Back To The Viper (4 page)

“What’s it about?”

Chad waved his hand to hush her.

Ashley began to watch the play – the main character was a writer who was constantly wondering what stories he could write in order to attract the readers. Ashley thought the writer’s condition was similar to hers when she thought about their Viper Room showcase. What song had they had to perform to make the audience like them? In the end, every reader’s imaginary form turned into a hallucination that attacked the writer. Thank God, Ashley had no hallucinations.

When the play was over, Chad went to the actors’ dressing room. Ashley waited for him in the corridor. After a while, both he and Martin appeared. The latter was excited about the success of the play and was laughing joyfully.

“Ashley? Now that’s a surprise!” Martin exclaimed when he saw her. “Chad didn’t warn me you were coming.” He threw a reproachful look at his boyfriend.

“I didn’t know myself; Ashley called me late last night and insisted on seeing me.”

“It must be really urgent, then; what’s the matter, honey? What’s worrying you?”

She smiled. “I need to talk to Chad; it’s about our former band…”

“Ashley, is it this subject again? I also feel dissatisfaction and a sense of failure, but I’ve moved on,” Chad interrupted her.

“It’s not that; I need to talk to you personally, alone,” she said firmly.

Chad paused and looked at Martin questioningly.

“Well, I… my colleagues are celebrating at Seven Hills, and I need to go. Bye, honey, don’t be late.” They kissed and Ashley waited for Martin to walk far enough away so that she could address Chad privately:

“If I told you there was a way we could go back in time, would you believe me?”

***

“Okay, tell Sam to send the offer to Sonytec… Sorry? Yes, I’ll call him tomorrow; hold on, I’m sorry, it’s my secretary on the other line.” Craig quickly switched the lines of his cell phone. “Dona, what is it? I told you not to put anyone through!”

“I understand, Mr. Bloomingdale, but Mr. Keeney is very insistent; it’s the third time he’s called me. He asked me to tell you to call him back immediately. Once again, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”

For a moment, Craig forgot about the important business conversation he was having with Henderson. He wondered what could have happened to make Chad keep calling like crazy.

“Thanks, Dona.” He switched the line again and finished the call with Larry Henderson. As soon as he ended it, he typed Chad’s number.

“Could you tell me why you’ve called me three times?” he asked, annoyed.

“Hey, Craig. Before you start cursing at me, listen to this carefully. Several days ago, I saw Ashley and she told me about the discovery a scientist friend of hers had made. I thought you’d be interested.”

“What discovery? What scientist?”

“It’s better if we see each other so that you can test it personally.”

“Oh, man, are you nuts? I have no time to waste. I’m up to my neck in work, and besides, I promised Monique I’d come home earlier.”

“Craig, I tried it myself. It’s unique. I want you to come and see it with your own eyes.”

Craig sighed.

“Won’t you at least tell me what kind of a discovery it is?”

Chad hesitated.

“Traveling of the consciousness in time and space.” He was expecting Craig to exclaim or object, but nothing followed; he couldn’t even hear his breathing.

“Hello, Craig? Are you there?”

Chapter 8

Craig finished work around eight in the evening and drove to Belmont. He was worried that he’d be late again, just when Monique needed him so much. But Chad had really made him uneasy. What the hell was wrong with him to make him tell tall stories about time travel of the consciousness? It was his duty to find out what was going on with his friend and to help him if necessary. He had agreed to meet Chad by Taco Bell. They immediately started toward the scientist’s flat. Ashley and Harry were already there, waiting for them.

“Craig, I’m glad you’re here.” Ashley hugged him happily. “This is our chance to rewrite the past and our fate! Just think about it – Harry’s discovery can take us ten years back in time and…” She couldn’t finish because Craig interrupted her impatiently:

“Ash, have you gone crazy, too?” he asked in a subdued voice. “What’s that bullshit about the consciousness traveling in time?”

She chuckled.

“It’s not bullshit, Craig – you can try it yourself.”

Ashley and Chad’s insistent stares disarmed Craig’s resistance and he sighed.

“I hope you realize how busy I am. I told Monique I was having a business meeting, and if I’m more than…”

“Calm down, dear. The trip won’t last more than a few minutes,” Ashley reassured him.

Craig reluctantly lay back on the bed. This had to be some sort of a joke! He had no time to reason this out, however, because the scientist had already begun his instructions.

“Now close your eyes and imagine your whole body relaxing.”

Craig half-opened one of his eyes and stole a look at Harry. He somehow couldn’t believe this odd man was a scientist.

“Right, now, after I give you the injection, you’ll feel your whole body go extremely heavy,” Harry informed him.

Craig felt a sting of a needle and soon after that – a peculiar lightness. In the next moment, he was no longer inside his physical body. Suddenly he saw Monique in front of him before she ran away somewhere. He saw her going through a door and followed her. He found himself in an empty white space.

“Monique? Are you there?” He looked around, but there was no trace of her. Where could she have gone? “What’s going on here?” Craig wondered. Then he remembered Harry’s instructions:

“In the beginning, the compound will start working as a psychedelic drug. In order for you to travel to the space and time desired, you must direct your consciousness that way. It’s all a projection of your consciousness. In reality, your body will lay here in a very deep sleep while the trip will happen on a deeper level.”

Ashley had suggested that Craig could also go back to their first rehearsal in Wayne’s garage. Craig recalled that moment and suddenly found himself in Wayne’s garage studio. He was sitting behind the drums and was holding drumsticks in his hands.

“One and two and…” Wayne began and the garage was filled with guitar sounds. Ashley started singing, backed by Chad. Craig couldn’t believe his eyes. He was really in the body of a seventeen year old and he had come twelve years back in time. “Oh, God,” he thought, “everything seems real. How is it possible?”

“Craig, what’s going on? Are you going to play?” Wayne stopped singing and turned his eyes to Craig.

“I… Yes, I’m sorry. Let’s start from the beginning!”

Craig hadn’t played for a long time; in fact, not since his band had broken up. In spite of that, he quickly adjusted himself to the melody and was even having fun.

“Guys and gal,” Craig looked at Ashley, “how about slightly changing the rhythm and the tonality? To me, it sounds better with a quicker rhythm and in E major. What do you think?” He repeated what Ashley had instructed him to. They played the song nearly ten times. Wayne was never pleased, but in the end they all felt it had begun to sound much better.

“I’d say we call it a day. I need to study some math,” Chad said.

“Yes, I need to phone Liz,” Ashley added.

Craig tried to remember who Liz was; probably a friend of Ashley’s. Why did her name sound so familiar, though?

“I’d say we’re all ready to play onstage, aren’t we, guys?” Wayne turned to his friends.

“Definitely,” Chad agreed.

“Oh my God, how relaxing it is to play the drums! It’s much nicer than sitting in front of that goddamned computer all day long or having business conversations!” Craig exclaimed excitedly. Due to his never-ending work and the care for his family, he had forgotten his true passion – music.

The rest were eyeing him, confused.

“Since when have you had a computer?” Ashley asked him. “Yesterday Liz told me you’d been to her place so that you could use hers.”

Suddenly, Craig remembered who Liz was – his high school girlfriend. She and Ashley had been best friends, and it had been through her that he had gotten to know Ashley and then Chad and Wayne.

“Are you running a business or something?” Wayne asked. “I knew it! A Jew stays a Jew.”

“And what do you sell?” Chad asked with interest.

“Come on! I’m not running a business; I’m still a teenager, for Christ’s sake!”

“Bro, why don’t you start selling the tickets for our concerts?”

“What concerts, Wayne? Are you having a hallucination or what?” Ashley giggled.

“I have plans for us to have concerts. Who knows, pretty soon we might even end up at The Viper Room,” Wayne said mysteriously. “I just need to know if you’re with me. Would you like us to get to the next level?”

“I would,” Craig said.

Chad nodded.

“Ashley?”

“You bet! Of course I would! But don’t we need an agent or a manager to get us to play onstage?”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ve found a way.” Wayne was still talking in riddles.

After a while Wayne went out to see Ashley home while Chad and Craig remained in the garage
.
Craig wanted to do some extra playing. He felt like a child who’d been given an expensive toy and he couldn’t get enough of it. Chad, for his part, had stayed to try a few different tonalities of his voice, despite the fact that he had to study math. H
e
just couldn’t leave the place. At some point, he turned to Craig. “Dude, are you really a Jew?”

Craig laughed. He had never concealed his origins; besides, his surname Bloomingdale obviously suggested this fact.

“You’re asking me as if being a Jew means a lot.”

“No, I… it’s just I’m different, too.”

“What’s wrong, Chad? What are you talking about?” Craig looked at him in puzzlement.

“Well… Don’t say it to anyone. Can I trust you?”

“I can’t stand the pressure! Come on, man, spit it out,” Craig urged him.

“Well, I’m… All right, I’m gay!” Chad announced firmly.

“Pff, that? God, you scared me, dude! I had the feeling you were going to confess something really frightening.”

“So you’re okay with that?” Chad asked tentatively.

“Sure, why not? After all it’s your life; you decide who you want to sleep with!”

Craig resumed playing the drums. At some point, he paused because he was hit by a sudden thought.

“And yet, I don’t understand the connection between me being a Jew and your sexual orientation. I didn’t know gay people had a soft spot for Jews.”

Chad burst into laughter.

At that moment, Wayne came back into the garage. He was in a high mood.

“What’s up, guys? How are you doing?” He gave Chad five.

“Chad just came out to me,” Craig said, carefully putting his drumsticks on the floor.

“And told you he was gay?” Wayne asked teasingly and winked at him.

“God, am I the last one to know?”

“I guess so. You’re not the trusty fellow everyone here would share their secrets with.” Wayne puffed up with pride and began tuning his guitar.

“Does Ashley know?”

“Of course,” Chad smiled. “Actually, she was the first to find out. It’s true that women can’t keep secrets.”

“I think it’s good you’re gay. Many people from show business are gay, too, and if we could only get to them…” Wayne sighed.

“What are you suggesting? That I should sleep with all of them?”

“No, not necessarily all of them. Just a few of them.” Wayne gave him a smile. “Anyway, a friend of my father’s is a rock and pop band producer. I think he might get us a live showcase. We only have to impress him and that might turn into our ticket to fame and big money. What do you think?”

“Wayne, if we want to impress that producer you’re talking about, we need to play something really good, not another piece of teenage crap,” Craig added.

“Are you calling our music crap or what?” Wayne turned to Craig abruptly. There were angry flames in his eyes.

“I’m not, dude, don’t get me wrong. What I mean is that we have to stand out from the other kids…”

“Look, bro, what’s most important is whether
we
like our music, never mind the others!” Wayne raised his voice.

Chad, who had been only listening up to that point, interfered. “Hey, hey, chill out! No one has even offered us a show…”

“They will,” Craig said.

“And that’s why we must stay who we really are,” Wayne persisted.

Craig looked at him thoughtfully. Wayne had always been stubborn and egocentric. After the producer had rejected them, he had given up. Perhaps if he hadn’t, they would have kept playing and trying to break through for at least a few more years. If he had gotten Ashley’s idea for them to go back to their live showcase ten years before right, then they also had to make Wayne join them. Suddenly Craig remembered it was time for him to go back. God, how many hours had he spent here? Surely at least a few. Monique had to have been wondering what had been taking him so long. What had Harry told him? To move a body part. He began clapping his hands; he wanted to go back as soon as possible.