Further Adventures (12 page)

We sat very silent until we got over the Texas border. The Sun slipped in back of a flock of clouds & the next minute it burned a hole right through it the streams of silvery white Light shooting down. The gates of Heaven opening up to accept the Rising Souls. I felt very peaceful since I had somebody next to me there who watched this sight even if she did not look at it from my point of view. I know Amelia felt the same i.e. charmed to be with somebody else who appreciated natural Beauty.

We pulled in to eat lunch in a roadside diner of the name The Chuck Wagon Coffee Shoppe. We read the menu (
Speciality of the House: Upside-down Pineapple Upside-down Cake
—I will explain in a minute) and very absent-minded I was rubbing my finger around the top of my ice water glass. By accident I made it squeak out a feeble Note a chirp that Amelia nailed to the table with a squinty stare.

“Which reminds me,” I said which is a Saying of mine that I say when I can not think of anything else to fill in the blank.

“What?”

I drummed my fingers rat-a-tat-tat on the wagon wheel place mat. “What what?”

“What it reminds you?”

“Oh,” I said & I did not know what. Until Amelia unbuttoned the top of her Safari Suit & fanned herself with her napkin & I saw the loose skin of the slopes of her Bosoms do the shimmy.

My mind goes back to the Glass Harmonica Girl the niece of Mr. Burrows the engineer in the booth of The Adventures of The Green Ray. Her name was Julie. Or Jody. One of those or Christine. It was a innocent memory to tell Amelia I did not reveal any intimate secrets of my Past especially I did not brag to her I was The Green Ray. Once upon a time I witnessed a beautiful girl making this kind of music in a nightclub it was beautiful like that flock of clouds. I told her what a talent Miss Burrows had to show people the beauties locked inside ordinary household objects.

“Then you fall in love with her?”

“Don’t get personal with me,” I said I raised my finger funny yet I recalled the Number 1 rule of a Crime Stopper: DON’T GET INVOLVED PERSONAL.

I will admit it felt very warm to hear somebody besides Dr. Godfrey or Dr. Barbara show interest in my Life so I slipped off guard a little i.e. I was doing all of the answering. But before I went too far I made my personal Story my bait. If I reveal then Amelia will reveal likewise. No oath is stronger than the mutual TRUST between a man & a woman who trade personal secrets of their lives the soft spots to Protect the INTIMATE places you show & you are not afraid that somebody close knows them. Naked Truth attracts & arouses. A naked body the same. So I spiced up my story somewhat.

“I was just a lonely guy in the front row trying to get a gander at her legs.”

Amelia doubted this right off. “Why you remember her so long.”

“Sure.”

“You meet her after the show hm?”

“You betcha.”

“And go to your house.”

“No.”

“A big hotel.”

“No. Nowhere.”

“You didn’t go in bed with her? I don’t think so!”

“I didn’t want to spoil a beautiful moment.”

“Because your wife,” Amelia guessed.

“No wife.”

“Your girlfriend.”

I let her guess hang in the air. “Sure.” I let it go very casual but I did not hold her eyes which move told her a different story.

“Tell me her name.”

“Annie.”

“You know something? Annie it’s my favorite name for Anglo girls. Miss America.”

“She was like that.”

“Blond hair.”

“Yes.”

“Curls. And whatchamacallit—so many—dots. So many—freckles.”

I nodded yes. “You’re good at this,” I said & my Voice went shaky. Which I covered over by a gulp of ice water. “What about you?”

“No. I’m no very good. No like you Ray. You don’t cheat. You marry her later?”

“Somebody else did.” More ice water. “Now I regret I didn’t make a pass at my glass harmonica gal when I had the chance.”

“I marry my husban’ after one week.”

This new information egged me on to ask her, “What’s his name?”

“Julio.” On a private smile she gave herself.

“What’s ‘Julio’ in English?” I took a guess. “Julius?”

“I’m no marry now.” Very down to earth Amelia stated, “He died.”

“Sorry for that.” But the words from my lips did not match the words from my heart. Yes I was sorry for the sad effect of her hubby’s demise on Amelia but some feeling in the bottom of my spine in the back of my ribs was pushing me across the table. I felt my desire to sit on the other side of the booth & squeeze her hands in that moment very tender.

“Don’t worry. I like to remember him. Young you know?”

“Did you & Julio have any children?”

Her face went very tight & her Voice collapsed down to this hard point very distant. “No.”

Once her food was in front of her Amelia did not talk much she just concentrated on eating which was a very serious affair to her. I believe you do not need a trained eye to observe how a person’s Character can
leak out in a simple act like food chewing. By the eager way she bit into her Wagon Wheel Burger & rolled the mouthful around on her tongue between her cheeks & gave out with “mm-mm” I saw in a Flash how she was a woman very motivated by her Senses. She bit into that double-decker bun that ¾ lb. of charcoal-broiled all-beef patty like a wild dog who learned the party trick of table manners. I practically forgot about my Tuna Melt altogether. I gave her half so I could watch again & rounded things off with a mile-high slice of Upside-down Pineapple Upside-down Cake.

“While you’re here the Management hopes that you folks’ll take time out for a visit to our famous Upside-down House.” Our waitress hung around my elbow with a fresh pot of coffee like clockwork she switched on her Spiel. “The building is the authentic replica of the ranch house built by Otis Peachtree in 1881 & it preserves the mystery of the Cedar Room just as it appeared to the Peachtree family over 100 years ago.”

“What’s the mystery of the Cedar Room—” (I asked her & very sly checked her name tag), “Evie?”

“Magnetism,” she said. “I can’t explain it to you. Nobody can. If I try I’ll just get it wrong. You should go see it for yourself. Give you something to talk about on the rest of your ride.”

I am a Sucker for this certain kind of Attraction for I am stimulated by any Scientific mystery which baffles the experts. Amelia did not also share my high level of curiosity about the Upside-down House so I made her a deal I will not tarry inside over 15 Minutes tops. The theory Amelia lived by was A Moving Target Is Hard To Hit. She got too nervous to stay in 1 place longer than she strictly had to which is a fear I did not feel myself at the time plus my high curiosity about the effect of Magnetism on the Peachtree house (replica).

I bought the 16 oz. Upside-down House Thermos Bottle for her the 8 oz. version looking too small to satisfy 2 thirsty adults in the hours
of highway miles ahead to Gonzales & beyond. To go along with the theme of the place the real cup was in the bottom of the Thermos which unscrewed the opposite instead of the usual cup on top which was a dummy. (Amelia chided me awful for flushing $26.95 down the toilet on this novelty item but she was happy to receive its benefits in the form of a hot cup of coffee later on in the Motel room at least she was after her Safari Suit soaked in the sink & the coffee stain came out mostly in the cold rinse.)

The entrance to the Upside-down House is a regular wood porch the wood slats very dusty & gray. Inside it is what Evie said a ranch house Parlour of the 1880s—potbelly stove furniture carved out of sticks cattle horns on the wall etc. a lace doily on a round table with a kerosene lamp on it & a little glass bowl decorated by ruby red glass berries was the only Female touch.

In the dusty smell I am back in 1880. The way the sun slanted in the front windows the Peachtrees saw it exactly the same. The sky the same powder blue the Sun Rays on the wood in that same square of gold light maybe while they ate their biscuits & blackeyed peas & gravy or whatever kind of frontier food they ate for dinner. It stimulated me when I imagined the real people in that room those Peachtrees they are only tombstones now that place was full of the Voices of Yore.

A warning sign greeted me before the Mystery Room it said:

Catnip to me! The Mystery Room is 2 rooms where the major part of the Mystery Effect covers a circular area that cuts ½ into the Cedar Room (Col. Peachtree’s office behind). I stood on the threshold of the bedroom wherefrom that point of view I see
the entire place looks upside-down
! The ceiling is on the floor & the ceiling lamp hangs UP on its chain floating in the middle of the room like a sea flower. The bed is on the ceiling with sheets & blankets & pillows tidy in place. Facing DOWN. On the table beside the hairbrushes perfume bottles tchotchkes & whatnot looking down from the ceiling! Clothes in the closet they hang UP from the floor! Around the midst of the room very faint is a glassy shimmer like Heat Waves coming in through one wall going out the other.

This is enough of a Mystery already but the big jolt hit me when I took a step inside I will say I stepped through the Curtain of a invisible waterfall. I stood in the middle of the bedroom & it made my stomach dizzy. I saw the floor below & the ceiling above as per Normal but behind me Amelia is standing in the doorway completely Upside-down!

“You come out O.K.?” she said very antsy.

“Wait! It’s a natural phenomenon!” I wanted to lure Amelia in with me but no dice.

I agree with Dr. Gabriel Camisa PHD the Prof. of Physics at Texas A&M who offers his opinion on the reason for the Effect inside the Mystery Room on the back of the brochure. I.e. it is a possibility that the crust of the Earth is thin under the Peachtree house so this spot acts like a funnel for the Earth’s inner magnetism. I believe the work of the late Dr. Albert Einstein handed fellow scientists a pointer towards the discovery of how the magnetic field of a plant its Gravity comes with the power to bend Light rays around. It could be this is such a Case with the Upside-down House too with the Light Rays flowing into the Mystery Room being bent around in front of our very eyes by a fountain of Magnetic Force. From the OUTSIDE everything INSIDE looks Upside-down. On this side is Sense on that side is Nonsense. But there is a Reason behind both sides
that ties them together so they both make sense at the same time in the same place. I believe here is another Lesson of Life in Science.

On the other wall of the Cedar Room which connected to the bedroom where I was—outside the curtain of Shimmery Air—the flag of Texas hung on a pole upside-down like everything else from my point of view that minute including Amelia who vamoosed to the Exit door. Over the rolltop desk was Old Glory the genuine article the old model of 36 stars. For Amelia’s sake I did not want to linger owing to a patriotic urge so I kept my salute short & sweet and went out through the invisible curtain.

There I looked over my shoulder & saw a sight which turned my stomach & broke my peace of mind—Old Glory hanging Upside-down! That vision gave me a pain. Optical illusion etc. or no it was a sign of Disrespect for our national flag to see it Stripes above & Stars beneath it is a symbol of Anarchy in that form.

“Wait a minute,” I said to Amelia.

In a flash I was back inside the Cedar Room face to face with the Flag also in some confusion on the subject. Because in there Old Glory was rightside-up. Should I climb on the rolltop & hang O.G. the other way around?

PRO: The world outside will look in & view Old Glory correct & proper.

CON: To accomplish this I will have to turn it upside-down.

PRO: This room is in the midst of a Special Condition (mystery effect) which cancels out normal rules.

CON: It is on Private Property ergo my act is Vandalism.

PRO: The view from the other side of the Exit is vandalism against all our mighty flag stands for Iwo Jima & so on.

CON: After I leave somebody is just going to put it back the way it was before I fixed it.

PRO: So what. I am here now so I must do what is right or else I will live to regret it.

CON: If I get caught doing this I will have to explain my Action to the Management & that will delay us on the premises ergo stall our departure.

PRO: I can do it fast.

CON: Not if I keep going back & forth weighing up the Pros & Cons!

PRO: I have to make sure I am doing the right thing.

CON: If I have to think about it too much maybe it is
not
the right thing.

PRO: Where there is
wrong
I trample it. Where there is
right
I raise it up. The right way.

Like a mountain goat I climbed on top of the desk I grabbed O.G. by the top hooks it came off very easy. Count to seven or eight & that’s how long it took me I flipped the flag over & went to the Exit to admire. I saw the rightside-up Stars & Stripes in the Upside-down Room from outside in the Rightside-up world & in the parking lot after I felt very satisfied about my work.

“You got your keys? Hurry up Ray,” Amelia ordered me.

This did not make me crabby another thought did. The pressure of a poison fog rolled into my mind very heavy very dark.

CON: In relationship to the surface of the Earth Old Glory is hanging in there upside-down.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Give me the keys. I want the car keys.” Amelia stuck out her hand.

“Let me do this first.”

She tugged my sleeve she did not let go. “No more time Ray! You want to help me? He’s coming. He can find us easy! You want to stay here for him O.K.—I go by myself. Open your car!”