The Conductor

by Ronald Johnson

  His grandmother’s words made Caleb recall his brother’s death.

  His older brother Clifford died fighting Taylor’s pit bulls. He vividly remembered that Clifford would do anything to get high. Clifford had fought Taylor’s pit bulls before to get a rock of crack and had won. The day of his brother’s death Caleb’s friend James frantically came to get him. Taylor’s pit bulls were winning this time. When Caleb arrived, Clifford was in a fenced area with the pit bulls tearing away at his flesh. Clifford turned and gazed in Caleb’s direction and reached out a hand for assistance. “I froze,” thought Caleb. “I didn’t do anything.” Eventually, the pleading arm of Clifford dropped, as the pit bulls savagely took bites out of his lifeless body. The memory of his brother’s death had become a part of his nightmares when he slept and the terror of his hallucinations when he was awake.

  After finishing his breakfast, Caleb goes upstairs to prepare for his doctor’s appointment. Caleb conducts an inventory of the contents of his backpack. He looks over at his desk and spots his journal. He pauses then zips up his backpack.

  Sitting in the doctor’s waiting room, Caleb attempts to read a magazine to pass the time and avoid the stares of other patients. Distracted by a program on the TV and the movement of patients across the room, he reads the same paragraph over and over again. Finally he decides to keep his head down, pretending to read the magazine until his name is called.

  “Caleb”, his name is heard in the waiting room.

  He puts down the magazine, stands up and disappears through a door. Caleb enters the doctor’s office. He takes a seat.

  The doctor, with his back turned, spins around in his chair to face Caleb. With his head lowered, the doctor looks at a folder full of notes in his lap. He lifts his head slightly and peers over his glasses. “Caleb, how are you doing?”

  “I’m Ok.”

  “Are you taking your medication?”

  “Yes.”

  “How is your school attendance?”

  “Good”

  “Any extended absences?”

  “No.”

  “You’re attending night school. Is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you see yourself returning to classes during the day in the near future?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What do you do during the day?”

  “I go to the library.”

  “Do you have any friends at school or at the library that you hang out with?”

  “No.”

  “I’d like to see you begin to socialize. Start with night school and the library with people you see on a regular basis.”

  “Did you bring your journal?”

  “No, I forgot.”

  “We agreed you would keep a journal and bring it to your sessions. Please remember to bring it the next time.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Here is a prescription for a month’s worth of medication. I’ll see you again in a month from now. Have the receptionist make the appointment on the way out.”

  The doctor extends his hand for a handshake. Caleb stands motionless. “You’re still not having those hallucinations, that when people touch you, you absorb their thoughts are you? Caleb, what you have is a classic case of schizophrenia with audio hallucinations. Agreed?” The doctor reinstates the gesture for a handshake. Caleb obliges and shakes the doctor’s hand.

  Outside the doctor’s office in the empty lobby, Caleb shakes his head, closes his eyes, and hears, “The patient is avoiding social and physical contact. This would suggest a fear on his part that the hallucinations of hearing voices might return. But he appears to be quite stable. At first, he seemed reluctant to shake my hand. But with a little coaching, he overcame his fear. I’ll give his grandmother a call as a follow-up.” When he ceases to hear the doctor’s voice he opens his eyes, blinks a couple of times, and moves toward the elevator. He presses the down button.

  The elevator door opens and he gets in.

  Chapter 3

  No Escape

  “A captive firefly in a jar adapts to his surroundings and redefines himself and how he exists until his redemption comes. Let me learn from the firefly.”

  —Journal Entry: 1/31/08

  Three weeks later, Caleb enters the public library. He stands in line to pay fees for overdue books. He surveys the library for a nice quiet spot to study. He remembers what his psychiatrist had said about socializing at the library and is amused by the thought. His amusement is replaced by a sense of alarm. Suddenly Caleb becomes uneasy when he spots the stranger from the subway who claimed to be from outer space. The stranger is sitting at a table with books scattered all around. His attention is glued to an open book. Before Caleb can look away the stranger raises his head, and the two exchange glances. Caleb turns away, hoping that the stranger did not recognize him. From the commotion of a sliding chair and falling books the stranger approaches. Caleb’s heart begins to race. When Caleb reaches the front of the line he hears, “Young Master how art thou?” Speaking to the library worker Caleb says, “I will pay the late fees another time.” Caleb makes a quick exit out of the library, and the stranger follows in pursuit.

  The stranger catches up with Caleb and begins to keep stride with him. “Young Master, I perceiveth that thou are not happy to see me. How have I offendeth thee?

  “Why are you talking like that? You sound like someone straight out of my grandmother’s Bible.”

  “My study of the linguistics of your planet has directed me to speaketh in the language of the King.”

  “What King? Elvis?”

  “No, I speaketh of his majesty King James. I hopeth to gain an audience with him, to share my plight with him. Long liveth King James!”

  “He’s dead!”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, was it sudden? Who will succeed him? Does he haveth an heir?”

  “No, no, no, no! Maybe if I stop talking and ignore it, this hallucination will go away,” Caleb thinks to himself.

  “Young Master my name is Gotar. I cometh from a place many stars away. I was held captive in a debtors’ prison until I escaped. During my journey here, my body’s molecular structure was altered and its free radicals were rearranged. The strength and speed that I once possessed I haveth no more. But when I touched you, I transferred them and now you haveth them. The powers that were mine are now thine.”

  Caleb lengthens his stride to pick up speed.

  “Where I cometh from, there were mystics that lived in the mountains. They only showed themselves in times of crisis. Legend has it that they could touch a boulder and absorbeth its invincible strength or touch a quick beast and absorbeth their speed. They were called Conductors.” Caleb begins to pump his arms frantically to match his increased stride. “But what caused the common man to feareth them with utmost fear was their ability to hear the thoughts of men.” Stepping off the curb into the street, Caleb breaks stride with the stranger Gotar and leaps forward into the street. A car turning the corner enters the intersection. Barreling through the intersection, the car ignores the traffic signal.

  Its screeching brakes alert Gotar to the eminent danger. Caleb, in the middle of the street, turns in the direction of the oncoming car. Goltar bolts from the curb and tackles Caleb, knocking him out of harm’s way. They both fall to the ground as the car races by. The car swerves out of control and launches itself, at full speed, into a bus stop. The sound of crashing metal and a child crying can be heard. Gotar and Caleb turn their attention to the bus stop and leap to their feet. A young boy is seen running from the wreckage. The fixed foundation of the bus stop has left the car in a static heap of twisted metal. As they draw near, they find a crying child with its attention focused on a woman lying beneath the car. Gotar can hear his heart beat inside his brain. He turns to Caleb and in a lifting motion says, “Do something Conductor!” Caleb bends his knees and grabs the front end of the car and lifts it with ease as sweat pours off his brow. Gotar crawls underneath and gently pulls the woman out
from beneath the car. Caleb bends his knees again and releases the weight of the car. The woman’s clothes are soaked in blood. The pitch of the child’s screams have increased. Gotar looks at Caleb and speaks, “She is in need of help.” Caleb picks up the woman and cradles her body with one arm and lifts the child with the other arm.

  Caleb then takes off with lightning speed. Bystanders shake their heads in disbelief. Speaking among one another, they point to the wrecked car and in the direction of Caleb’s exit.

  Arriving at the hospital, Caleb enters the emergency room. He is engulfed by emergency room attendants offering aid to the injured woman. Once the woman is attended to, Caleb flees the scene in a flash.

  Alone in his bedroom later that evening, Caleb tosses and turns while lying in his bed. There is a continuous stream of voices in his head.

  “Young Master did well today after I pushed him out of the way of the moving transport machine. When I knocked him down, I felt a flow of strength leave my body. He used his power well and saved that woman’s life. He is truly a Conductor. I wonder if our paths will cross again.”

  “Oh my body aches so badly. This medicine is not working. I’m glad my child was spared from this pain. Fortunately, she was playing outside the bus stop when that car hit. How long will I have to be here? Maybe I’ll have to do rehab. Let me see if I can wiggle my fingers and toes.

  Good. I can feel them. I need to get out of here. I don’t have health insurance. I’ve got enough bills as it is already. I need to get back to work. I guess I would have died if that guy hadn’t helped me. But I don’t remember any of it how I got here or who brought me here. He brought me here… me and my child. He saved my life.”

  Caleb lays motionless on his back starring up at the ceiling, only occasionally blinking his eyes.

  The next day, Caleb walks down the hallway of a hospital. He turns the corner and sees the room number 2304. He cautiously approaches the room. He hears voices coming from inside the room.

  He stops at the doorway where he observes the woman from the accident with her child by her bedside. They both exchange smiles. The room is filled with well wishers offering comfort and support to the woman and child. Caleb walks away convinced that the woman and the tragic accident were real and not part of some kind of hallucination. He feels swollen with anxiety. He silently leaves the hospital with his head lowered.

  Later that evening, Caleb enters the public library. Through an unsecured door, he makes his way to the roof. There he finds refuge to try to sort out the recent events. He takes a seat on the ledge of a skylight. His meditative state is disturbed when he hears the squeaking of a door.

  He stands up and turns around. There stands Gotar. “You did well yesterday, Young Master. Your efforts were honorable. You saved the life of that woman.”

  “I know what you are going to say. I am not a Conductor. It’s not my destiny to save damsels in distress and right wrongs. That’s not who I am. I’m schizophrenic. I’m not sure you are even real.” Caleb storms away. He makes his way back down the library stairs. The momentary silence on the rooftop is broken by a voice speaking in Gotar’s native tongue. Gotar turns to see Aldar the bounty hunter. Aldar has a weapon of some sort drawn and aimed at Gotar. Aldar speaks again and motions his request with his hand. Gotar turns around, his back now facing Aldar, who approaches the edge of the roof where Gotar is standing. Aldar speaks and Gotar walks with his arms extended outward, his palms facing backward. Suddenly, Gotar drops down to a squatting position. Quickly, he pivots around on one foot and extends his other leg to drop-kick Aldar. Aldar falls in the direction of the edge of the roof. Aldar’s left arm rests beyond the edge of the roof. He bobbles the weapon in his grasp. Gotar leaps forward onto Aldar. The impact of the weight of Gotar’s body jars the weapon loose from his grasp. Aldar’s weapon hits the pavement below at the feet of Caleb in front of the entrance to the library. He looks up. At the roof’s edge, Aldar and Gotar stand facing one another. Aldar leaps up and launches both of his feet into the chest of Gotar. Gotar is propelled over the edge of the roof, feet first. Caleb sees Gotar dangling from the edge of the roof. In a flash, Caleb enters the building flying up the stairs. Aldar kicks gravel from the rooftop into Gotar’s face. Instinctively, Gotar uses one of his hands to shield his face and compromises his grip on the roof’s edge.

  Caleb enters the rooftop from the stairs. Aldar lifts his right foot and stomps the hand Gotar is using to grip the roof’s edge. Caleb springs to the roof edge as Gotar releases his grip. In an instant Caleb is there with an outstretched hand lightly brushing the fingertips of Gotar’s hand.

  Gotar falls, out of the reach of Caleb’s hand. Caleb jumps back up to his feet and with great urgency speeds back down the stairs. When he exits the library, there lays Gotar’s body sprawled out on the pavement. His body begins to expel fluids. The present image of Gotar’s body is blacked out from Caleb’s vision and replaced with the past image of Caleb’s brother as his outstretched hand is mauled at by Taylor’s pit bulls. Caleb’s eyes fill up with tears that drown out the image of his brother’s death and return him to Gotar’s present state. Caleb looks up to the roof. Aldar is gone. Caleb bends down, picks up the limp body of Gotar, and races off.

  Minutes later Caleb enters the emergency room of the state hospital. One of the emergency room attendants recognizes Caleb. “You again,” says the attendant. The attendant looks at Gotar and screams, “We have a code blue emergency.” A stretcher is bought forth immediately. Caleb slowly lowers Gotar’s body onto the stretcher. The emergency room attendant quickly rushes Gotar off into a nearby room. Caleb stands in the middle of the emergency room lobby. He releases a sigh of helplessness. Conceding that there is nothing more he can do, Caleb finds a seat in the emergency room waiting area.

  Hours later, Caleb stands at the bedside of Gotar. His gaze is fixed on Gotar, waiting for the slightest movement as a welcomed sign of his recovery. Suddenly and without notice, Gotar’s right hand flexes open. Caleb places his hand into Gotar’s hand. Gotar’s fingers welcomingly close upon Caleb’s hand.

  Gotar’s thoughts tumble forth from his comatose mind into Caleb’s head.

  After all the hospitality we showed, we should have been treated better. When they came to our planet as settlers, we welcomed them as our brothers.

  When their enemies arrived with the intent to overthrow these settlers we fought by their sides and used our supernatural powers and strengths to fight against the invaders. When the migration from our planet to their planet occurred, I believed it would be a personal opportunity for growth. I signed up immediately and was among the first to depart. When we arrived, they demanded that we wear those collars to reduce and minimize our strengths—the same strengths they had willingly engaged and utilized for their own benefit. They said we were too strong and too fast. The collars created a gravitational field around our bodies that effectively prevented us from fully utilizing our powers. Under their control, we were expected to perform strenuous physical labor with minimal compensation. We built bridges, roads and other types of structures. We worked long hard hours, barely earning enough for food and shelter.

  Then the corporations offered credit programs to supplement the incomes we earned. They extended credit to be used for daily living expenses, such as: food, housing, and clothing. However, in order to qualify, it was required that you first marry. I entered a marriage with my wife because I loved her. Others married for the convenience that the credit program offered. With my wife and I both working and with the assistance from the credit program, we were able to make ends meet. I worked in a corporation manufacturing plant. But after Anntricika gave birth to our first child, she was unable to work anymore. She had to stay home to raise our son. Children were forbidden in the workplace and there were no nannies or caretakers. Relying on my income alone was a huge strain. And when the birth of my daughter was upon us, we became more dependent on the corporation credit. Others among us resorted to crime. My neighbors sold
products on the black-market. I recall the day they came and took one of my neighbors away. The credit debt I owed became so great that one day they came and took me away, like my neighbor. I wasn’t a criminal! I didn’t commit any crime!” Gotar’s grip increases and his hand begins to shake violently, while the flow of energy between the two begins to intensify. This sets off all the monitoring equipment in the room and abruptly ends the flow of energy from Gotar’s body.

  Chapter 4

  Destiny

  “Destiny always comes first as a whisper, but in the end it will not settle for less than our full attention.”

  —Journal Entry: 3/21/08

  Walking home, dazed and bewildered by recent events, Caleb hears the shuffle of feet and the utterance, “Lord Jesus.” He turns his head and sees an older woman fall backward onto the pavement as a young predator stands over her. With his out-stretched hand, he reaches for the older woman’s pocketbook lying on the ground. Caleb races toward the criminal and begins to circle him at such a high velocity that he literally becomes a blur. When the perpetrator again reaches down for the pocketbook, Caleb deals him a punch in the jaw. The young predator winces from the blow, but recovers himself enough to reach down again for the pocketbook. Caleb clobbers him across the back of his head. The young predator stands up straight, and with a slight turn of his head from right to left, he attempts to survey where the blows are coming from. Caleb tightens the circle of his lightning speed orbit around the young predator. He begins to deliver a series of blows to the young predator’s head and midsection. Frightened and confused as he experiences the unknown source of his pain, the criminal begins to shrink in stature. The older woman gawks in astonishment. The perpetrator sits hunched over, not daring to move beyond his current sphere of self-contained house arrest. The older woman gathers herself together and reaches for her pocketbook.