Sati (24 page)

I wiped out. The salt water roller coaster lasted for thirty seconds, a long time when I couldn't look at my watch and I didn't have any oxygen in my lungs. When I was finally able to come up for breath, the fellow who had cut me off paddled over to apologise.

'Sorry,'he said.' I didn't see you until I was committed.'

I tried to tell him not to worry about it, but I ended up coughing instead. We were in shallow water. He got off his board and offered me a hand. I let him pull me out of the backwash of foam. I continued to choke on what felt like a ten-foot strand of seaweed stuck in my lungs. I hardly looked at him. I was surprised when he said my name.

'Why, Mr Winters, it's you.'

I raised my head. It took me a moment to place him. He didn't have on his suit and tie. And his face had changed. At Sati's meeting, even when he smiled, he had looked frustrated. Now his expression, though startled, was pleasant.

'Reverend Green?'I asked.

He laughed.' Yeah, it's me. What a coincidence we should meet like this. I was just talking to Mrs Hutchinson this morning for the first time in ages. She brought up your name. I was thinking of stopping by and seeing you.'He added, in a softer voice,' I wanted to apologise to you.'

I waved my hand. I'd finally got the salt water out of my chest.' It was nothing, a misunderstanding.

Forget it.'

'That's kind of you.'He glanced out to sea, at the next eight-foot set lining up.' Been out here a while?'

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'All day.'

'Great, isn'tit?'

'Yeah,'I said.

'Haven't seen waves like this in years.'

'They don't make them like they used to.'

He picked up his board.' But it'll be dark soon. I was planning on getting a bite on the pier. Their fish and chips are the best on the West Coast. I'd love it if you could join me.'

I was curious about his quitting as minister at Mrs Hutchinson's church.' Sounds good,'I said.

We stashed our boards in his car and walked the mile to the pier. He talked enthusiastically about a home for runaway kids he had opened in Hollywood. He was cur-rently taking care of forty youngsters.

Apparently, he'd recently received a huge anonymous donation that had allowed him to start the home.

The money had arrived through the mail with no instructions as to how it was to be spent.

He was no longer associated with a particular church.

It was only when we were eating our greasy food, sitting on a bench overlooking the water, the swells smooth and purple in the fading light, that the conversation turned to me. By this time I'd begun to feel comfortable with him. The nastiness of our original meeting was indeed forgot-ten. I spoke to him as if he was
my
minister. I told him of my indecision over my future career. He listened attentively.

'If I had the money,'I said in closing,' I think I'd spend the rest of my life surfing.'

He smiled.' I know the feeling. Lately, I've been trying to get down here at least once a week.'

'It must be tough with all those kids hanging on to you.'

'Imake the time.'He paused, thinking.'D id she ever give you any direction?'

He wanted to talk about her, I could tell. 'Satiseldom gave specific advice. She didn't like to infringe on people's free will.'

He nodded, watching the seagulls.' Mrs Hutchinson tells me she's gone away.'

'Yes,'I said.

'Do you ever hear from her?'

'I'm afraid not.'

'Do you think she'll be coming back?'

'You'd like to see her again, wouldn't you?'

'Yes. I should have gone to her meetings when I had the chance. Mrs Hutchinson gave me the
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impression she has left the area for good.'

'I think so.'

He spoke wistfully.' She was a beautiful woman.'

I can be blunt at times.'D o you think she was God?'

'Yes.'

I ate a french fry.' That's amazing.'

He sighed and rested his feet on the pier railing.' When I left the meeting that night, I was confused. I didn't know why. She was the last person who should've upset me. She wasn't saved. She obviously knew nothing about the Bible. Worst of all, I told myself, she was a blasphemer. People like her were sure to go to hell.'He shrugged.' I wanted to chalk her off as a lost cause and forget about her.'

'Why couldn'tyou?'

'It could have been several things. Maybe it was the look she gave me when I threatened her with the hammer and nail. Her eyes were soft, loving. She wasn't scared at all. She wasn't mad at me. It was as if she understood what I was doing, and why. And she forgave me. When I got back to my place, I asked myself again and again how someone with such love could be the devil's agent. I got down on my knees and prayed for an answer. Always before, whenever I prayed to God, he always gave me an answer. Or at least I thought he did.'

'And this time?'

Mr Green put his food down.' At the beginning of her meeting, she told us to sit quietly. Naturally, I kept my eyes open the entire time so I'd be safe from any negative influence. Then later, when she referred to the silent side of her nature, I didn't know what she was talking about. I'd felt nothing. But when I was alone in my room and praying for guidance, something happened. My body did not stop in the way she talked about,but it went still. Then my mind got quiet. I had my eyes open, I was conscious and everything, but suddenly felt as if I were slipping into a wonderful dreamland where everything was perfect. No, I shouldn't say that. Everything looked the same. My carpet still needed cleaning. My walls needed scrubbing. Nothing had really changed. It was just that I no longer cared that everything wasn't perfect, and because I didn't care, it
was
perfect. Does that make sense?'

I remembered the time I had sat with Satiright after Timmy had met her, how delightful the sun had felt on my arm, how the very air had seemed to reverberate with contentment.' Yes,'I said.

He nodded.' I hesitate to call it a religious experience. I didn't see God. Nothing was revealed to me.

But the peace I felt then was unbelievable. I would eat some-thing, I would walk round the block, and it would be so much fun. Even now, I still feel it. And I know who gave it to me.'He looked at me and put his hand on my arm.' It was her. It was Sati.'

'But you were praying to God when all this started,'I said.

'It was she who gave it to me, Mike. I can't explain it. I knew it was Sati then and I know it now.'

'And this is why you think she was God?'

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'Yes,'he said.

'Then why didn't you go to more of her meetings?'

He sighed again.' Something kept me away. Perhaps it was her will.'

'She told me the night you challenged her that you wouldn't return to her meetings.'

The comment did not depress him as I feared it might. He actually smiled.' She talked about me?'he asked.

'She compared the two of us. She said we were both obsessed with images that had nothing to do with reality. Your image was of Jesus. Mine was of my ex-wife.'

He nodded.'I n my mind, the Lord was always bleeding over the sorrows of the world. But when I experienced such wonder that night, I knew that was impossible. God couldn't suffer. I didn't have to suffer.'He let go of my arm and sat back on the bench.' She's left her body, hasn't she?'

I averted my eyes.' I don't know where she's gone.'

'That's OK,Mike. I understand.'

We sat for a while in silence, the waves breaking beneath our feet. Suddenly, he chuckled.

'What is it?'I asked.

'I remember how she offered me one of her cookies, how I turned it down. I sure wish I had that cookie now.'

'I could make you some. She left me the recipe.'

'Is that so? I must get it from you. How do they taste?'

'Sweet. I like them. Everyone seems to.'It was my turn to chuckle.' Before she left, Sati said those cookies could change my life.'

Mr Green sat up.' Really? What do you think she meant by that?'

'Nothing. Satiwas always joking around.'

'But maybe she was trying to tell you something.'

'I don't think so.'

'But you say everyone likes them?'he asked.

'Yeah.'

'Does
anyone
dislike them?"

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'I've never seen anyone turn them down, if that's what you mean.'

Mr Green got excited.' Mike, do you realise what you're saying? Sati's left you with a product no one can resist.'

'Huh?'

'You just told me how you can't stand the thought of going back to being a truck driver. As far as I can see, you have a perfect way out. Go into the cookie business!'

'But the only cookie I know how to make is hers. I can't open a bakery and only sell one product.'

'Why not? As long as it's a great product, it doesn't matter. Look, I'm serious about this. I'm going to help finance you.'

'No way. You need your money for your kids. I'd be taking the food out of their mouths.'

'I said I'd help you. I won't give you my last penny. You'll have to put up the dough you got for your trucks.'

'But my ex-wife wants some more of that.'

'Do you
have
to give it to her?'

'No,but...'

He laughed. He was having a great time.'B ut what? Do you want her lawyer to make any more off you

?'

The light was beginning to dawn.' What would I need to get started?'I asked.

Mr Green explained it to me. All we needed was money. He was adamant that I give Sati's recipe the best possible chance, right from the start. He wanted to open a shop in the heart of Beverly Hills. I said fine. The next day we checked with real-estate people. We met with instant luck. A croissant joint in a choice location had gone under the previous week. The owner was looking for someone to take over his lease for the next six months, at half the going rate. Mr Green took it as a favourable omen. We rented the place.

We had a shop, now we needed a name and a way to produce the cookies in respectable numbers. We tossed around all sorts of titles: Divine Delights, Cosmic Cookies, Sati's Satori - it was L.A. after all. In the end, I de-cided simplicity would serve us best. I called the shop The Cookie. I hoped the public would see our cookies as the final word on the subject.

I did not know there were actually machines you could buy that put the top and bottom halves of cookies together. I soon found out, and we spent another sizable por-tion of our resources obtaining one.

But it was worth it. Give that thing the tiny shortbread circles and gallons of jam and it would do the rest.

The secret ingredient in Sati's recipe was a combination of flavours, herbs and spices that were mixed directly into the shortbread dough. In all the times she had made the cookies with the others, she had never revealed their exact formula. The amount of' elixir'present in each cookie was
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relatively small. I decided I would personally handle that portion of the baking process. Why not, I thought? If she had wanted everyone to know the secret, she would have told me to mail it to a women's magazine.

Fred and Lori helped out. Fred's attitude towards food in relationship to evolution had undergone a complete turnaround. He had dispensed with normal diets. He was into fasting. Helping me set up the cookie shop, he ate nothing but The Cookie for a week. His acne got much worse.

For any new business, advertisement is essential. Here we broke completely from tradition. After her initial flyers, Satihad depended solely on word of mouth to announce her meetings. We decided to follow a similar course. We printed up five thousand sheets extolling The Cookie. Then we mailed them into the surrounding neighbour-hoods and sat back and waited.

Opening day finally arrived. At first business was pitifully slow. On day one we sold a grand total of 108

cookies. At fifty cents apiece, I couldn't even expect to be able to pay the rent. On day two, we sold 316 cookies. But this figure had been artificially inflated. Lori had called up a dozen friends and talked them into coming down. The whole first week was a disaster. Fred and Mr Green looked upon it as a test of faith.

Then things took off like a rocket. Business went from zero to sixty overnight. People started to pour in.

It was the same for everybody - they had heard about us from a friend, or from a friend of a friend. They did not want
a
cookie, they wanted
dozens
of cookies. And when they returned, they brought
dozens
of friends. The question they asked was always the same:' What do you put in these? They're fantastic!'

Mr Green continued to offer his support, but with his home for kids, he was seldom able to come by the store. Nevertheless, when he learned of our uncanny success, he wanted us to expand. By the third month, I was already in the black, and I was a believer. I took out a loan - from the same bank and the same loan officer who had initially refused the loan for my truck - and opened a second store by the beach where Satiused to walk. I put Nick in charge of it, and the store did as well as the first. We could not make the cookies fast enough.

This entrepreneurial tale could go on and on. But this is Sati's story. Suffice it to say I have opened up two more stores in the area and die whole gang is now working for me. Our success has been in the news. Local businessmen approach me every other day to sell franchises, and go nationwide. I thought about it for a while, but I decided I like having the business small and familylike. We have enough money.

It's given me plenty of free time, which is the only reason I wanted money in the first place. I figure if I open more stores, I'll have to start doing real work again.

I feel pretty good these days. I know many will scoff at this, but I honestly don't think it's the money that has made the big difference in my life. I should explain.