Soul Dancing with the Brass Band (The Brass Band Series) (31 page)

Sometimes, Will and I would lay in bed talking late into the night about The Teacher and the role he played in
all
of Will’s lives. He explained that it was his connection to his higher self, his expanded part from The River of Knowledge, but it remained hard for me to understand. The one thing that I could clearly perceive, was how having The Teacher inside of him as a child would have made him feel crazy. I also flashed back to the night Ruth’s cards had said he was a teacher, and in my naivety I never envisioned the magnitude of it.

Without The Teacher around the brass bowl, it took a little longer to shut the chatter down in my mind, but eventually I arrived at that deeper, mystical part within. I guess the point was for us to get
there
on our own and even though our dedication was still based on faith alone, I felt something growing stronger within me.

Gilbert never let me forget how right he was about everything. During Physics class, when he stood up on the podium, I often wondered who the hell Gilbert really was. Over all the lives we’d spent together, was he the intellect or the student? Was he the warrior or the scientist? I always reached the same conclusion; he was probably all of those things, including my friend
, repeatedly telling me about karma, positive thinking, and reincarnation, reminding me of everything until I was able to remember it for myself.

I continued to collect research material for Dr. Edwards, keeping track of what he was researching by reading some of the material. I always attached a note about what the group had been up to, and every couple of months or so, I discovered him thumbing through the books in the glass-floored room. There was such a joy in finding him that way. We would sit together for hours, just talking. Having to work late on those evenings was worth every minute. I always invited him for dinner and sometimes he agreed, but most often he spent his time with McCollum.

Ruth had been able to get me back into our “giggly girlfriend” mode. It broke up the intensity of the whole Spiritual Journey thing. We even planned a trip to Kansas City for Spring Break and I was really looking forward to pool time and pedicures. Will and George were planning their annual camping trip with the boys, and since no females were allowed, it was the perfect time for a girl’s road trip.

WITH THE warmth of spring, we were no longer able to tell if Will and George were home by chimney smoke and actually had to walk all the way to their door. After Ruth and I finished stuffing the last bag into the trunk for our big K.C. trip, we trotted over and rang the doorbell. George answered, followed by Will. They had also been packing and their backpacks sat just inside the front door.

Will put his arm around my shoulder and walked me out to the curb, as he stil
l gave George instructions over his shoulder.

“I want you to be careful in Kansas City,” he said giving me his most serious look. “I’m not going to be there to take care of you, so I need you to pay special attention to what you’re feeling. If something doesn’t
feel
right to you, even if things seem okay when you are looking around with your eyes, I want you to tell Ruth.”

I guess I gave him a look that said
I’m not going to bug Ruth
because he gently turned my chin, so I couldn’t look away.

“I’m not kidding, Hillary,” he insisted. “Don’t make me worry about you when I’m with the boys. This is my time to spend with them and I need you to promise me that you will do what I ask.”

He kissed me on my forehead, and pulled me into an embrace that felt like I was being wrapped in a warm blanket.

“Okay, okay… if anything feels funny, I’ll let Ruth know,” I gave in, unable to continue to hold out.

“Good, because George is having this same talk with Ruth. We’ll be back in ten days. If you need anything, you’ll have to call Gilbert, Lee or your Dad. McCollum will be with us, along with the brass bowl.” Turning to walk me to the car, he continued, “I’m sure everything will be fine, after all, you will be in the upscale parts of Kansas City,” he laughed, referring to Ruth’s wealth. “She sure manifested a luxurious incarnation this go-around!”

We all kissed and hugged each other good-bye. The guys opened and closed the car doors for us and kissed us again through the windows. Will made me promise one more time, as Ruth put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb.

Remembering my bad habit of letting the cell battery go dead, I immediately plugged my phone into the charger. After all, part of my promise to Will probably included being able to access Gilbert and Lee’s phone numbers if I needed to call them.

“What do you think all of that stuff about staying safe was about?” I asked Ruth.

“They just love us and can’t stand being away from us,” Ruth said, in her normal way of blowing everything off. “I mean really, when was the last time we needed rescuing when McCollum wasn’t around?”

I flashed back to New Year
’s, when I completely lost it. “Yeah, that was weird,” I had to admit, “but, this will just be a regular weekend without having to deal with the energy of our men.”

Time flies when you’re laughing your ass off with your best friend. Before we knew it we were pulling up to the gate of the Witherspoon estate.

“Hi Mom! Open up,” Ruth said into the intercom. Her mom had changed the code and forgot to tell her.

As we pulled through the gate and it slowly closed behind us, I looked around at the familiar manicured landscape. It was actually a lot like fields at the farm, everything was green and excited about growing. The smell of fresh cut grass reminded me of the smell of the barley at harvest, which brought with it a pang of guilt that reminded me to call Mom. This was the time of year that Dad disappeared into the fields from sunrise to sunset. My guilt was only slightly relieved by the fact that Kenny was there to keep her company.

We still weren’t at the house and Ruth was still gabbing away. “Do you feel like going right to the pool and if you say yes, which pool, the one at the club or ours?” I could tell Ruth was excited to be home and was easily slipping back into her
rich girl
identity.

“Which would you like?” I asked, knowing that I had my own swimsuit this time and wouldn’t need to borrow Ruth’s sister
’s very skimpy one. Also, Ruth and I had been tanning on our apartment deck for a while because neither of us wanted to show up at the club with a farmer’s tan. Overall, I felt okay about being in public.

Of course, Ruth chose the club and this time I was actually excited to see Ruth’s friends again, not to mention feeling more emotionally prepared! We stopped in just long enough to unpack the car and say hello to Ruth’s parents. We didn’t want to miss the best part of the day, so Ruth told her Mom not to worry about lunch.

“We’ll have something at the club,” Ruth yelled on our way out.

I’m sure Ruth’s Mom was completely used to Ruth’s social life because it was quite apparent the girl had been on the go since she was old enough to drive.

“Give me a call to let us know if you’ll be home for dinner,” Mrs. Witherspoon shouted from the steps as we pulled away in her convertible. It was a better fit for the club.

The sun felt like heaven as I spread my towel out on the warm surface of the poolside lounge chair. With my cell phone placed on the side table to remind me when to flip, I turned to Ruth to ask if she would rub sunscreen on my back, but she had her typical greeting line forming to welcome her home.

“Can I help you with that?” I heard from behind. Blocking the sun with my hand, I turned and looked up into the face of Bennett Taylor.

A rush of emotions overcame me. First a flush of embarrassment, then the heat of lust, followed by irritation that he’d dropped me and finally finishing with contentment and a smile as
Will came to the forefront of it all. All of this took a matter of seconds. I looked to Ruth for help, but her line was only getting longer, so I lifted my hair off of my shoulders and handed Bennett the sunscreen.

“I thought you would be in the Keys or somewhere on the Gulf Coast for Spring Break,” I managed to say without a bit of sarcasm.

“I was thinking more of St. Thomas,” Bennett answered, “but I’m glad I decided on K.C. now that you’re here.”

Turning around to retrieve my sunscreen I thanked him, pleased with myself for not having heart flutters. Oh, this was going to be so much easier this time around, I was
so
over this guy.

“What happened to bring you home
?” I smiled, sitting up.

“My father set up a couple of interviews for me,” he answered. “I hadn’t thought much about coming back to K.C. after graduation, but Dad
, you know, would love to have me here and if he can get me a job in a good firm, I’ll consider it.”

I felt like saying something snide about taking the easy way out by letting
his daddy plan his life, but let it drop.

“It’s nice to see you, Bennett, I’m sure you’ll do great at your interviews,” I said, putting my sunglasses on to shield my eyes against the blinding sun.

A crowd was now lying on towels around my social magnet best friend, but not surprisingly, most of the females were sitting on the side closer to Bennett.

I rolled over and listened to the conversations going on around me. Everyone seemed to be making plans for the upcoming summer, but only a scant few seemed to be looking for jobs. This crowd was stress free, not yet out from under their parent
s’ wealthy wings. All seemed to be from families with enough money to cushion their fall if things didn’t go well on their first flight from the nest.

My mind drifted back to Dr. Edwards’ lecture as I listened for bits of conscious thought among the conversations going on around me. His theory seemed accurate, the majority of people didn’t seem to be looking for a path; they were just letting things happen. It’s kind of funny because I too, would have lived an
unconscious
life if I hadn’t made myself attend that Spring Fling party. Even with all of the guidance and the stories Dad told me growing up, it took Will to open my eyes.

Suddenly, there was a tap on my shoulder.

“You’d better move to the shade, you’re getting burned.” I opened my eyes and Bennett was already gathering up my things.