D.S. the Messenger

by Raymond McClary

  “Oh, I know that was special.”

  Scripts takes a sip of his coffee and says, “It was. I was napping on top of a grate that is out in front of his store. Of course, at the time I didn’t know it was his. But he walked by and kicked me with his shoe and said, ‘Get up old man.’”

  “I said, ‘haven’t you ever been told to never kick a person when they’re down?’”

  “He said, ‘I’m not kicking you because you are down, I’m doing it because you are asleep and funky and like the sun, you need to rise and go west.’”

  “As I got up I said, ‘Reciting a little Angelou hunh? Since you served as my human alarm clock, think you can be a chef and provide some food for an old man?’”

  “He said, ‘I can provide you with transportation courtesy of our town’s finest?’”

  “I turned around and it was a squad car.”

  Mya laughs.

  “I told him that was cold. You know they can’t drive. Smashing into each other and hitting innocent bystanders. I even heard they drag race! Sage laughed as the squad car went by and the officer and Sage waived at each other.”

  “I said to Sage, ‘You know Po Po?’”

  “He said, ‘Yes, I went to school with some of them and I have a few as customers.’”

  “I said, ‘Customers?’”

  “He said, ‘Yeah, this is my business and my building and my sidewalk. You thought I was telling you to get up because I was already up and I was jealous to see you sleeping in luxury?’”

  “I was laughing so hard because I was sleeping on torn pillows, that was on a cardboard box and I also didn’t have any front bottom teeth. So when he saw my mouth he said, ‘Man, what happened to your grill? I know you have a tough time chewing. You must eat with your head tilted all the way back.’”

  Mya had tears in her eyes from all the laughter as Scripts continued to talk.

  “Sage said that I must soak my sandwiches in water and make sogwiches, soggy sandwiches.”

  Mya leans back in the chair and says, “Please Scripts don’t tell me anymore. My stomach hurts from all of this laughter.”

  “I didn’t tell you the best part…do you know he got me these teeth? Yeah! One of his clients is a dentist that hooked me up. Treated me like a patient with care and professionalism when I did not have a dime to my name. That’s when I knew Sage had a heart of gold and is the real deal. The neighborhood loves and respects him, since he constantly gives to the community and helps families that are struggling. The love for him is quite apparent.”

  There is a silent moment when a tear falls from Scripts’ eye. With a concerned expression, Mya asked, “What’s wrong, Scripts?”

  He sighs and says, “Before I met Sage, I always asked the heavens why I just didn’t get killed in Vietnam? Death cannot be any worse than what I’m going through here on earth, so what is my purpose?”

  Mya’s eyes became misty as she grabbed Scripts’ hand and said, “Scripts, it is not for us to question, and besides you may be needed to help a loved one someday. You have plenty to offer. You just have to research within and trust in God, and I guarantee everything will fall into place. That’s why you and I are here this evening with Deva. We see that you are needed in the world. It’s just that you need a jump-start in the right direction. And so do I.”

  “What do you mean Red?”

  “It’s nothing. My mind is just wandering, that’s all. What is Deva doing?”

  Mya rises from the chair and peeks into the living room to see Deva sitting on the sofa continuing her conversation with Sage and steps back into the kitchen area.

  Deva says, “I cry myself to sleep sometimes when you are not here.”

  “You know that I feel terrible by you telling me this…I’m coming home, right now.”

  “Sage, you will do no such thing! You continue to take care of your business. That is extremely important and my mentioning of my sobbing is not a ruse for you to drop everything and return home. I’m just expressing my emotions to my husband…Sage?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell me a poem before we hang up?”

  “Yes. Remember the beach at Egg Harbor?”

  “How could I forget? It was our first date. The moon was full and the ocean’s tide was rising near the giant rock we were sitting on.”

  “That is what I’m thinking about.”

  They close their eyes and begin to imagine being there. Sage takes a deep breath and speaks in a very deep tone so peaceful that it relaxes them completely.

  “THOUGH YOU ARE THERE AND I AM HERE, THERE IS NO BORDER OR DISTANCE BETWEEN US. LOVE HAS BLOWN HER ETERNAL MIST OF IMMORTALITY ONTO OUR UNDYING SOULS. HOW DOES OUR COMFORTER OF ONENESS, BRAVES OBSTACLES AND HARDSHIPS, MANAGE TO REMAIN AS SOFT AS MILK? REARED WITH, THE YESTERYEARS OF CONSCIOUS JOYS AND TEARS. LIKE BLUE FLAMES OF FIRE COVERING A CALM AND DORMANT LAKE THAT IT DOES NOT TOUCH. BUT ITS CHARACTERISTICS OF UNIQUENESS STRENGTHENS ONE ANOTHER. NOTHING AS THIN AS A CLOUD, TO THE HARDEST OBJECT KNOWN, CAN PENETRATE IT. FOR THIS IS GOD’S GREATEST GIFT TO MAN THAT WILL CRADLE AND NOURISH US, NOT JUST FOR THIS LIFE…BUT THE NEXT.”

  “I love you Sage.”

  “I love you too Deva.”

  They blew one another a kiss as they ended their call. He felt refreshed as he stepped out of his car and walked into the radio station.

  A guard in uniform stopped Sage immediately and said in his strong, southern accent. “I’m sorry sir but that door was supposed to have been locked. No one is allowed in here after normal business hours.”

  “I apologize for my late arrival. I’ve traveled from Philadelphia to deliver a personal message to Mrs. Angela Tinthe.”

  The guard had a toothpick and began picking at his teeth for a moment as Sage stared at him. “You from Philly hunh?”

  “Yes sir.”

  The guard looks at his clothes. “You can tell you’re not from these parts here. Have a seat.”

  “Thank you sir.”

  He walks to his security desk and phones back to the studio room. Sage could hear him speak, “Yeah, there’s a visitor here from Philly to deliver a message to Mrs. Tinthe. Well, I think it’s personal. Why? He’s wearing plain clothes and not a uniform. Okay, I’ll tell him.” He hangs up the phone and says, “Mrs. Tinthe will be out during the commercial breaks.”

  “I really appreciate your assistance.”

  “It’s not a problem. Say, are those cheese steaks I hear about really that good?”

  “So good and meaty that it takes two days to eat.”

  The guard rises on the tips of his toes while swinging his arms and says, “Now that’s what I’m talking about! I sure wish I could taste one of those juicy steaks.”

  “Well, you never know what the future may bring. Here’s my card. If you are ever in Philly, give me a call. I’ll also see if I can get you some tickets to a game of your choice.”

  “Football or basketball? Heck, I’ll even take some baseball tickets. I’m not that much of a baseball fan.”

  “It doesn’t matter what season. That embracing southern hospitality is also in the north as well.” They shake hands. A woman walks towards them. “Hello, my name is Mrs. Tinthe. You have a message for me?”

  “Well I’m going to check the other doors to make sure they are locked and should be back in a few moments. Thanks again for that invite Mr. Messenger.”

  “It’s not a problem at all…Take care.”

  Angela displays a puzzling look and says, “I know that I’ve seen your face before.”

  “Do you remember where?”

  Angela pauses for a moment then her eyes widened and placed one hand over her mouth and began to fan her face with the other. Sage asked with concern, “Are you okay?”

  “Excuse me for one moment, I’ll be right back.”

  Angela ran back towards the studio and returned with something in her hand and asked him, “Do you remember this?”

  Angela hands Sage a picture. As he stared at it, Angela watched hi
s facial expression slowly change from a look of unfamiliarity to a smile of remembering everything from the images in that photo. His eyes became watery.

  “Sage.” Angela softly called.

  He nods his head.

  “Perry gave me that picture and said it was one of his greatest memories that he wanted to share with me. I always kept it here since I do spend more time here than at home.”

  “This is when Perry and I were celebrating our accomplishments in New York. We were near the Stock Exchange. He became very successful that day and my grand opening was the next occasion. It was also his birthday.”

  He stared into the photo as he recalls Perry saying, “Brother, God has favored us. Now we have to favor our community. We can’t take the money with us, so we have no other choice but to spread the wealth.”

  Sage says to Angela, “Up to this very moment, I’ve never had the opportunity to see this photo. Thank you for sharing it with me. For him to give you this, he had you very near and dear to his heart because he had always been extremely stingy with photographs.”

  Angela stops smiling and asks, “What do you mean by had?

  At that moment, an assistant approaches them and says, “Angela, you have to get back on the air in 20 seconds.”

  Angela turns to Sage and asked, “Is there any place that you have to go to within the next hour? I would like for you to join me in the studio.”

  “Well I don’t have any plans but…”

  “Good! Follow me please.”

  Sage follows her into the studio and into a booth. Angela placed a chair next to the one that she sits in. Sage sat down. Angela placed her headphones on, flipped a switch on the console in front of her and began speaking on the air. After the music began playing, Angela flipped the switch once again and placed the headphones around her neck, turned towards Sage and asked him, “Has Perry passed away?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  Angela grabs a tissue and began to cry.

  “I met him at a mall in D.C. I was sitting on a little bench, trying on boots when he said, ‘Your legs are too beautiful for covering.’”

  “Not looking up, I said, ‘Well if I don’t put any on, I would feel naked.’

  He said, ‘Then I’ll remove my clothes so you won’t feel too out of place.’

  I said, ‘All of this over a pair of boots?’ I finally looked up and saw his tall, fine looking self and slid off the bench. This is so embarrassing, but as he bent down to help me up, he noticed that I wasn’t wearing anything under my dress. I said to Perry, ‘You have seen her but you can’t touch her.’

  Perry laughed and asked if I would join him for lunch. I was reluctant at first but of course I agreed and lunches led to dinners, which led to breakfast…In bed.”

  Sage looks at her finger.

  “I see you are married. What about your husband?”

  “Well, my husband did not mind that I had a friend, lover, whatever you choose to call Perry, because he was incapable of satisfying me in many ways. Sage, my husband was a quadriplegic. He sustained it during an accident in the military. He passed away recently, but I still wear my ring.”

  “I’m sorry to hear about your loss.”

  “Thank you. My husband knew about Perry but Perry did not know that my husband was aware of our relationship. Perry just knew about my husband’s condition.”

  “That explains it.”

  “Explains what?”

  “I’m sorry. I was thinking aloud.”

  “Well you might as well tell me.”

  He sat there as he could hear the music play. Finally he says, “That explains why he wore secured condoms with you.”

  “What do you mean by secured?”

  “I mean he did not tamper with them while with you.”

  “But why would he do that anyway, you are not making sense.”

  “Mrs. Tinthe, Perry had AIDS and from that one moment you had unprotected sex with him, he may have given it to you. This is the message that I had to deliver.” Angela jumped up from her seat and threw the headphones onto the console.

  “You are telling me, the man I fell so deeply in love with, not only did he die, but he may have given me AIDS? How do you know of this? What makes you so sure? Did he tell you that he gave it to me?”

  “Mrs. Tinthe, if you feel as though this message is inaccurate, you can always get blood work done.”

  He whispers into her ear. “Just remember that day in the amusement park, and you and Perry’s intimate moment inside the tunnel. I must be going now.”

  Angela faced him as he walked out of the booth and the studio. While turning around, everyone was looking at Angela. “Why are you looking at me like that? What’s wrong with all of you?”

  The assistant pointed up. Angela looked up and noticed the on air indicator was lit and looked down and noticed that her headphones hit the main switch that signed her back on the air. Sage heard Angela hollering and screaming that was also heard throughout town over the airwaves.

  As Sage began to leave, Angela yelled, “Wait!” Angela attempts to hand him the picture but he declines to accept it and says, “He gave you that picture for a reason. It’s for you to do whatever you wish to do with it.” Angela began to walk towards her left and then her right as if lost and needed direction before finally running into the woman’s bathroom. The guard approached Sage and says, “Man that’s the message you had to deliver? To tell Ms. Tinthe about getting AIDS? Oh God. You basically told her that she is a dead woman walking! That sure is one hell of a message to deliver. Do you deliver happy messages to at least balance out the bad?”

  Sage did not respond, but only hung his head while looking at the floor. “You are like the grim reaper except you take lives by delivering the message of death rather than just taking life itself. To be truthfully honest, I don’t know which one is actually worse, knowing what you are going to die from, or dying from it.” Sage looked up at the guard and was about to speak, but instead shook his head and walked towards the door. The guard realized that Sage was leaving and unlocked the door.

  The guard said, “Mr. Mecan, you have a fine evening sir. Drive safely and have a safe trip heading back to Philly! I have your info right here so I can reach you once I come up north.” Sage turned around and waived at the guard as he got into his car.

  Sage read the next person’s name in the book that he has to visit. “Heather Soles. A Mayor! I see Perry spared no expense to spreading his plight of destruction.” He said as he finds the directions to the small town located just outside the North Carolina border.

  Sage located a small hotel and decided to stay there for the night. He parked his car and went inside to check in. He walked up to the counter and rang the customer service bell. He looked to his left to see that there was a woman sitting in the waiting area watching a program on the television.

  Sage says, “Excuse me madam, but do you know where the person is who is checking people in this evening?” A young woman rises from the sofa and walks into the counter area and picks up a card and pen and says, “Please fill this card out.” He noticed that not only was she missing a bra, but also wearing a very thin cut off t-shirt that barely covered her extremely large breasts. His eyes widened as the woman asked him, “Is there a problem?”

  “No, I’m sorry to have disturbed you.”

  “It’s okay. I already saw this episode before. Do you want smoking or non-smoking?”

  “Non-smoking, please.”

  “One person?”

  “Yes.”

  “That will be sixty-four dollars and thirty-five cents.” He handed her a one hundred dollar bill. The woman looks at it, picked up a marker to test if it was a counterfeit bill. Sage smiled. The woman looks at him and says, “Well I do have to check.”

  “Why of course, you have to follow proper protocol.”

  “That’s right, because some people come from all parts just to find a place like this to pass funny money.”

  “There’
s no doubt the owner of this establishment can sleep well tonight knowing that they have one of their finest and professional employees on the job.” The woman smiled so widely that Sage noticed quite a few teeth was missing except her front two.

  “You know, I have a friend back in my hometown who would love you.” He comments to the woman while thinking of Scripts as the friend for her to meet.

  “Well that all depends on where you are from.” The woman glanced at the card he filled out and said, “Philadelphia! I have some cousins that live there. I’ve been there once when I was small but y’all city slickers sure know how to charm a lady.” She said while twirling her fingers in her hair and begins to bat her eyes.

  Sage said, “I am so tired, well I guess I need to be heading to my room now, I just need my key.”

  “Oh, you sure do. And you also need this.” The woman hands him the key to his room and a can of roach spray.

  “Now why do I need this roach spray?”

  “Just in case a few pesky old bugs come under the door into your room, you can just spray the door once you’re inside on the floor and around the door. It keeps them out.”

  “What if there are bugs in the room?”

  “Well then step on them or spray them!”

  “Listen, I gave you my money for a room for one. That means without visitors, which includes bugs or anything else that has more than one leg!” The woman bursts out with laughter.

  “I really do not see the humor behind this.”

  “Sir, I can put you into one of the supreme deluxe suites for an extra fifty dollars.”

  “Let me get this straight. It does not matter what room I’m in. I will use the same amount of water, towels, and space on the bed. The only difference is that, if I don’t want bugs to access my room it will cost me fifty dollars?

  The woman laughs again. “I think you are trying to con me lady.” The woman stops laughing and begins to frown. “Why would you say that sir?”

  “My car is the only vehicle out there in that parking lot. I’m probably your only customer! You could have simply given me a room without the bug problem in the first place and I would have never known. I’m sure your manager would not like to hear about this.”