Slum Enterprise - Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

Something was ahead on the trial. It looked like a hitchhiker fishing in the wetland reeds. Black birds laid their nests right above his head around the hitchhiker and lake turtles swam searching for food on the petrified logs in the lake. A massive white crane stood on a stone far in the middle of the body of water, watching the hitchhiker fish with no luck hoping to gain insight in where not to fish. As Lee ran closer, slowing his pace to get a better look at the person, he began to equate the meaning of the initial iceberg theory to the new forming one. 

The iceberg sat in the physic ocean, the collective mesh. The bottom 80% of the iceberg was the inner, the upper 20% the outer. He drew parallels with the triangles in the orb. The inner was the bottom and the outer was the upper triangle. The inner was the main substance that made Lee, Lee. The upper was the mask he put on, the external ego that faced the world. He began to catch his breath from the hard run and was very near the hitchhiker now. Lee stopped with a slight skid and watched.

He noticed a small ember fire next to the hitchhiker that released a small line of smoke into the reeds around him. The hitchhiker was well camouflaged and seemed to be perfectly at ease. Lee finally saw his face, it was wrinkled, tan, and splotted with dark patches, presumably dirt of grease of some sort. He had a white bread and a white air combed back with a tub of hold pomade with high oil content. He looked like an old greaser. His clothes were hobo tidy, which meant he knew how to sew and patch holes in his canvas pants and outer jean jacket. The man was facing away from Lee looking out to his fishing pole and line bobbing in the water. The side of his face had a smirk. The long wetland reeds moved with the wind, his hair and bread did not move.

The rod he was holding looked to be homemade, or more like road made. There was a giant canvas sack on the other side of him near the ember fire. Pots and pans hung from leather straps and the top was open so he could grab blots of hotdog from the inside food pouch. The man reeled in the hook, it was made of a soda can top, he shook his head with a smile and attached the hotdog to the tip of the hook and flung the line back into the water. The turtles down below at the water line  scattered and went to see what the humbug was about. Lee heard the man say, “turtles," and laugh. Lee approached cautiously. 

The man heard the sound of feet coming from behind. The man turned around and spotted Lee walking timidly.

“Are you here to pick me up?” The man asked. Lee stood in place.

“I don't know what you mean,” Lee responded.

He looked down and laughed and said. “All the same.”

“I think you do, don't you see we were supposed to meet like this.” the man said. 

Lee stood there feet planted on the gravel path perplexed. He didn't notice that the path was disappearing and filling in with wild flowers and low green grass with weeds. The man said, “you need some company, one must not travel alone… You can call me Still Tim.”

Lee walked up and was trying to calculate how much Still Tim could carry in that canvas bag. Still Tim dropped the pole next to him and started to dig in the bag, his whole arm disappeared into the dark hole. Then, he pulled out a harmonica.

“As tradition, when I meet a fellow traveler, I like to play them a little welcoming tune. It's going to be a G major.” The harmonica shined and redacted the sun's low light right into Lee's eyes. Still Tim brought it up to his lips and began to play a slow blues line with jazz type inflections. He could articulate the notes with his tongue, he was well practiced by the sounds of it,” Lee thought. 

Once he finished the melodic line he lowered the harmonica from his lips and smiled at Lee.

“Im a jazz protege, a man called Toots’s understudy, I never did learn to whistle though.” Still Tim said. “I think not being able to whistle was why my musical career didn't pan out. You see, back in those days you had to be able to whistle, one talent wasn't enough to hold the crowds.” He put his harmonica back into his bag and closed the top.

“Still no bites, bad time of the day, the afternoon heat makes them lazy, too lazy to even nibble at this tasty bait… here take a seat Lee.” Still Tim moved over and left an open spot of matted down wetland reeds for Lee to join.

“You know me?” asked Lee.

“I know all the names of the friendly travelers I meet, call it fishers intuition. You can say we have been friends for a long time.”

“Well I have never met you before, or at least I don't think I have.

“Not to worry, I'm a great conversationalist, traveling will be no hassle at all.” Still Tim said. He grabbed the pole again and was jiggling it with a light touch.

“What? Where are you going?” Lee said.

“I'm going where you're going, the possibilities are endless… How about we try another fishing spot? I'm starting to get hungry.” Still Tim reeled the line in and broke down the road made pole and put it snuggly into his pack. The matted spot of wetland reeds still open for Lee to sit.

Lee did not sit down, but he began to accept the new companion rather quickly. He was an interesting character for sure, and the blues jazz infused line he played triggered something in Lee. He felt the urge to go right home and pick up the guitar again for he was once a decent jazz guitarist through the high school and college years. Lee watched Still Tim pack in an effortless and efficient manner, the graceful movements made Still Tim  give the aura of “he knows what he is doing and is damn happy to be doing it.”

The surroundings started to change. Lee, transfixed on Still Tim, didn't notice that the Reserve was morphing. The gravel road was completely transformed into untouched forest/wedland ground. Bushes sprung up and engulfed the two of them, the trees in the back drop were much higher and more filled in with deep green leaves. 

The Reserve was coming alive, the autumn turned back into summer. The sky was a deep blue, it was so blue it almost looked purple, the sounds of the highway faded and the tall buildings lounging overhead began to recede and disappear. Still Tim signaled to Lee that he was ready to set out back into the vibrant foliage. 

Lee had a strong tinge of anxiety, he felt the lack of control when he finally looked up and swung his head around in every direction. Still Tim passed him, Lee smelled a whiff of high oil pomade and smokey body order.

“Ya know, im getting hungry too.” Lee said. He did not want to be left alone, wherever he was. Still Tim turned around and shot a smile at Lee.

“Good, let's skip the fishing. Now that I have company I know a better spot nearby, follow me.” He said.

With fast feet, Still Tim ran towards a wall of thick weeds, trees, and thorn bushes. Still Tim made a samurai yell and karate chopped the brush with his bare hands and made a small opening where he flung his bag into and dove head first. There was silence for a moment, then Still Tim peaked his head out and said, “ONWARD.” He pulled his head back into the darkness and Lee followed.

Lee caught up with Tim in the dense forest and stayed a few feet behind him as he hacked and yelled. 

“Let's head to the prairie, that's where we should find something to eat.” Tim yelled back, his breath was heavy.

“I just came from there, on my running route, right when I entered the Reserve grounds.” Lee said. He narrowed his arms and shoulders to avoid the side swiping of thorny branches, he had to take large steps of stumps and tree roots buried in thick layers of moist moss. Then, Still Tim stops suddenly, he locks his arms in a karata stance and points a finger into the air. He tilts his head back and sniffs 3 times, smacks his lips and sniffs again.

“I smell stew.”

“What now?”

“Dont worry Lee, my nose is my guide, I never need a map, a hitchhiker's intuition.” Still Tim turned around and smiled.

Still Tim stepped quickly and changed course. For a second Lee thought he lost him in the thicket but was able to follow the sounds of intense vegetation rustling. From a short distance muted by green mass Lee heard, “Well, you coming or not?”

On and on through the untouched forest. Lee finally realized that he was a long way from home. Everything changed when he found Still Tim. He was transported somewhere…through the boundless void and ended up in some alternative timeline. Lee entered into a simple time where mankind did not sway the pendulum of balance and was now one with the inner workings of the natural world clamped down by cosmic laws.

With Still Tim's arms cut up and soaked in tree sap, the thicket was beginning to clear. Still Tim was grunting and yelling less now, he didn't need to chop as much. Finally an opening appeared, there was a light at the end of the forest tunnel. Still Tim bulldozed into a clearing with Lee behind. The clearing was beautiful. Low green grass not heat drenched and starved of moisture. It looked like it was recently synthed given by the arch patterns. The prairie grass was tall and surrounded the clearing. Up ahead, Lee spotted thin lines of smoke dissipating into the deep blue sky. 

The sun still hung low creating deep long shadows skewing his depth perception. They both walked and went over a mound blocking the sight of tan tents scattered all about the lower valley. There were even small shops with tables full of handmade goods. Lee never breathed air so fresh. The air was so pure it melted all fear and discomfort from him. He felt like he was home, like he was meant to be here. 

The two walked down the small low grass mound and approached the scores of tents and people dressed in 1900’s wear. Lee saw where the line of smoke was coming from, a kitchen tent with a giant cauldron he could guess was full with the smell Still Tim blood hounded back in the woods. The area was a bonafide gypsy landing, a bohemian settlement that contained the souls of travelers old and young. 

Settlers emerged from the tent flaps with a shroud of smoke around them from the cooking stove inside. Lee saw the shimmers of heat from the tops of the metal tin canned chimneys. Small children dashed underneath the couples legs and drove out into the open prairie fields laughing and playing, they barely had any clothes on. Their mothers and fathers conversed and watched as the children disappeared within the grass. The little boys and girls found insects and big frogs resting in the low brush. Grasshoppers were hopping out of the prairie grass onto the children's skin, they would laugh and try to grab at the little hoppers pinching the skin leaving red marks. The children screamed and sent a messenger to grab a glass mason jar from inside the tent, the little boy would run back out, jar in hand trying to uncap the lid.

There were a few groups lounging by the tent shops. Lee didn't know why they had items laid out, “who was going to buy them,” he wondered. The canvas awning provided them shade from the harsh sun in the afternoon, now it was casting a long shadow to the east. The smell of strew drove Still Tim quicker into the settlement.

“See?” Still Tim said as he turned around again to smile. “What did I tell you, the nose never fails. When a man is hungry all he needs to do is point his nose up in the wind and wait for a sign.”

Still Tim was now mingling with the tent folk while Lee hanged back in the low grass to observe more. Lee noticed another group of five, 2 women and 3 men sitting on a church pew behind the shopping tent. They had an assortment of string instruments, likely hand made. Lee could spot a fiddle, a double bass, cigar box guitar, a bigger cigar box guitar (a tenor) and a small mandolin contraption. The band of five had old time felt and leather hats with feathers and pins sticking out of the top. They tuned their instruments, one on the far left stood up and grabbed the double bass laying on the ground and whistled a tuning note. 

The rest sat and placed hands and fingers in the playing position. Simultaneously, they busted out a fast strumming tune. The band locked in immediately and started to harmonize on a folkish bluegrass jig. They started to sing of the road and the lovely wild flowers from the old land they must have came from. It was quite energetic and soon the children emerged from the prairie grass with jars full of hoppers and ran over and circled the band and danced with happy feet in random kid-like over-stimulated movements. The parents didn't move from the tents, they only tapped their hands and feet and seemed content just standing and watching radiating love towards the children.

“Ah, now this is a jig I can get with, no jazz…but the spirit of music is alive and well.” Still Tim said as he walked towards Lee.

“It's great Tim, I can call you Tim, right?”

“Why of course my friend, you may call me anything you like.”

Lee began to feel the percussion and beat in the strumming strings. The double bass player acted as the beat keeper, he banged the fret board and body of the instrument. The guitar and tenor guitar, both fine looking ladies played the middle frequency chords while the fiddle and mandolin embarked on a major melody. It swung and moved with the wind like the prairie grass behind them, it seemed like the wetlands and forest trees poured their energies into the band's nimble fingers. Lee felt a strong surge of joy and euphoria. He started to oscillate and move his feet as he walked with Tim over to the stew pot. Tim saw Lee walk in a funny new way and began to laugh. Lee didn't care and began to move more in sync with the band's melody.

“Okay Calyspo, keep moving, I’m starving, and by the looks of it so are you, you're dancing like you're delirious.” Tim said.

The people in the town didn't pay much attention to them, they only nodded as they passed their tents. Tim reached the stew pot spoon as Lee danced behind him. Suddenly, a  young woman in a long blue skirt and wavy top covering her bosom ran over from the shop tents to help Tim pour stew. Lee could feel his feet warm from the coals underneath the cauldron.

“Why, thank you miss.” Tim said gleefully. “What's your name?”

“My name is Jenna, how do you do? I can tell you boys are hungry, did you travel long?” Jenna said as she grabbed wooden carved bowls sitting on stone next to the black pot. Tim's mouth began to water and Lee danced right up to Jenna. The musicians in the background were on the last chorus and winding down, they were ready to settle the beat to a rest. Lee almost danced into Jenna.

“Hey there…do you want some?” Jenna asked, looking deep into Lee's eyes. Lee didn't respond back immediately, her face stunned him, she was beautiful.

“Ah, uh, yes…I'm pretty hungry.” Lee muttered. In a flash Jenna grabbed another bowl and popped open the pot, turned the stew with the spoon and lifted a big heaping pile right into the bowl. It steamed and smelled rich and fatty. Jenna closed the pot and shoved the bowl right into Lee's chest.

"There are a lot of good rabbits, cabbage, carrots and potatoes in there.” Jenna said. She looked proudly at both Lee and Tim, proud in being a kind stranger to the strangers. Lee noted that Jenna must have been master of the pot, the kitchen lead that feeds the entire bohemian community in the prairie field valley.

“That will give you the strength you need, both of you own me your names.” she asked.

With mouths full of hot stew almost choking they say their names.

“Mr Tim, Mr Collins, Im Jenna, welcome to my family, you can stay as long as you like, please feel free to take a look at our shops, any funds go a long way for us, think of it as a good cause. We barter, I see you got a big pack on your back Mr Tim… After that stew, how about something to drink?”

Lee perked up, the stew was filling and good, but it made him sweat due the heat and density of vegetables and meat. Jenna turned away and walked back to the shop tents. Tim was next to Lee eating like he hadn't caught a fish in a week, stew was dribbling from the sides of his mouth where his lips made a seal with the wooden bowl rim, drops of stew fell to the soft ground. Ants picked up the scent and sent scouts to assess the potential bounty. 

Jenna returned with two mason jars of yellowish liquid. “Here boys, fresh lemonade, that outa quenches the thirst of any man.” They both dropped the bowls to the ground and grabbed the jars and slammed the liquid down in massive gulps. They let out massive sighs, the kind of sigh where you need to catch as much air to refill your lungs as fast as possible. Jenna looked pleased and smiled. She grabbed the bowls and empty jars and ran back over near the cauldron, there was another large tub for dishes, she threw them in.

“Amazing, one of the best meals in a long time,” Tim said. Jenna was walking back over once again and said, “You're very welcome, we saw you come from the brush over yonder, did you travel far?”

Lee was still confused with the entire predicament he was in, he was encapsulated with the environment and energy of the little bohemian town, it was intoxicating, better than any other drink or drug he used to escape from reality in the other void timeline. Tim was in his element and gladly answered for them.

“Oh ya know, just another lazy hot summer day, I was over by the lake doing some fishing, see…my supplies were running short and I need some sustenance to keep me on my travels…Where I was the day before, and where I'll be the next day, I don't know.” Tim laughed.

“I remembered jiggling my line with a soda can hook with a hotdog on it in the murky water hoping for anything to bite, the birds were keeping a close eye on me to see if I had the secret spot. I nodded off a few times, started to daydream about the trees and how deep their roots went, especially the oak species. I turned into a mole, I was digging deep under the earth to find the end of the root tips. In my mole pack on my back I pulled out a little mole notebook and cataloged my whereabouts and how healthy the tree I was surveying was. The healthy ones had strong unfrayed tips, sharp and strong like a needle point, the others in a different tunnel system were looking rough and frayed. These were by the Reserve's outer rim. I was in and out of this dream, the wind was barely moving anything around, it was dead quiet, I could hear my fishing line break the surface tension of the water. Then, I heard some quick paced footsteps behind deeper in the forest. Someone must have found the path… I wasn't worried, I knew it was a friend, I heard feet slow and come to stop, I turned around and saw my friend Lee. He stood there for a bit, I don't think he was expecting to see anyone else in the wetlands. It looked to me like he was running, strange I thought, was he running from something.” Tim laughed again and smacked the back of Lee, he made out a little cough. Tim continued with Jenna's bright blue eyes gleaming.

“I kept on fishing and Lee approached, we said a few words back and forth and got acquainted like most men do when they first meet each other. I let him know that my stomach was killing me, hungry pain is no joke and fishing was bad this time of day. So like any wise and noble creature like myself, I got up, packed up my gear and went head first into the woods. I didn't know what I would find, but I let fate carry me to you with the help of my nose. My running friend here looked skinny and slightly pale, so we blazed through together to find this little settlement.” Tim paused and looked at his arms and hands and picked under his nails to check the damage done by karate chopping down a path. 

Jenna with her motherly instincts to heal and feed the family took hold of Tim's arms and began to inspect the cuts. Jenna dropped the arms and ran back again to the shop keeper tent and vanished beyond the flaps.

“How many times is she going to go back and forth, should we just go over there to that tent?” Lee asked.

“Let the woman dictate and control what she wants to control. It's rude Lee.” 

Lee blushed a little, slightly embarrassed. He didn't really know any proper etiquette with historic women. As they waited Jenna ran back with a jar of thick clear jelly.

“Here, let's cover you up, it's natural antiseptic.” Jenna said she positioned her body to have more leverage on the jar lid and popped it open. She rubbed Tim’s arms and hands with handfuls of jelly that looked like vaseline. Instantly Lee noticed that beneath the layer of translucent jelly Tim's cuts had begun to heal. Then, only faint white scars were left behind. The jelly soaked quickly into Tim's skin and disappeared. 

“There, all better,” Jenna smiled. Lee looked over at Tim with shock and awe. Tim rubbed his arms feeling the new white bumps from the scars.

“As I was saying,” Tim continued “I saw the clearing up ahead and Lee was tailing reluctantly, I'm sure he was sick of the deep thicket. The damn mosquitoes have been a killer this year, their pokey needle mouths can punch right through my thickest shirt and pants, even the Levis won't stop them. Now, the clearing was right ahead and BAM, we popped right out onto this fine establishment."

Jenna looked pleased and began to wipe down Lee with globs of jelly, Lee didn't mind. He had an instant attraction, she smelled pleasant, natural flower smell with pheromone sweat. 

“That's a fine story, please make yourself at home now, you are our guest, enjoy the music, have more stew if you like, go sit and rest by on the pews yonder, it has a great view and the wetlands and lake.” Jenna said. Lee’s arms soaked in all the jelly, he was healed too.

“Thank you," Lee said with a stutter. The sun's rays shone with horizontal beams piercing through the tree tops, the valley was getting dark. Jenna's long wavy blonde hair looked blue now and the curves and large chest had a dark outline against the light choked backdrop.

“You  heard the lady, LEE, let's go up that hill and get the last glimpse of the sun..” Tim said. He then pointed to a hill top above the valley the opposite they came down and saw wooden church like pews basking in the last bit of sunlight overlooking the Resverve. “Let's talk more, I have something I want to tell you.” 

Tim shot a glance back at Jenna and she ran back to the tent and closed the flaps. As she left, Lee caught the last sight of her with her long skirt fluttering from soft legs underneath, her overall aura overwhelmed him, it was a shock and deep emotion that was buried deep within.

 There seemed to be an importance underneath Tim’s tone. Lee began to reflect on how familiar Tim was, although he looked nothing like anyone he knew. “Maybe he wanted to pass on a few words of wisdom before they parted ways.” Lee knew he wasn't destined to stay here, he had to find his way back somehow.