“Oh man…” his head was floating away on an electric sea. She did it again, and started pulling him closer. He grabbed her butt and she started to pull his shirt off, and pulled him onto a futon.
The futon sheets were covered in cat hair and were a little ripe, but he ignored it. She was on top of him, and the world was just her face and dark hair, and the sensation of her moving up and down.
When they finished she curled up against his shoulder. “Wow.” she said. “I liked that.”
“I wasn’t expecting that at all.” he laughed.
“Want to know a secret?” she said.
“Sure.” he put his arm around her.
“Well, believe it or not, that was my first time.”
“Holy shit, no kidding. Well, wow. You were aggressive.”
The bell on the storefront door chimed. “Customer!” She threw a dress on over her nakedness. “You gonna stay?”
“Sure, if you want.”
“Of course.”
He lounged in the bed while customers came and went. The pot buzz started to wear off. He sat up in bed and started getting dressed.
Finally, she returned. “You going?! Sorry I took so long. I just closed up shop.”
“I’m a little restless. Want to get some dinner?”
Chapter Two
They walked across the crowded street to a restaurant with tables outside. A band was playing inside at the bar, but the music poured out through big garage doors that were rolled up. She shook her head and danced in her chair to the beat.
“They’re great!” she enthused. He nodded.
“Geez. What’s your name? I’m Johnny--two n’s--Johnny.”
She laughed and put a hand over her mouth, feigning mock opprobrium. “Oh mah goodness. We weren’t properly introduced. I’m Dana. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” she shook his hand. “And yours too.” she reached under the table and gripped his dick and made a handshake motion.
He laughed, and nervously looked around.
Her face turned a little cross. “Oh man,” she said, “When you came into my shop. You opened up. I saw a glimpse of your true face today--don’t you dare go back on me.” She tapped his chest.
“No, I got it.”
“You’ve got to let it live!” she pumped her arms.
“It’s bewildering, that’s all.”
She nodded, smiled and said quietly. “I suppose it really is. Let’s go back home.”
Chapter Three
Johnny didn’t go back into work the next day, although the routine of work and the life it supported still shadowed his mind. He went back to his apartment to pick up a few things. He ditched his khakis for some cargo shorts and an old comfortable T-shirt, and threw his loafers in the trash and slipped on a pair of sandals. He realized almost every single thing in the apartment was unnecessary, except in the context of his work life. He filled a box with some toiletries, a few changes of clothes, some keepsakes, photos of his friends and family, an old address book and his laptop and left.
He hung out in the shop during the day. Between bouts of talking, sex and Dana taking care of customers, he checked out the things she sold. She had some books in her inventory. Some antique volumes and a mishmash of new age and magic books.
In the afternoon, his Blackberry buzzed and the red inbox notification light blinked. His boss sent an email. “Everything alright? Come in tomorrow?”
He looked at the message and his stomach briefly knotted. In his mind’s eye, he tried to imagine shuffling through work days and hanging out with Dana in the evenings. She crept up behind him and looked over his shoulder.
He felt her presence there and turned around. “Work…” he gestured with the phone.
“Well?” she asked.
He read the message out loud and typed his response.“‘Everything alright?’ He typed and said out loud, “Yes.”
“‘Come in tomorrow?’ He said and wrote, “No. Done. Bye.”
She hugged him and jumped up to kiss his face. He went to toss the phone in the garbage.
“Wait!” she said. “Let’s sell that shit.”
Chapter Four
As the days went by, the grip his former life held over his mind, body, and habits slowly sloughed off. He stopped shaving and his stubble had turned into the start of a blond-red beard.
He was lounging on the futon, surfing the web when her phone rang. He could barely hear her initial, “Hello.” but then her voice went into high pitched laughter and happy chat. She jogged into the apartment and sat next to him.
“Hey David.” She put her hand over the phone and said to Johnny, “an old friend of mine is coming into town.” Her face took on a look of complete surprise. “Oh no way! I can’t believe that.” She covered it again, “he’s got a school bus!” She smiled and laughed. “Am I in? Hell yeah! Let me hand the phone over to my lovah boy, Johnny.” she chucked the receiver at him then dragged some suitcases out of her closet and began loading them up.
“Uh, hello?” Johnny said.
“Hey, Johnny is it? I’m David Mathis--Dana’s a friend of mine. We’re swinging through your town in a few hours on the way up to Hamilton, New York--that’s a college town, then over to Ohio, then... well around. You in?”
He smiled. “Sounds great. Looking forward to it.” She took the receiver back. “Well, we better get packing! See you soon.”
She squealed and stamped her feet. She was a whirlwind of activity, calling people, packing, and sending him on an errand to take the cat to a neighbors. She locked up the apartment and they went out on the sidewalk to wait. They heard the unmistakable rumble of a diesel school bus and saw the yellow rooftop as it made its way toward them. She got up and clapped and waved.
David waved back. Other heads were visible through the glass. He engaged the brakes, and the bus grunted and wheezed to a stop. He leaned out the side window. “It’s tough to park this thing on such a busy street. Can you guys just hurry on?”
They climbed on board. David was smiling, “What do you think of this?” Two other men waved hello. There was a spot for luggage in the back of the converted school bus. About half of the rows of seats had been removed, and a hardwood floor was put down over the steel. The bus lurched toward the freeway.
Robbie Wells was sitting on the floor. He got up to give Dana a hug. “Hey girl! It’s been an age. How are you?”
“I’m really good. Heeere’s Johnny.” She flourished at Johnny.
“Nice to meet you.” Robbie said. “That’s my brother, Matt sitting over there in the chair.”
Matt Wells was sitting in a leather armchair that was bolted to the floor in the place of a row of seats. He waved and got up to hug Dana.
“You are as pretty as ever, Dana! I hope this guy’s been treating you right.” he gave Johnny a stern look, then offered a hand.
“Pleased to meet you.” Johnny said.
They returned to their seats and Johnny and Dana got comfortable on the floor by making a nest out of pillows and blankets.
“This guy used to work as an Intelligence Analyst…” she said.
“Yeah, and when she said ‘used to’ it was really until last Monday.” Johnny offered.
Robbie eyed him, “that’s an interesting line of work.”
“Well, that’s one way to put it… I’m actually an EE. Started out working as an engineer and sort of got sucked into the spy biz. It pays… paid well”
Robbie asked, “how long as an EE? doing what?”
“Oh for, gosh, five years out of school.... I did a little bit of everything… It was through working on remote sensing systems that I bounced over into the dark side.”
Dana said, “yeah he woke up on Monday.” She rubbed his chest again. He smiled.
“And here I am.” Johnny said. He gestured around. “So what’s in Hamilton?”
Robbie and Matt looked at each other. Matt spoke, “the dude was a spy a week ago.”
“Analyst.” Dana said.
“How do you know he’s good enough for you?” Matty asked. Johnny was starting to get a little peeved.
“What’s going on here?” Johnny asked. Robbie started to speak, but Dana held up her hand.
“You just joined the resistance.” She said. Robbie shrugged and nodded.
“Resistance? Against what?” The gears of his mind were spinning but not engaging anything useful.
“Remember what you said when you walked into my store for the first time?”
“Yeah.”
“What did you say?” she asked.
“My job was about killing people... I was the guy on the death star blowing up planets...”
Matty rolled his eyes. Dana glared at Matt, then continued. “You said ‘they’ told you there were reasons--like the greater good, but you didn’t buy the reasons any more… Did you ever wonder what was fabricating the reasons… making you believe it?”
“Well, to be honest, not really too much.” He shrugged.
Dana said, “it’s like there’s this grasping powerful presence.”
Johnny laughed. “You mean the Emperor?”
She just nodded. Robbie said, “Bingo.”
He was incredulous, “You are telling me there’s an emperor...”
Robbie nodded. “This is really hard to explain at first without the context.”
Matt interjected, “So, should we really explain to him?”
Robbie got angry. “Matt, how many times…. We’re not them. This stuff’s a secret only because it’s so hard to convey.”
Matt said, “Just not sure it’s wise... We just met.”
Robbie shrugged it off and continued. “Anyway, yes, there’s an Emperor, and in fact, some might call it a god.”
Dana nodded. “But before you get too awed by the idea--it’s important to ask yourself, ‘self, what exactly is a god?’”
Robbie picked up the thread, “Good point. What if the gods,” he emphasized the ‘s’, “are real beings--but they’re only empowered by us?”
Johnny was a little stunned, but he caught up quickly. “That makes sense.” he said. “There’s this concept ‘emergent properties’ in physics. Maybe these things exist because of us, but they also have an independent, objective existence sort of the way consciousness emerges from a bunch of neurons.”
“Hey… this one’s quick!” Robbie smiled. He popped open a cooler. “Beer?”
Chapter Five
The drive to Hamilton took all day. They stopped for dinner at a rest stop just across the New York State line. Robbie got a grill going in no time, and he started pressing out some burger patties. David walked over.
“Oh man, that looks soooo good. I missed breakfast, think you could make me an extra?”
“Sure.”
While Robbie grilled, the rest of the crew set the picnic table. Dana had a blue tablecloth with a big cartoon sun in the middle. They weighed it down with plates to keep a gusty summer wind from carrying it away.
David got up, “oh man, I forgot the tunes… be right back.”
Robbie put the burgers and some grilled corn and peppers in the center of the table. “There’s an extra burger there.”
“Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve had any meat! All rice and beans lately…” Johnny grabbed two burgers. He was halfway through the first one when David returned with an old ghetto blaster. He started to set it on the table, but the handle disconnected from the body and it fell on the ground and broke open.
“Ohhh shoot.” He said. “No tunes with dinner.” He sat down in his place. “Where’s the extra?” he looked around. Johnny looked down at his plate. “Oh man, you swiped my burger!”
“Oh sorry! I didn’t know it was yours.”
He gestured at Matt, “Do you believe this guy?”
Matt laughed, “oh get over it, David, he’s a growing boy.”
“We can split the burger.” Johnny offered half to David. “Plus, I’ll fix your radio.”
David took the burger. “That’s a really good bargain. Thanks man.” He smiled and looked around at the table. “He’s alright.”
Chapter Six
The bus rolled onto the campus of Hamilton College, which was summertime slow. A maintenance crew was at work on one of the buildings, so the whine of power tools and banging hammers drifted through the summer air. David shut the diesel down and got up to stretch.
Jack Godwin was already walking out to the bus. He had a briefcase and an overnight bag and was wearing a white short sleeve dress shirt, comfortable slacks, and black socks with sandals.
“Man that was a long ride.” David said and rubbed his eyes.
“Now that’s a way to get around in style!” Jack said in a lilting English accent. He gave David a hug.
“She’s been running really well, but whoa what a fuel hog!”
“I bet it takes a lot to move that big yellow chariot! I’ve got a couple of students taking the trip. They’ll be out in a minute.”
The rest of the crew got out, too. David asked, “Mind if we take a walk before we hit the road--we’ve been cramped up in there for a day. It’s so good to be on a college campus--so stately and serene.”
Jack and his students loaded their luggage on the bus, then the group wandered the campus. Jack, David and the Wells boys fell in together, while the students gravitated toward Johnny and Dana.
“I almost take it for granted being nestled and coddled--you are all out there on the frontier.” Jack said. He was a professor of music, but wrote a pile of books on the western esoteric tradition and had worked with the Wells family since the 70’s with Matt and Robbie’s father and grandfather.
Robbie patted his shoulder, “well we’re always glad to have you join us for some adventures.”
“Nothing, too exciting--I mean physically exciting I hope! At my age, I’m not sure I’d be of much use.”
Robbie laughed, “Nah. Not this time. Dad sends his regards, by the way.”
“Is he enjoying his retirement? It’s hard to imagine!”
Matt laughed. “Yeah, he went back to running the farm full time instead, playing at the simple life. He still likes to hear what we’re up to but doesn’t get involved any more.”
Jack shook his fists, and laughed, “Oh that sounds so pleasant. The Isles of the Blessed. Your father deserves his retirement. I’m getting there myself, but I’ve got a few more books in me, I’m afraid.”
“That’s good news for us!” David said.
The groups made the loop around the main campus streets then headed back to the bus.
Chapter Seven
The bus rumbled west along I-90, en route to Cincinnati where Jack was due to give a lecture on the influence of the Troubadours on western literature. He was enjoying some wine and cheese with the crew. They sat near the front of the bus so David could participate. The students lounged around in the back of the bus.
“Are you stuck driving the whole way?” Jack asked David. His face was becoming a little rosy from the wine.
“Robbie didn’t get a chance to take his license test, yet. I don’t mind though, kind of fun.”
“I like this rig,” Robbie said, “but I’ve got a line on an old Tour bus, now that’d be stylin’.”
Johnny asked, “anyone famous?”
“Yeah, the thing is probably filled with DNA samples from plenty of groupies and classic rockers.” Robbie laughed. “Probably needs a steam cleaning!”
Johnny laughed. Dana smacked his shoulder, “Imagine all the babies made on it--probably scattered around the country.”
Johnny nodded. “No doubt. What kind of shape is it in?”
“Wellll, the good news is it’s free. The bad news is it rolls, but doesn’t go. Been stripped for parts for years.”
“I’ve been working on cars and motorcycles since I was a kid.” Johnny said.
“You’re a
man of many talents! That’s great. If you want, we can swing down that way from Cincy. It’s at a charter company just over the Tennessee border near Kentucky.”
“Sounds cool.” Johnny said.
David looked back in the mirror at Robbie. “Hey, isn’t it time to tattle on Matty?” he laughed.
Matt groaned. Robbie laughed and squeezed his shoulders, “that’s some role reversal, Matt. How many times did you rat me and David out to Dad!”
Jack was curious, “Tattle?”
David said, “Matt wants to start going over to the other side.”
Jack’s face got serious. “Oh? Really Matt, how?”
Matt sighed. “I think I found a way to go over safely, with no danger of possession. I think some of the shamanic mystics used chemicals as a kind of vaccine or maybe a purgative.”
The Chardon Chronicles: Season One -- The Harvest Festival Page 10
