“Well, I lost Peter again,” JJ said to Raul when he got back to the table.
“What do you mean you lost him?” Raul asked.
“They discharged him at around noon,” JJ said, and then sat down heavily in his chair.
“What are you going to do? Do you need to do anything? He’s an adult, he can take care of himself.” Raul asked.
“Yes, he is an adult, and he should be able to take care of himself,” JJ said.
“Then what’s the problem? Drink your beer,” Raul said.
“The problem is he is possessed by the Hawaiian god Kaulu, so he seems schizophrenic. To anyone seeing him, he looks like one of the horde of self-medicating zombies wandering the strip, drawn by the easy pickings of the tourists,” JJ said, feeling the helplessness of the situation washing over him. “I don’t know where to start to look.” His head dropped into his hands, almost stabbing himself with a pencil that was in his left hand.
“Careful,” Raul said. “What are you drawing anyway?”
“What I’m not drawing anything,” JJ said without lifting his head.
“You’re right, you’re doodling. But that is an intricate design you’re doodling. Every time you are near a pencil or pen, you start doodling,” Raul said.
“What!?! What are you talking about? I’m not drawing or doodling, I don’t even have a pencil in my …” JJ stopped his rant when he looked down and saw the Keno pencil in his left hand. On the paper was an intricate drawing, all contained within a circle. “What the hell did you do? Did you cast some …” JJ started, then fell into a vision.
“No! No! No!!! You have to divide the circle into eight parts,” Simon scolded a young Peter. “Here, let me show you.” Simon picked up the chalk and started to draw. “You need to practice. This should be automatic for you by now. When I say a basic spirit protection spell, you should have it drawn out before I finish saying spirit,” Simon, put down the chalk. “There. Now I want you to fill …” The vision suddenly ended, and JJ found himself looking at Raul with his anger draining away.
“What happened? You just blanked out.” Raul asked.
JJ shook himself and unclenched his fists. “Wow I think I was an asshole to Peter,”
“That’s understandable, it's hard not to be rude to a schizophrenic,” Raul said, excusing JJ’s behavior.
“It would be excusable if I were talking about recently, but just now, when I looked at the doodle, I had a vision of myself yelling at a really young Peter for not drawing this correctly,” JJ said as he pointed to his doodle.
“Arnie always said as long as the drawing is close, it will be ok,” Raul said.
“No, Peter! It has to be exact! Any deviation is a crack that a spirit or demon can slip through,” Simon responded.
“Ok, I’ll remember that,” Raul said, looking a little cowled. “But I’m Raul, not Peter.”
“Sorry, I don’t know where that came from,” JJ said, shaking his head.
“You said that you had a vision. Has that been happening a lot?” Raul asked.
“Are you finished? I’m ready to go,” JJ said, scooting out of the booth, ignoring Raul's question.
“No, we haven’t even gotten our food yet? Why are you in a hurry all of a sudden?” Raul asked.
“Sorry, we can eat, I’m just starting to get antsy all of a sudden,” JJ said, scooting back to his coke.
“Nice atmosphere,” Raul said, trying to fill the silence.
“Yeah, I guess so,” JJ said, not really hearing what Raul said.
JJ started to tap his hand on the table.
“Where is that waitress? I’m ready to go,” JJ said, slapping his hands on the table and looking around.
“She’ll be here soon, I’m sure,” Raul said.
“Ok,” JJ said, then started shifting in his seat. He alternately drummed his fingers on the table or tapped his foot.
After just a minute or two, the waitress showed up with the two burgers and fries.
“About time …” JJ started to say.
“Thank you, ma'am, that was very fast,” Raul said, interrupting JJ.
“You’re welcome. Would you like anything else?” The waitress asked, looking at Raul.
“Just the check. We have to leave soon,” Raul said while JJ sat and stewed.
“Would you like me to box it up to go?” She asked.
“Ye…” JJ started to say.
“No, we will eat it here,” Raul said a little louder than was necessary to stop JJ's response.
“Okay, I’ll be right back with the check. Enjoy your meal,” she said, and then went off to retrieve it.
“She would have put it in a box so we could go,” JJ said, frustratedly.
“And where would we have eaten it?” Raul asked.
“In the car?” JJ said, realizing that maybe Raul didn’t like people eating in his car.
“That would have been fine for you, but with me driving, I couldn’t eat,” Raul said and then dug into his burger.
Realizing he wouldn’t win the argument, JJ started to eat, too.
Before either of them had gotten halfway through their burgers, the waitress brought back the check. JJ immediately pulled out his wallet, dropped money on top, saying “keep the change,” around a mouthful, and then went back to his food.
***
“Where do you want to start looking?” Raul asked when they got into his car. They had finished their meal quickly and then almost jogged through the casino, trying to avoid knocking over any customers as they sped along. Now they were back in Raul’s car, preparing to leave.
“I don’t have a clue. This is a big city, and I don’t know where to start,” JJ said, his frustration clear in his voice.
“I think you do. You already told me he is regularly on the strip, and besides, aren’t you feeling that premonition thing again?” Raul asked.
“But …” JJ started to yell at Raul again when he stopped and realized that he was right; he did have that feeling again in his chest. “That's why I’ve been so antsy and needing to go. Ok, let me think for a second, the menuhune told me how to interpret the feeling.” JJ closed his eyes and started to mumble to himself about directions and places. “South, hmm, cold. — East, Hmm, warmer, North, uhm, that might be it. West, nope, cold.” JJ snapped his eyes open and said, “North on the strip.”
“Do you know how far?” Raul asked.
“No, I just know north,” JJ said.
“Ok, we can go a couple of blocks, but I need to get gas,” Raul said.
“Then head out to the strip and drop me off, the feeling is almost as bad as last time when I found Peter a victim of an assault,” JJ said.
“Ok, I’ll come looking for you after I fill the tank,” Raul said.
Raul started to drive out of the self-parking garage and had to stop before he got very far. There was a long line of cars trying to exit. There was a woman at the front arguing with a short, round man who had backed his car into hers. Instead of moving the vehicles to let other people by, they had both decided it was better to have an argument.
“Man, people think it's all about them, and no one else matters,” Raul said, seeing the two potential pugilists.
“I’m going to try and run, this looks like it won't be resolved very quickly,” JJ said as he started to undo his seat belt.
“Yeah, it doesn’t look promising. I will try and find you afterwards or page you,” Raul said.
JJ ran back to the casino entrance to exit out the other side onto the strip. He thought maybe he would grab a taxi and have it drive him north. Outside the casino, the line for taxis looked about twenty people deep without a cab in sight. Seeing that wasn’t an option, he started to run along the sidewalk that went around the volcano to connect to the strip sidewalk to the north. Lots of other people had the same idea after seeing the taxi stand line. He was dodging and weaving to get by the slow-moving tourists taking in the sights with not much success.
“Arrggg, this is killing me,” JJ said when he had to stop short to keep from mowing down an elderly couple using canes and not making much progress.
“Don’t be in such a hurry, young man, you’ll rush by your life,” the gentleman said in response to JJ’s outburst.
“Look around, see the sights … and the crazy people,” the woman said.
JJ stopped and looked in the direction the woman was staring. The volcano was dormant, as it always was, during daylight hours. Water was flowing down the cone formation, following the many crevices, making ever-dividing rivulets. Below the mini man-made mountain was a small lagoon that added to the show. In the corner of the lagoon closest to the volcano cone was a naked person bathing.
“I wonder how long before security comes and deals with him,” JJ said, and then turned to see if his path was clear. The couple was no longer in sight. Now in front of him was a large group of Japanese tourists, all trying to take pictures of themselves with the mirage in the background.
JJ growled in frustration again and walked over to the edge of the sidewalk to see if he could hop the low fence that kept the pedestrians and vehicles separated. His attention was drawn back to the au naturel bather, who he could now hear was singing a strange song in some unknown language.
“Holy shit! That’s Peter!” JJ exclaimed when he finally recognized him. He turned back to see if he could go out to the boulevard and get around to the lagoon from that side. The sidewalk was now clear, where a second ago, it had been an endless stream of tourists, all making it their mission in life to keep him from moving.
JJ started running and made it to the strip just as he heard a loud shout from the casino entrance: “Get out of there. The cops are on the way.” The source of the bellow was one of two security guards who were running towards the volcano.
Peter continued to sing his nonsense song, punctuated with loud exclamations of “ha”.
“Peter, get out of there,” JJ said from the strip sidewalk.
“Simon, I’m almost done. I only have one more verse,” Peter said, and went back to his singing.
Seeing that JJ was somehow involved, the two security trolls redirected their course to grab JJ instead of having to jump into the water.
JJ sort of recognized that what Peter was singing wasn’t an insanity-induced nonsense song but was a spell. “Hurry up,” JJ said. “I’ll try and keep them occupied.”
“You there! Stay where you are,” one of the two security guards yelled to JJ. He was a bit overweight and almost foaming at the mouth in his effort to run and make JJ and Peter obey his orders.
The other security guard seemed to be very professional. He was running without any sign of effort. He understood that the only thing that would take care of the situation was a gun or handcuffs. He opted for the cuffs and already had them out, ready to detain JJ.
“Get out of there!” The blustering wannabe cop ordered as they got closer.
JJ turned to face the guards, hoping to give Peter the minute more he needed.
“Don’t move,” the professional guard said as he grabbed JJ’s arm and spun him around. He kicked JJ in the kneepit, buckling his legs to better control him. “Gary, go get him,” the guard said after JJ had collapsed to his knees
“What?!? I’m not getting in that water. The tourists throw up in it and worse,” Gary whined. “Why me?”
“Well, he’s not going to get out on his own, and you are the newest member of the team,” the ex-military guard ordered.
“Shit I have to do all the crappy jobs. I’ll remember this, Carl, when I’m in charge,” Gary the guard said while he started taking off his shoes and rolling up his pants.
Seeing that maybe the guard would interrupt Peter before he was finished, he kicked out, knocking Gary to the ground.
“Ouch,” Gary exclaimed as he hit the sidewalk. “You piece of shit.”
“You’re going to be charged with assault, not just trespassing, if you keep that up,” Carl said as he slapped JJ across the back of his head.
“Calm down, Gary,” Carl said, seeing that he was reaching for his taser. “It’s already under control, go get the other guy.” He then finished cuffing JJ.
“Ah, that was a wonderful bath,” Peter said, stepping up to the railing and grabbing his clothes that he had deposited on the fake rocks before he started.
“Get over here!” Gary ordered.
“No thanks, I’m quite happy over here,” Peter said. “I think I’ll go somewhere else.” Peter walked around to the far side of the volcano.
“Dammit! I’m going to go get him,” Gary said. “Ouch, Ouch, Ouch.” He said as he tried to run barefoot on the hot concrete.
“Put your shoes on,” Carl advised.
Gary stopped and looked at him, and then said, “I will just have to take them off again in a few feet to get in the water.” He continued burning his feet on the pavement until he was out of sight.
“That guy is an idiot. Come on, I’ll bring you inside, and we can wait for the cops,” Carl said, guiding JJ back to the casino.
After the two of them made it through the casino and all the people staring, JJ was put in a small room that looked like it could have been an interrogation room on any TV show. He was handcuffed to a ring on the table so that he had to sit with his arms stretched out.
“I’ll be right back with some water,” Carl said after getting JJ seated.
JJ didn’t respond; he just sat, thinking about his life.
He had been sitting for only a few minutes when the door to the room was slammed open. Gary came in completely drenched; he had obviously slipped and gotten a good dunking. He stood in the doorway looking at JJ, and his face showed growing anger. He finally made up his mind, strutted up to him, slapped him hard across the face, and said, “Your friend disappeared in the crowds of tourists while I was trying to apprehend him.”
He closed the door firmly and walked around the chair to stand behind him. “I’m sure the cops won't complain if there are some new bruises on you or you have a couple of broken bones,” he said as he put his hands on JJ’s shoulders and pushed down, hard. The way Gary was pushing was causing the cuffs to begin to pull on his arms. If Gary increased the pressure, JJ would be in danger of having his arms pulled out of their sockets. “I could cause all kinds of harm, and no one will care,” Gary said as he increased the downward pressure.
Finally, after a few seconds, Gary lifted his hands, relieving the stress on the cuffs. With his hands now back to the limited freedom the short cuffs chain provided, JJ was able to bend his hands around enough to rub the area where his wrists were starting to chaff. He didn’t say anything, just concentrated on trying to soothe his throbbing wrists.
“Maybe if they found you having committed suicide in the room, they would give me an award,” Gary said, putting his arms around JJ’s neck to choke him.
“Come on! You don’t want to do that,” JJ said as the pressure on his neck slowly started to increase.
“What, some homeless guy? Is anyone really going to care?” Gary said as he increased the pressure.
“Aren’t there cameras in here? They’ll see …” JJ started to say when the pressure was increased so much he couldn’t speak.
“Here’s some water …” Carl started to say as he walked into the room. “What the hell are you doing?!? Get off him. Now!” Carl yelled at Gary and rushed over to him to drag him off JJ.
Gary let go of JJ and stood up. “I was only trying to find out where the other homeless guy went.” He said.
“Get out! Go to the office!” Gary ordered.
“You’re not my boss, you can’t tell me …” Carl started to say when he was interrupted by a voice from a speaker in the ceiling.
“Officer Carl, please make your way to my office. Now!” Voice sounding like James Caan said.
“Uhmm,” Carl swallowed. “Yes, sir,” he said and then left the room.
“Are you ok?” Gary asked, seeing JJ coughing. “Here, let me unlock your cuffs.”
“Yeah,” JJ said with a squeaky mouse voice. Now that his hands were free, he could massage his neck and try to soothe the pain. “Can I get some water?”
“Oh yeah, right,” Gary said, realizing he was still holding the bottle of water. “Here you go.”
JJ took the water and took a swig. “Thank you.” He said.
Gary sat on the edge of the table while JJ tried to recover.
“So who was the guy in the water?” Gary asked.
“I only know his name is Peter,” JJ said.
“Is he someone important to you?” Gary asked.
JJ stopped for a second to think about how to truthfully answer the question. Just before he was ready to answer, he was interrupted by the door opening.
“What do we have?” A police officer asked as he walked into the room.
“A simple trespassing charge,” Gary said as he stood up.
“You’ll send over the complaint?” The officer asked.
“Yep, I’ll have it over in an hour,” Gary said.
“Great, we’ll take it from here,” the officer said as he bent to unlock JJ’s cuffs.
“Off to the pokey for you,” the officer told JJ.