The Wash

by Cary Christopher

  He started to feel along the wall, looking for a door out.

  You will not find one.

  J.B. stopped. The words had come to him directly. He didn’t hear them. He felt them. It was as if someone was putting them straight into his core.

  Don’t be afraid of this place. You belong here.

  “Where am I?”

  Somewhere your grandmother told you about years ago. It is the place where your ancestors gathered.

  J.B. sat still. It wasn’t the same as the dreams he’d had before but he was sure it was a dream just the same. He placed his hands palm down on the dirt floor and pushed himself up onto his knees. The ceiling was barely high enough that he could stand without stooping.

  Do not leave, John Youngblood. We have much to talk about and I have come a long way to find you.

  J.B. stopped. He sat back on his ankles and looked around again. There was nothing but the cold ring in front of him and the walls as far as he could tell.

  There are many who need to meet with you tonight. In a moment, I will light the fire and others will come but before I do that, you must listen to me.

  J.B. nodded, “I’m listening.”

  You are here because you have a role to play. It’s a role that was destined for you before you were even conceived. However, you are a gamble. To play this role, you must follow very specific rules. To step outside of them means great harm will come to you and those closest to you. I have gambled that you will follow these rules. Others have gambled that you will not. Listen to everything said tonight and remember it. Then choose your path.

  Do you understand?

  J.B. raised himself up on his knees and then gently sat back down with his legs crossed in front of him. He breathed deeply.

  “I understand.”

  In front of him the center of the fire ring glowed with a small single flame. It was as if someone had lit a small batch of pine needles and was blowing on them to get the glowing tips to flare up. Slowly the flame grew and as it did, J.B. began to make out features in the dark. There were four figures around the fire. The unmistakable smell of burning wood surrounded him but it was mingled with something else, a hint of sulphur, a hint of sour sweat.

  Across from him sat a figure whose eyes seemed to be burning. Its head was large and misshapen. The eyes were like those of a cow; the nose like a buffalo but its jaw was human. It had two small horns sprouting from the side of its head and when it spoke J.B. felt his bones vibrate.

  “The whelp has agreed to play the game?”

  J.B. let a small smile creep across his lips. It was the look he got right before he started tossing disrespectful drunks out of a club.

  “The whelp has agreed,” he said.

  “Good,” said another figure to his left. When J.B. looked over he glimpsed a scorpion as big as a dog looking at him. Its tail was arched over menacingly but then it was gone and there was simply a man staring at him with black eyes that showed no whites, “I was beginning to think the white man’s teachings had poisoned him.”

  When it talked, its mouth moved cheek to cheek with teeth on both sides. J.B. stared at it fascinated.

  “Do you see something that interests you?”

  Do not stare. Scorpion is a trickster. Buffalo will explain everything to you.

  J.B. looked back across at the buffalo man.

  “Do you recognize where you are boy?”

  The voice came from his right and J.B. looked over to see an old man sitting with a blanket wrapped around him. The man stared at the fire and never raised his eyes.

  “I don’t know where this is,” replied J.B.

  “You’re back on the reservation. You are in a sacred place.”

  “I was never allowed in those places,” replied J.B. “I was shunned for being a half-blood.”

  “It was not because of your blood,” said the man. “You were shunned because it was written to shun you.”

  “It was part of the rules,” said the scorpion man to his right.

  None should warn you and none should prepare you.

  The buffalo man pulled out a pouch from under his shirt. He reached inside and pulled out a pinch of something, then put it in his mouth. J.B. saw a large buffalo tongue work it into the his cheek. When he was finished he reached over to the scorpion man with the pouch. Scorpion took a pinch and passed the pouch to J.B. He took a pinch, put it in his cheek and felt a slow burn creep out along his gum line. He handed the pouch to the old man, who did the same. When he was finished, he reached behind him and passed the pouch. It was then Robert noticed what looked like hundreds of figures surrounding the four of them. They remained in the shadows, shapes with no features.

  “Many years ago,” the buffalo man began, “this land belonged to a people called the Surem. To know your destiny, you must know their story.”

  Before this world, there was another.

  J.B. suddenly inherently knew this. It came to him violently, like a blow directly to the brain. His head snapped backwards.

  Before this world, there was another and in that world lived the Surem.

  They had no fixed home because the world was their home. They wandered and wanted for nothing. There was never a shortage of food or drink for they carried with them a great lake that was rolled up like a carpet. When they were hungry, they would roll the lake out and catch fish to eat.

  “I’ve seen that lake.”

  When they were thirsty, they would get their water there. Then, they would roll up the lake and continue on their way. There was little pain or sorrow for the Surem. They were a part of this world completely, knowing exactly what place they held and wanting for nothing more.

  One day, they were met by a messenger from the spirit world who told them that great changes were coming. Another tribe was coming. They would be pale-skinned and their ways would be different from the Surem. With them, they would bring great things and transform the land, but they would also bring great sorrows, pestilence and death. The messenger offered the Surem an opportunity to choose whether to stay in this world and see what was to come, or travel to another world where they could live life exactly the same as they had been until the end of time itself.

  The Surem held a council and one by one, they decided. Many chose to stay. Many chose to leave. They rolled out the lake and shared one more night together. Brother said goodbye to brother. Mothers said goodbye to children. When the sun broke over the horizon there was a shift, a shimmering of sorts, and the world changed. Those that stayed traveled on…

  ‘We stayed,’ thought J.B. ‘My people stayed.’

  The buffalo man looked at him with his cow eyes and nodded.

  “The tribes of this land all come from the Surem who stayed,” he said.

  “So my Ute ancestors came from the Surem,” said J.B.

  “You have no Ute ancestors,” hissed the scorpion man to his left.

  J.B. looked over at him and once again saw the shadow of the enormous tail leaning toward him. He swore he could see a drop of venom glistening on the tip and then the vision was gone again and only the strange black-eyed man was sitting there.

  “My grandmother is full-blooded Ute,” replied J.B. “My mother was full-blooded Ute.”

  “No,” replied the buffalo man.

  Your grandmother was full-blooded Surem. Her daughter was full-blooded Surem. Your tribe is the last of the Surem and their blood has remained pure for centuries.

  The voice had come from deep inside him again.

  You are part of both this world and the last. Do you understand?

  “I’m a half-blood,” said J.B. “Part of me is Surem and part of me is white.”

  Your mother was the first full-blooded Surem to leave the tribe to settle with the white man.

  “She was destined to do so,” said the old man to his right.

  As J.B. looked over at him he got a glimpse of a large bird with a stork-like beak, its head down as if pondering their conversation.

  “A
nd now, the die has been cast,” said the buffalo man.

  Back on his bed, J.B.’s eyes snapped open. He was naked and wet from his shower. The towel lay crumpled where he’d dropped it. The sweet taste of tobacco lingered on his tongue.

  VIII

  The phone rang and jolted Robert. He had been staring at Ruth and trying to grasp what she had just said about Javier disappearing when Cindy reached over to the wall and pulled down the receiver.

  “Hello.”

  Robert watched Ruth’s expression slowly return to normal.

  “He’s here,” Cindy said into the phone. “Okay, we’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  She hung up, “That was J.B. He’s on his way here and says it’s important.”

  Robert was still staring at Ruth, “What did you mean that Javier is gone?”

  “I’m not sure. He’s not dead, but I feel like he’s not here anymore. Like he’s no longer one of us.”

  Robert remained quiet for a moment. The air seemed heavy between them and for the first time since he’d met Ruth, he felt like their friendship was teetering on a precipice.

  “Ruth, since Anderson touched you and you felt this… whatever it is, pass between you, have you looked at the stone to see what it looks like?”

  Ruth shook her head and Robert got up. He walked upstairs and retrieved the box from the tub in her bathroom. It was wet to the touch but wasn’t overflowing. As he placed it on the table, he lifted the lid.

  Ruth’s face changed. Her eyes went wide and her mouth opened in wonder. She reached into the box, pulled out the stone and held it up in front of her.

  “Do you see it?” she asked Robert.

  “I see a stone,” he said. “It looks the same as it did when we first found it.”

  Cindy was staring at the water running from its sides, down Ruth’s hands and falling in streams from her elbows.

  “My god,” she said in a reverent whisper. “It really is sweating water.”

  Ruth turned the stone in front of her, glancing at every side of it like she was admiring a fine diamond.

  “Robert, it looks nothing like when we found it,” she said. “It’s like… “

  Her voice trailed off and Robert saw the distant look in her eyes again. She shifted the stone to one hand, reached for him with the other and grabbed hold of his shirt. She pulled him down and wrapped her hand around the back of his head.

  Robert felt a pulse, a vibration that rocketed from the place Ruth touched him out through his fingertips and toes. As it passed through him, his eyes got wide and Robert saw what Ruth held.

  The stone was no longer dull gray. It was green, bright and translucent like an emerald. Inside Robert could see movement; a desert full of flowering suaro cactus and red rocks. Flower petals fluttered in a breeze and even though it looked hot and dry, Robert swore he could see water. A lake or river was just beyond his sight, beautiful, pristine and full of life.

  Ruth let go of him and the vision was gone. The stone looked just as he’d first seen it. Ruth dropped it, leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

  “That was amazing!” Robert exclaimed.

  “Are you okay?” Cindy asked.

  “Don’t touch me,” the old woman replied. “I’m fine. Just exhausted.”

  “Did you see what I did?” Robert asked Ruth. “The stone was green like a gemstone. I could see desert and rocks in it.”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “There are two more. Hidden in The Wash.”

  “Two more stones?” Robert asked.

  The old woman didn’t answer. Robert heard her breathing get deep and regular. She had fallen asleep. Cindy looked over at him, then she turned her attention to the stone. She reached into the box and picked it up. The water ran over her hands and down her forearm.

  “There are two more somewhere,” she said.

  Robert looked up at her and they locked eyes.

  “Let’s check the basement.”

  J.B. showed up ten minutes later. He walked in the door without knocking, wearing tattered blue jeans, a sweatshirt and a ski jacket. Even so, his face was raw from the cold and he looked like he’d woken up just a few minutes before. He made his way to the open doorway leading to the cellar and saw Robert at the bottom of the stairs with Cindy.

  “What are you two doing?” he called down.

  Robert jumped a little, surprised to hear J.B.’s voice.

  “Looking for more of those stones,” he said. “We’ll be right up.”

  “Is Ruth okay?” J.B. asked, noticing her asleep in her chair.

  “I think so,” Robert said coming up behind him.

  “What do you mean you think so?”

  J.B. put a hand under Ruth’s head and lifted it upright, listening to her breathing. “Ruth,” he said softly into her ear. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him.

  He. looked to Robert and saw the other man’s attention was captured by the stone.

  “Robert,” J.B. said.

  Robert didn’t reply.

  “ROBERT!”

  The big man reached over and pulled the stone from Robert’s hands. He placed it in the box and closed the lid.

  “You saw it didn’t you?” Ruth asked.

  “I did,” replied Robert.

  J.B. looked at both of them, completely lost, “Saw what?”

  “Ruth saw something in the stone,” Cindy said. “She did something to Robert and he said he could see it too.”

  “The stone changed,” Ruth interrupted. “ I can see it clearly now but Robert still can’t without my help. It’s not what it looks like on the surface.”

  J.B. opened the box and picked up the stone. He turned it over in his hands. There was nothing different about it as far as he could see.

  “How are you doing that?” Ruth gasped.

  “Doing what?”

  Ruth continued to stare at him. Robert stood up, walked to her and put her hand back to his head. Instantly, the world swam and Robert could see J.B.’s hand on the stone. The fingers were going into it, like he was holding a sponge.

  “You can’t feel that?” Robert asked J.B.

  “Feel what?” he replied.

  “From here, it looks like you’re sticking your fingers into the rock,” Robert answered.

  J.B. looked at the stone in his hand. It felt hard, his fingers seemed to be on the surface and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He put the rock down and pulled Robert away from Ruth.

  “Have you been sharing medication or something?”

  Cindy walked to Ruth’s side.

  “Show me,” she said. “I haven’t seen it yet.”

  Ruth reached up and put her hand on the back of Cindy’s head. The stone opened up to her. She could see the emerald glow, the cactus and desert flowers. She could see the lake at the horizon and it all looked lovely.

  “My god!” she said. “It’s beautiful.”

  Ruth let go of her head and leaned back in her chair again. She looked completely spent.

  “Seriously,” Robert began, “all we’ve been doing is drinking coffee and talking, but that stone looks different when you touch Ruth and look at it.”

  J.B. looked at Robert like he’d just been approached by the town idiot.

  “I’m serious! Something happened to Ruth and she can see things differently. She can show it to you also but you have to touch her or something.”

  J.B. looked at Ruth who seemed to be coming back around again.

  “What did you see, Ruth?”

  “When I look at that stone, I can see another place. It’s a place with flowering cactus. There are birds and wind blowing and a lake of some kind. It’s beautiful, but when you hold it, your fingers pass through it. They pass into the stone. I can see them wiggling in the air in the other place.”

  “But Ruth,” J.B. began, “I was holding the stone. My fingers remained on the outside. I could only feel the stone, no breezes or air or anything.”

  “I saw that place too,” Cindy
interjected. “Whatever is going on, this is real. We’re all seeing the same things.”

  Ruth looked back at the stone, “I know what I saw, J.B. I also know you look different to me than Robert does. You’re dark like he is, but your soul is different. It’s not empty like Javier’s. You’ve done bad things but you’re made up differently than Robert and Javier. Your center is a dark green, like the stone. Not black like Javier’s or red like Robert’s.”

  At this, J.B. looked at Robert, “What the fuck is she talking about?”

  Robert motioned for J.B. to get a chair, “You may as well sit down.”

  It took about fifteen minutes for Robert to explain everything that had happened. In the end, he decided to even tell J.B. that Ruth and Cindy knew what was going on at Jim’s. J.B. took it all in. His mind was racing now. He was certain that the dream he had earlier was real, but this threw a whole new twist on it. This had something to do with the game the scorpion man referred to. He’d guessed that whatever it was, Robert and Javier would somehow be involved but he never would have suspected Ruth and Cindy would be players.

  After a minute he looked to Ruth.

  “The place you see when you look at the stone…” he said.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you see any people there?”

  “No. It’s just landscape. Wind. Birds.”

  J.B. nodded.

  “What does it mean?” asked Ruth.

  “I think it’s where I came from,” he said.

  “Where you came from?” asked Robert incredulously.

  J.B. nodded, “Today I found out that my background, everything I’d been told, was a lie. I’m not a Ute. My grandmother was not Ute and the reason everyone hated me wasn’t just because I was a half-breed. It was because of the kind of half-breed I am.”

  “What kind of half-breed are you?” asked Robert.

  “The kind that brings about the end of the world,” Ruth had been staring at J.B. the whole time. Her expression had not changed. She didn’t have the far away look like before but instead was focused on him like she was trying to figure out a puzzle. He looked over and met her gaze.