15. A Kairos Wrinkle

 “Real or not here I come."

                            J. Niebo

 

The survey says that there are a number of road maps in prose and poetic form that seem to be required to fill the closeted rooms of spiritual spelunkers. Jake often worried that a few selected probably banned in Boston texts in his private library would get him locked up with Patrick McMurphy as a roommate in some long lost institution.  Jake was careful to hide these selected books with his marble coated journals. He wasn’t sure if these peculiar writings of others were providing insight or a waste of burning candlelight. The Beatle boot box was just the right size for securing this collection and he covered it up in the crawl space where he once trapped a squirrel. Every once in a while he checked in on them as a father would check a sleeping child. The Interpretations of Dreams; Being and Nothingness; and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell were hidden under a separate layer of newspaper in the box. He hidden these as a preteen would hide Playboy magazines from his parents, hidden but quickly to access when feeling alone. Of course he had other books some were semi-secrets and others his trophies, standing obvious and proud for anyone who wanted to see. Sundance was never concerned about such things and his complete library was open and obvious to everyone. Jake wondered about how many secrets Sundance had not shared.

 

“Everyone has secrets”

 

Naturally articles about Timothy Leary’s Harvard Project popularity supplemented both boys’ collections, as the reports seemed to be the sugar cube sweetener for their self-investigatory plunges. Attempting to replicate Alice’s sojourn down the Rabbit hole became a desired pursuit for Jake and Sundance. While Grace’s incantation was necessary for Sundance to take the leap all Jake needed to do was to close his eyes.

 

 

 

Sundance called out

 

“Jake hurry quick they need you!”

 

“What? Who? What?”

 

“They need you!”

 

Jake continued to fumble his sweaty fingers over the worn marks and numbers on his combination Master Lock.

 

“ I can’t remember! I can’t remember!”

 

Sundance now went to grab Jake.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Jake still frustratingly furiously fumbling with the combination lock,

 

“ I can’t remember the combination! How am I ever going to get this lock opened? How will I ever get into my locker again? I need to get in there!”

 

All Jake could see was Sundance, the lock and the box-like locker.

 

Sundance was completely befuddled

 

“What’s so important in there?”

 

“I am not sure what’s in there. I think I left my books, my poetry in there!”

 

Sundance laughed

 

“Who do you think you are, Paul Simon?”

 

“I don’t know who I am.”

 

Sundance began to boil and now annoyed yanked on Jake and started to lead him down the hallway.

 

“Look you have people who need you now! So let’s get your guitar and get you onstage.”

 

It didn’t take Jake long to get completely confused. He had no idea what Sundance was talking about or where they were going. Sundance explained as he dragged Jake that there was a band onstage that needed another guitarist to complete the group so they could play for the gathered audience.

 

Jake protested

 

“What stage? Where? Who? Why? I don’t have a guitar with me!”

 

 The next thing Jake knew was that some dark dressed stranger was strapping a Guild electric around Jake’s neck, plugging it in to an amp and pushing him onto a stage. The other faceless musicians onstage pointed to the microphone as one shouted out to Jake

 

“Twist and Shout in C”

 

“Am I singing lead? Am I playing lead? Who’s counting off? Wait I can’t sing it in C!” “

 

One of the musicians lifted his head from the dials on the control panel of his amplifier and carefully walked over to Jake. He looked just like George Harrison! It was George Harrison!

 

George leaned to Jake’s ear and whispered

 

“ Don’t worry. Just Play and enjoy yourself.”

 

George turned to the band and started in an authoritative Liverpudlian drawl, counting off ….

 

“One, Two, One, two, three, four….”

 

 

 

“ Jake! Jake! Wake up Jake! Jake!”

 

Jake felt a rough physical shoving this way and that with intermittent slaps on the face. He finally opened his eyes. There was Sundance’s nose almost touching his own as Sundance shouted

 

“Jake! Are you ok? “

 

Isabella was standing over Sundance half worried and half annoyed as she thought that this was a typical stunt by Jake. She screamed

 

“Are you on something? You know did you take some little pill or something?”

 

Jake gradually started to gain back his senses, though he really wanted to get back to playing in the band with George Harrison, opened his cotton-dried mouth,

 

“Nah, I think I just fell asleep and got lost.”

 

Sundance sat Jake up and asked if Jake could remember their names.

Jake paused, smiled a smile of success and satisfaction

 

“Isabella, Jake and George!”

 

He didn’t tell them about the dream. He really wanted to get back to playing music in the dream with George and the band.

 

Sundance and Isabella stared at each other. They didn’t know whether to call for an ambulance or laugh! Sundance began to laugh. Jake remained in his state of in and out of present consciousness. But that was normal for him. Sundance and Isabella continued their conversation, as Jake remained on his quiet private sojourn downstream.

 

Isabella smiled as she finally gave Sundance that “good cup of coffee” that Sundance had requested before Isabella had departed the two boys earlier.

 

“So what did you guys decide to do?

 

Sundance told Isabella

 

“Well, we decided that no decision is a decision! So you could say our eventual decision was default. ”

 

He continued to explain about how he and Jake had come to the somewhat half-hearted conclusion to call Jake’s old neighbor, Diana, to secure a place to crash for the night. They called her and Diana was surprisingly delighted with the call and prospect of having guests. Besides Sundance is the one who spoke with her and she sounded attractive. Sundance gently pulled Isabella aside

 

“We will need directions to Diana’s place in Somerville. You know Jake, he refused to let me ask Diana for directions when I spoke with her. He said she lives somewhere near Cambridge and that since he was able to find Fairfield he could find her place!”

 

Isabella giggled quietly

 

“No problem it is easy from here. You won’t even need a map.”

 

Satisfied, Sundance went on to share how and Jake had thought of going to Symphony Hall to see if they could get tickets for the Jose Feliciano concert that evening. Sundance described how it took some real negotiating and bribery to convince Jake to sit through a Feliciano concert. Just as Sundance was about to mention the invitation for Isabella to join them she interrupted

 

“ I need to study, really! I need to get an A in this next exam!”

 

Jake was good at pretending that he didn’t hear any of this conversation, and wondered privately what ever happened to visiting Kerouac and Salinger? He didn’t recall any of what Sundance was talking about. Was Sundance making all this up to get what he wanted out of this trip? He asked himself

 

“What did I win in the negotiation with Sundance?”

 

Silently scrounging his synapses he wondered if this was all a dream. Jake tried to focus on his watch and saw that it was now almost three in the afternoon. He concluded

 

“Time moves regardless of one’s state of mind or point of view and moves much faster than the The Charles’ lumbering current. 

But everything moves faster than the River Charles.”

 

The last glance Jake had made at his watch the time was not quite nine am. He had lost a few hours. He shook is head as if to loosen it up to recall what else he may have lost.

 

The universe was in its continued state of movement and expansion while Jake had remained still and silent for hours .For the first time in a long time Jake was trying to stop worrying about waiting or trying to remember things like the combination to his lock. Then, just for that moment he just was completely present….

 

Enlightenment sometimes happens with the blink of an eye…. Jake swiftly stood up with arms stretched out wide.

He sang out

 

“ two – twenty five – forty three “

 

It was George Harrison’s birthday, five years before his own! The numbers to the secret combination of the lock!

 

He continued

 

“Illumination!”

 

Excuses quickly evaporated realizing that sooner or later the lock would need to be opened.