Feelings, Nothing More Than Feelings

The Cooler: Chapter 14

“How did you know about the last word?” Raul asked.

“I really don’t know,” JJ said.

The two of them were standing at the taxi stand for the Horseshoe. They had walked the others to their cars so that Raul could live up to his title, and then he insisted on walking JJ to the taxi stand.

“But you must know something about magic to know to add that word. You may have convinced the rest that you didn’t know why you said that, but you can’t convince me. You definitely know magic,” Raul said.

“So what time tomorrow and where do you want to meet?” JJ said changing the subject.

The group had decided that Raul and JJ should check on Arnie since neither of them had to work the next day.

“Hmm,” Raul said more about the avoidance by JJ than about the question. “Some where near Arnie’s place, 2 pm?”

“Two o'clock sounds good. How about the lobby bar in Bally's? Wait, what time is it now?” JJ asked, looking around for a clock, forgetting about the watch on his wrist.

“I don’t know. Does that bling on your wrist not work?” Raul asked.

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” JJ said, looking at his watch. “It's a quarter after 6. Let’s make it 3 p.m. so I can get close to a solid eight hours.”

“3 p.m. at the Ballys lobby bar, I will see you there. I’m glad you said six, I am really wiped out after that modified spell you helped with,” Raul said as a cab drove up.

“See you then,” JJ said, getting into the cab again, ignoring Raul's comment.

The drive to JJ's apartment was uneventful with not much happening at 6:15 in the morning.

Walking up to his door, JJ got a view of the full selection of old man pajamas that K-Mart sold. It was just before seven and it seemed that all the apartment complex residents were out on the walkway for the first cigarette of the day while the TVs in the abandoned apartments were blaring the morning wake-up news programs.

“Good morning Roger, nice boxers,” JJ said to his neighbor. He was standing at the railing with his oxygen bottle at his side and a cigarette dangling from his lip.

“Hmm,” Roger said.

“Did you turn off your oxygen?” JJ asked.

“Piss off,” Roger said and then reached down and turned off the bottle.

JJ just shook his head and headed in to try to get some sleep.

* * *

“BEEP BEEP BEEP,” the alarm clock announced its displeasure at being a slave to humanity’s whims.

JJ slapped the off button and looked at the clock. It said 9 am.

“Dammit,” JJ said seeing that he had never changed the alarm.

He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

“BEEP BEEP BEEP” again the alarm clock woke him up this time beeping with a new urgency.

JJ slapped the button again. This time the clock said 10 am.

“How is that possible? I know I turned it off. Well, I guess I can take a hint,” JJ said as he rolled out of bed.

The water for his shower never got warmer than tepid so JJ was in and out of the shower in record time.

Once he got out of the shower, he started to feel anxious and needed to get ready as quickly as possible.

JJ grabbed a t-shirt and jeans and then dug around for some socks that weren’t standing up on their own.

“Come on, there must be some clean socks,” JJ said as his anxiety inexplicably increased. JJ kept looking but the drawer that contained his socks and underwear only contained one pair of underwear.

“Well, I guess no socks today; I guess I’m just lucky I’m not going commando,” JJ said as he headed to the door.

Opening the door, he found his way out, blocked by a refrigerator.

“Dammit, I don’t have time for this,” JJ said, with his anxiety still growing. “I need to go.” JJ banged on the refrigerator.

“Hello, is this going to move anytime soon,” JJ yelled.

“Oh, it’s nosy. The movers will be back soon to move that,” Roger said.

“That's not good; I’ve got to go,” JJ said. He looked at the refrigerator, trying to see if he could move it without damaging it. JJ pushed on it and was able to move it about an inch when it hit the railing behind it. With it moved away from the door a bit, JJ could get his fingers around one side of the refrigerator. JJ braced himself against the doorframe and then tried to pull it a bit to give himself enough room to get out.

“Aghh,” a sudden wave of urgency mixed with grief hit him, almost knocking him down.

JJ took a breath and then went back to trying to move the obstacle. He was able to move it an inch, and now he could get his whole hand out.

“Sorry about that, we’re moving it now,” JJ heard and then saw a bear-paw of a hand reach in, grabbing the refer. The giant pushed, and now, all of a sudden, JJ’s doorway was clear.

“Thank you,” JJ said as he shoved past the giant that was moonlighting as a furniture mover.

“No problem,” the mover said in a low, rumbling voice that sounded more like rocks tumbling down a hill than a human voice.

JJ quickly ran down the stairs and then headed towards the closest bus stop.

“Where you running to Simon?” JJ heard as he ran by the quickie mart. JJ stopped, leaving a little bit of rubber on the sidewalk, then looked to see who was calling the name Simon.

Turning, JJ saw it was Kawika standing at the payphone that the young entrepreneur normally occupied.

“I’m JJ,” he said to Kawika.

“Yeah, yeah I know that's what you think. I talked to Aku Aku, and she said she finally got to talk to you,” Kawika said.

“Uhm, I need to get going, I need to be somewhere … soon,” JJ said, feeling his anxiousness making itself known.

“What? Do you have to go break a winning streak?” Kawika asked.

“No, I have to go … I actually don’t know what I need to do. Since I woke up this morning, I have had this feeling that I had to be somewhere.” JJ said, bouncing from foot to foot.

“What, do you need to find a bathroom? It looks like you are doing the pee pee dance,” Kawika said.

JJ just looked at him, ignoring his immaturity.

“Did you miss an appointment?” Kawika asked, seeing that JJ was not in a joking mood.

“No, it's not like that; it’s a feeling somewhere between my heart and my stomach. It’s almost like the feeling you get when you answer the phone and hear that a loved one is in the emergency room,” JJ said, trying to understand what he was feeling and why.

“Hmm, that sounds like there is some kind of psychic connection. I wouldn’t ignore it. You know what? I found you so that I could help you get Peter to Aku Aku; maybe I can help you figure out what that feeling is.” Kawika said.

“I get the feeling you’ve heard of this before. Can we go? I really need to move,” JJ said.

“Yes, we can go,” Kawika said, pushing himself off the wall. “Alright, where do we go? Think about a direction and see if the feeling changes.”

“Should I close my eyes?” JJ asked.

“That might help,” Kawika said.

“Ok,” JJ said and then closed his eyes. “North, no difference. South, hmm, no difference. East, west. Hmm, none of them seem to make a difference. Do you think I need to know which way they are? I don’t actually know which way is which.”

A deep rumbling sound came from Kawika; JJ started to get nervous and then realized he was laughing. “Yeah, that would be helpful,” Kawika said after he had his laughter under control. “Ok, then we’ll do this another way. Two things are causing your anxiety. The first is you are concerned about an incident at a location,” Kawika said.

“Why do you say that?” JJ said, interrupting him. “How long is this going to take? I really need to go,” JJ asked.

“You will go as soon as you figure out the direction. If you run off in the wrong direction, that will just slow you down. Ok, close your eyes and imagine running from here towards the strip, which is west, by the way,” Kawika said.

“Ok,” JJ said as he turned towards the west, looking up Sierra Vista Drive. He closed his eyes and tried to see if anything changed.

“Wow, that is incredible. It's like I’m going to explode if I don’t start running right now,” JJ said.

“Ok, then turn around so you are facing the opposite direction and try it again,” Kawika said.

“Ok,” JJ said, turning around so that he could face the opposite direction, away from the strip.

“Wow, yes, there is a difference. Now the feeling is bad but not immediate,” JJ said.

“Okay, then the issue is towards the strip,” Kawika said. Now, let's narrow it down. Turn so that you are facing south, away from the Quickie Mart.”

JJ turned and tried it. “It feels the same as the last direction,” JJ said.

“Alright, turn around and do it one last time,” Kawika said.

“It feels the same as towards the strip. I need to go now, ” JJ said, shaking his hands and shuffling his feet.

“Ok,” Kawika said, and then reached down and put his hand on JJ's shoulder. Suddenly, Kawika was close to seven feet tall and covered in muscles. “We have a direction. Let's get going.”

JJ just stood there looking at him.

“I thought you needed to move,” Kawika said.

“Uhh,” JJ shook himself. “Yeah, we need to go,” JJ said. “Are you going to carry me?”

“Oh, sorry about that,” Kawika said, and then he was back to his normal size. I got excited.”

“Well, I’m glad I have you at my back,” JJ said.

“Hey, can we get a ride?” JJ said to a cab driver who was just coming out of the Quickie Mart with a giant cup of soda.

“Yep, is the other person in the store?” The driver asked.

JJ turned to talk to Kawika, but no one was there. “Uh, no. I guess he changed his mind,” JJ said, turning back to the driver.

“So where are we going?” The driver asked.

“Tell him the strip and Spring Mountain Road,” JJ heard Kawika’s voice.

“Uhm, Desert Inn and the strip,” JJ said.

“Ok, hop in,” the driver said and got into the cab.

* * *

“Here you go,” the driver said, stopping the cab at the corner.

“Thanks for the ride,” JJ said, handing the driver the fee and a good tip.

“Thank you!” the driver exclaimed, seeing the size of the tip. “Good luck.”

“It's amazing to me that Vegas residents would give away your power so easily,” Kawika said to JJ. He was now standing on the curb next to JJ when he finished extracting himself from the car.

“Do you mean saying good luck?” JJ said.

“Thank you,” Kawika said with the gift of wild magic. “You guys give away wild magic so easily.”

“Well, I didn’t know saying good lu …” JJ stopped himself. “I mean saying that meant anything until recently.” JJ started shuffling his feet again in response to the urgent need to move. ”Let's get going,” JJ said.

“Alright, let’s find out where we are going. Do the same thing again, as we did at the quickie mart.” Kawika said.

“Ok, just a minute,” JJ said and then closed his eyes to figure out which direction they should go. “I can’t tell for sure if it's up the strip towards downtown or down the strip, towards the airport.”

“Alright, let’s go down the strip a block and see if it changes,” Kawika said.

“Alright, that sounds good,” JJ said and then was about to step out onto the street when Kawika stopped him with an iron grip on his shoulder,

“Hold on there, hot rod. Let's not become another statistic,” Kawika said, holding JJ by his collar, as a car roared by. JJ let him pull him back to the curb, and then they went to the crosswalk and waited for the light.

JJ started to think about his different times waiting at this light and how he met Peter for the first time just a block north of here.

“I thought you wanted to go,” Kawika said, interrupting JJ’s thoughts.

“What! Oh yeah, I was just lost in my thoughts,” JJ said.

“Hmm, what were you thinking about,” Kawika asked as he stepped off the curb next to JJ.

“About the first time I met that crazy guy, Peter,” JJ said.

“Oh yeah, your apprentice,” Kawika said.

“You’ll have to tell me how you know so much about the guy you claim I was,” JJ said.

“Yes, another time,” Kawika said.

They walked about half a block when JJ said, “It doesn’t seem like we are going the right direction.”

“There must have been something that drew you this way,” Kawika said.

“Yeah, I think I was thinking about Arnie. How does this feeling thing work?” JJ asked after he stopped to catch his breath and clear his head.

“Well, I think you are having a premonition about a person. You said that you started thinking about your apprentice,” Kawika said.

“You mean that crazy guy? Yes, I was thinking about him, but I met him after I left Arnie’s place,” JJ said.

“But who did you think about first?” Kawika asked.

“The crazy guy, Peter,” JJ said. “Ahh,” JJ yelled in obvious distress. “It's worse. We need to go now!” JJ turned around and started to run. After saying Peter’s name, his anxiety became sharp and clear. He knew now that whatever was happening was happening in the opposite direction that they had been walking.

JJ stopped running for a moment. “Wow, that was weird. I suddenly had a clear vision of my car catching fire,” JJ said, and then turned around to see what Kawika could tell him. But the only people around him were tourists trying to shove by him.

“Ok I guess I’m on my own,” JJ said to himself.

“You’re never alone,” a random stranger said to him as he walked by.

“Uhm, ok,” JJ said in response, and then started walking as quickly as he could without knocking anyone down.

He was now headed for the back parking lot at the Big Top Casino. Kawika had made a big deal about his random thoughts about the crazy guy, and now that he had a vision of his car, whatever was happening must be at the Big Top.

Seeing how long it was going to take to get to the Big Top, he stopped and looked to see if he could get a cab. A few were passing with the available light on, but none of them stopped.

“They won’t stop on the strip,” a guy trying to hand out the stripper cards said.

“What, why not?” JJ asked.

“The cab drivers have been told not to stop on the strip because there have been too many robberies. You’ll have to go to one of the hotel cab stands,” the guy said.

Hearing that, JJ headed across the street to the Desert Inn where he could get a cab at the front instead of having to go around to the back like he would have to do at most of the other casinos.

There was no line at the taxi stand, and JJ was able to walk right up and get a cab.

“Where to?” The driver asked as JJ got in.

“Uhm Big Top,” JJ said.

“Ok,” the driver responded and then looked at JJ again. “Hmm,” the driver verbalized his expectations for a miniscule tip.

“Actually, can you make it the back parking lot of Big Top,” JJ said as the driver put the transmission in drive.

“Yep, that will make it easier. I can take some back streets,” the driver enthusiastically said, referring to the change in destination. Taking the back streets would mean he could get back in line at a taxi stand and get a better-paying fare.

JJ sat back and tried to not think about his need to get to the parking lot. He was shaking his legs to try and keep his need to move under control.

The drive down Industrial Road was normal, not fast, but faster than the strip.

“So do you ever drive the strip with your fares?” JJ said trying to distract himself.

“I usually take the strip, most fares want to see the lights and sights. They all want to see the volcano,” the driver said.

“They seem to be adding something new every month,” JJ said.

“Yep, there’s always something new all the time. Every person I pick up wants to drive the strip even when they had just been here,” the driver said.

JJ went back to watching the collection of strip joints and liquor stores go by. Watching the people, it looked like a person could go from the strip joint to the liquor store and then have a date from one of the women on the corner.

“Woah, this is not looking good. I might have to drop you off here,” the driver said after seeing a fire truck blocking the road along with at least one ambulance and a collection of police cars. They were stopped at Koval and Industrial.

“Ok,” JJ said, not really hearing what the driver said. “I’ll get out here,” JJ said, already opening the door and shoving more than enough money through the pass-through.

“Thanks,” the driver said and was off to take his next fare.

JJ started walking but quickly started running to see what was happening. A wall ran along the Big Top side of Koval so JJ couldn’t see anything happening in the parking lot. Once JJ crossed Koval and was clear of the wall, he stopped so that he didn’t run into the line of fire. JJ could see a few cops talking to a few people, probably taking statements. At the edge of the parking lot were a couple of paramedics loading a person onto a gurney. Looking JJ could see that it was Peter who was getting tended to. JJ started running towards the paramedics before he knew what he was doing.

“Stop,” JJ heard authoritative voices yelling. He ignored them and kept running until he felt a truck in a police uniform hit him and smash him to the ground.

“Don’t move, stay down,” an officer with a weapon drawn was yelling above him.

“I need to see him,” JJ was yelling.

The Mac truck that had flattened JJ cuffed him and then pulled him up so that he was sitting on a curb with his hands cuffed behind him.

“I need to see him,” JJ said.

The two officers who had taken down JJ were standing a few feet away, talking, completely ignoring JJ’s pleas.

“Come on, I need to see if he’s okay,” JJ tried again. Seeing that he was getting nowhere, he tried to get up. He scooted his feet back so that he had the curb against his heels and then tried standing up. He got his backside a few inches up when he lost his balance and fell forward, with his face stopping his forward motion when it came in contact with the asphalt.

“Ouch,” JJ said to express his displeasure with gravity.

“Well, I see you won’t be joining the Mystere show,” the big cop said as he picked JJ back up and put him again on the curb. The other officer just shook his head and then headed off to join a group of four officers who looked like they were wrapping up the festivities.

“So were you, one of the two who attacked the bum?” The cop asked.

“No, he’s my, uhm, well, I know him, I wouldn’t hurt him,” JJ protested. “Please, I need to see him. I need to make sure he’s okay.”

The cop looked at him again and then bent down and stood JJ up by pulling him up with the cuffs. He reached into his shirt pocket and took out a small set of keys.

“Okay, I’ll let you go, you obviously are just stupid and not involved with the assault. You need to remember to obey when an officer commands you,” he said, removing the cuffs. “Once you talk to him, you need to leave, or I will arrest you for trespassing.”

“Yes sir,” JJ said rubbing his wrists to soothe the pain that had been caused by the officer pulling him up.

JJ ran over to the ambulance where the paramedics were loading Peter into the back.

“Wait, I need to see if he’s ok,” JJ said to them.

“He won’t talk to you, he won’t talk to anyone,” one of the paramedics said.

“What!! He was killed?!?” JJ exclaimed.

“No he’s just unconscious,” the paramedic said with a bit of mischief on his face.

“Ohh,” JJ said with relief. “Where are you taking him?”

“UMC, he's obviously indigent so they will patch him up there. You should be able to talk to him tomorrow,” the paramedic said.

“Can I go with you?” JJ asked, remembering how in some cop shows, family members of the victim will ride along in the ambulance..

“No, we are not a cab company,” the paramedic said as he finished getting Peter ready to be loaded in.

“Well why can’t I see him today?” JJ asked.

“The emergency room is very busy today and they won’t have a room for him until tonight or tomorrow,” the paramedic said, then closed the door after his partner climbed in the back.

JJ just stood there watching the ambulance drive away. “Well, I guess I have a few hours …” he started to say when his pager interrupted him.