A Stamp To Mail My Mind Away Chapter 5 (C) 2022

Disclaimer: the story about Elvis and BB King are fiction.

              5.

 “Anyway, Elvis and BB did a concert at a bar that overlooked The Singing River. If you don’t know, Native Americans haunt the river. These Native Americans walked into the river and drowned themselves, rather than be forced to take on the white man’s ways.            

  Whites that had wanted to change them. Whites that wanted to enslave them. On this particular night the veil separating the living and the spirit world was non existent. Elvis and BB King were jamming together as a mysterious fog lingered over the river. Every few seconds after that Elvis thought he saw some one walking toward him in the fog. This lasted for about five minutes. Then Elvis looked at BB. Then he looked at the crowd cheering. Then he saw the man in the crowd. The man appeared to be European. He had long red hair. Had on a velvet colored cape that attached to a hood. There was this strange gold necklace. There a face on the necklace that could be seen from far away. As one got closer to examine, it looked more like a ram with human facial features and huge horns. The face was hypnotizing. About an hour later, Elvis was at the bar slowly sipping what he called a Hunk of Burning Love.”

 

“I got your hunk of burning love,” Peter interrupted. Then they all turned around and stared at him in disgust. Especially Sam.

 

“Dude, not cool,” Jude said.

 

Mammie continued, “The European came to Elvis’s table. Elvis had a buzz. BB sat on the other side of the table. “Do you see anything out there?” Elvis asked BB.

“I see a lot of fog,” BB replied.

 

“Certain people are only destined to see certain things,” The European man said. He had a thick groaning type of accent. The outdoor lights of the bar beamed on the face on the necklace. Made it look like it was glowing. It was almost blinding.

 

“Well, hello friend,” Elvis said warmly. Then motioned with his hand for the European to join them.

 

The European ordered shot after shot. In three hours, the European convinced Elvis and BB to take him back to a vacation townhouse. The townhouse that the manager had for Elvis and BB.  That house was this place.

 

There was also a lady of the night with them…”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“They’ll probably piss test me immediately. Take me to the store, I need some beer,” he ordered Carlton. He still had twenty dollars that his grandmother gave him.

 

Back in the good ole days you could buy a six pack of beer and a pack of Marlboros for five dollars.

 

Halfway through with his second Red Dog beer, he saw a black dog run across the road. Carlton had to veer over to avoid hitting the dog. Carlton continued to sing along with Verve. He found it strange that he had read inside the bottle’s cap “Follow the Dog.”

 

Carlton took a right off of the highway. Pulled into a parking lot of an apartment complex. Carlton sings till the end of the song, then turns the car off. He suddenly noticed everything was going in super slow motion. He didn’t ponder it too much. Just figured he had a contact buzz. Few seconds later, he started to worry. “Will a contact buzz show in a piss test?” Then he heard the trunk slam. Carlton had his acoustic guitar. He was stuck. Couldn’t seem to move out of the car. Then he wondered, “Why was the dog in the road? Was this a sign from God?”

 

“Dude you coming?” Carlton asked.

 

Inside the apartment 101 was Carlton’s friend Hilly. He had on Pink Floyd’s “Ummagumma” playing loud on an old record player. There were beads hanging as curtains at the end of the short hallway, that led to the den.

 

“Hey Jessica,” Carlton greeted Hilly’s girlfriend. She had on large hot pink sunglasses on. Her wild reddish blond curly hair went all the way to her shoulders to her low cut shirt. The style reminded him of Janis Joplin.

 

“Hey love,” she replied not diverting from a sketch she was working on.  

 

“Yea, one of the perks, of being a Lady of The Night, is the opportunity to meet all types of celebrities…”

 

“Oh shit,” Peter interrupted again. And again they looked at him condemningly.

Peter replied with a nervous laugh then said, “Yea this is some good stuff. Then he gulped more of the secret formula down.

 

“Save some for us,” Catalina said.

“Dude, you should really slow down on that stuff,” Jude said.

“He’s right, you know,” Mammie added.

“Oh. What is this stuff?” Peter asked. Then she continued, “After passing a joint around,” Mammie paused to take a pull off of a joint that just seemed to materialize from no place. Then she passed it to Sam. Sam looked at her with that concerned chaperone look. He took a toc regardless.

She continued, “They all held hands in the center was that small table on the porch.

The European had placed his strange necklace, with the face up on top of a piece of papyrus paper. On the paper, around the necklace face, were occultic sigils.

 

‘Clear your mind of all thought. Breathe in the power and breathe out your life essence,’ the European instructed. Neither Elvis or BB would have agreed to this, but booze and drugs have a way of influencing people to do things that they normally would not do. The European started saying things in a tongue that I dare not repeat for your personal safety. The European instructed them to hold hands. ‘Now we shall combine our wills.’ He repeated the same words and added a few more of the ancient esoteric tongue. The words created strange sounds around the room. Resembling of the gnashing of teeth, then human crying transformed into wicked laughter. Then came the whispers of the ancient tongue. Thunder shook this…”

 

She was painting some strange landscapes on the walls. On the hard wood floor were throw rugs that had Indian (Native American) designs.

“You got a bathroom?” He asked.

“Down the hallway, to the right,” she replied.

 

A few seconds later, as he opened the door, he heard her say, “Oh you might want to knock. I think Hilly is in there.” Sure enough when he opened the door, he saw Hilly wearing a latex disposable gown and he was wearing industrial strength rubber gloves. He also wore a face mask. There were thick wet papers that dripped a red fluid into the dark red waters of the tub. There was a strange odor. “I’ll be out in a minute!” Hilly yelled. When Hilly saw him, “Oh it is you,” Hilly said. He was fixated on the damp sheets. He noticed countless miniature skulls on the sheets.

 

“That’s done,” Hilly said.

“Dude, I gotta piss,” he said.

“Okay, Hilly said as he dipped another paper sheet into to the red water of the bathtub.

He just pissed. he didn’t think about it any further, as he walked back to the den. In the den he could smell and see the incense burning in holes of a marble skull on the center table. The sound of ceremonial drums combined with reverb and hot pickups from electrical guitars echoes in the room. Hilly’s girlfriend noticed that he was mesmerized. “Oh, oh, I got something really kewl for you,” she said.

 

Passed the joint to Carlton. She then quickly paced into the hallway. Walked passed the bathroom, and went into a bedroom that also had strings of beads as a door.

 

Few seconds later, she came out with a large, shaped globe. She walked back into the den. Set it on the table. “Babe!” She yelled.

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” Hilly replied.

“Grab the extension cord,” she ordered.

 

Few seconds later, Hilly joined us in the den.

“Jessica,” Carlton said then coughed from trying to hold the smoke in for too long. He passed it to her. She took a toc then looked at me playfully. She then plugged the globe into the extension cord. Hilly got up and turned off the lights. “There seems to be a pause in the ‘ummagumma,’” he thought.

 

He was beginning to feel extremely uncomfortable in the silence. It was like the type of silence before a tornado comes. One of those moments of silence when you get a knot in your stomach; an impending doom that is unescapable. One of those silences that you think about your life, and your regrets. You want more time. You ask, you beg for God to save you. A God that is a stranger because you haven’t talked in a while-that’s what some would say.

 

He chained smoked and gulped the rest of the Red Dog beers. He was hoping that inside one of the bottle caps would be a personal message. He tosses one of the bottle caps on the table. It spins a bit. The message is up. But he’s afraid to look at what the message might be.

 

A heavy, dark aria comes.

 

Green, blue, red, and glowing yellow blink rays. Rays that he can strangely taste. Rays coming from the globe.

 

“…room. A glass filled with red wine flew across the room. Hit the door, right over there,” Mammie paused pointing at the door. She continued, “The wine dripped strangely on the door-forming another sigil. A sigil that was a command to send entities into our world; into our dimension. Elvis and BB shared a horrifying vision in their minds. The vision was blood on the cotton of the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta. Then they saw bloody cotton going into the gin mills-it created a monster.

 

‘CLEAR YOUR MINDS!’ The European desperately pleaded. Then they heard hissing, screaming, sobs, the crackling of whips, the sound of ancient tongues, and the sound of the cotton gin.

‘There’s only one way to stop this,’ The Lady of The Night said.

 

She was dressed in clothes that exposed her nudity. She also had a robe on that resembled a burial shroud.

 

They stopped holding hands. The Lady of The Night had a ceremonial dagger gripped tightly in her right hand. In her left she held the chalice that you’re drinking from Peter. Peter’s hands began to shake. “What’s in this?” Peter was beginning to feel the effects. No one took his worried look seriously. Jude looked at his watch, “It’s almost eight. We have to get ready.”

“Okay I’ll speed it up,” Mammie replied. “You know you could continue your story while we’re in the car,” Samuel suggested. “I’ll come to a stopping point,” Mammie said.

“Please do,” Fred added. Mammie continued, “The European then told Elvis and BB ‘There’s a way to end this.’ The European had them convinced he had their best intentions in mind. They were in such misery that they would do anything to make it end. At that point, came a loss of memory. All they felt was a sting, as The Lady of The Night cut open their palms. Then combined their blood together, and poured it into the chalice,” Mammie paused. Peter gulped down the rest of whatever was in the chalice. “That’s all,” Mammie said. “What happens next?”

“You’ll just have to wait and find out.”

 

A dot about the size of a golf ball shined on the ceiling. Directly above the globe. All the other light went away. A sound resembling thunder and a combination of dynamite exploding and a freight train was heard. Then the dot expanded like throwing a pebble into a body of water-it expands into bigger circles.

 

“You know maybe the spiral maybe an illusion. Your past experiences cause emotions. Or do your emotions cause the experiences? Perceptions of getting trapped in the spirals; or cast out by the spirals.” Lights from the globe blinked as more dots formed from the spiral. I soon realized these dots were planets. And the loud explosion was ‘The Big Bang.’

 

I looked around the den, in the darkness interlayer between the light. I saw others around us. The others were shadow figures that only existed in the light.

 

“Come on dude, this is your last night before you go,” Carlton told me. He had the paper that had skulls on small squares. I took one out of his palm. Put it in my mouth, on my tongue. The lysergic acid stung.

 

When did I take the acid?

 

Was it when Carlton picked me up? I think I remember seeing a huge Red Moon hanging very low on the beach highway (Highway 90). As Carlton drove on the road, the wind hurled sand at us. Grains danced on the moon rays illumination, before hitting the windshield. Carlton was smoking a joint. He took a break from singing The Verve songs. Turned his head, “You want some?”

 

“You know I’m heading out in the morning. They’ll probably piss test me first thing. Take me to the store, I need a beer.”

 

He pulled off the road, into a Circle K parking lot. I got a six pack of beer and a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. I remember seeing a black dog across the street. No that couldn’t be right.

 

The globe on the table continued to illuminate the walls and ceiling with an expanding universe. “I’m tripping balls,” I state, as if requesting an explanation. Hilly, his girlfriend and Carlton and just laughed at me. Their laughter morphed. It’s gotta be Carlton’s fault. Maybe he put it in my beer. Naw, I have had my beer in my hand. Hilly then stands up and motions for Carlton to follow him out of the den, and into the kitchen.

 

 It took so much energy for me to stand up. Felt like there were unseen hands on my shoulders restraining me.

 

“Let’s go Peter.”

“Ohh Kay,” Peter was slurring his speech. “ For a moment his legs felt like jelly. “Jelly,” he said. And it’s pretty bad when people talk about you while they are in the same room, instead of talking behind your back.

 

About ten miles “Down the sandy. Going down the sandy highway,” Peter keeps saying over and over. Fred rolled his eyes. His girlfriend, Catalina, squeezed his hand tighter.

“Oh my God. It’s her!” Peter exclaimed. The Rays of The Red Moon, that now seemed to be in the middle of the sky, made the dingy white robe glow around her.

 

Peter was the first to see her walking on the sidewalk of the beach. “Yes indeed,” Mammie replied.

 

They all saw The Woman In White, aka The Lady of The Night. But didn’t feel Peter’s excitement. Merely they used the logic of some lady just so happened to be walking.

 

The unseen hands were maybe some protective Guardian Angel. Let her grip go. I entered into the kitchen anyway. On the kitchen counter Hilly had the sheet of about a hundred tiny skull squares. Carlton and Hilly, both looked at me like I didn’t belong.

 

“We’ll be out in a minute,” Carlton said as he thumbed through a roll of money in his hand.

“Right,” I replied. I lit another cigarette and gulped down the rest of my beer. Then my eyes didn’t seem to be of my own control. My eyes fixated on the dome of the ceiling light. Then I realized, much to my horror, that I was trapped inside of a cube.

 

My eyes were fixated on the television screen. Then it was bright. Blinding bright, like the light that you hear folks talk about when you’re about to die. The floor trembled. My feet. I felt unseen fingers wrap around my ankles. “I can’t move! How am I ever gonna walk to the light if I can’t move!” I yelled. I heard Lil D’s voice. His voice was just a familiar tone with undecipherable words. Or maybe it’s God’s voice! Or the way I’m supposed to hear God’s voice. I smell the walls around me. Smells like orange? The light dims. The walls are plain dingy white. I hear the walls, imprisoning me, breathe. The walls look like bed sheets. The walls are coming closer. I fear the sheets, the walls. “Dude, SNAP OUT OF IT!” Carlton screams. Then I feel the pungent smoke hit my nose.

 

“It’s the FLAMES OF HELL!” I scream before I realize it was just weed smoke. I come out of the cube.

 

I’m on Lil D’s couch. I see the huge screen television. “This movie is a trip, uh?” Lil D’s girlfriend said.

“Right. This movie is called ‘The Cube’ right?” Carlton asked. Then my logics come back to me. In the movie there’s these people inside a cube. The cube becomes a death trap. Sprouting sharp objects out of the walls.

 

“You okay?” Lil D asked as he placed his hand on my shoulder.

“Uh. How did we get here?” I asked.

“In a car. In my car,” Carlton replied.

 

“It started off small and then it got big. Or did it start off big and then go to small. Did I enter the spiral, the universe? Or did the universe enter me?”

 

“What is he going on about?” I could barely hear D’s voice. Sounded like it was echoing in a long tunnel.

 

“Have some orange juice,” D’s girlfriend said. Then she places the full glass in front of me.

“That’s pretty good shit, uh?” Lil D asked as he took out two twenty-dollar bills. I watched Carlton hand him four pieces of the skull paper. Each piece was about the size of half the size of a pinky fingernail.

 

I began to wonder again. When did I take the acid? Maybe I didn’t take it at all. Maybe I’m just crazy. Maybe, I just started going crazy. When I think about it now, years later, I think it was this instant that I began to recognize my mind going against me, “You know they are all right. They all think you’re stupid. You let your parents down. They don’t want you anymore. Kat never could really love you. You don’t deserve love. Your friends only keep you around to remind themselves that they’re not a loser like you. You can’t even join the army now. They’ll know that you took LSD. They are going to do a spinal tap on you. They’ll also do a hair follicle test. It’s all over for you.”

 

“Dude, Snap Out of It!” Carlton screamed at me. We were now in a graveyard.

 

“Jesus, Lord of The Dead,” we said at the same time. I could hear the echo of guitars and keyboards as the red moon shined rays down on the statue of Jesus.

“It’s like God is reaching a hand down on the statue. God’s calling me,” I said as I gripped the door lever.

 

“Where you going?” Carlton asked.

“God’s calling me,” I replied.

“Whatever dude,” Carlton said as he rolled another joint. I stepped out of the Cadillac. My legs felt heavy. Then a dreadful thought came, “What if I’m paralyzed? We must have gotten into a wreck. I’m probably dead now. Why else would I be in a graveyard?” I look back at the car. I’m fifty feet away from the Cadillac. It’s not there. I closed my eyes for a few seconds. Opened my eyes. Then I saw the front of the car dented in. Smoke was coming from beneath the hood. Smoke?

 

“I need a cigarette.” I felt in my pockets. Three cans of Milwaukee’s Best (aka Milwaukee Beast). I remember the traffic being jammed. The red, white, and blue lights seemed to be in a tunnel of the red moon’s glow. I remembered Carlton turning the volume down on the tape deck. Then he casually stubbed the joint out in the ashtray. The cops were probably ten car lengths away. I lifted up my bottle of Red Dog. Took a long sip. Carlton gave me the look and said, “Dude, put the beer down.”

“Right.” Then I put the bottle in between my legs and pulled down my shirt to hide it. I put all the empty bottles underneath the seat. Then I noticed a Red Dog cap on the dash. Inside it read, “Follow.”

 

By the time, we passed the scene of the accident, he started, “You know it’s hard for them to detect this. They’re not going to use those methods of a spinal tap or hair follicles.”

 

I had shaved my head two days earlier.

 

It was one car, a long black Oldsmobile. Its front all crushed in.

 

“Dude, this is our last night. Let’s make the most out of it.”

 

And I didn’t hesitate to take the hit of acid that had a picture of a skull on it.