The Codex

I was about to take the bus home that evening when I got a call from Jen Cutler, the lawyer. "I've got something you have to see," she said. I told her my situation and she said, "I'll pick you up."

She drove me from the bus station to a quiet neighborhood near the University. She parked in front of the Sigma Chi sorority house and we went in. There, we met the President, who led us through the house, out the back door, and into a sort of small shack on the back part of the property. I knew this was where my uncle had lived.

The President explained. "George had a special... well, I don't know what. We all loved him and would do anything for him. Anyway, he researched his condition and kept a lot of notes. And when we were cleaning we found out that he wanted you to read them. So here you are. Please don't tell anyone about this."

We went into the shack, which had been -- I assumed -- redecorated as a sort of combination library and shrine to George. Bookshelves lined most of the walls, and the spots without books had photos of George, mostly George with various pretty undergraduates.

One book stood alone on a special table. "This is the Codex," she said. "You can read it here."

Jen said, "I'll come back in a few hours and give you a ride home."

The Codex spelled out the curse that I'm under. It affects my family, in particular the oldest son has it -- George in his generation. The second-oldest son, apparently, will always have at least two boys, and the first one -- me, in my generation -- gets the curse.

What is the curse exactly? It varies.

For George, he could only find sex or female companionship with Sigma Chi girls -- and they were under his spell. How exactly he discovered this, I'm not sure; but he lived the dream.

In older generations, there were other curses.

I scanned for mine, but George hadn't found anything -- just that it couldn't be known before the subject's 18th birthday.

Then I found some truly bad news: only one cursed person could exist at a time. My birth was the beginning of the end for Uncle George, and he was doomed from that moment to die when I turned 18. Just as I will be doomed whenever Jerry fathers a boy.

In other generations, less scrupulous members of the family had tried to block this in various ways -- attempts to kill the second son, attempts to ruin marriages, even kill children. Nothing could stop the curse's timeline.