Nick studied Miguel. How could he know so many of the details of the shooting without being directly involved? What witness could have let Miguel know of the Camaro connection?
Miguel looked at Nick blankly. “Got any ideas?” he asked again for help. Miguel was tracing imaginings of the condiment arrangement from the coffee shop on his dining room table. He hoped Nick would be able to help him figure out who the salt and pepper shakers were.
Pause, pause, pause…
Amelia noticed small pinpoints of light permeating the darkness that had enveloped her. She moved her head and noticed more and more white glowing dots before her eyes.
“Isn't it cool?” Amelia heard a familiar voice to her right. She looked but saw no one. The voice continued, “Millions and zillions of stars fill the large format screen mounted in the intergalactic snailing vessel the S.S. Gala-Galahad!”
“Snailing vessel?” Amelia searched. “Jojo, is that you?”
A red strobe light started flashing and Amelia could see that she was sitting at a control panel next to Jojo looking at a television screen that was apparently showing them the scene outside the vessel. The vessel was shaped in a spiral.
“Where are we?” Amelia felt a little slimy.
“Sir Galahad.” Jojo had been practicing.
“It looks like Dumbo. Though I’ve never been inside a snail before and wouldn’t know how to tell for sure.”
Jojo ducked his head low and motioned for Amelia to come close so he could whisper in her ear. “It is Dumbo but he wanted to change his name so now he’s Sir Galahad. Okay?”
“Okay,” Amelia whispered back. “Jojo, where are we?” She continued to whisper.
“Oh, you don’t have to whisper anymore,” Jojo whispered. Standing up and pointing his finger high in the air, Jojo took a deep breath and shouted, “We are snailing through the universe!”
The red strobe light continued to flare and Jojo pushed a button on the instrument panel to shut it off. Jojo shrugged his shoulders. “It goes off every hour and I can have an intergalactic battle if I want, but I have to focus,” he explained.
“What happens if you don’t focus?” Amelia asked, half afraid she was about to be involved in some wild spaceship sparring.
“The bad guys don’t come and I don’t win. That’s all. Computer,” Jojo called out. “Lights!” he commanded. The snail shell became softly illuminated.
“How do you know how to do all this?” Amelia asked, forgetting the power of a child’s imagination.
“It’s easy. Whatever I want can happen here,” Jojo replied.
The back of the snail undulated under Amelia as the body made way for the head of the snail to come inside the shell.
“Well, Miss Amelia!” Sir Galahad exclaimed. “Bloody good to see you!” The snail donned a pair of silver aviator goggles on its head even as the gigantic tubular eyes continued to ogle her from a towering distance.
The snail shifted to a country accent running through various personas of Saturday morning adventure films. “Where to, little lady?”
In seconds the snail had gone from 007 to the Duke. Amelia wasn’t sure who would come up next. The question of where she wanted to go brought the most recent piece of information back to her memory.
She remembered David had been involved with Trisha and that news had apparently made her fade through resuscitation into Jojo’s dream. Apparently the enemy she kept close had gotten too close – to her boyfriend.
She couldn’t understand why they were apparently buying and selling drugs out of Des Shoe. She looked at Jojo. At the very least she would have thought better of either David or Trisha than to believe they would involve and endanger a young boy.
It occurred to Amelia that Trisha must have suspected Jojo could get David in trouble and that David might reveal her involvement as well. The black Camaro fell into place, the letters on the plate now read clearly in her mind: Lady Law. The phone number was Trisha’s. She imagined Trisha could be ruthless enough to eliminate David, but hurting a boy still seemed outrageous even for Trisha. Then again, she pondered, maybe the shooting wasn’t directed at Jojo. Maybe she wanted to have me shot…or Miguel.
“Look Miss Amelia!” Jojo was pointing to the large-format viewing screen, oblivious to Amelia’s concerns. Amelia looked at the screen to observe the colorful dust of a star being born.
“That’s beautiful,” she acknowledged. “Jojo?”
“Yes ma’am?” There was something okay about young children using the term.
“Do you remember Miguel?”
“Detective Alvarez?” Amelia was surprised Jojo seemed to know who Miguel really was.
“Yeah, that’s him.”
“He’s a friend of my teacher. I’m staying with him because my step-dad is in trouble again.”
“Darius?” Amelia clarified.
“Yeah, that’s him.” Jojo busied himself by pushing buttons and whirring gadgets on the panel filled with blinking lights before him.
“Well, you’re right.” Amelia tried to keep Jojo engaged, “Your dad is in trouble.”
“Step dad,” Jojo corrected.
“Yes,” Amelia agreed, “and I’m afraid Miguel might be in trouble too. I’m thinking I need to go and try to help him.” Jojo looked up with renewed enthusiasm.
“That sounds cool.” Jojo started flipping switches on the control panel inside the snail, “I’ll turn this baby around and get you there in no time!”
Amelia wasn’t planning on taking Jojo along, but now faced with Jojo attempting to enact a rescue through his potentially erratic dream on the snailing vessel, she felt a need to convince him to join her dream. She tilted her head back and attempted to access the Akashic to see what was going on. Unfortunately her new skills failed to yield much information. All she could access was faint memories of old Star Trek programs. She decided what she needed could be drawn from the snailing vessel theme.
“Jojo, I think we need to beam down to Miguel’s house and make sure everything is alright.” She gave it a try.
“Awesome!” Jojo closed his eyes and imagined a transporter room which instantly materialized inside the snail.
“Wait a minute, what about me?” Sir Galahad looked disappointed.
“You wait here and keep a tractor beam on us,” Jojo ordered without missing a beat. “If I need you, I’ll call you.” Jojo patted his left chest as if he had a communicator button implanted in his shirt.
“Call me at the least hint of trouble?” the snail asked.
“Promise! Now beam us down so I can get back in time to watch some Japanese Anime!” Jojo and Amelia climbed into the transporter stalls and a button on the instrument panel mysteriously depressed starting a spiral of glittering lights to fill the stalls around Jojo and Amelia.
“We’re off to save Miguel and the future of our planet!” Jojo jumped into a superhero stance next to Amelia and their bodies disappeared into the flurry of sparkling lights.
Pause, pause, pause…
Shima always thought it was the poverty of India that produced its mystical experiences and understanding as some sort of distracting compensation for the suffering reality of so many of its dreamers. Like most children, Shima was a master of lucid dreaming at an early age. As a survival skill it had suited her well over the years. Using it to track the other players in the plot over the course of the past year had proven to be very beneficial.
Shima thought about the money she felt she deserved. She felt she deserved him too. He was the real mastermind, not Trisha. He had arranged the connections to move the packages and bring in the money for her, but Shima was convinced Trisha didn’t really love him. From the day she met him, Shima felt competitive with Trisha for his affection. Her job at Des Shoe made it necessary for them to include her and kept her inside the loop. When Amelia broke up with David, Shima saw her chance to move in. Everything was about to change.
Shima honed in on Trisha who was dreaming she was packing luggage, and
savoring a one-way ticket to the Caymans. The opportunity Shima needed to turn him against Trisha was about to manifest. She was convinced he would dump Trisha and choose her. Together they would take the money and travel the world leaving Trisha behind.
Shima closed her eyes and willed herself to find the man of her dreams. Though her heart was hard, her will was strong and it took only a moment of imagining his attributes before she was transported to an opportune place in the unraveling dream sequence.
Pause, pause, pause…
Amelia followed Jojo through the transporter beam to the kitchen of Miguel's house. Jojo opened the refrigerator door and peered inside. “I'm hungry,” he announced.
“Jojo, we don't have time for food,” Amelia whispered as if she was trying to hide from something. She peeked through the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the dining room and saw Miguel facing in her direction talking to a man seated at the table with his back toward her. Amelia wasn't sure whether she and Jojo were manifesting in Miguel's sleeping dream or the waking dream in which case Miguel might not be able to see her. She listened to the conversation in the dining room as Jojo heaped peanut butter and jelly onto two slices of bread and slapped them together.
“What about Lovelle?” the seated man asked Miguel. “Could he have been the shooter in the drive-by and the alley?”
“Possible.” Miguel knew that Darius had been stalking Jojo. But he knew that Amelia did not recognize the driver even though she had seen Darius briefly on the mountainside. Still, he thought, accuracy is not a feature of severe trauma.
“Maybe Darius is behind all of this,” Nick suggested.
No, Amelia thought, it's Trisha. She was about to burst through the door into the dining room to tell Miguel about seeing David in the Wait Zone. The man stood up and started to turn toward the door. Amelia was frozen in place. She couldn't move even to let the door close a little more. His eyes were darting around the room and missed Amelia.
It's him, she thought, as she studied the face of the man she had seen through the open window of the Camaro as it passed by Miguel's house. How can Miguel be talking to HIM?
“Miss Amelia?” Jojo whispered.
“Not now, Jojo,” Amelia whispered holding her finger to her lips. Listening, she heard the man suggest to Miguel that they should go check out Darius and see what he was up to.
No. Amelia wished Miguel would hear her. It's a trap. He knows damn well Darius didn't shoot at the house and he probably shot David too. Her observations simultaneously fit and failed to make sense. But how does he know Miguel?
Amelia watched as Miguel rose from his seat and grabbed his holstered pistol from the top of the buffet chest on the wall. She couldn't tell if the man had a gun with him or not. She looked down at her feet. The gold lamé shoes were in place. She was clearly not asleep and in their dream.
Amelia ran through the possibilities. It is possible to be killed in the dreamtime if one believes his circumstances capable of ending his life -- unless a stronger dream intervenes.
“Miss Amelia,” Jojo tried again.
“Jojo, I'm thinking.” Amelia hissed, turning to look at Jojo who was holding his peanut butter and jelly sandwich in mid air. Behind him was the unexpected presence of Shima who had joined them in the kitchen.
“Shima?” Amelia mouthed the name. “What are you doing here?”
“Taking care of business.” Shima smiled darkly.
“Do you know who that guy is?” Amelia asked unsure of what was going on.
“Yes,” Shima teased Amelia by filling in with no additional information.
“We have to stop him before he hurts Miguel.” Amelia raised her hand toward the door.
From behind Jojo's back, Shima raised her hand holding the gun she had been pointing at him. Shima trained the gun on Amelia.
“What are you doing?” Amelia asked in disbelief.
“Getting what I deserve.”
Amelia tried to conceive of what Shima meant and how she had managed to find her way into Miguel's dream. How does she know how to do this? Amelia wondered.
“You’re not so special, Amelia,” Shima smiled.
“You can hear my thoughts?” Amelia asked.
“Easily. You’re so transparent,” Shima replied.
“That guy out there shot me. Don't you care?” Amelia struggled to understand her adopted sister's cold stance.
“It wasn’t my doing.” Shima maintained her disinterested attitude.
Amelia felt confused even as she was becoming thoroughly convinced Shima had been part of dealing drugs with David and Trisha.
“You got in the way of something you don’t understand at all.” Shima smirked at Amelia.
Amelia countered, “Are you sure you understand? Because he went after David last night.” Unlike Trisha, Amelia didn’t imagine Shima would be supportive of violence against David.
Shima’s hand holding the gun, dropped from its direct aim at Amelia. “He did not,” Shima argued. Amelia knew she had struck a nerve.
“Yes, Shima.” Amelia wondered at the way her eyes brimmed again with tears for her cheating ex-boyfriend. “Last night he killed David. Was it drugs?” Amelia blurted.
“Shut up!” Shima retorted. Amelia was surprised at Shima’s apparent denial.
“I know David was involved with Trisha and they were making lots of money selling drugs!” Amelia declared.
Shima laughed a cackling sound and shook Jojo’s shoulder as she demonstrated just how ridiculous something Amelia said seemed to her. “You don’t know anything.”
Amelia’s mind jumped again to the money she’d seen in the suitcase at David’s apartment. Shima tuned in to Amelia’s thoughts.
“You were in on this?” Amelia stammered, “You helped take my money to buy and sell drugs?”
“Would you get over the drug thing?” Shima cursed with her tone. “What makes you think we were running drugs?”
“What else could have been in those packages Jojo was receiving for Darius Lovelle?”
“We did far better than selling drugs.”
“What, then! What the hell could you do that would generate that kind of cash?” Amelia demanded.
Shima smiled at Amelia’s smug nature revealed. Of course, Shima thought to Amelia, you would never expect me to be capable of being part of such a grand plan.
Amelia felt the shame of her less than admirable attitude toward Shima. Beneath it all, she had plenty of resentments toward Shima. She could never understand why her father had brought home a second daughter. It was so strange to be usurped by suddenly receiving an older sister.
“Isn’t that why you awarded me the manager job at Des Shoe?” Shima asked. “Did it make you feel better to make me an employee?” Amelia pressed her emotions to the back of her being and held her ground.
“It doesn’t matter what I thought! How were you able to make so much money if not by illegal means?”
“Oh, I didn’t say it wasn’t illegal. I just said it wasn’t drugs.” Shima laughed inside her mind. Amelia felt small and stupid. “Secrets, Amelia.” Shima’s words seemed to have a double meaning. “Your dirty little secrets.”
There was a commotion in the entryway. They listened as Miguel introduced Nick to Alicia and explained to her that he’d be back in a few hours. As Amelia watched Alicia climb the stairs to check on Jojo, she reached to push through the swinging door.
“Leave it,” Shima ordered pointing the gun at Jojo to underline the importance of Amelia’s compliance.
“What do you want me to do?” Amelia pulled back from the door.
“Come with me.”
“Where are they going?” Amelia was filled with fear that at any moment she might hear a gunshot either inside or outside the house.
“To Darius Lovelle’s house,” Shima provided the destination.
“Darius?” Jojo whispered. By the power of Jojo's intimate knowledge of the place and two imaginings over one, the threesome was instan
tly transported to Jojo's bedroom in Darius' apartment.
Pause, pause, pause…
9 A Brain, a Heart…the Nerve!
Darius Lovelle was considered by most to be a druggie who paid for his habit by performing random acts of stupidity. The last time Darius was busted by Nick, he was given the option of doing a little grunt work or being arrested. Darius opted for doing the cop’s dirty work rather than spending time at the county jail.
Shima and Amelia listened to Darius as he thought his plan through while he was shaving.
I should have never sent that boy, Darius hissed in his own head. Thought he’d a known he get a beatin’ for messin’ up that deal. Amelia winced. Stupid teacher. Amelia knew he was thinking of her mom and how she called 241-KIDS to report the bruises Jojo couldn’t hide.
“But I got it all under control.” Darius stopped shaving and looked at himself in the mirror. “I’m goin’ ta’ get them first.” He nodded to himself.
When Jojo failed to bring home the last package, Darius knew he had become a potential liability to the operation. When an anonymous source posted bond after Darius was jailed for hitting Jojo, Darius figured it was only a matter of time before someone laid him to rest.
In the days since his emancipation, he had quietly traced his contact’s movements back to a house in the upscale part of town. Darius figured the operation had amassed hundreds of thousands of dollars from the deliveries he had assisted.
“And I ain’t goin’ through the regular channels ta’ get what’s mine.” Darius dried his face with a towel, grabbed his jacket and left through the front door.
Miguel and Nick arrived in Miguel's Hyundai at the front of Darius Lovelle’s apartment building just as he was hopping down the front steps toward the street.
Held at gunpoint, Amelia and Jojo watched from Jojo's bedroom window along with Shima. Miguel and Nick waited a moment after Darius pulled away from the curb in his old red Chevy Nova, and followed him into light traffic.
Gold Lame' (That's le-mayy) (Gold Lame' Series) Page 18