Death by Facebook

by Everett Peacock

  ~~~

  Alex had spent the better part of his day telling various law enforcement types the same story. He wondered if it would have been easier to Xerox something and hand it out. Park Rangers, County Police and finally four Military Policemen had driven down from the Pohakuloa Training grounds near Mauna Kea.

  Everyone wanted to see Cabin #94. Everyone wanted to interview the nurse. And finally they had all visited the Lava Lounge and the booth in the corner.

  Alex remained at the Lava Lounge as the last MPs left and his presence was required no other place. Larry soon showed up with plate lunches from the Lava Rock Cafe, having missed the free lunch he had been promised.

  “Did you have enough money?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah, but I gave the change to the Salvation Army guy outside.” He sat the boxes down, pulled up his stool to the bar and nodded to the bartender as she slid a cold frosty one his way. “Besides, Alex, I figured it would do us both good to balance our karma a bit.”

  Alex shook his head. “I guess so. But, we didn't do anything wrong ourselves.”

  “True, true,” Larry conceded. “But, we were in the presence of evil or lunacy or some other bad mojo.” He put a good dent in his fresh drink. “Besides it was only a dollar fifty.”

  Alex laughed out loud. “Good, as long as we were only near a dollar fifty worth of evil, we're cool!”

  Nodding, Larry laughed lightly. “No worries. I've got an emergency twenty in my pocket if we need it.”

  ~~~

  Adam was horrified. What kind of thing was this Facebook? He had heard of it, never gave it a second thought and now was seriously doubting it could possibly be a good idea. What would people now consider proper etiquette? Announcing suicides? What else could it be? He had heard of kids getting in trouble with nude pictures or bullying or proving their indiscretion any number of ways. But this! This was a measure of poor taste unlike anything he had ever seen.

  Agatha was simply sobbing quietly to herself. Adam didn't quite know what to do, mostly because there wasn't much he could do. He delicately leaned over her shoulder and looked at the Facebook post again. No clues, except it was posted over a week ago. Agatha had mentioned that Jimmy had been calling almost every day while on leave between Afghan tours, but hadn't called in a while.

  “Look Agatha, let me get you in the car and we'll go back to the lodge.”

  Agatha nodded, trying to keep her sniffles from attracting more attention than they already had. Once to the car, Adam helped her in and returned to the bar to pick up their food. The computer was still displaying Agatha's Facebook page, so he quickly sat down to read the post again.

  Scrolling down a bit he saw another post by Jimmy.

  Jimmy Turner: “Sorry. Only part of me died. The rotten part.”

  Adam stared at that for a moment. He noted the time stamp was a few days after the first one. From what he had heard of Jimmy he would never invite his Mom to Facebook and then pull a stunt like this.

  Something was fishy. Adam felt he was on to an explanation that might comfort Agatha. Obviously Jimmy's Facebook account had been hacked. Some bozo, an evil bozo, no less, was posting hurtful things.

  He would call Jimmy first thing in the morning and have him change his password.

  Walking back to the car he found Agatha sobbing again.

  “His phone...his phone is not answering,” she finally managed to say.

  Adam shook his head at that, privately. “Well, they do have poor cellular coverage out in the boonies there. Maybe?”

  Agatha was not comforted.

  “I'll try and track him down in the morning. It's must be midnight there now. He might even have his phone turned off.”

  That did seem to help.

  An hour later they pulled into the lodge parking lot. The old pines beams and thick oak doors offered Agatha the privacy and quiet she needed now, and the majestic view of the lake that might absorb all the pain. Adam settled her in and watched her gently drift off to the protection of sleep.

  As she slept in the bed next to his, he could almost hear the nightmares chasing her, chasing a mother and her son.

  ~~~

  Lately, things were changing again for me. I wasn't just in Volcano anymore, but rather at my Mom's side in California as well. Wherever my interest was, then so was I, even if we were separated by a great ocean. Distance between places was no longer a problem of separation. It was as if being dead was really being alive in just a different way.

  This James Turner that I had been when alive seemed very distant now. It was something I had done long ago, rapidly fading from my detailed memory. 'Been there, done that' kind of thing. Gave the t-shirt away.

  At some moment, I wasn't exactly sure when, but I felt that I wasn't especially different from everything around me, only that I was just woven into the fabric a little deeper. It seemed so natural, as if I wasn't so stuck anymore between what I had been and where I was to eventually find myself.

  Mom's sadness somehow created a great empathy within me, but one I felt had a smile. She must have loved me. Her sadness is that of a mother for her son, and as such was a great and wonderful thing, even if it had to manifest in grief.

  Janet's fear and confusion drew me as well into that space I might call compassion. Now, here she was experiencing great relief and a bit of joy in the discovery of the magical sea.

  The static in her mind was still absent; she even seemed a bit serene luxuriating in the warm pools of Kapoho. The full moon moving higher through the palms cast kind fingers of light and shadow across the clearness, reaching even down into the water to touch her naked skin.

  I felt that calmness move from the jungle up and into me. The frantic worry and confusion was fading away. Looking around, all around me, I could now see a bigger place. The vastness of beauty was beckoning, the approaching light above me was shimmering with promise. It would take me to amazing places, but I still had to wait. For Janet, somehow.

  Ms. Debbie came to me again, again in her cocoon of light. She looked so proud and came up to me, never saying Jimmy, or James. She spoke to me, but never called me a name. We both felt exactly who she was speaking to. Me.

  “It is beginning to look so absolutely beautiful for you, isn't it?”

  I watched her closely, moving lightly in my vision. “Just now, actually. It is.”

  “That is perfectly wonderful my dear,” Ms. Debbie announced. “Welcome to the universe.” She moved away and up again, toward the light that I immediately noticed was quite a bit closer. Turning a bit she grinned and said “See you soon.”

  ~~~

  Star and Janet sat quietly in the moonlit pool, listening to the distant roars of both the outer reefs and the Coqui frog invaders deep in the nearby jungles. Behind Star, in the direction Janet was looking a great glow lit the sky. Greater almost than the moon itself.

  “Star, what is that, over there?” She pointed into the dense jungle behind them and up into the sky.

  “Ah, Jimmie, that would be the great Mother. She who must destroy in order to create. Nature at its most enduring. Our volcano.”

  Distant ultra low vibration booms could be heard filtering in through the dense darkness around them.

  “Ah, Jimmie, do you hear that? She calls you.” Star was smiling broadly, apparently convinced of the lack of coincidence.

  “Who?” Janet asked, slightly put off with a tinge of fear. “Who calls me?”

  Star let herself slip under the warm waters and after a moment resurfaced with her hands already on her face, moving the water away from her eyes. “Mother calls you Jimmie, she welcomes you to her bosom.”

  Janet didn't know what to make of that. Hippie-talk she figured. “You mean the volcano?” She slipped under the water for a moment as well, then after lingering a full minute surfaced and asked “Is Mother the same as the volcano?”

  Star nodded silently. “They are indeed.”

  Both of them sat quietly for several more minutes
before Star started a story.

  “None of this amazing...” she spread her arms wide up and out of the water, unashamed of her nudity. “...absolutely amazing paradise around us would be here without the great Mother. If she had not destroyed what was here prior, then this beauty would not be possible.”

  Janet looked around, trying to imagine how this place could have ever been anything but awesome.

  Star continued, intent on sharing the reasons for her and the others devotion to this area. “Our Mother is a kind soul. For when she does destroy, she only takes a little at a time. When I was just a young girl, she took a section of Kapoho, swimming ponds and coastline.” Star ducked under the water again and lingered long enough to make Janet begin to wonder if she was OK. Eventually, she surfaced and exhaled loudly like a whale might have or a porpoise. Wiping the water from her face again, it seemed she had to recall what she had been saying, but the sudden smile on her face showed she remembered.

  “When Mother took part of Kapoho, she left this section, where we are now, making it even more special because of it.”

  Janet listened intently. She had never imagined nature could be so powerful in one stroke or as gracious in another. The glow of the volcano in the distance seemed to flicker like a candle might, followed by low growls, or maybe, Janet thought more accurately, low moans.

  Star watched her new friend closely to see if she was listening with her heart or just with her ears, or listening at all. It was hard to tell, but she was sure of one thing. She had determined that the obvious must be true. Jimmie was a woman, despite some awkward attempts to mask it. They both sat across from each other in the warm pool, nude.

  “So Star,” Janet asked. “How do you know when Mother is ready to destroy again?”

  “Ah, Jimmie, she doesn't quite work that way. The question should be when is Mother ready to create again?”

  Star let that settle into Janet's mind for a moment. “We have small earthquakes...” The volcano let a few loud booms loose just as she was speaking. “...she moans loudly, like that. It's almost like childbirth. The placenta is destroyed but the baby is born.”

  Star watched Janet even closer now. She had lived communally with young women since she had been one herself, and had seen many a case where some didn't understand their bodies. Perhaps few ever did realize the Goddess in themselves, the power of creation and the magic of nurture. This young woman, she mused, had never had the opportunity to explore herself, had probably been lost and confused her entire life, short as that had been so far.

  Janet was enjoying the solitude and safety of her and Star's remoteness, but she was getting queasy again. “Star,” she warned. “I must get up, I think I'm going to be...” Janet stood quickly and turned back to the worn lava behind her at the edge of the pond, and vomited.

  I felt sorry for Janet then, and moved a little closer to them both there at the warm pools. Star was certainly a loving creature herself and it was good for Janet to be away from the alcohol and near some kindness. I focused a moment on Star with that. She was looking at Janet as she moved across the pool to help her.

  “Here here, Jimmie,” she was soothing as Janet vomited again. Star moved in to pat her gently on her still dripping back. “You'll be fine, dear.”

  I could feel Star's thoughts as she looked at Janet's small but full breasts and her poochy stomach. Janet did not have an ounce of fat on her otherwise and so Star determined, again, that the obvious must be true. Janet was pregnant.

  ~~~

  Immediately, I moved in very close to Janet, still leaning over from the pool, waiting for her next upheaval. Closer still I went, ignoring Star who was hovering over her, words of comfort moving like poetry. The sounds of the pool, the jungle, the frogs and even the wind in the high trees above all became silent, as I listened.

  There was Janet's heart beating, loudly thumping, racing. Moving closer still so that I might tune that out as well, I became very still, very attentive.

  Nothing. I moved into a trance, completely ignoring every possible thing except that I was listening for. What that was I didn't know, but I did know I would recognize it if it was there.

  Star was overwhelming my sense, though, with her kindness to Janet. Her love for this strange human soul she had only just met was pouring and pooling and cascading everywhere. That was something I found impossible to tune out.

  Maybe Star was wrong. I don't know. I followed them both back to the small cabins a short distance away, where Star gave her the one bed she had.

  “I have a date tonight anyhow and won't be home til dawn. You rest here, darling,” Star advised.

  Janet looked a bit worried and asked, “Where are you going?”

  “Only next door Jimmie, to my friend Wally's bed. We share as much time as we can when he isn't fishing.” She smiled broadly, like a teenage girl might describing her older boyfriend. “If you need anything, just call my name outside, I will hear you.”

  Later, when Star had left and Janet had fallen into a deep sleep I moved in close again. Again, I moved the sounds of the jungle, the sea, and Janet's breathing away. Star was still detectable at a distance, laughing and cooing, but quite easier to silence.

  I listened intently and waited. Waited. A coconut fell from a nearby tree outside and thumped the ground deeply, a small bird squawked immediately and then it was quiet again. I focused deeply inside of her, beyond even the physical confines of her body and deep into her essence.

  That is when I heard it, beginning softly and tentatively. A young voice was singing. Singing in the dark.

  ~~~

  Moving back, and out to the steps of the cabin I saw the early indications of sunrise to the east, over the sea. Janet was sleeping soundly behind me, her breathing strong and steady.

  Star was up already and had come to check on Janet. Moments later she and her friend Wally were off to the beach, coffees in hand. I watched them holding hands as they picked their way through the coconuts, overripe papayas and shadows.

  The trade winds were light but strong enough to bring in the little puffies already lit with the sun's rays from below the horizon. The sky looked a bowl of deep blue rapidly draining its color into the approaching light.

  I looked above me and there was my own light, now so very, very close. Perhaps this was why I had not already gone into it, I was here to see my child get its start. Instantly I tuned everything out again, all the sounds around me and focused inside of Janet.

  I only had to wait a moment before I heard the faintest bit of laughter. Playfulness and maybe, I wasn't sure about this part, a listening ear. Perhaps it could sense me as well.

  I turned back to the sea and saw Star and her friend kissing there on the small beach, just as the sun leaped above the waters. Whales were splashing gently just beyond the reef and small seabirds began darting back and forth.

  As a very light wind stirred the palms into song I felt as if the entire universe was full of love, something I never would have thought of when I was still James Madison Turner. I laughed a little at that. I had grown up now, spiritually. Turning toward Janet again, and the baby, my heart grew bigger. Bigger than any man's heart could ever be. I felt as if I was the entire world all at once, part of that infinite love that seemed to now be everywhere. And I forgave her.

  16

  Shirley gently roused her sleeping husband from the couch, where she had found him before dawn. She was up early, as always, to read and enjoy the peace of their mountain-view home. Fresh coffee was steaming in her other hand.

  “Honey. Larry,” she lightly pushed his shoulder. “Wake up.” Nothing was working, so she pulled the cover off of him and put it on the chair next to his couch. Walking back over to the kitchen counter for another dollop of cream she said softly, knowing he would hear it, “You said you were going to go flying this morning...”

  “Huh? What...what time is it?” Larry groggily asked.

  Shirley smiled to herself. The magic word in this house ha
d always been “flying”. She could say it from across the large custom built home and Larry would hear it across the yard and down inside his old lava tube wine cellar.

  “It's about twenty minutes before dawn,” Shirley said. “Did you stay out late?”

  Larry was sitting up now and running his hand through his hair, waking up. “Not too bad. Alex and I had quite a day.” Standing up and making toward the coffee he picked up a sweater hanging over a chair and put it on. “It took a bit of debriefing at the Lava Lounge.”

  Shirley had a fresh cut strawberry papaya and a steaming cup of wake-up waiting for him. “Did you drink a lot, debriefing?”

  Larry laughed a little. “No, honey. But we did stay there past closing, trying to solve this wild mystery.”

  Shirley picked up her other half of the papaya and her coffee and moved to the outside deck. “Coming?'

  “Sure, let me find my slippers.”

  Moments later they were both in their oversized chairs, watching the first rays of the sun reflect off Mauna Loa, still holding onto her winter snows. They took the luxury of time, only couples with history can, to enjoy their coffee moment before talking.

  “So, what's all this talk about mystery? Is this something going on at the Lava Lounge?”

  Larry finished his long sip of the exquisite Kona bean before answering. “No. Actually it's something Alex was dealing with, with guests at one of the cabins.”

  He took another long sip. “It's almost too crazy to believe.”

  “What could possibly be happening in Volcano that would be crazy?” Shirley asked with a raised eyebrow. “Is it vog related?”

  “No,” Larry shook his head. “This is way beyond vog.”

  ~~~