The Avalon, my playground from high school, is full up when we arrive. Used to be, the club was one big dome for everyone to mash together. Now the stage faces three levels, the first-floor dance area surrounded by low, leather couches; the bar opening like a U; a second tier tucked away from the dancing allows spectators to sit in tiny booths and get their cocktails from a waitress; and the top level runs like a catwalk under the ceiling. The steps hide behind a white plaster mound like the paths in mountain villages.
The backstage gives us space to flex. The sound and lights all check and we’re just holding here a while. The band looks cris: Leon’s wearing a gold shirt; Marvin’s sporting a little brimmed hat; Earle’s dreads will rock; and Zanz stars the colors with a big bright tam. I peek at the girls, so sexy and ready, swaying to the recorded songs. Still half an hour to the official time but we won’t walk on right away.
[Click here to read the first episode, or here to read the previous one.]
I sneak outdoors to take some solitude. I take three to six phases of it every day. Supposed to be secret. But that’s out of my control. If anyone’s seen me do it, they’ve never said so.
Vivi taught me the ritual. Vivi’s a superior conduit in this world and she recognized my sprightly personality. Ever since I was small, I drifted away in certain situations. Like when my daddy was beating Brian because I had vexed him, Mommy and I would hold hands at the table. He made us watch—and really with that going on, what else could we do? But I learned to separate from myself, which gave me an overview. That’s how it started. Pretty soon I could separate from the kid Trevor at will. And I’d see people stuck in their tracks. Problem was that I was still a child. When I tried to warn someone about a dead end, they took it as a lie. So it seemed I was always in trouble, and Brian suffered.
But Vivi said blessed conduits often start like that. We’re born into families and given roles and talents for a reason. At crucial junctures, I found a way up—my overview. So now if I pray and meditate I reach an otherworldly vantage point. Does that sound weird? It’s nonsensical; I know that. But Vivi taught me how to see people’s inner and outer directions. What’s happening to them versus where they want to go.
Of course I don’t always see it and I never see what’s happening to me. And neither could she, which is how we got carried away with each other. And set Don Rufus raging.
But that’s another story. If I meditate—it’s secret and eerie and so different from how most people think—I can charm them. Those people whose directions I see—not everybody—believe what I tell them because I charm them. Since I especially love women, I see their inner direction plain as my own hand. A few men, and apparently Polly, go against me, though. I take it easy with them.
Since I returned from Jamaica, Brian’s directions have changed. He’s found a good path. My goal is to stay fully attuned to him until he discovers his one love. And when I focus on that, it’s a little sad. Because I see his direction and Hailey’s and Brian’s one true love is my own darling Hailey. No lie. To see the truth, you need the open-mindedness of a child and all the time-honored wisdom you can summon. I pay close attention to every sensation, and try to feel all the vibrations.
I meditate and smoke kaya, smoke kaya and meditate, always in secret.
Uh-no. The police are pulling up beside Brian’s car. I’m in the back and the flashlight’s blinding me. I roll down the window.
“Hey Marvin. Officer Ingersoll. Have a taste?”
“Nope. It’s against the law, Trevor. That’s why the Chief has me checking on you. I need to bring you in. Official orders. Put it out and step out of the car.”
(Click here to read the next episode)
