L.A. Trippin’

On the worn sofa in front of the turned off TV-set, amidst tons of trash and rubble from so many a lonely movie-night, Louis and Sarge were discussing their plans. From what I could tell they had slightly different opinions about how to proceed.
Louis, hanging in the cushions, seemed to be taking things easier, whereas Sarge was proposing the immediate hit and run. He looked as if he was right in the middle of the action – and enjoying it! The old springs were protesting loudly under his hopping and shadowboxing some invisible enemy. Louis wasn’t too impressed. He had Sarge’s wig turning 33rpm on his middlefinger.
“But hit where and whom?” , I asked desperately. “Do we know where and how to look for these guys? We cannot just travel to L.A. expecting them to give us a warm hello, if ever we would be so lucky as to find them. Are we looking for two fat Russians sharing their apartment with kidnapped virgin priests or are we looking for a huge organization? Are the Russian quadruplets just the tip of the iceberg?  How do we describe them if we ask people for directions? Dear Lady, have you recently seen a big fat man wearing an Armani suit pulling a girl along?! She’d call the police. Literally tons of fat guys must be straying the city. I mean, aren’t we maybe overestimating ourselves a little? Look at us: you two are experienced, but the rest? Four youths, a kid and an ever-quoting freak. I mean, get real!”
I’d gone too far.
Sarge thundered: “Now listen to me, kid. And listen carefully ‘cause I won’t say this again.
“You’ve never been in the army. You know nothing about hunting down the enemy and you know nothing about me. I won’t tell you my life-story now, ‘cause then I would still be talking two days from now. But believe me, son, if I’m telling you that I will find these guys - just a little reminder: it was you who asked us to help you out, not the other way ‘round - then I’m gonna keep my word. I have my own methods of finding lost people and so far I’ve found every single soul I was looking for. Period. And I’ll find these suckers too! And while we’re at it, one last thing about Quote. Because of his damaged brain he sometimes might give you the impression of being a retard, but when it comes to trusting and relying on someone, Quote will forever be my first choice. He’s never let me down and we go back a long time.”
I was impressed. An hour or so ago, I wouldn’t have believed shit if anybody’d told me I would voluntarily follow this guy on a chase through L.A. But after his speech here, I was quite convinced he could deal with any situation, any enemy – even without the firepower.

I’ll never forget what happened next. It’s something I’ll probably still be telling my grandchildren in sixty years during long winter nights. A little hard to describe, because the three of us are still not quite sure about what exactly it was we experienced in the room. Later, as I asked the others in the floor if they had seen or heard anything, it was as if that timeline was stolen from them, as if their watches had stopped ticking for these few minutes.
So here’s the story: Remember when I first met Wild Cloud, how I suddenly had this cold chill caressing my face? Well, here it was again. Though this time I didn’t hear no whisper, I simply knew that for a short moment he’d been standing next to me, waiting. Then suddenly the room turned dark and with a huge bang the double doors broke open.
An entree fitting for Batman or the Joker, right?
Wrong! Guess who entered the room? Tiko, clad in a tiny loincloth and his face and torso covered with warrior paint. Now I know this sounds very close to crap and you probably think  I’m making things up to get a juicy story, but I swear I’m telling the truth and nothing but.
Louis said: “Damon, pinch me so that I know this is for real.”
He was back, and what an appearance he made! No need for super-freaks. We had Tiko. He just stood there, with both his arms folded over his tiny chest. My first thought was, Oh Tiko, thank God you’re back from the dead – man, was I in for some surprise!
Putting up a dark thundering voice he said: “Damon my son, we already met, so if you don’t mind I’ll just introduce myself to the others.
“My name is Wild Cloud,” he said, bowing slightly. “I’m Tiko’s father. To better be able to make my point, I slipped into my son’s body here, to tell you what I found out about those guys you’re after.”
Sarge took hold of Louis’ arm.
“My friend Damon can explain things later. For the sake of Tiko, who’s still weakened by what these people did to him, I’ll have to make my stay a short one.”
I didn’t understand shit!!! Damn, how should I explain the freak-show? This was Tiko, Wild Cloud and who knows what else all in one, right?!
“Louis,” he said while slowly walking over to his son’s friend, “I will forever be in your debt for your helping Tiko.”
He then stepped over to Sarge and while looking him straight in the eyes said: “And you, Sarge, you have been rotting in front of your TV-screen for so long, closing your eyes to the fate of your neighbors. But nevertheless I have to grant you my deepest respect. You managed to wake up! I admire your warrior spirit and I completely trust you in settling this matter. The choice of weapons will be yours to make, but I strongly advise you to also listen to your young assistants here. Solving the problem peacefully isn’t such a bad idea. Sure it’s idealistic and maybe it won’t work , but still it’s worth a try. If in need, call me. I’d love to help you out.”
Sarge was flabbergasted. “You’re Tiko, right?”
“As I said, I am and I’m not. Ask Damon, he’ll explain things later. To make this the least harmful for Tiko, I’ll get ahead with what I came to tell you.
“The ones you’re looking for are hiding in a house a little north of L.A., near Venice. It won’t be easy to surprise them on their own grounds, because the place is well guarded. You’re up to approximately ten men, all of them complete idiots except for the two Russians and their watchdogs. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating the guards, though. True, they are stupid, but for a job with little or no risk they’re quite well-paid, which makes them very loyal. If you’ll take away their source of income, though, I guess they’ll run like chicken. The problem is getting to the twins without having to fight the entire gang.”
He had both Louis and Sarge hanging on his lips.
“So here’s my advice: One of the brothers goes mall-shopping once a week. He usually takes the pickup. You can’t miss it. It’s red and has tires large as buffalo. I suggest you nail the guy, put Louis in his place and with Sarge in the back of the truck enter through the gate. Getting past the guards shouldn’t pose that big a problem. They’re continuously staring at their little monitors overseeing the compound. When they see their boss’s car approaching they usually don’t even bother to get up. The camera monitoring the entrance is attached right in the middle of the gate. The truck’s windshield has one of these huge green sun-blocking stripes taped to it from inside. If you pull your hat a little lower, you’ll have a good chance they’ll let you in. They won’t check. They’ll see the car with someone big behind the wheel, so in you go.
„But then comes the difficult part. Usually the brothers meet after every tour. Don’t know why, but they do. When the pick-up arrives at the gate, the guards call the one in the house and tell him his brother is on the way. He gets out and waits at the end of the driveway in front of the house. You only advantage with this guy is that you have surprise on your side. He’s fast and good. You can’t start the action at the gate, you’d attract too much attention, he knows you’re coming - chances are he’ll finish you off. But if you’ll do it my way, you might succeed. I know you are both good shooters, but I think Sarge is faster, that’s why I’d put him in the back of the pickup. Louis is by far the better driver.
“One last thing before I go. Although I told you all I know, there’s still one thing bothering me. Whenever I try to get close to the house, my telepathic sensors get blocked. I don’t know if you understand what I’m talking about and I won’t try to explain. I just think they have someone from the afterlife working for them. Maybe he knows I’m trying to get through, I can’t tell. Whatever he or it is, he definitely is the most powerful of all. I suspect he’s telepathically hovering over the thugs to shield off anyone nosing around. To be honest, I don’t think you can handle him alone, nor can I. I will try to organize a powwow with some of my warriors. We will see what we can do about it. Just rest assured we’ll do everything in our power to take that one out. Either temporarily or for all ages to come. I also suspect him of having tried tampering with your fate. Remember the thunderstorm? I think he’s a shape-shifter capable of changing dimensions and shapes whenever he pleases, which makes him really difficult to trace.
“That’s enough for now. I’ll have to go. I won’t return to you in this form. It takes a huge toll on the other person involved. I thought it better the first time around, though. After all Sarge didn’t know me. I won’t tell you how to do your job, I just thought my scouting might come in handy. Don’t worry about contacting me, I’ll be in touch.”

Just like that, he was gone. Well, sort of. Tiko fell to the ground with a bang.
I jumped over to see if I could help, but he just looked up and grinned: “Isn’t my Dad wonderful?”
I held his head as he closed his eyes again, falling into oblivion.
“What was that?” asked Sarge, almost a little insecure.
“That was Tiko’s Dad, Wild Cloud, or better, his ghost - he’s been dead for a while” , Louis said. He picked up Tiko and put him on the sofa. “He visits his son from time to time to help him out. He did us a great service checking on the whereabouts of the Russians, don’t you think? How about you and me taking a look at some maps of the L.A. area, Sarge?”
Sarge watched us as if we would be coming straight from Mars.
“Now just hold it there,” he said. “I’m just a simple guy and by Jove I’m quite used to soldiering and fighting all kinds of enemies, as far as they’re human, but I won’t be dealing with any freaks or zombies from the afterlife, you hear?”
“Don’t worry Sarge,” I said. “You can leave that up to us, we’ve already gotten used to that. But let’s first inform the others about what went on in here. Maybe all the noise got them worried.”
From that moment on Sarge respected us. Don’t ask me for the why and how, maybe  he feared things might start growing way out over his head. Maybe he just didn’t like zombies and such and hoped we did.
But before I could even open the door to tell my friends the good news, Quote walked in  saying: “Sin is behovely, but all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well, Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, end of the 14th century.”
“You must have thought the Gods came calling,” I said.
“Go to where the silence is and say something, Amy Goodman in the Columbia Journalism Review, March/April 1994.”
“Silence? Now that’s what I call an understatement.”
“Vhat werre you doing in therre?” Nudjia asked. “The moment you enterred that rroom it was as if time stoot still. Even ourr vatches stopped ticking!”
While Louis took care of Quote I informed the others about what happened.
“My my, this magic-stuff sure is getting to your head, bro’ “, Lucy said.
“No Lucy,” Mark said. „I believe him. I think Damon’s telling the truth. Why should he be making things up?  First of all there is no other way to explain what happened in there and second, it wasn’t just him and Wild Cloud in the room. I mean they weren’t alone. If you don’t believe him simply ask the others.”
She didn’t like it, Mark taking my side, I could tell. Maybe she was just jealous, maybe she realized I was starting to make my own way, not waiting for her to take the lead. What ever it was, I couldn’t be stopped. Lucy, Mark and Nudjia went outside to get some air while Louis, Sarge and Quote had begun working on the different maps of L.A.
I needed time to be alone, to think things over, so I decided to walk over to the back of the house. Something Wild Cloud had said still bothered me. What or who could be trying to stop us? He’d mentioned the thunderstorm. Yeah, that sure was spooky. But what else? Could it also have caused the trouble in the tub? No, that’s bullshit. I’d been so tired I probably just reacted a bit more sensitive to whatever the cultists had put into the water. Still, this didn’t feel good at all. I wished Wild Cloud had told us more so that we’d be better prepared the next time around.
Too many thoughts spinning in my head …
For the moment I had enough of people. I wanted to calm down a bit so I started walking to the back of the house. I’d almost arrived at the door leading into the back garden. It was next to the last intact room on the ground floor. Just a few more steps through the corridor. Already the wooden planks started to give way to my weight – it almost felt like walking on water. My God, what a rotten place this was. To avoid breaking through the planks I kept to the wall. One more step and I was finally able to grab the handle. I pushed it down, the door opened and of all things I found myself standing in a junkyard. Its garden days were long gone. I looked up. Such a beautiful day. A bright blue sky with just a few scattered clouds.
From back here the house looked even worse than up front.  All the rubble from the torn down half still lay around. A lonely old tree watched over the mess. Someone had created a huge pile of rubble at its foot and draped a red blanket over it. Judging from the two huge books lying closeby - ‘Famous Quotations of the 20th Century. Part 1 and 2’ - it was a second resting place for Quote. Once he got lost inside the giant volumes he probably didn’t notice the mess. I looked up again, at the leaves and the sky. The clouds floating by gave me back my calmth. Then I looked at the house, the torn walls, the rubble. What a magnificent home it once must have been. Shame on those who had let it come apart.
I decided to get back upfront. The rubble distracted me too much. As I went back inside I tried closing the door, but a hinge had unfastened so I couldn’t. Probably didn’t matter. As I walked back over I already could make out the others talking. They were still guessing what it was that had payed us the visit in the living room. Maybe because they hadn’t witnessed anything firsthand, speculating about the who and how became more and more intriguing. Tiko, the only one who had actually taken part in the event – what do I say, he’d been the star of the show, stayed silent.
Could it be that us three had temporarily visited an alternate universe, as in Star Trek. Or had Wild Cloud taken us into the land of the dead? Probably not. That’s only for books like ‘The Anubis Gates’ by Tim Powers. A great book, I tell you. If ever you can get a grip on a copy, buy it, you won’t be disappointed, I swear.
Anyway, I was torn back into reality by the sight of Nudjia, relaxing in the hammock, her soft belly rising and falling with life. Lucy and Mark were trying to complete a stack of cards which lay scattered all over the place. I went over to see if I could be of any help, but Lucy made a sign of ‘no, thanks’. She wanted to be left alone, probably still a little shy because of the ghosts and all.
It was too late to pull back now. Although initially she’d been the one who’d come up with the idea of quitting Midville, she’d of course never dreamed of living through anything even remotely similar to this. In the beginning she’d been the driving force, but since she was with Mark, she focussed more on him and their friendship – which is only logical. But still, I think she’d grown a bit unsure as she realized I started to make my own decisions. Not that she was unhappy with the situation. On the contrary, I think she was totally fulfilled with Mark. But it looked as if some kind of fight was taking place inside her. On the one hand independence and action and on the other one love, happiness and devotion. I don’t necessarily think these two opposites, but I think my sister did. Maybe with time she’d combine everything into a wonderful new Lucy.