Brother Willy's Traveling Salvation Show (16 page)

Beth
had a slight grin as she replied. “You ask what is going on. For starters, you would really love to kiss me and you would like to taste and feel my tongue in your mouth. There are several other things on your mind too. What is going on is that your mind is having sex with my mind. Your thoughts and my thoughts are all over each other. That’s what’s going on. In case you don’t believe me, close your eyes and you will know what I want from you.”

The accuracy of her comments was unsettling to say the least.
“I don’t need to close my eyes, but I get a very strong feeling that even though you want something from me, you are afraid to take it, even if I could give it to you.”

Beth
put her hands on his shoulders. “That may be true, but I am far less afraid of you now than I was this morning.”

Scott
was still troubled by his experience. “Do you have mental telepathy or something?”

Beth
shook her head. “I have nothing that you don’t have. You’re the one who just described my ex boyfriend having never seen him or even knowing who he is.”

Scott
was not ready to accept a vague answer. He pulled out his cell phone and handed it to Beth. “I want to see what your ex-boyfriend looks like. I want to know if he is the same person I saw in my mind.”

With no reluctance,
Beth used the phone browser, pulled up his picture on Google, and then handed Scott the phone. After he looked at the picture for a few moments, he looked back at Beth. “You know this is impossible. He looks exactly like I imagined him.”

Beth
was very direct and serious. “You didn’t imagine him Scott. You saw him in my mind and I can’t imagine how because I wasn’t thinking about him at all.”

“Have you always been able to do this sort of thing?”
Scott asked.

“I have no control over it and neither do you. It just happens between certain people. I can’t tell you to think of a number and then tell you what that number
is. In my case, I just get certain thoughts about other people and that’s all. It only happens with a very few people.” She replied.

Scott
tried to think about possible explanations. “When you were so upset this morning on the beach, I hugged you. I felt like I was feeling some of what was going on with you. That’s why I felt so sorry for you. It seems to have gotten stronger all day, but this still doesn’t make any sense.”

“
Do you understand the spiritual connection I was talking about now?”

Scott
looked away as he considered her question. “I know something just happened, but I am a long ways from understanding it.”

Beth
was a little more at peace with the experience. “Tomorrow you will see this in a new light.”

Scott
started to turn to leave when Beth issued a caution. “I would strongly suggest you never discuss what just happened between us with anybody. From experience, I can tell you nobody will believe you and you will end up looking like an idiot.”

“So this h
as happened to you before?” Scott asked.

“It’s not common, but it has happened before. Just like you, I have no explanation for it nor do I fight it.
I’ll see you later on tonight when you least expect to see me.”

When
he got back to the house, Michelle was sitting on the sofa with her feet propped up on the coffee table as she was flipping through a magazine. Scott sat beside her for a moment before they shared a brief kiss. “Did you get our little girl home safely?”

Scott
leaned back on the sofa as he put his arm around Michelle and pulled her closer. “Yes, she is safe at home. I understand you are taking her shopping tomorrow.”

“We are going to spend some quality girl time together.
We’re leaving around nine-thirty and then have an early lunch. I should be back in plenty of time for us to go out on the beach.

Scott
was still thinking about his experience with Beth long after Michelle had gone to sleep.

CHAPTER XIII

Scott
was able to sleep late on Saturday morning, as Michelle had been very quiet when she dressed. She and Beth left the house around nine thirty for their morning shopping trip to Morehead City.

He
got out of bed at ten-fifteen and made his way to the kitchen to fix a pot of coffee. Seeing little of interest in the morning paper, he took his coffee and a boating magazine to the deck. A few people were starting to gather on the beach and if the current temperature was any indication, this was going to be another hot day.

Scott
sat on the edge of the hot tub with his knees and feet soaking in the cool water as he read the magazine. It wasn’t long before he heard the sound of footsteps walking on the boardwalk that lead to the beach. When he looked up, Scott saw Amie coming towards him at a rather slow pace. As she came closer, she stood a few feet away looking down at him. “Good morning.”

“Good morning. Is
Beth here?”

Scott
glanced at his watch. “She’s gone shopping but I expect them back around one o’clock.”

She spoke in a cold and detached voice. “Are you
Scott?”

“Yes
I am. Would you like a cup of coffee?” Scott replied.

Without accepting or rejecting
his offer she continued, “You’re the one who put the bandage on my arm last night. My arm wasn’t any of your business, was it?”

Not caring for her tone of voice or her message,
his reply was simple. “No”

“You took the knife away from me and that was none of your business either, was it?”

“No”

Her stare was now almost as cold as her voice. “You took me to th
e emergency room and that wasn’t your job, was it?”

Scott
quickly made the decision that he was not going to justify his actions or try to explain anything to Amie, thus avoiding an argument. “No”

She continued her assault. “I also understand that you yelled at some of my friends for not trying to help me. Is that true?”

Scott assumed she was running out of things to complain about his doing for her and gave her one last simple answer. “That’s true.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “You don’t talk much, do you?”

Scott put his magazine down, but continued to watch her. “No.”

Before she turned away, she shook her head. “You’re not the person I was expecting to find when I came over here.”

His reply was quick. “If all you wanted to accomplish was to tell me that everything I did was none of my business, I could have saved you a trip. I already knew that.”

She started speaking as she turned to walk away. “I came to thank you for your help
and tell you I am really happy that you decided not to mind your own business, but maybe that was a mistake.”

Scott
called out to her before she could get very far. “I answered your questions, so why didn’t you answer my question.”

She stopped and thought for a moment before she turned around.
“You didn’t ask me anything.”

“I asked if you wanted a cup of coffee.”

A glare appeared on Amie’s face as she replied. “I don’t want any of you damn coffee.”

Her glare was then replaced with a genuine smile. “However, I will take a diet drink, if you have
one.”

Scott
stood up and moved closer to her. “Much to my personal sorrow, I think the only things we have are diet drinks. Have a seat and I will fix it for you.”

After several minutes,
he returned to the deck with her drink in hand. She was sitting on the edge of the hot tub with her feet in the water looking at the magazine. She looked up at Scott as he handed her the drink. “I hope you don’t mind me soaking my feet. You looked very peaceful and comfortable when I walked up.”

After
he sat beside her, Scott asked the obvious question. “How are you feeling?”

She looked up at the sky before turning to face
him. “I could spend all day answering that question. The short answer is I feel cheap, stupid, and out of control.”

“That’s not a bad thing
for you feel that way.”

She was confused
by his answer and it showed in her expression. “You don’t think so?”

“No. It seems to me that people need to know where they are before they can decide how to get where they’re going. If you feel stupid, then
it’s time to get smart.”

She glanced at
him for a moment before looking away. “I guess it’s safe to say I made a fool out of myself again last night, just like every other night when I go out drinking.”

It would have been ridiculous for
Scott to paint a picture for her that they both knew was not real. “You added a little excitement to the party.”

“You could have gotten hurt. I’m not sure why you took the chance to help me.” She said
, as she looked back at him.

Scott
thought for a moment before he gave her a truthful answer. “After I saw the blood on your arm, I knew you didn’t want to hurt me. You wanted to hurt yourself. It wasn’t that much of a risk, but we still need to get you to a better place than you are at right now.”

She asked
Scott a question for which he had know way of knowing the answer, but she needed to hear an answer. “Do you think I can get to a better place?”

Scott
turned to face her just as she looked at him. “You can absolutely get there, but your time is running out.”

“Why do you say time is running out?” She asked.

He wasn’t sure how much he should say, but Scott opted for what he thought was the truth. “Look at your arm. Women don’t usually use a knife to hurt themselves. You had to be fairly angry to do that.”

She looked away from
him. “It wasn’t anger. It was depression.”

Scott
challenged her assumption. “Some people think depression is nothing more than anger turned inward. Whatever you’re feeling, we have to get a grip on it before it takes you over the cliff.”

Amie
took a swallow of her Coke before she responded. “The doctor gave me a hard time this morning. She said that when a total stranger has to drag my ass off the street, then I had better wake up and start smelling the flowers. I think she’s right.”

“How is your arm feeling this morning?”

“It hurts and the doctor is almost sure it will leave a scar. I guess I can add that to my long list of stupid things I’ve done.” She replied, as she stared at the bandage.

Amie
looked at Scott for a moment before she started to stand up. “You’re here on vacation and I don’t think I should waste any more of your time. Thank you for what you did last night.”

He
put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from getting up. “Where are you going?”

She waited for a few moments before she shook her head slowly. “I don’t know where I am going. The doctor wants me to check myself in at a detoxification center.”

He kept his hand on her shoulder. “That sounds like the right place to start.”

“I know it sounds right and by next weekend, I’ll be back in the same mess I’m in now. It never stops.” She replied.

The sense of defeat was in her voice, her eyes, and in her expression. Scott realized if he was going to be of any use to Amie, he had to act now. “If you don’t have anywhere you need to be right now, would you do something for me?”

“I’ll try, but I guess it depends on what you need.”

Scott then told her his suggestion. “Last night Beth told me about you and one of the things she said was that you were drop dead gorgeous. She was right. Why don’t you let me take you to lunch and then all the other guys will think I am the luckiest man on earth.”

She noticed it was almost eleven-fifteen when she looked at her cell phone. “
Beth told me this morning that you were a nice guy. I would love to go to lunch with you.”

“Where did you see
Beth?”

“I called her this morning
to pick me up at the hospital so I could come back here and get my car.”

Scott
left Michelle a note, picked up his wallet and they left for the restaurant. During lunch, they talked about college, their recent graduation, and their plans for the future. He learned much more about Amie and a few things about her past. She was very well read and had a broad range of interests.

Once
they finished lunch, Scott persuaded her to come with him to visit Fort Macon, which was only a short drive from the restaurant. After arriving at the fort, they walked around looking at the casements where the civil war soldiers once quartered. They then climbed the old brick stairs that led to the top of the fort where the cannons had once been mounted on handmade brick pads. It was in the grass next to a cannon mount where they chose to sit.

From high ato
p the fort, they could see Bouge inlet, and they could see the ocean. Below them, the tourists were continuing to meander through the fort. It was also here where Scott hoped to convince her to consider treatment.

While
they were watching people coming and going, Scott made a passing comment. “The soldiers that were here had to live through oppressive heat, sleep on a hay filled mattress infested with insects, fight of malaria, live with frigid cold winds, never having enough to eat, and taking incoming enemy gunfire.”

She nodded her head. “It makes you wonder how they survived all of that.”

“I don’t know, but when it was all over, they came out stronger than ever.” He replied.

A very noticeable grin became apparent before she spoke. “You wouldn’t be trying to tell me something, would you?”

“It’s not going to be easy for you to turn your life around, but it can be done. You’re smart enough to figure all this out without me telling you, but I want you to know you are not alone.”

“Do you honestly think I can pull off a reset on my life? Do you think I even deserve another chance or that I can get to a better place?”
Amie asked.

“
Yes, you deserve all the chances you need and yes, I believe in you.”

“How can you be so sure about me when you don’t even know who I am? I’ve done some lousy things in my life.” She replied as she looked away from
him.

Scott
thought for a moment. “Did you ever write a paper in school and get half way finished, realize it was a lousy paper and then throw it away, only to start over? You then turned in the new paper and you got a good grade on it.”

“Many times.
I was a communications major and I am very familiar with re-writes” Amie replied.

“That’s what you are getting ready to do with your life. You’re going to throw away the bad pages and start over
and re-write your life. I think you have to go through a dark night of the soul and when it’s over, you will have won.” Scott replied.

She looked very surprised with
his comment. “When you talk about the dark night of the soul, are you describing the work of Thomas Aquinas? I wouldn’t have seen you as being very religious.”

“I’m surprised you knew what I was talking about and
made that connection with Thomas Aquinas. My religion has nothing to do with our conversation or with what I would like for your future. I was in the hot tub yesterday trying to talk to Beth, Michelle into taking off their tops instead of them just sitting there torturing me. No. The way I use the dark night is not a religious thing, but it is a blueprint for you to consider. But if you prefer, then it is a religious thing.”

She looked off at the ocean as she considered
his suggestion. “The first stage of Dark Night of the soul deals with the purification of the senses. The second stage deals with the purification of the spirit.”

Scott
finished her thought. “And, it defines the ten steps on the mystical ladder of love.”

She started to nod her head. “So you believe this is a
plan for me to get my life to a better place. This is a very interesting idea but I never imagined you and I would be having this discussion.”

“What I’m trying to say is
that you have to climb the ladder one step at the time, but I know you can do it. All you have to do right now is put your hands on the ladder and take the first step.”

She looked directly at
him as she replied. “Why on earth do you believe in me after everything I have done?”

Scott
replied without any hesitation. “You have a place within the Universal Mind and I’m just here to help you find it.”

“I don’t think I understand the
concept of the Universal Mind. In fact, I have never heard that expression.” She replied after some thought.

Scott
leaned over and gave Amie a soft kiss on the lips before he spoke. “Start with the kiss we just gave each other and then slowly look around at everything you see. Look at the people, the grass, the sea gulls, the sky, the ocean, and everything you can see, smell, hear, and feel. Then, close your eyes and sit here quietly for a few minutes and it will come to you.”
              After five minutes of silence, she looked at him with a smile. “I think I am beginning to understand. The Universal Mind is something that’s bigger than you and me. It’s everything and we have a place in the scheme of everything.”