Rick Carter's First Big Adventure (Pete's Barbecue Book 1) (10 page)

      Rufus is my pet cockroach.  Rufus comes into my room at night and talks to me.  He is my only friend.  And he drives a tiny little silver Maserati.  Now, I know what you might be thinking:  a pet cockroach that talks and drives an Italian sports car?  How can a cockroach be somebody’s pet?  Well, he came out of my wall about seven years ago and told me that he would be my friend.  I trust Rufus.  He’s never steered me wrong.  Anyway, Rufus keeps me company and helps me sort things out.  A couple of days ago things started getting fuzzy for me.  I knew something was wrong.  Usually, when things get fuzzy, and I start seeing things in my head, I usually get a visit from one of the Managers.  They’re lovely people, but not a great sense of humor.   They also bring me magazines.  But, when they do show up it’s to find out what things I’ve been seeing.  That’s where Rufus helps out.  He lets me run through all these images and then he helps me put it all together so I can tell the Managers.  They usually leave happy, and I get magazines.   I like to read.

      Things started happening a few days ago.  It was during breakfast.  I like eggs and bacon for breakfast. One egg, over easy and lots of bacon, six pieces, is my favorite.  I think I could just eat bacon, but that probably wouldn’t be very healthy.  I got the first image when I sat down.   It was a dark place, but not a bad one.  It was dark because it was night.   And it was something far away.  I was glad it wasn’t one of those really bad ones.  Every time I have a really bad image, it’s about reality tearing hard.  That sometimes causes things that can’t be fixed.  Then it’s not just People that go missing.  It could be planes, ships, houses.   The folks from National Geographic should come do a special on me. Ha!  Bermuda Triangle, what rubbish! Holes open up and things fall into them.  I hope the Fixers aren’t too busy.  Always fixing this and fixing that.  Like little ants.  Fixer ants. 

     Then a couple of days later I got several more images, lights, always green lights, and a really big guy sitting alone in a white car, sound asleep.  I like to sleep.  I sleep a lot after they give me my meds.

Entry Four, 17 Mar 2010

      Another day in good ole room number 168.  I haven’t had any issues today but Ivan, the guy who mops the floor, told me that he thought he overheard that the Managers were coming for a visit.  That would be good because I’m out of magazines, and I’ve read this last one like twelve times now.  Have you ever noticed how music can remind you of colors?  Music can make you see in colors, but that may not be so good.  People might think you were insane.  I hear the music playing outside and it sounds like Garth Brooks, or maybe it’s Dwight Yoakum.  Country music always makes me see blue for some reason.  Not sure why.

   Anyway, when lunch came around I noticed a lot more of the wild-eyed people than I normally see.  They frighten me.  Rufus tells me not to pay attention to them, but they look mean, angry like they could rip you apart.  Lunch was good, though.

      I wish I could go outside.  The sun is shining so bright, and the palm trees are blowing in the breeze.  I wonder where Louise is.  I wonder where my kids are.   They tell me I never had a family.  But, I can remember her face well.   I wonder how big the kids are now?

     Sometimes, if I think real hard, I can remember that day.  It was the day that got me thrown in here.  Dr. Marples says if I could remember all of it I might feel better.  So far no such luck.  I can remember it was in 02 or 03.  I was still in the Navy.  Yes, I can remember being in the Navy.  I was stationed at the Naval Hospital on that big hill overlooking the Agana Beach.  But, then things get not so clear.  I remember 8 o’clock in the morning and sour milk.  Why sour milk?  The managers told me it wasn’t unusual, the soured milk.  Then the giant spiders came out of the jungle.  I think the smell, yes the smell of the milk.  And the smell of the color.  What color?  It was red.  Yes! Red.  Then the spiders started attacking. 

     I have a headache.  I’m going to watch the window.

Entry Five, 18 Mar 2010 

     Dr. Marples came to see me in my room today, which is strange because I usually go to her office.  Maybe she’s still mad about the seat cushion.  She asked me some questions about lights and if I had been talking to anyone about the work I used to do in the Navy.  I had no clue what she was talking about.  I told her the only person I talk to is Rufus, and he doesn’t speak to anyone else.  That’s not true, though.  I talk to the guy in 178 who thinks he’s Abraham Lincoln.  He’s funny to talk to.  He reminds me a lot of the real Lincoln.  I know, I’ve seen him in several of my visions.

     Last night Rufus wrecked his tiny car against my bed post.  He was really mad.  He screamed for 10 straight minutes and then called a cab to pick him up.  I don’t think I’ll see him tonight.  I wish he would come get his wrecked car, though.

     The visions have been increasing.  I’m sure the Managers will be here soon.  I’ll need Rufus then.  I hope he doesn’t let me down.  He helps me straighten it out.  I don’t feel very good about these visions.  They’re starting to remind me of that day I smelled the ruined milk.  I can remember all that bad milk.  I worked for the Company then.  Well, I still work for the Company, but back then I was high level, not, you know, stark raving mad.  I worked for the Navy too. I was enlisted, and I worked for the Company.  But, no one knew I worked for the Company.  Not even my wife.  I couldn’t tell her.  Then that day came when reality hemorrhaged, and all that milk came out of the sky.  It rained sour milk for almost an hour.  It was the smell that came first, though.  I smelled it coming, and the smell was like spoiled milk and the color red.  My head hurt so bad.  The pain was almost unbearable.  It was too much.   NO!  I don’t want to think about it anymore.  I have to concentrate on the new visions.  They won’t be bad.  They will not be bad. 

     Rufus always cheers me up when he plays his harmonica.  I wonder how in the world he gets his tiny little claws to make all those noises?  He’s really good at it.   I wonder if you could have a little cockroach band, a sort of blues band that could play island music.   Maybe they could do Elvis tunes.  I’m fond of Elvis. 

      The last time the Managers came, I was saw bad images that started with colors.  It always starts with colors.    Colors are always involved.  I started seeing pink, then orange.  It turned out to be not so bad, though.  There were a few small problems.  The South ended up winning the Civil War.  That had to be fixed, and we lost South America, AGAIN.  But, only momentarily.  It turned up again a few days later just like new.  It took a lot of Fixers to get that one back on track.  It was all fun in the end.  We laughed for a while.  Of course, Lincoln was happy.  But, then he was killed.  Can’t do anything about that, though.  That was a true point in reality.  Still, it was a shame.  I liked Lincoln.  He was the only person I ever met who was as crazy as I am. 

     Reality fractured then split.  It’s bad when reality splits.  It can get really bad even it isn’t caught quick enough.   What if I’m not catching what I need to, and this gets worse?  I need to talk to someone.  I hope Rufus shows up soon.

Entry Six, 19 Mar 2010

     I’m excited.  Rufus came back last night.  We talked for a long time.  I think his insurance is going to cover his accident.  He’s still not happy about having to bum rides from friends.  But, he should have his wheels back before it’s time for us to leave.  I know the Managers told me I couldn’t leave.  I know they said I had to stay put.  But, I feel like it’s time for me to go. 

    The Managers picked me when I was still stationed at Bethesda.  They came by one day and told my OIC to have me meet them in a corner office in the basement, where the old morgue used to be.  It was the same morgue they brought Kennedy to in ‘63, but many years later they moved the morgue and built a mess hall down there instead.  I met them in an old closet where they stored big cans of vegetables.  They offered me a job as a Seer.  It seems they had been watching me for some time and had found that I had some aptitude for reality.  I remember them telling me that a lot of candidates didn’t last very long.   They warned me about a condition called Reality-Psychosis.  It was an unpredictable condition brought about by genetic factors and too much exposure to too many lines of reality.  It could break a person’s sanity.  They didn’t know what sanity was.  If they would stick around a little longer this time, I could sure show them some insane people.  They told me it only happened in rare cases, and most of the new safe guards they had put in place would prevent any problems.  I didn’t listen to the warnings, though.  I was young and felt like I was ten feet tall and bullet proof.  Besides, how bad could it be?

     I bet they didn’t see all that milk coming did they?  Or the spiders?  Every time I remember the spiders I shiver.  I was never particularly afraid of spiders before.  But, after the Arachnid War, I can’t look at one anymore, even the smallest one.  The ones that came out of the hole were big, and rusty brown in color….all legs and hair.   And I bet having a second moon made them blink a bit.  That was sure funny.  Two moons bumping along in the sky like giant pool balls.

     I wish Guam weren’t the nexus for all reality.  Who would have thought that all reality flows through this tiny island?   All I know is I would love to have some barbecue from Pete’s.  He came to see me once but, he hasn’t been around for a while.  Pete came to tell me my wife had left with the kids and went back to the states.  He thought I should know.  But, the Doc keeps insisting that I don’t have a family.  How can that be when I remember them so well?  Isn’t that the reason the managers said I couldn’t leave here?  I had to be on the nexus.  I wish they would have revealed that bit of information before sending me here. 

     O Lincoln where are you?  I know someone who can find you.  I know the Tracker, the greatest Tracker ever and he can find you.

Entry Seven, 20 Mar 2010

     Where are all these hall walkers coming from?  I swear they’re multiplying.  They just keep looking at me with those empty eyes.  I rush past them as fast as I can so I don’t have to deal with them.   Weirdos.

     I feel really good today.  I haven’t seen Rufus, but I did talk to 178 again.  We had lunch together in the rec. room.  We watched some TV.  It was old episodes of McHale’s Navy.  Now that’s a navy I could be a part of.  I think I would fit right in.

     I don’t know why the Managers haven’t been here yet.  They’re usually here before now.   The visions haven’t stopped.  They have been keeping me awake at night.  I’m really tired all the time.   Sometimes there is a delay.  Sometimes I see things before they happen, and the Managers don’t show up till later when the action begins.  Not all tears happen.  Some never come about.  But, that’s not my job.  I only calls ‘em.  I don’t manage the team.

    Still, they should hurry.  This doesn’t feel right at all.  I think something big is going to happen.

Entry Eight, 21 Mar 2010 

      Some days being a Seer is fun.  Sometimes I get to see funny things, and I can laugh.  I never realized that ole King George was such a crack up.  One night he had me in stitches.  I would write down here one of the jokes he told me, but it’s a little racy, and I don’t want to offend.  Funny guy, though. 

     I came out here with my family, seven years ago.  I know I had a family, even though they say I don’t.  It was just supposed to be another duty station.  I didn’t expect much.  I hadn’t seen the Managers for a while, and I didn’t think this place would be any different than the last one.  It wasn’t until I got here that they showed up and explained that this little island was the focal point for all of reality.  They didn’t tell me I would be stuck here this long, though.  They didn’t explain that there had to be a Seer here at all times and only certain Seers could manage the traffic at this location.  They told me I could do it.  It would be fine.  Yeah, that worked out fine.  Bad milk, major tear in reality, big angry spiders, lots of people dead and the color red.  And Fixers on overtime.  They fixed the tear just in time and reversed the event.  Now no one remembers it all but me.  I remember it all.  And, of course, the Company people remember it.  But, I have to live with it in my head.  That’s what cracked me.  My mind cracked.  Now I think I’m split in different directions.  Sometimes I think I’m two different people, two different bodies, and minds but the same.  He gets to run around and have fun, and all I can do is sit here, read this same magazine and hope Rufus isn’t mad at me.

     Last night’s dinner was cracked pea soup.  Seriously, who makes cracked pea soup?  I need barbecue.   Where’s Pete?  He can make such good barbecue.  And he’s really good at killing spiders.  I think he may have been around here for a long time.  Pete used to be a Company man, but he’s more a free-lancer now.  He just contracts out now.  It’s an easier life.  You get to stay put or travel at your luxury but still get to get in on the fun stuff.  Pete’s seen a lot of action.  There are only a few free-lancers left any more.  They’re a different kind of breed.  The T-Man is the most famous, though.  I’ve never met him, but I’ve heard things.  I can never see him in any of my realities.  I’ve tried to find him.   But, I can never see him.  He has a daughter who is very special and a son, too, I think.  I haven’t told the Managers about her, though.  I bet the Tracker could find him, though.  Who is the Tracker, you ask?   I can’t talk about him now, but he is the greatest tracker the Company ever had.  His story has played out, but he still shows up from time to time when the Company needs him really bad.  I think there are only two active trackers now.  And the free-lance Fixers are only about a dozen. The active Fixers are about 2-300 in number now.  The Company has been changing recently.  I hear that there used to be more Managers, too.  Now, there are only two.  Cut backs.   The Boss has been trimming things down a bit.  Who is the Boss?  O boy, let’s just keep that a secret.