We drove back to Marty's hotel room in disbelief. Was this our father who had opened up to us? When we entered the room we both got beers and then plopped ourselves on the couch.
"Will I guess he really is dying if he actually is speaking
with us."
"Don't be so negative", I told Marty at least he is trying.
"Why because he rambled off a few passages of his hate manifesto."
I could see that Marty was really hurt by the news of my father illness and decided not to pursue the topic.
"Did you know I am heading to Alaska after the reunion."
"Yeah, Mom had mentioned it, sounds fun. Except for the part about working in a fishery, that would bite."
"Marty, why don't you tag along."
"Why? I don't know shit about fish and would just as soon keep it that way."
" You don't have to fish. Your rich right? Come to have a good time and see Alaska."
"You don't think Bill would have a problem with me coming?"
"Hell no, not if you have a bike and can keep up."
"Oh I have the bike Marty said, 1969 Indian Hammerhead in mint condition."
" So, we all set" I asked.
" I guess, but check with Bill just in case. I think he always thought I was a bit crazy."
"Sure, but we're all crazy now, Marty"
"The old man dying is something uh," Marty.
"Yeah, I was never sure he had ever even been alive"
"Your miss him, you can't tell me you won't miss him."
"Yes, I'll miss him but I think I'll be missing what he
could have been not what he was. Dad doesn't have many redeeming qualities, but the childlike wonder that was under the surface I do believe I'll miss that.
"That was Dad, Marty the rest was just his attempts at hiding it."
"Yeah, he was good at hiding things."
"What time it getting to be?
"Getting close to 1:30A.M. Why?
"Amy still into drinking?
"Beats me, Marty replied. She's getting a little to strange for my company anyhow."
"She is still our sister I say we invite her over for some drinks."
"Where she staying?
With this Marty staggered up put his arm around me and pointed me toward the balcony. " Look out over there he said to me, see those trees next to the open meadow. Will someone in them trees our baby sister is in a tent waiting for the Russians."
Marty started to laugh so hard he spilled his drink. Are you serious I asked? "Yep, both Dad and I offered her a place with us but she insisted on staying closer to nature."
"Well I going to find her after one drink and one joint for the road." Marty said, "you'll never do it."
"Tell you what if I'm still up to going after this joint you have to go with me."
"Yeah, what the hell it could be worth a few laughs. I just hope she doesn't shoot when we come up to the tent."
Marty laughed after he had said this but I thought that it just might be a possibility.
We left the hotel room around 2 A.M. and began our trek to the park. The park was supposed to be closed at night so neither us or our sister had any right to me there. Marty and I did our best to be quiet but between the alcohol and the pot we probably sounded like a herd of water buffalo passing through. All of a sudden we heard this very loud crackling noise behind us. Marty and I both turned toward the noise but saw nothing. As we turned to continue walking we saw Amy with a rifle in her hands directly in front of us. " Good to see you boys, good thing you ain't fighting no war." From the direction Amy had been standing we now saw a light coming toward us but Amy was no where in sight. As the person approached we were now able to identify him as a cop.
He had his flashlight in his right hand and was twirling his baton with his left.
The officer asked what we were doing out so late. "Well" Marty said, "the bars just closed and we decided to take the scenic route home." This sounded like a reasonable explanation to me and I figured we would soon be on our way but the cop had other ideas. "Just left the bars," the cop said, "that sounds like public drunkenness." I could tell Marty was getting pissed he had always been fine with cops when they treated him fair ,but if the cop started trouble Marty wouldn't take the shit. "Look, Marty said there doesn't appear to be much of a public here, so maybe you could cut us a break, lieutenant."
"It's sergeant," the police officer said.
"Well I'm sure it's just a matter of improving your public relations skills before the big promotion comes." That was all it took, the cop grabbed Marty's arm behind his back and swung him into the hood of the car. As he was getting Marty under control the cop pulled his gun on me and told me not to try anything stupid. As this was happening I saw a dark figure silently approach the sergeant and grip him by the side of the neck. The cop dropped his gun immediately and began to go into what looked like convulsions and then he was silent. I looked at the dark figure that I now realized was Amy. " Did you kill him I asked?" "Nah, he will be back up in ten minutes. That's why we have to get the hell out of here."
"Don't you think the entire police force is going to be on the hunt for us," Marty said.
"Well, certainly not me, Amy replied. No police officer has ever seen me the entire I've been in this park. As for you two I don't think this cop have the slightest notion what happen to him and that makes it very difficult to write a report. My guess is he will search the area for a short time and when nothing is discovered, he will chalked it up to another strange night in the life of police officers." "How did you learn how to do our that shit I asked." " Well I rarely have to use it unless Marty is in town but I like to stay prepared."
"Very funny Marty said, what's that Vulcan death grab thing." "Just using pressure points, I can show you later if you would like. For right now we should head to you hotel room. I already packed all my gear when I heard you all enter the park." "Why did you do that, I asked? " Well you were making so much noise I had a feeling that we would need to make a hasty retreat."
When we got back to the hotel I asked Amy how she had learned all the fancy moves. "Well I was in the Marines for four years they're damn insistent that you learn how to immobilize and kill people. " After I left the service, I thought it would probably be a good idea to keep up with my training. The way this country is going I have a feeling I may need to defend myself in the future." " So, are you one of those survivalist, I asked." "No, at least not in the traditional sense. I do prefer living on my own, away from people."
"Why is that," I asked.
"I think a lot of people are already becoming to dangerous to live near. Look at your average crime rate in urban America but I'm not stock palling weapons waiting for the invasion. I keep a small amount of guns and live in
secluded areas. I could certainly protect myself against individual criminals but if a mob comes I'm pretty much as vulnerable as the rest of American."
Marty, who was sitting on the sofa next to Amy, began to laugh uncontrollably.
"You're sitting there in your little Hobbit hole in the middle of no where, with a few automatic weapons and consider this a perfectly sane lifestyle choice."
"Just because I didn't become some self important, superficial, sell out." "Who needs fancy sports cars and other toys to ensure himself that he is a man. Let me tell you it doesn't make you a man, it just makes you a pretentious bore with obvious feelings of inadequacies. Most likely it all comes down to your little pecker not measuring up to the big boys."
Touché was the only thing Marty offered as come back. Marty enjoyed good debates but when it came to heated arguments he preferred to stand clear. Plus I think deep down he knew Amy was partially right.
I asked Amy what see saw in the future for society. " Well between the higher crime rates and new technology I believe that people will spend their times in their homes. The suburb being overwhelmed by what was considered inner city crime. New technology will make every reason we now go out obsolete groceries, fast food, beer, clothing and all forms of entertainment, will be obtained by a simple phone call. If your into computer you can this shit now from your home. The only times people will be forced to mingle will be at work and since their socialization skills will be lacking little conservation will take place there either. Hell, the best positions will not even require you to go to the office; your work will be conducted at home via your computer and phone lines. The people who have money, like our brother Marty here, will mostly likely never leave homes, which will have state of the art security system. Marty observation of me hiding in a Hobbit Hole is a good example of how most people will live in the future. The main people who will be walking the streets will be criminals, drug addicts and the homeless. People will be scared to venture beyond their own doorstep for fear of being assaulted. If you asked law abiding people from the inner city they will tell you this day has already arrived."
Marty asked, "so what it won't change your life any you are already up on some mountain top, by yourself." " That is not true Marty I spend time working on my farm from sunrise to sunset. I spend any other time selling my fruits and vegetables on a stand by the side of the road. Marty just sighedand shook his head. "It doesn't sound like much of a living to me" . "That is because you never have lived life. You are constantly going somewhere but never getting anywhere. "Well I think if this is any answers they would be out on the road, not in some garden picking potatoes". "Who knows", Amy said. With this the conversation turned to lighter matters. Not only was Amy in the drinking mood she had also brought along some "Panama Red".
This night turned out to be the best I had ever spent with my brother and sister. None of us spoke about Dad, but I could tell it weighed heavily on all our minds. It a shame that most people stop being as close to their friends and family as they grow older. Every time I learned more about a person I knew I had receive a precious gift, that I could cherish the rest of my life. Unfortunately, I was withdrawn and had a very difficult time meeting people. I knew this was entirely my own fault, but still I could not change myself. Even though I was an atheist I still felt it was important to complete two main tasks in life. Face all your fear, the more you feared something, the more you should face the situation. And try to become friends with the most people you possibly can and gain from their life experiences. At the present time I was not good with either, but it was still my belief that if you worked on achieving these goals somehow the meaning of life would find you.
(Continued on Delta VIIII)
