A Nation of Mystics - Book II: The Tribe

by Pamela Johnson

  “I was a kid. When I arrived on Haight Street, I had no responsibilities. You took me off the street, introduced me to Greta, and gave me a space to live with her. And a job. You made this possible.” Even in the night, he looked around, seeing. “Richard, it’s so beautiful to me, this land. Every plant. Every tree. The red dirt. The moons and sunsets. It’ll always be here for you if you ever need a place.”

  “Going to hold onto it?”

  “Damn right. No one and nothin’s drivin’ me out. I have a baby and one on the way. Where would I take them?” He continued walking, trudged up a mound. “Here we are.”

  Wondering what was at the top, Richard followed, and there he saw a large pond, the water a black uneven circle in the dark. “What’s this?”

  “Last summer, this was a creek. I dammed it and dug out this area with a backhoe. Then I built a levee all the way around and released the water from the dam. The winter rains are filling it. Birds’ll use the water as they migrate. And I’ll stock it with fish. Bass, trout—mosquito eaters. In the summer, we can swim, and the kids can row a boat.”

  “Marcie says you never wear clothes up here.”

  “When the weather’s warm, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Come on. I want to show you somethin’ else.” Merlin walked along the levee, shining the light ahead of them. “See this?” he said, bending down to touch a plastic pipe coming from the pond. It runs this way. Follow me.”

  He led Richard down a steep path, walking a good distance from the pond. Eventually, they came to a meadow completely ringed by trees. The moon appeared intermittently between black clouds heavy with water, the moonlight an ethereal strobe.

  “This is where we’re going to grow.”

  “Grow?” Richard asked. “Grow what?”

  “Pot. I’m putting in a crop this spring. We’re going to see what California homegrown is like.”

  Richard started laughing. “And I thought you’d never make it on your own. I only wish you were back on my team with all your resources.”

  “I am on your team. I never left. I’m hopin’ you’ll sell my crop. And you’re right about somethin’. You are the boss. In the dealing scene, there’s no one better. You have a way of putting people and trips together few men can do. I can’t do it. I’d always work for you. But this I can do. This … farming … this I’m good at.”

  Richard put his hand on Merlin’s shoulder. “I’m not the boss. I’m just one man trying to do a job that couldn’t be done without all the other good men around me. We each bring our own talents to the trip to make it work.”

  Merlin held out his hand. Richard took it, and they embraced.

  Stepping back, Richard cleared his throat, overwhelmed by the emotions surging through him—love for a brother; friendship that was old, tried, constant, every trip together a lifetime—and realized that his relationships with the men of the tribe could be just as intense as the one he shared with his wife, different, but just as sacred.

  “The irrigation system,” he asked, “it comes down here?”

  “Yeah. Fed by gravity from the pond. We’ll plant along the perimeter, so it can’t be detected by air.”

  “I’ll make it a point to come up this summer to see how things are going. And I’ll spend more than a few days.”

  “I’m going to need seeds,” Merlin told him. “Save me all you get.”

  “Have you ever planted pot before?”

  “We grew some plants last summer. It grows so easily, I don’t think we’ll have any problems.”

  “You know who you should ask to save you seeds? Kathy.”

  Merlin turned and slowly began the climb back up the hill toward the pond. “Are you and Kathy friends these days?” Merlin finally asked. “I mean, business friends?”

  “Yes … and no. She doesn’t trust me to know too much of her business. I really blew it with Larry. I’ve tried teasing her about it, but she won’t discuss it. And you know, she’s right. In business, women are … invisible … unless we let them in. We think of them as old ladies or one-night parties. It took her months to introduce me to Christian.”

  “Why did she?”

  “We’re thinking of working together. Christian has a lab. I have base. We thought we’d come up and drop, see how we got along.”

  Merlin laughed. “So how are you getting along?”

  “I’m horny.”

  “Still want to go see your lady?”

  “You bet. Christian was really into something, wasn’t he?”

  At the trailer to the side of the house, Merlin opened the door, stopped, and listened. Inside, everything was quiet. Greta had taken the back bedroom and was sleeping with Rosie at her side. Marcie and John slept on a mattress in the front room.

  “I’m gonna go on back,” Merlin whispered to Richard. “See you in a while.” He slid open a panel, stepped through, then closed it behind.

  Richard took a blanket, folded it, and made a small mattress on the floor. He carefully picked up John, rocking him as he transferred him to the blanket, and covered him. Then, he slipped in beside Marcie.

  “Richard,” she said sleepily, “What are you doing?”

  “I want you.”

  “Now?” she mumbled.

  “Now.” Sliding off his clothes, he rolled on top of her, feeling the milk pressed from her nipples as he lay on her breasts.

  “I’m not sure I’m awake,” she murmured.

  “I’m awake. And I’m up. Here,” he said, putting her hand to his head. “And here,” he pulled her hand between his legs.

  “Oh, that’s right. How’s the trip going?”

  “Good.”

  “How’s the acid?”

  “Great. Really smooth. It’s a good trip, Marcie. Think we should plug into it?”

  “I like Christian. And I trust Kathy. If the acid’s good, the karma will be good.”

  “You should have seen Christian tonight,” Richard said, getting excited thinking about it. “He started attacking Kathy. It took everything I had not to come in here and rape you.”

  “What are you doing now?”

  “When do you think we’ll be able to trip together?”

  “This summer. I’ll wean John then.”

  “We could come up here and do it again. Merlin made this lake. We could lay in the sun and make love under the trees.”

  “My,” she said, guiding him into her. “Having a good time, are we? How does that feel?”

  “Paradise.”

  By two in the morning, Richard knew he’d peaked and decided to return to the house to have that visit with Christian. He only hoped that whatever had been driving him was over. At the porch, he stopped to listen. Things seemed settled, quiet. He knocked at the door. In moments, Kathy was there, wearing Christian’s T-shirt like a minidress. Christian sat naked by the fireplace, stretching over his knees.

  “Come on in,” she told him. “We were wondering where you were.”

  “How’s it going?”

  “Heavy memories,” Kathy told him.

  “I see.” And he looked sympathetically into the exhaustion of Christian’s face.

  “Come and get warm by the fire,” Kathy said. “I’m going to make tea.”

  Christian stood up, put on his jeans, and started brushing his hair out.

  “The fire feels good,” Richard told him.

  “I think I’ve figured out the stove,” Kathy called to them from the kitchen, moving slowly, trying to be sure, her vision still very colorful. “There’s some coals. Now I just add firewood to get heat.”

  “What do you think of the acid?” Christian asked Richard.

  “It’s good. Ready to talk business? Step over here into my office,” Richard told him, sitting down on the couch.

  Christian smiled. “Base,” he said, taking a seat on the floor, stretching again into a yoga asana, feeling good about moving. “My base source got turned off. I was getting it from a pharmaceutical company in Europe. Interpol got nosy.�
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  “The base I can get comes from Canada.”

  From the kitchen, Kathy listened intently to the conversation. Canada—that means Peter. Richard must have jumped Kevin and made a separate deal with Peter.

  “How do you get it here?” Christian asked.

  “We drive it down from Vancouver. A lady does the driving. New car. Not too fancy. And a shoulder-length wig.”

  “What are you going to do with the ET you have now?”

  “Your lab,” Richard asked. “It’s operating?”

  “In full swing.”

  “Where are you set up?”

  “L.A. It’s easier to get lost down there. The Bay’s a pretty small place in comparison.”

  “If I give you base, how do you want to work the end result?”

  “I’ll either pay you outright for the kilo and keep the finished product,” Christian told him, “or I’ll give you a percentage of the finished product in crystal. Either way, you can buy tabs from me.”

  Richard thought for a moment. “What’s your yield?”

  “About 250 grams of LSD for each kilo of base.”

  Richard let out a slow whistle. “That’s good. Better than most I’ve heard.”

  “I have a good chemist. If things go well, you’ll meet him one day.”

  The teakettle steamed. Kathy poured hot water in the teapot. Something bothered her about the conversation between Christian and Richard. In all her months with Christian, he had never talked to her about the details of his lab—not where it was located, nothing about his chemist. Yet, here he was sharing his secrets with a man he’d just met … and she was in the kitchen making tea.

  The details only concern the two of them, she tried telling herself. That’s why I introduced them.

  But it bothered her. And she had to ask whether Christian might not have been bothered by the fact that she’d known Richard all along and was just now introducing him.

  What if I did move in with Christian and work with him on his trip? Wouldn’t we be more powerful together? Or would he treat me like his woman rather than his partner? Not include me in the decision making after I gave up my own business to be with him?

  “Say I want part of the yield,” Richard was saying. “What would be my percentage?”

  “If I didn’t pay for the base outright? Fifty percent. Equal partners.”

  “Then yield it’ll be. And I’ll try and get you base for as long as it can come.” Richard held out his hand.

  Christian took it and looked in his eyes. “Brother,” he said softly.

  Kathy walked into the room with cups on a tray. Christian turned to her. “What do you want out of it?” he asked.

  Kathy hesitated, placing spoons and cups on the table, scared again. More than anything, she wanted to say to him that she loved him, that the connection was a gift. But that would open a floodgate of questions about her role with him and with Richard. A real world out there might someday demand she stand by herself.

  “I’ll just have a flat fee for the connection,” she answered. “And I want to be able to buy from either of you.”

  And suddenly, she knew she’d made a terrible error, the truth of it akin to running into a wall. Time stopped, almost shattered. Before Christian looked away into the fire, she’d read everything in his face. Pain. Disappointment. His look expressed his thoughts as clearly as if he’d spoken them aloud. The words were visible, floating between them on the plateau where they stood.

  If you really wanted to help me heal, you would join with me, fully, and of your own will. I want you by my side. My old lady, there every day. Someone to care for our home. Children.

  “You can buy tabs from me anytime,” Richard told her.

  “Agreed,” Christian finally said. “Five grand for the intro?”

  “Yes,” she breathed, unsure and not knowing what else to say.

  RICHARD AND ALEX

  MARIN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

  DECEMBER 1968

  The moment Richard returned to the Bay, he dropped Marcie at home and made for Alex’s house in Marin to tell him about the new partnership with Christian.

  “New partnership?” Alex looked incredulously at Richard. “Why wasn’t I contacted before you made the agreement?”

  “I wanted to check the guy out first,” Richard answered. He sat calmly peeling an orange, sensing Alex’s mood, trying to prepare himself for it. “What would you have done? Would you have met him? You know you don’t like meeting new people.”

  “That’s not the point.”

  “That is the point. You’ve really tucked yourself away, Alex. You’re safe. You just lie low. Tabbing whenever there’s crystal. Taking orders from other people. Making their tabs. The only time you’re vulnerable is when you transfer bags of tabbed grams to me. I’m the one out there on the street sixteen hours a day. I have to be ready to move my whole family at a fuckin’ moment’s notice. Man, you’ve even bought a home,” he said, looking around at the highly polished knotty pine of the two-bedroom Woodacre house.

  “We have a partnership. I should have been consulted before you finalized any deals,” Alex insisted.

  “If you’re not willing to meet anyone, to be on the spot, then I have to be able to make decisions without you.”

  “Not one of this magnitude.”

  “Is there anything you would change in the contract? Listen, Alex. I tripped with the dude. I’m telling you, he’s righteous—very professional. Would you have tripped with him? Man, you don’t even take LSD to trip any more. It’s like a by-product with you now, part of the tabbing. I think maybe you ought to dry out for a while.”

  “Coke helps pull me back when I get too burnt.”

  “You’re doing too much coke. And too much acid. It’s time to dry out.”

  “Look, don’t try tellin’ me what I’m doin’ too much of,” Alex answered angrily, sensing that Richard was trying to throw him off the real issue. “I should have been consulted. Given the option. Unless, of course, you’re thinking of a total shift in partnership. You want out?”

  “Jesus, will you relax? What’s eating you, anyway? The guy has a lab. We have a base source. It’s good acid.”

  “It seems to me that you’re taking over again. Making decisions that affect us both.”

  “I’m not taking over. My end is to meet people. Distribute. Make deals. Your end is to keep the machine going. Together, we keep the books.”

  “What’s this deal to do with distribution?”

  “Plenty. Guess what his yield is? About 25 percent. Two hundred fifty grams per kilo of base.”

  That piece of news stopped Alex. “That’s almost too good to be true. You’ve seen the crystal?”

  “Yep. And I ate some of it with him. Up at Merlin’s.”

  “Merlin’s? You went up there? You turned him on to Merlin’s farm?”

  “He’s cool, I’m telling you. He’s kind of Kathy’s old man.”

  “Kind of?” Alex raised a sardonic eyebrow.

  Richard sighed heavily. “You don’t like the arrangement because it sounds like a bad deal? Or because your ego’s hurt? Look, I’m sorry, Alex.”

  Alex got up and took a box from his closet. “There’s twenty thousand tabs here in packages of a thousand. Can you run them by Mark’s?”

  “Sure. Listen to me. We’ve been trying to put a lab together for a long time.”

  “This isn’t our lab. It’s someone else’s.”

  “Know anybody who can cook?”

  “No. But I thought we were looking.”

  “I’ll still be looking. Someday we’ll have our own trip together. In the meantime, we need crystal to put into that machine of yours. We get 50 percent of the gross. That’ll keep us goin’ for a long while. And we can put out some good stuff. Over a million tabs.”

  “I’m mostly interested in keepin’ us going at the moment.”

  “Then, right now. Decide. Do you want to do this deal or not?”

  Alex was an
gry. Whichever way you looked at it, he really didn’t have a choice. Except to split up the partnership. But then Richard would never give him half the base. In fact, now that he thought about it, he didn’t even know where Richard had it stashed. That sudden thought irked him more than anything else that had happened all evening.

  “Alright,” he mumbled, “if you’re up for it.”

  Richard visibly relaxed. He would have been in a bad way if Alex had refused. He had no intention of letting Christian go.

  An hour later, Richard’s car drove out of the driveway. Alex sat down on his bed and blacked out everything except the problem at hand. He was so angry that he couldn’t focus. All he knew was that Richard had cornered him and done it deftly. Somehow, he’d taken over. Again.

  But this time, Alex wasn’t going for it. If Richard thought he was going to make all the decisions in this partnership, he was wrong. Two could play at that game.

  Leaning over, he picked up a bill and snorted two huge lines of coke lying on a mirror.

  KATHY

  BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

  APRIL 1969

  Kathy pushed the buzzer to Andy’s apartment, hoping he would be there. She had the ten pounds he wanted in her van and didn’t want to be driving around with them.

  In many ways, she thought, Andy’s responsible for the whole chain of events that changed my life. The fight with Alex in the garage months ago was because I’d taken keys for him from the load.

  “Yeah?” came a voice over the loudspeaker.

  “Andy, it’s me. Buzz me up.”

  The buzzer sounded, and Kathy bounced up two flights of stairs to find the apartment door open and waiting for her.

  “Hey!” she cried excitedly, closing the door, and giving him a hug. “I’ve got your kilos. By the way, have you seen the activity down on Dwight Way?”

  “Not only have I seen it, I helped instigate it.” Andy sat down at the table, picked up a rolled joint, and lit it. “We held a meeting last week. A whole bunch of different people. Students. Merchants from the Ave. Spokespersons for the Third World Liberation Front. Everyone decided it would be a good idea to use that vacant lot to build a community park. We’re calling it the People’s Park.”