JJ now found himself with close to half a million dollars. When he cashed in, he didn’t have a bank to transfer funds to, so the casino kept the bulk of the money on deposit. He decided to keep five thousand for walking around money, as the cashier called it. That term was ridiculous; five thousand would keep him going for months.
“Can you tell me where the beer bar is?” JJ asked the security guard who had escorted him to the cashier's cage.
“Just head back towards the escalator to the buffet, but just go past it; the bar is on your left,” the guard said.
JJ followed the guard's direction to the bar. It was in a corner with a brick facade on the two walls. It looked like it might have been part of an Italian restaurant at one point. There were about a dozen tables surrounded by a wrought table high iron fence to separate it from the slot machines. Kapo was the only one in the place. She was sitting at a table with a glass of beer in front of her.
“‘Bout time,” Kapo said when she saw JJ.
“Well, that pile of chips you left me didn’t help,” JJ said as he walked around to the break in the fence.
“I figured you could use it. Have a seat the waitress will bring over a beer in a moment,” Kapo said.
“You’re giving it all to me? I was hoping, but that is a lot of money just to give away,” JJ said.
“I’m not sure what the big deal is. You could make much more than that at any of the megabucks slot machines,” Kapo said.
“But I’m a cooler. If I go playing one of those slot machines and win big, they’ll never call me again,” JJ said.
“Yeah, would you need to be called again? You could easily make a few million,” Kapo said.
“Oh,” JJ said with a dawning realization of what the luck he had would do for him.
“But that is all petty concerns. You have much bigger issues that we need to talk about,” Kapo said.
“Ok, what bigger issues?” JJ asked.
“Here you go, sir,” the waitress said, setting a beer down in front of him before walking away.
“Well, the first thing is you are Simon. JJ is an alias you took so you could get close to an unknown powerful creature,” Kapo said.
Uhm ok. Thanks for the beer, but I have somewhere to be,” JJ said, starting to walk away.
“Not yet,” Kapo said, reaching up and touching JJ on the arm.
* * *
JJ was sitting in the passenger seat of the car that he had driven into Vegas. Next to him in the driver's seat was Peter, who he had seen in previous dreams. JJ looked at him closer.
“You're the homeless guy,” JJ said.
Peter didn’t react to JJ; he just kept his eyes on the road.
“There is a spot another few miles up ahead where we can pull off the highway far enough not to be disturbed,” Peter said.
“You don’t seem crazy,” JJ said.
Peter still did not react to JJ.
“He can’t hear you. This is a memory,” Kapo said.
JJ turned and saw that Kapo was sitting in the back seat behind Peter.
If this is a memory, how are you here?
‘I figured you would need someone to guide you through the memory,” Kapo said.
“This is a memory? Who’s memory?” JJ asked.
“Your memory. Look in the mirror,” Kapo said.
JJ grabbed the mirror and looked at the face that looked back at him.
“It’s just me. Who else would it be,” JJ said to Kapo.
“Yes, it is you because you are reliving one of your memories,” Kapo said.
“This is not one of my memories. The first time I met this guy was when he nearly assaulted me at a light,” JJ said.
“Look around,” Kapo said, taking a drink from a beer.
“Where did that beer come from? And I did look around. It's a junker of a car … wait, this is my car,” JJ said.
“Yes, this is your car. Keep listening; you’ll learn something,” Kapo said, then set back to enjoy her beer.
“But how is this my car?” JJ asked.
“Shh, watch,” Kapo said.
JJ sat back and attempted to observe the scene unfolding outside, but the view through the windows was a mere blur of rocks and sand.
“Why can’t I see what’s outside?” JJ asked.
“Because you didn’t look outside when you were really here,” Kapo said. “You were more interested in an internal landscape. Listen, and you’ll hear what was happening.”
After a few minutes, he found himself fiddling with the radio. He was turning the knob up and down the dial to try and find a station to listen to.
“You won’t find much, but old country, this car only has AM,” Peter said after noticing Simon turning the knob.
JJ watched the red line move along the small window in the radio occasionally hearing a faint note or voice as it swept past a far away radio station. Finally, he found a signal that was more music than static.
“Ah, a classic Hank Williams,” Peter said and then started to sing along.
“You’ll never know how much it hurts,” Peter sang. “To see you sit and cry.”
“He’s pretty good,” Kapo said.
“Shhh, you don’t want him to hear you,” JJ said.
“This is a memory. I do not affect anything here. Now watch and pay attention to Peter.” Kapo said.
The song ended, and a commercial for a farm product started. JJ looked around; every once in a while, the view outside the car came into focus.
“Well, I can tell what Simon was looking at when he was in here,” JJ said.
“You are dense, you are Simon, and you were the one looking out the window,” Kapo said.
“If it was me, I would remember,” JJ said.
JJ was silent as he looked out the window. The view out the window was more than just a colored blur. The landscape was made up of cliff faces and towers of stone painted with wide bands of rust red and pale yellow. JJ watched the road as it wound in and out of red canyons and around fingers of stone that pointed up at a deep blue sky.
“Tell the plan again to me,” Peter said.
“You perform the hide spell,” JJ realized he was talking. “Then I head into Vegas and try and find him. You follow me after a few weeks, and then you perform the unhide spell, and then we can deal with him.”
“I’m still nervous about it. You will have some of your memories, but you won’t be you until I undo the spell. There are so many things that could go wrong,” Peter said.
“I will have the money and other things in the trunk. I will be fine,” Simon said.
“I still don’t like it,” Peter said and then went back to concentrating on the road.
“What!?! I had money in the trunk. I wonder what else I had.” JJ said.
“Oh, now you believe me,” Kapo said.
JJ went back to thinking about what could have been in the trunk. As he sat there, the world disappeared, and everything went white.
“What happened?” JJ asked.
“Before I try to explain it, let me show you another memory,” Kapo said.
“What are you, the ghost of Christmas past showing me things that happened to me?” JJ asked.
“Don’t be rude. Now watch and listen,” Kapo said.
All of a sudden, JJ found himself standing in the desert in the center of a circle of white stones.
“Wait, I’ve seen this in dreams a few times,” JJ said.
“Shh, watch and listen,” Kapo said.
Peter had been standing and breathing, trying to calm himself for a few moments, when he opened his eyes and started to speak a spell in an unknown language.
“That's the wrong spell …,” JJ heard himself yelling. Before he could finish, he was stopped by some external force. JJ could feel himself trying to move, but his limbs wouldn’t respond to his commands. A breeze hit him, and he fell over. The circle of stones were undisturbed. Now, he was lying on the rocks with one sharp rock jammed into his cheek.
“You are being held by the spell your apprentice Peter cast,” Kapo said.
Peter finished the first spell and then pulled a feather and a small branch out of his pocket. He then started another spell.
Peter opened his eyes after he finished. JJ looked at Peter, expecting to see a normal pair of eyes looking back at him. All he saw was the white of a pair of rolled-up eyes.
“You thought you could hide from me. You have been a gnat bussing around bothering me for too long. The spell your apprentice cast was not a normal hide spell as you planned but one that will completely erase you and leave you an empty shell that I can take control of.” Peter said.
JJ noticed that his vision was narrowing.
“By now, you should be feeling the effects; shortly, you will be wiped away. I am enjoying the show … AHHHHH,” Peter interrupted himself with a scream from his lips.
“Simon!?! What did he do to you? I can fix this. I just need to find …” Peter started looking around frantically for something. “Yes! That will do,” he reached down and quickly snatched up a small rock.
JJ's vision was getting narrower and narrower. Peter moved, and JJ could no longer see him. Peter started saying a spell very quickly in an unknown language. Finally, everything went white again for a moment and JJ found himself standing in the beer bar in the Riviera with Kapo touching his arm.
“What was that,” JJ said. He stood for a moment and then flopped down into the chair he had just stood up from.
“Have the beer; it will help with the after-effects,” Kapo said.
JJ took the drink and sat staring off to infinity. “So those were my memories?” JJ finally said.
Kapo had been enjoying her beer and watching the manic pursuit of debauchery playing out in the casino.
“Yes, that’s correct,” she said.
“So I’m Simon?” JJ asked, still staring off.
“Well, you were. The spell that was cast by the creature that had possessed Peter locked Simon away, and it was close to removing him, you, from your mind. That's why the first and second memory went to white,” Kapo said and then took another drink from the beer.
“Do you know who had possessed Peter?” JJ asked.
“I have a suspicion, but I’m not positive,” Kapo said.
“Who or what do you think it is?” JJ asked, finally coming back to the present.
“Kaulu,” Kapo said.
“Who or what is Kaulu?” JJ asked.
“Kaulu is an old Hawaiian god. He is somewhere between a trickster and a homicidal maniac. I fear that since he arrived in Vegas, he has some bigger plans,” Kapo said.
“A Hawaiian god?” JJ asked.
“Yes, a Hawaiian god. We have been coming to Vegas more and for longer with the migration of our people here,” Kapo said.
“So Hawaiian gods are coming to Vegas. Uhmm, you said we, not them,” JJ said.
“Yes, I said we. We exist to protect and guide the Hawaiian people, so we go where they go. The more Hawaiians in a place, the more protectors or gods will be there to protect them. Vegas has become a favorite of the Kanaka Maoli diaspora. It is getting late. I have to go soon, so make your questions count,” Kapo said.
“What happened to Peter, and who is he?” JJ asked.
“I can only catch glimpses of him, but I think he is here in town. Peter was Simon’s apprentice,” Kapo said. “Alright, I have to go. Oh, one more thing: Kavika is looking for you to take you to Aku Aku. Find him and meet Aku Aku. He’s probably staying at the California, downtown.” With that, she took a last drink of her beer and stood up. “Good luck, JJ. You will need it.” JJ’s vision got a little cloudy, like the air all of a sudden made up of a clear jelly. A few close slot machines started ringing out the sound of a jackpot and spitting out coins. The odd look to the air only lasted for a moment, and when it dissipated, Kapo was gone.
Now, the dozen tables all had people at them, and there were two waiters bustling around, taking orders and delivering drinks.
“Can I get you another,” one of the waiters asked as he made his way around the tables.
JJ looked down at his lone empty beer glass. “Yes, that would be good,” JJ said.
“Coming right up,” the waiter said and then turned to get the order.
JJ sat for a moment, thinking about what Kapo had told him.
“A goddess, why is she talking to me? I’m sure I’m not Hawaiian,” JJ said as he sat and mused. “Wait, she said to find Kavika! So am I the master he was looking for?”
“Here you go, one Coors,” the waiter said, setting a beer down in front of JJ.
“Thank you,” JJ said, only sort of seeing the waiter and the beer.
“There are so many questions I have now about her and who Aku Aku is … Oh — if Kavika is looking for me and not Arnie, who is he talking to at the Trop? Man, I wish he had stayed longer. Well, I guess I need to find Kavika.”