by Ken Kelly
Gloria walked up the street toward the detectives and the cab driver. She didn’t want to disturb them so she stopped 15 yards off and leaned up against a building. It was perfect timing because the cab driver was answering the last question and Spears and Young climbed into their government issued rig and pulled out of the red zone. The cab driver watched them go and by the time they turned the corner Gloria was standing alongside him.
“Hi, I’m Gloria Hesselgrave.”
“Yes, I recognize you, the woman my passenger was shooting at. My name is Narayan Rai.”
“Nice to meet you, Narayan.” They shook hands and Gloria said, “I want to thank you for throwing him off balance with your driving, you probably saved our lives. You took a big risk and I want to thank you for my friend and myself.”
“Where’s your friend?”
“He took a bullet in his side but he’s alright. They’re stitching him up now I imagine.”
“Well that’s good to hear. Good to hear he’s alright, I mean.”
“Listen, can I buy you a coffee or a tea?”
“I won’t say no.”
On the way down 5th, as they looked for a restaurant, Narayan said, “My wife makes tea at home but when I’m out I drink coffee. American’s are good at many things but making tea isn’t one of them.”
They found a place with tables and chairs on the sidewalk behind a wrought iron fence.
“Do you want to sit outside?” said Gloria.
“Sure, it’s a nice day.”
When the waiter came Narayan ordered a coffee and Gloria a cup of black tea. Narayan looked up, surprised. He smiled and said, “It looks like you doubt my expert opinion.”
“Not at all, I just want to see how bad it is.”
They talked about this and that until the waiter brought the drinks. He set an 8 ounce paper cup of black tea, the tea bag still in the cup, in front of Gloria, and a similar cup containing coffee before Narayan. Gloria and Narayan both added cream and sugar from little packets held in a plastic container in the center of the table.
Then the poker playing nurse and the Indian cab driver looked at each other, raised their cups, and drank.
When they both finished with their first sip Narayan said, “Good, as expected. Yours?”
“I hardly ever drink tea but I think it tastes pretty good. Do you want to try some?”
“No, I’ll take your word for it. If it’s good I’ll have to abandon my long held theory and if it’s bad I’ll have to contradict you. I don’t want to do either, so not trying the tea is my best option.”
“Speaking of options, thank you for helping us earlier.”
“I think it was more of a reaction than anything else but I’m glad I was in a position to help.”
They talked for another ten minutes while they sipped their drinks. They talked about driving a taxi and being a nurse in San Diego. Narayan talked about his family, his two children in high school and one in college. He told her about his wife of 20 years and asked if she was married to the man she was with. She wasn’t married, she said, the man she was with was a friend.
Narayan’s phone rang and he picked it up. “Yeah, really? Okay. Okay, I’ll be there. I’ll take a taxi.”
While Narayan was busy on the phone Gloria set her purse on her lap and counted her money. Despite the loss on the last night in Vegas there was still a healthy sum. She counted out $1200 and put it into an envelope from an old utility bill.
Narayan put his phone in his pocket. “They found the taxi a couple of miles from here and they’re towing it to the yard. I’m going to go down there now, get a new taxi, and finish my shift.”
“Good luck with the rest of the night Narayan, I hope it’s calmer then the first part. Tell me, what’s the biggest tip you ever got driving a taxi?”
“I got $100 three times over the years. The last time was from a drug dealer on New Year’s Eve.”
“I’m going to leave a tip that’s a bit larger so you’ll remember how grateful we are that you took action and just didn’t just sit back and let that bastard kill us.”
Narayan didn’t know what to say so he sat quietly. Gloria brought out the envelope and placed in front of him. She looked around in her purse for some smaller bills but she couldn’t find any.
“Could you cover the drinks?” Gloria asked.
“Certainly,” he said. He hadn’t counted the money but he’d looked through the little window in the envelope and knew the top bill was $100.
“Thank you again Narayan,” she said as she stuck out her hand. He took it and they shook hands and Gloria stepped out onto the sidewalk and walked away.
Narayan counted the money twice, exhaling each time. Then he speed dialed his wife.
Young and Spears showed up at the hospital about a half hour after Rick was stitched up. The interview went fast since the detectives had most of the information they needed from Gloria Hesselgrave and Narayan Rai. They asked him about Frank Salucci and Rick told them the same thing Gloria had – he knew he was the shooter but couldn’t make a positive i.d.
The following morning at 7:15 am Rick checked out of the hospital and took a cab to the Horton Plaza Parking Structure. He made his way through the garage toward his truck on the second floor. He climbed in, started it up, and headed toward the exit. On the way he saw something he definitely didn’t expect to see. Backed into a spot not far from where he’d parked the tow truck was the Cool Cad, empty spaces on both sides.
Rick didn’t hesitate except to check for security cameras. When he didn’t see any he lined up the truck’s end 8 feet from the front of the Cadillac, put it in reverse and put the pedal to the floor. The truck shot back into the Cool Cad smashing the headlights, the bumper, the grill, the fan and the radiator and buckled the hood. The doors, fenders – front and back – and the taillights on each side were destroyed when Rick backed into one side of the car and then the other. He thought about pushing the car away from the wall so he could get to the rear end but didn’t want to take the time and abandoned the idea. Rick noticed that the COOLCAD plate was hanging from the front of the vehicle by a single screw. He slid out of the truck, yanked the plate free, and tossed it on the passenger side floor when he climbed back in. Then he exited the garage after paying his bill and headed for the 5 north.
Reducing the Cool Cad to an ugly block of metal, worth maybe $500 to an auto wrecker, had taken less than a minute. Like in the Nicholas Cage, Angelina Jolie movie, ‘Gone In 60 Seconds.’
Five miles up the 5 freeway, going 62 mph in a middle lane, red lights filled the cab and a siren assaulted his ears. “Cops,” Rick said aloud as he pulled over to the side and rolled to a stop.
The police cruiser pulled over and stopped a car length behind the truck. Rick saw the police officer in the mirror, working his computer that came off the dashboard to the right of the steering wheel. Probably punching in the license number of the truck, Rick thought. That shouldn’t be a problem unless someone saw him smash up the Cool Cad and called it in and Rick would bet the rest of his Bad Beat Jackpot that no one did. But if it didn’t have anything to do with the Cadillac smash up why did the cop pull him over?
Rick was about to find out. In the mirror he could see the cop, a highway patrolman, getting out of his car and walking toward him. He was about 35, tall and muscular with a somewhat subdued cop’s swagger. He approached the passenger side of the truck.
Be polite and friendly but not to friendly, Rick told himself. If he asks if you know why he pulled me over say no.
“Good morning,” said the officer.
“Good morning,” said Rick, trying to sound as pleasant as he could.
“Did you know your left tail light is out?”
“No I didn’t,” said Rick, trying to look concerned now.
“You should get it fixed right away. My brother in law is a lawyer in a firm of ambulance chasers and he says they make beacoup bucks any time a tow truck, or
any service vehicle, is in an accident and has any type of light problem.
“ I’ll get it fixed this morning.”
“Good. I just got a call so I’d appreciate it if you could let me back on the freeway first.”
“Of course.”
“Have a nice day,” said the cop as he headed back to his car.
One of the few times a cop had told him to have a nice day and hadn’t already ruined it by giving him a ticket. Thankfully the cop didn’t know what he’d done to the Cool Cad or the day would have been anything but nice.
Rick watched the police cruiser roll, get up on the shoulder and accelerate into traffic. When it was out of sight Rick did the same. On the way to his place he stopped at a Pep Boys and got a tail light and bulb. When he got home he opened the garage and moved the truck in. After closing the garage door he got a can of paint thinner, a wire brush and some rags, and started removing the Cool Cad’s paint from the back of the truck.
When he finished he made a sandwich and then went on line and ordered an ankle holster. He paid extra to have it shipped express.
Michael Waller, know as Hugger whenever he attended a Rainbow Gathering, sat in his room at the Sands Regency Hotel in Reno and channel surfed. He kept checking his watch, a Citizen 8651 that never needed a new battery because the face of the watch absorbed light, sunlight or artificial, and used it to charge the watch’s battery. The Citizen told Hugger the time, am or pm, the date, the day of the week and what phase the moon was in. The claim was that the watch could run for six months without being exposed to light. Hugger figured that if his Citizen was in the dark for six months it would be because he was dead and the watch was buried with him.
Hugger spent a lot of time in the wilderness on land owned by the Federal Government, and he liked to know the time, the date, and the day of the week. It helped him stay in touch with the outside world while he trekked across government land planting cannabis. A lot of Rainbow folks believed that the people owned the government land, since the government was elected by the people. Presidents, Senators and Representatives were elected but Supreme Court Justices were appointed, and FBI agents, who worked for the Federal Government, were hired.
The “this land is your land, this land is my land” credo was believed by many who made their way each summer to the Rainbow Gathering, which was held somewhere in the continental United States, always on federal land. Some Rainbow Folks knew that “this land is your land, this land is government land,” and the only reason they allowed the Rainbow folks to gather at all was because it would be too much work to keep 15 to 20,000 of them off the land. Hugger never disagreed with anyone’s views on the subject of the land but the truth was he didn’t care, as long as he could use it.
He looked at his watch again and switched off the TV. If DW didn’t show up within 30 minutes Hugger would have to spring for another day at the Regency and that wasn’t going to happen. He got his throwaway cell and punched in the number.
DW picked up immediately. “Hey Dude, thanks for calling. I’m still about 40 minutes out.”
“Okay, but meet me in the lobby when you get here. I have to check out or they’ll stick me with another day.”
“If you hold the room I’ll pay for your whole stay as long as I can take a last shower before the Rainbow. Oh, my girl says hi and she’d like a shower too.”
“ Showers are no problem. They have a nice pool if you want to go for a swim. And if you and your girl care for a little ‘kissy face, huggy bear’ I can take a walk.”
“That’s a thought. Listen, we’ll be their soon. It will be good to see you, man.”
“You too.”
Hugger called the front desk and told the clerk he’d need the room for one more day. He thought of mentioning that a couple of friends would be coming up but decided it wasn’t necessary. Then he stretched out on the bed for a nap.
An hour later there was a knock at the door. “Let us in Dude.”
Hugger glanced at his watch as he went to the door. He checked the peep hole and saw DW and his lady friend. He threw the door open and DW came in smiling, hugging, and back pounding. Then he pumped Hugger’s hand and said, “It’s great to see you man. You look good, really good.”
“As do you, my friend. As do you.”
While all this was going on the girl watched politely. Then DW stepped back and put an arm around her shoulder.
“Hugger, this is my good friend Teresa Banks.”
She stuck out her hand and Hugger shook it.
“Nice to meet you, Teresa.”
DW said, “Can I take the first shower? I promise not to use all the hot water.”
“It’s a hotel babe, I don’t think you can possibly use all the hot water.”
“In that case I’ll be out in, ah, 20 minutes.” DW stepped into the bathroom and shut the door. A minute later they could hear the shower going.
Hugger and Teresa sat on separate queen sized beds so that they faced each other. Teresa looked to Hugger to be about 25, ten or 12 years younger than DW and himself. She was attractive with dark brown hair that just touched her shoulders. She had a nice figure and a natural look about her. She seemed at ease with him.
Hugger said, “My name is Mike Waller, Hugger is the handle I use at the Rainbow Gathering.”
“Thanks for telling me your name, Mike, it makes me feel like we’re from the same solar system.”
“I’m pretty sure we are.”
“You know what I mean. It seems to me these Rainbow names are a bit of a trip. Your friend and mine, the guy taking a shower in there, I like him a lot. He’s funny, he’s considerate, he’s generous; he’s a cool guy. Now why would a man like that want to call himself Deep Water?”
Hugger laughed. “Yeah, it’s out there isn’t it?”
“What does it mean?”
“Did he tell you what he does for a living?”
“He said he grows marijuana on a large scale.”
“Right, well Deep Water refers to ‘Bubbleponics’ which is a deep water hydroponic system that runs nutrient filled water over the free hanging roots of the cannabis. Makes the weed grow fast and produce more. What did D.W. tell you it meant?”
“First he said he was into deep sea diving. A couple of days later he told me he’d bought and restored Earnest Hemmingway’s boat, ‘Pilar,” and he used it to fish for marlin in deep waters off the west coast of Mexico. Of course we both knew it was b.s. but he sure got a kick out of it.”
Hugger said, “I’ve seen him tell people some outrageous things. At one Gathering he told people his name was the Deep Space Kid because he’d been an astronaut, with many missions under his belt, but got laid off when NASA downsized.”
“Did people believe him?”
“I don’t think so. He wasn’t trying to get them to believe any of it, he just liked telling wild stories. He told me that he thought for every person who actually believed he was an astronaut there were 50 who thought that the Deep Space Kid was a guy who took one too many acid trips. He got too far out and never came back. Ask him, he’ll probably tell you anything you want to know if he’s convinced you’ll keep it to yourself.”
“Don’t worry, I can keep a secret. It comes with the territory.”
“What territory is that?”
“I work for the DEA as a deep cover agent.”
Teresa watched Hugger go quiet and his eyes get serious. She pointed an index finger at him and said, “Gottcha.”
It took a few seconds for Hugger to regain his composure. He laughed, trying to show Teresaa that he hadn’t taken it seriously. “You might want to be careful telling jokes like that unless you know how to handle heart attacks and strokes.”
Awhile later, with D. W. still in the shower, Teresa said, “Daniel Shea, that’s his real name, right? That’s what he told me.”
“Let me ask you a question first. If you had to decide right now whether you trusted h
im or not, whether you believed him or not, what would be your decision?”
Teresa paused for a minute and then said, “I’d say I trust him. I do trust him.”
“Daniel Shea, aka the Deep Water/Deep Space Kid is a good guy and, in my opinion, is more trustworthy than most. He’s just in a business where he needs to be careful. Tell me, do people ever call you Terry?”
“No one who wants to stay on my good side calls me Terry. I’m happy with Teresa, Terry is a boy’s name.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. Are you going to go with us to the Gathering?”
“I’ll drive out and hang out for a few hours but then I going to visit my sister in San Francisco.”
“And file your report with the DEA?”
“That too.”
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. No more jokes on that subject.”
“Agreed. Sorry about that first one, I just couldn’t resist.”
“You had the element of surprise and you certainly surprised me, you know that don’t you?”
“Yeah, but don’t worry, I won’t rub it in.”
“Dan said you’re going to take his car to San Francisco and then pick him up here on the Gathering on the 4th.”
“That’s the plan.”
“So I’ll probably see you then.”
“Yeah,” she smiled, “it will be nice to see you. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ask so many questions and to complain about Dan’s Rainbow name.”
“No worries. The Deep Water Kid is a weird name, even for the Rainbow Gathering, although I’ve heard weirder.”
“Like Hugger?”
“Very funny, but no, not like Hugger.”
“How did you come up with that name?”
“Can’t say now but you’ll probably see for yourself if you spend enough time hanging with us.”
DW came out of the shower with a white terrycloth towel wrapped around his waist. He was in good shape, Hugger knew, from a lot of walking, running and swimming and some weight lifting. He told Hugger that he didn’t particularly enjoy the exercise but he did it for his health’s sake. Like most people he wasn’t getting any younger.
“The shower is ready, Miss Teresa,” said DW, lifting his voice and his head at the end of the sentence.
“Thank you very much, Mr. DW,” said Teresa, lifting her head and using the same intonation. Then she went into the bathroom and locked the door.
Dan said, “Did you have a nice talk?”
“Yeah, we did.”
“What do you think of her?”
“I think she’s a live wire. She got any friends?”
While Teresa was in the shower Hugger moved his stuff into the VW and DW packed his bag and brought it to his car. Hugger went in and paid the bill. When he came out DW said, “How much was it?”
Hugger told him and DW pulled out a roll of bills and peeled off the right amount, rounded off on the up side. Hugger divided the cash in two and tried to give half back but DW wouldn’t have it. “I told you I’d pay the whole bill, so I’m morally obliged to do it.”
“Well, thanks then… for fulfilling your moral obligation.”
DW was looking at his watch when Teresa joined them in the parking lot. “I’m not late, we didn’t assign a time to be out here.”
“I was just checking the time babe, not making a statement.”
“I noticed you have a nice watch Hugger, with that little solar system on the bottom. What does that do?”
“It tells what phase the moon is in. As a matter of fact DW gave me this watch a few years back.”
“Really?” said Teresa. “That was very sweet of you, honey.” She walked over and gave DW a hug. He smiled at Hugger over Teresa’s shoulder.
“Yeah,” said Hugger, “he told me that when a mountain lion or a bear got a hold of me in the woods I’d know the time and date and what phase the moon was in when I took my last breath.”
“That’s why you gave him the watch?”
“Not exactly. That part was kind of a joke. You have to know our history to really understand it.”
“Why don’t you tell her all about it on the way up?” said Hugger.
“Good idea,” said Teresa, “I’ll drive.”
“And I’ll reach far back into the memory banks to recall the story of Hugger and the Citizen watch.”
Hugger got into the VW bus and Teresa slid behind the wheel of the Explorer as DW took the passenger seat and began rubbing his frontal lobes.
“Are you alright?” said Teresa. “Do you have a headache?”
“No, I’m priming the pump, getting the memory banks ready for a big withdrawal.”
“Do you really believe that rubbing your head is going to stimulate your memory?”
“No, but it’s symbolic. The rain dance doesn’t bring the rain but……..”
“But what?”
“But, I don’t know...it gives the rain dancers something to do. Better than sitting around doing nothing.”
“You sure come up with some crazy stuff.”
“A little crazy is okay.”
“I agree with that. Hanging out with you is teaching me that a little crazy can be entertaining.”
“I was hoping you’d see it that way.”
Awhile later Teresa said, “So what’s the deal with Hugger’s watch, the history between you and him that I need to understand before I can understand the watch.”
“The basic story is Hugger got me into the business. Ten years ago I spent six months running around Federal lands with him planting pot.”
“Where?”
“Washington mostly, a little in Idaho. When it was ready we harvested it. That was work. Cutting the branches and the leaves, putting them in sacks, carrying them out, and trucking them to the buyer.”
“You must have made a lot of money.”
“We did. But in my opinion it was too much work and way too much risk. All that carrying and driving, you get stopped with that much weed, you got trouble that’s going to last a long time. Hugger doesn’t do that anymore. He grows the stuff and gives maps to the buyer who arranges all the transport. Of course it’s less money but well worth it.”
“So what happened between the two of you?”
“I’m getting there, I’m getting there,” said DW, casting a smile at his new squeeze. “I rented a warehouse in Oakland and started growing the weed in pots. It was a struggle at first but I caught on and did alright. Then I came across the deep water bobblephonics system of growing. It’s basically a system where water with nutrients runs over the roots of the plants and the yield is a lot higher and faster than a plant in dirt.
“I’ve got a fairly big operation going now and I could use Huggers help. I try to convince him but he likes the big outdoors. I bought him the watch to remind him that if he was working with me there would be less to worry about, like bears and mountain lions.”
“Do you think he’ll ever come around to your way of thinking?”
“No but I’ll keep working on it. It’s kind of a joke between us.”
* * *
Chapter 17