by Ned Sahin
“It’s kefir,” she says.
A what? I have never heard of it.
“Kefir with avocado, parsley, and chia seeds,” she adds when she notices my confused look.
I appreciate the information about the other additions, but I still don’t know what kefir is.
“So… It’s made of milk?” Kathleen asks after taking a sip of her drink.
“You know it!” Sunshine says, blinking her eyes as approval. Looks like they are getting along.
“Alright, let’s start with you, Matt. Tell me about your dharma,” Rowan says.
My what? This family is using an extended version of the English language I’m unaware of. I clear my throat like I am about to make a speech, but I have no idea what to say.
“Your life goal,” Sunshine clarifies and comes to my rescue. I nod and smile. She read my mind.
“I was dreaming about opening my tech startup to bring together people who need favors and those who want to spread the goodness…but the world doesn’t really need a mobile app right now, so all I want is to see my family in San Francisco,” I say. I can hear the emotional tone in my own voice.
“I hope…and I believe that you are going to see them soon. Sun will rise and you will try again,” Rowan says.
“How about you, Kathleen?” Rowan turns to her.
Kathleen pauses for a moment as she stares at her plate.
“Um… I want to see Cub again.” Her eyes fill with tears. I know how much she misses her dog. Cub had been everything for her since she lost her family in the first wave of the virus.
They look at me and Toshi to find a clue about who Cub is.
“Her dog. They got separated before we left our city,” I say.
They sigh and their eyes fall showing their sympathy for her.
“Dogs are naturally prepared to live out the harsh conditions,” Harmony says. Kathleen nods, wiping the tears flowing from her eyes. They don’t know what actually happened to Cub.
After a few seconds of silence, Rowan turns to Toshi.
“Toshi, your turn,” Rowan says.
“To eat sushi!” he says, making us burst into laughter.
Rowan claps as he leans back trying to control his laugh. Sunshine covers her face with one hand while waving her head in disbelief.
My laugh cuts short when I remember him fighting with the virus.
We finish our dinner. Toshi stands up to take his own plate and spoon to the kitchen. He is very careful about not spreading the virus through the surfaces he touches.
“Oh, wait. We got it,” Harmony says trying to stop him.
“It’s our culture, we like to clean our own dishes… but thank you for this wonderful dinner!” Toshi says.
“It was amazing! Thank you,” Kathleen adds.
“I loved both the food and conversation!” I say.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Sunshine says. She is rightfully proud of her cooking skills. “Do you want to play a game?”
“Sure!” I answer.
“You guys have a seat on the couch. I will be right back,” she says while Harmony and Rowan are stacking plates and glasses to carry them to the kitchen. Kathleen and I help them before moving to the couch.
Sunshine comes back with a yellow notepad and a marker. “Pictionary?” she asks.
“Um…” Kathleen searches her memory about this name. I have never heard of that game before, but the first letters give a clue.
“Is that the game in which someone starts drawing a picture and their teammates try to guess what it is?” I ask.
“Yeap!” Sunshine says. She looks very excited.
There is a warm wind coming from the window along with the music of the drums and another instrument I’m not too familiar with. A few people are adding to the rhythm by clinking their drinks and singing along.
Harmony comes back from the kitchen, swaying her hips from side to side as she balances a tray in her hands.
“Who wants some brownies?” she asks.
Who doesn’t! The three of us have been craving for desserts.
We divide into two teams. One team is Harmony, Kathleen, and Toshi. The other one is Rowan, Sunshine, and me. The category of the pictures we should draw about is “cities.”
Harmony’s team starts first with the youngest of them, Kathleen, drawing a picture while having a series of bites from her brownie. It’s a diagonal line with chair-like shapes on one side. She puts a lot of dots around them.
“Hollywood… Los Angeles?” Toshi guesses from the table. He is keeping his distance from others.
Kathleen shakes her head.
“Chicago! No, no... New York! Theaters!” Harmony says.
Kathleen adds more chair-like shapes and adds curly lines crossing the diagonal line.
“Farms? I don’t know which city is famous for farms.” Toshi laughs.
“No, that’s a beach! Santa Monica? San Diego?” Harmony keeps guessing. Time is ticking.
“Tokyo?” Toshi says while jumping on his chair. We all giggle seeing how excited he is about his guess.
“Time is up!” Rowan holds up the hourglass that is filled with sand on the bottom.
“Miami!” Kathleen screams. She seems disappointed with her team. I think these magic brownies improved her imagination but messed with her precision. Her team would have a better chance if those shapes looked like sunbeds instead of theater chairs.
Our turn. Our youngest, Sunshine, takes the marker and notepad. She starts with two parallel vertical lines next to each other and adds two more with some distance from the others. She then draws a line crossing all four vertical lines. In only seconds, there is a masterpiece in front of us. A realistic 3D sketch of my favorite place.
“Golden Gate! San Francisco!” I yell, trying to control my excitement.
“That’s my man!” Sunshine gives me a high five.
“Wow, what a team!” Rowan says, joining our high five circle.
For a second, I see both of his hands in the air coming for a double high five. I raise both of my hands but only one of his hands is held high. I laugh at myself. Sunshine holds my other hand and helps me stand up. She is here for the rescue again. She puts the marker in my hand and moves it on the notepad she is holding. I don’t know what she is making me draw, but I know that it’s not our turn. I see all the lines on the notepad doubled. I can’t figure out the shape. I know this double vision feeling from our margarita series with friends.
I finally figured it out. The brownies are making us high. They are not normal brownies. They are made of weed.
The good thing is our hosts seem to be high as well.
I don’t know what time it is, but it seems to be flying with jokes and laughs. The last thing I remember is dancing along to a Hawaiian song with Sunshine.
Chapter 24
I open my eyes on the recliner chair. The left side of my neck hurts. Sleeping on a chair was probably one of the many poor decisions I made last night.
The window is still open. People are chatting and laughing outside. Do they ever go to bed? This street is like the Las Vegas Strip.
Kathleen is sleeping on the couch. I don’t see Toshi in the living room. I hope none of us had contact with him last night. Hopefully, I don’t feel sick except for having a mild headache. I need to see how my skin looks like.
“Good morning, buddy,” Toshi says, entering the living room. It looks like he found a mask.
“Hey… You are up! Where were you?” I ask.
“Yeah. I slept in the guest room last night...” he says. He never fails in making good decisions. “How are you feeling?”
“Just a little headache... Other than that, it’s been the best sleep I’ve had for a long time,” I say, closing my eyes and leaning the recliner back. I finally had a full night’s rest after weeks. Even though I was on a recliner, I had an uninterrupted sleep thanks to those brownies.
“Hello,” Ka
thleen says while yawning. She smiles at us while trying to fix her hair.
“Good morning, my lady,” I say, chuckling. “Not sure what you did last night but it looks like you earned the couch for yourself,” I say sarcastically.
“I won the game!” she says. I don’t remember the score, but I will pretend like I do even though I doubt it.
“Congrats… again!” I say.
We hear a car approaching the building. The engine stops across the street. Toshi and I walk to the window to see who it is. It’s probably Rowan’s sedan.
I see a pickup truck. It’s a black Ram with a white flag on the hood and “HR” letters written on it. Two men get off the truck. These must be the Herington Rebels.
A few Purple Haze residents carry wood boxes with apples and vegetables sticking out to their truck.
“Morning, beauties!” Sunshine says as she enters the room. “Am I missing something?” She joins us on the window to see what we are watching.
“Do you know them?” I point to the guys who came with the truck.
“I do… They come once a week to trade stuff with us,” she says.
I understand why these rebels were so harsh to the couple in the church, but they get along well with the people in this town. The couple didn’t want to cooperate, or they were not giving a good offer for trading. Either way, I am not a fan of militia groups in any kind.
“Hungry? I am thinking about toasts with eggs and cheese,” Sunshine says. She reminds me of the friendly hosts I met during my trips before the pandemic. There were people in every city who were happy to host travelers without expecting anything in return. There was a website for these hosts and travelers to find each other.
“I will help you.” I follow her to the kitchen.
“I got it, Matt. You go back to your movie.” Kathleen says, stopping me on the way. She either doesn’t want me to spend time with Sunshine or she wants to talk to her alone.
“Sunshine, what do you remember from last night?” I ask before going back to the window to check out the street.
“We played a few more rounds of the game. Then I remember us dancing and singing. You and Toshi have interesting moves,” she says, cackling. I have no idea what moves we did but they were probably the silly ones.
“Do you want to see my Odori?” Toshi raises one leg while looking up to the ceiling.
“Oh no, no… Thanks! Maybe another time!” Sunshine chuckles. I guess it’s a Japanese dance Toshi performed last night.
We continue to watch people on the street. A lady is wiping the windows of the deli across the street. Two boys are chatting while leaning against an old model convertible car in front of the deli. There are a few people pushing handcarts filled with food, clothes, and small furniture.
I see only a few cars parked on the street. They look like models from the 90s. I wonder if they still work.
“Matt, I think I will stay here... If they are fine with it,” Toshi says. He said I, not We. I wasn’t expecting a decision like this from Toshi.
“What do you mean?” I ask. I wonder why he even brought this up out of the blue.
“We both know that I have one or two weeks left,” he says. This was a conversation I was afraid of having with Toshi. I am not ready to lose my best friend. I am not ready now; I won’t be ready for it ever.
“We will find more Oxyrica and antidepressants for you. If those elderly lived that long, you can too… Hey, these Herington Rebels might help us find medicine,” I say. We don’t have anything to offer them, but we can try the sympathetic way.
“This is a perfect place to spend my last days. I am not sure if I want to continue this trip...” he says. This doesn’t sound like him. Toshi has always been an optimistic person. The pills must be messing with his head.
“Once we find a car, we can get to San Francisco within a week before you run out of the pills. There must be someone to help us in the West,” I say.
He seems like he has already made his decision. I don’t want to leave him behind even though I know that he will be happy here before he turns to a Rica. He probably won’t even notice the change in his behavior when that time comes. I don’t want him to be in that situation by himself. I also don’t want to risk the lives of the good people in this town and this house with Sunshine, Rowan, and Harmony.
While eating our toasts, I ask Sunshine if she knows anything about the situation in the West Coast. Getting reliable information is harder than finding food in this world. Hopefully, they are in touch with the people in Kansas City.
She tells me that there is a network of survivors who contact each other over HAM radios. I should have bought a HAM radio and stocked up on batteries before the electricity and cell phone coverage went out.
She says California is now called the Highland Republic. Their flag is symbolically the same. There is still a bear figure on a white background. However, the bear is not happily walking on grass now. He is roaring on his back feet in front of crossed shotguns.
The Highland Republic is ruled by a man called Weck Highland. He is an ex-military who keeps the order by enforcing martial law. It seems to be working as the entire state is intact and people live relatively in peace. At least that’s what the word is around here.
I ask Sunshine what she heard about the East Coast. She knows about Saviors. She is aware of what they are made of—gangs and mobs—but she doesn’t know anything about their management techniques. It looks like there is information pollution in the survivor network. I hope we don’t find California ruled like the East Coast.
I can’t stop thinking about my family in San Francisco. Are they still living downtown in the small condo? How are they making a living? Both of my parents were depending on their retirement salary. Since the government collapsed, they would need an income. I hope my brother can take care of the entire family. He lives in San Francisco too.
Sunshine tells us about the rest of the country as well. The communities that survived in the South came together and named themselves Los Dorados. Their leadership is represented primarily by Hispanics and Native Americans. There is not much information about their population or life standards as they prefer to be a closed territory.
The rest of the country is either deserted because of the virus or overrun by Ricas. There are a few local communities spread out to bridge states. They visit Kansas City for trading items.
We decide to spend another night in Purple Haze.
In the afternoon, we go to Rowan’s farm to help them collect the harvest and plant new seeds. I feel good about being able to return their kindness for opening their house to us.
In the evening, we walk on the street lighted with gas lamps and candles. We meet the other residents of the town. They are excited about seeing new folks around. The band we have been hearing even plays “California Dreamin’” just for us. Kathleen joins them as a drummer while Toshi and I sing along with the new shoulder moves we learn from the teens dancing with us.
There are a few boutique shops open. They don’t use money anymore. Everyone takes what they need, and they either give something back right away or they do a trade later. Honey, alcohol, and medicine seem to be the most valuable items to trade. They don’t mind if you don’t have anything to trade, though. The entire town helps each other and survives as a community.
Sunshine takes us to her friend’s accessories shop. The entire place is filled with handmade bandanas, hats, bracelets, cards, candles, mugs, t-shirts, and many more items from floor to ceiling. I wish I had a phone to take a photo in this little shop with four of us.
Luckily, her friend offers to draw a painting of us. She uses colorful markers to paint our new clothes and accessories. We finally had a clean pair of jeans and t-shirts. Kathleen has been making fun of our dad-jeans since the morning.
Sunshine gives me a handmade Bohemian style wristband with blue, yellow, green, and purple beads on it as a gift. She says the blue is for the Pa
cific Ocean we will see once we arrive at San Francisco. Yellow is for the sun to brighten our days on the way. Green is for nature to provide us food, water, and shelter along our trip. And purple is for me to return Purple Haze soon. I will keep this wristband forever. If there is a reason this world is spinning, it’s thanks to sincere and lovely people like her.
After leaving the shop, Toshi starts coughing. It’s a dry cough that could ring alarm bells for everyone around. We run back to the house, trying not to be noticed.
Chapter 25
I was able to convince Toshi to continue the trip with us. We will face whatever might be coming to his way together. We won’t leave him behind. If he gets sicker, he will have his two best friends around to do everything to help him.
We had breakfast with the family before we hit the road. Rowan was so generous to find a car for us. He asked one of his farmer friends to give away his car that nobody has been using for a long time. Their tractor is all they need to grow and distribute their crops.
It’s a 1997 model Ford Taurus wagon. It’s old but the farmer said that it’s robust enough to help us finish the remaining part of the trip. The only problem is finding gas on the way. The full tank will only take us about 200 miles. The gas cans he filled up from their storage tank on his farm should help us drive another 200 miles. We still need 5 times more of the gas to get to San Francisco.
Rowan mentioned an oil refinery around a city called Colby. It’s on the way to Denver. If we drive on the highway, we have to take Exit 47 to find this refinery.
It was an emotional moment saying goodbye to Rowan, Harmony, and Sunshine. I saw tears in Sunshine’s eyes when she hugged me. I want to think that this was less of a goodbye and more of a see you later. I promised her to come back to their town. It wasn’t an empty promise. I am seriously thinking about coming back here with my family.
Finding a community like Purple Haze feels like winning the lottery. I feel lucky to have come across people like them who I can rely on. They helped us without expecting anything in return. I am hopeful about the future of humanity after seeing good people like them still exist.