Soul Dancing with the Brass Band (The Brass Band Series) (17 page)

I said a prayer of thanks, but it still felt like an eternity before I heard two short blasts of a siren. The police car skidded to a stop and shined its headlights on the nasty group of low li
fe guys that had surrounded me. A young officer wearing a navy t-shirt, jeans and a ball cap, got out of the unmarked patrol car and held his badge up. The thugs were so stupid it took them a moment before scattering in three different directions. I slid down the car that had been holding me upright and put my head on my knees.

“Are you alright?” the officer asked kneeling down to check for himself.

“Yes.” I said on the verge of tears.

“We’ve been having reports about problems in this area and I need to talk to the witnesses. Will you be okay for just a few minutes?” he asked. “I won’t take my eyes off of you.”

I looked up and tried to smile. He took off his ball cap and put it on my head and it felt reassuring. It was warm and it shaded my eyes from his headlights, but I still began to feel ill as he disappeared down the street.

I muffled a scream as someone sat down on the pavement beside me.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” said Gilbert. “Are you okay? I was just out for a sugar fix and…” I must have looked terrible because Gilbert was looking at me with great concern.

“I’d love some company, Gilbert. Help me up.” Standing with a friend next to me gave me more confidence.

As the officer walked toward me with his notebook in hand, I noticed that he wasn’t much older than me.

“I need to take your statement,” he said looking at me and then at Gilbert.

“I might be a while, Gilbert. Thanks for keeping me company, but I’m okay now. I’ll see you in class.” He nodded goodbye and I turned toward the patrol car.

“My name is Officer Hall.” He opened the car door and I got in. “This will only take a few minutes.”

Handing him my identification, I told him that my assailant had accused me of running him off the road and if I had to make a guess, I would say they were driving a beat-up red Chevy that passed me on the road construction.

“Let’s get you back to your car, so you can go home. I will call you if I need any more information,” he said, snapping his notebook closed and handing my license back to me.

We began walking toward my car and just when I thought the evening couldn’t get any gloomier, the sky opened up and it began to rain. I pulled the ball cap low on my head to keep the raindrops out of my eyes and tugged my jacket tighter around me. How much more miserable could this night get?

As we approached my car, I saw Gilbert walking
toward me with a large bag of donuts and a couple of cups of hot coffee.

“I thought I should stay to take you home, if that’s okay with you?” he said. “There’s nothing quite like a mugging to whet an appetite!”

“Nothing quite like it,” I agreed. “Yes, Gilbert, please take me home, that is if you’re finished with me, Officer Hall.”

“Go home and get some sleep, Ms. Rubner,” he said, handing me his business card. “You can keep the ball cap.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I said, “too much of a reminder, if you know what I mean.” I took it off and handed it back to him.

“All in a day’s work for me,” he said as he lowered the cap down on his head with a twist.

Gilbert took my arm and with friendly support, walked me to the passenger side of my car and I climbed in, thankful not to be driving. Turning the key, he revved the engine.

“Easy boy, there’s a cop here.” I said. Gilbert just laughed and pulled slowly out into street.

Ruth opened the door and seemed to wonder what I was doing with Gilbert.

“You can drive my car home. I’m going to take a hot shower. We’ll talk tomorrow,” I said, tossing him the car key and heading to my bedroom.

As I closed my door I heard the rustling of the donut bag along with Gilbert and Ruth talking softly. I figured Gilbert and Ruth deserved them because my emotions were so frazzled with a mixture of pissed off and frightened, I just wanted to get the night over with.

Pulling my pillows up close to me, I held one tight to my chest. My mind moved from subject to subject, setting into slow motion everything that had happened tonight. I tried to make sense of it all, but before long all that was running through my mind was, “why me, why me, why me?” I’m not sure how much time passed, before I finally fell into a restless sleep.

Nov 5, 35 AD

While on the road to a nearby village to meet a smithy about forging a sword more appropriate for my adult height, I take a fall from my mare. It happens so suddenly that I have no time to react and in the fall I cut my leg quite deeply on a sharp stone. It is a stupid accident perpetrated by the wind and a falling tree limb.

After calming and hobbling my mare, I find a nearby stream to clean the dirt and debris from my leg in an attempt to reduce the swelling and pain. I return home with my tail between my legs knowing I’ll have to admit to Liam my lack of horsemanship.

Crossing McCollum’s path after stabling my horse, he notices my limp and asks me to sit with him. I express my enormous disappointment in not reaching the silversmith and McCollum replies, “Dear one, do not ever question the small misfortunes along your path because what looks like a miss step to you, might look completely different from the heavens. I am on my way to the temple to chant for the souls of a family who were slaughtered for their meager possessions not far from your destination. I thank the Gods that you were turned back.”

Nov 5, 2010

Feeling like I had a visitation from a kind soul, I slowly woke from my deep sleep. Certain that Ruth had been walking on eggshells for hours, trying not to disturb me, I pulled on my robe and walked into the living room. Gilbert was wrapped in a blanket, still fully clothed on our couch. His eyes popped open the minute I stepped into the room.

“Hope it’s okay I stayed. I wanted to make sure you weren’t too freaked out about last night.” Sitting up he looked at me for an answer.

“I can’t figure out why those guys picked me out of this whole wide world. I didn’t do anything to provoke them,” I answered.

He patted the couch next to him and I walked over to sit down.

“Have you ever heard of
karma
?” he asked.

“Sure, it’s one of the most overused words in the English language next to
soul mate
,” I said while stealing part of his blanket and shaking the bag on the coffee table to see if there was a donut left.

“Over used, maybe, but you’ve got to understand, everything is karma, nothing happens by accident,” he explained.

“Sure, like all of the people on a crashing plane want it to crash?” I said sarcastically.

“Yes, as hard as it is to understand, everything is perfect, even that. It takes awhile to get to a point where you can begin to see it, but the world
unfolds
as it should.” Gilbert’s voice went soft.

“Those are the words on my father’s tomb stone -
the world unfolds as it should
. He picked the words himself, but all the angels in heaven couldn’t have convinced me that statement was true when my Dad was dying,” he said, lowering his eyes. “That was the worst time of my life, but since then I’ve had time to think about it and I’m beginning to understand what that statement means.”

“Gilbert, I appreciate what you are saying, but it’s not the same thing. Those guys were disgusting and I don’t want them touching my karma.”

“I hope you’re not upset to find out that I’m part of your karma, too. In fact, every person you pass on the street, the people in your classes, the ones that wait on you at the coffee shop, even someone as abstract as the person who built your car or lived in this apartment before you, are part of your journey on earth. It’s actually all karma!” he answered.

I just rolled my eyes. “Tell me something that makes sense to me.”

“Okay, here’s an idea for you. What if those three thugs last night weren’t truly violent? I mean not actually bad to the bone… maybe they were sent by your spiritual guides just to make you pay more attention. Open your mind, Hillary! Imagine there’s another side to this coin and it was truly going to be something horrific, you were on a collision course with a destiny that had to be changed in order to save your life,” he said increasing in volume. “In other words, you needed to burn off some of your negative karma. It’s like opening a bypass valve to let off steam before
she blows
.” Returning his attention to his toes, he said more calmly, “Not all things that look bad
are
bad.”

“I’m just suggesting that you try to let it go, Hillary. Try not to be too frightened by it. Consider it a necessary experience and someday, in hindsight it might make more sense to you, when you’re able to see the big picture.” Gilbert moved his hands in a huge circle indicating he meant the all-encompassing BIG PICTURE. “All parties involved last night, actually agreed on some level for last night to happen, deep in the subconscious. Don’t look at me like I’m crazy, Hils!”

Ruth appeared out of the kitchen with a pot of coffee and the remaining donuts I’d been looking for.

“Don’t take it personally, Gilbert. I get that look from Hillary all the time.” Ruth turned to look at me. “Gilbert says that cop was cute. Is he going to get back to you today?”

“I didn’t think guys talked about how cute other guys were!” Smirking, I looked into Gilbert’s eyes and for the first time saw a very amazing man.

“As long as we are on the topic of who’s crazy or not…” Gilbert said, looking at Ruth, “How did your experiment go with choosing happiness over being pissed off? What happened in your drama class?”

Ruth seemed a little hesitant to respond and I concluded she really didn’t want to admit that Gilbert was right.

“Okay …okay, I did what you said. I planted the seed and went to class happy that I lost the lead. At first I felt phony as baloney and then I began to see a change. I asked the
less talented
girl who got the lead if I could help her study her lines. Soon another girl asked me to help with her lines and be her understudy, which my pride would have never let me do prior to this experiment. Before long my professor even noticed my versatility and willingness to work with others. She pulled me aside to say she was in the process of putting together the largest production the department has ever attempted and thought I would be the perfect lead,” Ruth admitted with unaccustomed shyness. “The amazing thing is… getting the starring role takes second place to the new relationships I’ve made. Hate to admit it to you Gilbert, but it all feels magical.”

I SKIPPED all my morning classes because it just felt good to take a sick day and stay tucked in at home. My emotions were still stuck somewhere between good old self-pity and defiance. “
Get up Trinity
!” I said, picturing Trinity on her back, gun pointing toward the broken window, hoping to once again coax myself back toward the indestructible.

By afternoon I was bored with my self-indulgence and got dressed to go to work. My cell had a message from the police saying everything looked random and that they would get back to me if anything changed. So, it was time to put everything behind me.