The New York Philharmonic was on their summer break, and Marie would be coming to stay with the family for a couple of weeks in just a few days.
Julia had an alarm set on her phone, which was on maximum volume, and in another minute, a loud telephone ringtone went off. It made Julia and Earl both startle at the sudden noise, but Earl settled right back down after giving the phone a sniff.
“Good boy, Earl. Good job. Here’s another treat.”
They had begun the therapy dog training program a few months ago, and Earl would soon be ready for supervised visits during a probationary period. He and Julia would visit facilities, like nursing homes and rehab centers, alongside another experienced team.
“Hey, wanna go for a ride and get a coffee at “The Goose?”
Earl thumped his tail and gave a little woof. Oh boy! A ride in the car with Momma and then lots of people talking to him and petting him. And maybe even one of those tasty little balls she called a donut hole.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Julia loved to sit outside with Earl on the patio of a popular Cherryville cafe, The Spruce Goose. It was on Main Street, and sometimes traffic noise would be sudden, especially when bikers came into town. The revving of their Harleys as they waited at a stoplight nearby was perfect noise practice for Earl. If he could remain calm through that, it was a very good sign he would soon be ready.
Julia was an introvert by nature, and having Earl with her made conversation with strangers that much easier. And there was plenty of it because Earl was a people magnet. They couldn’t resist his friendly nature and calm demeanor and were drawn to him like bears to honey. Who couldn’t love that smiling face and that rich, brown color? It was great practice for him to socialize too.
And they always ended these excursions downtown with a walk to a nearby playground, where children would stop what they were doing and immediately come to greet Earl.
It had taken weeks to break his habit of licking their faces. He would occasionally forget, but the children knew Julia was trying to train this out of him and would help out by saying, “No, Earl. No licking faces.”
This trip downtown was a highlight of Earl’s afternoons, for he loved people as much as they loved him.
Cedric arrived right on time Thursday to take Marie to LaGuardia, and at 2:15, he pulled up to the curbside check-in at the Delta terminal. He got out of the car and opened the trunk, where he had stowed Marie’s suitcases.
“Well, Ms. Schmidt, you have a great visit with those babies now.”
“They’re hardly babies anymore.”
“Where does that time go?”
“I’m grateful for every minute of it. I still feel like I’m living on borrowed time.”
“Well, you’ve certainly made the most of it. Give my best to the family.”
She looked at him for a long moment, then, on impulse, reached up and kissed his cheek.
That was a first, and he was surprised. He watched her walk into the terminal, and it struck him that she seemed a little bent and was walking slowly.
On the drive home he had an unsettled feeling in his chest. He had a special relationship with that old lady who’d been teaching him to play the violin going on seven years now. And for the first four, she never even charged him for a lesson! It was only after becoming a restaurant assistant manager and making more money that she began charging him, but even that was only a third of what she charged the rest of her students. Why was she so generous toward him?
He must hold up his end of the bargain by working hard at it because he didn’t want to disappoint her. But it was more than that; he honestly loved playing the violin—the sheer beauty and the precision involved. And she showed her appreciation by coming to all of his concerts. She also gave him free tickets to many of her own.
Sure, her teaching methods were strict, and she wouldn’t let him slack off one bit. ’You’re slouching again. Maintain your frame!’ But it was her sarcasm and their shared sense of humor that he remembered most fondly. God, he loved her.
There was something about her mentioning borrowed time just now and that impromptu peck on the cheek that just didn’t sit right. He needed a distraction, so he turned the car radio on, cranked up the volume, and tried to forget about it.
 Recognized |
Brian Kendrick: A 43-year-old neuroscientist and cancer researcher
Julia Kendrick: Brian's 43-year-old wife. She is also a world-class violinist.
Johnny Kendrick: Their 8-year-old son
Lindsay Kendrick: Their 6-year-old daughter
Earl Kendrick: The Kendrick's chocolate Labrador Retriever
Dr. Marie Schmidt: Julia's mother
Abby Payne: Brian's partner on the project. She is 67 and a brilliant mathematician
Malcolm Roberts (Mal): One of Brian's two lab technicians
Tanya Roberts: Mal's wife
Samantha (Sammy) Roberts: Mal's 6-year-old daughter
Letitia Roberts (Lettie): Mal's mother
Larry Posner: One of Brian's two lab technicians
Vivian Delacroix: An oncology professor at Wake Forest University also doing early cancer detection work
Roberta (Bertie) Chen: Brian's new lab technician
Cedric (aka Cecil) Washington: Marie's premier violin student and friend
Picture courtesy of Imagen-4-Ultra
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