at an undisclosed location, Buzz. Trying to get the situation under control, and map out the perimeter.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sitting tight sounded good to him. He’d spent a good night out on the lake and nobody knew where he was and that was a first for him. A solo flight.
“I looked into the possibility of renting snowmobiles but nobody here thinks it’s a good idea. Not with visibility like this,” Buzz said.
“We’ll just sit tight and see what happens,” he said.
“Sorry about this, sir. Storm came up faster and harder than what they predicted. I should’ve been a little more cautious, in retrospect.”
“Not a problem.”
“I know how anxious you were to get to Kuhikuhikapapa’-u’maumau.”
“Kuhikuhikapapa’u’maumau will still be there next week.”
At the mention of Kuhikuhikapapa’u’maumau, Myrt, Bobby, and the old man looked straight at him and you could see the question forming in balloons over their head but they didn’t ask. That was Looseleaf, for you. Stoicism, through and through, to the point of stupidity. No surprise, no alarm. Act like it’s nothing. Blizzard, robbery, major coronary— hey, no problem. Everything’s under control.
And then his phone rang again. A local number. He had a hunch who it might be—the Ojibway storyteller arisen before dawn to await the sun, and he didn’t want to talk to her, not at all—but he had been given twenty-four hours to make his peace and he intended to do that. He opened the phone. “Hi, Faye,” he said. “How’s tricks?”
“Jimmy,” she said. “I’ve been up for hours, saying empowering prayers for you and lighting Shoshone vision sticks. Liz called me at 4:00 A.M. and said you are suicidal. She said you stripped off your clothes and jumped into the lake and she had to dive in and pull you out. What is going on? I love you. We all love you and we support your journey, wherever it may lead, but don’t choose the Death Mother, Jimmy. Don’t embrace the Great Bear of Perpetual Solitude. If there’s anything we can do to help you return to your deeper self you only need ask. I am so very very happy you felt free to use Floyd’s fishing shack, Jimmy. It was his spirit house, I know it welcomed you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Namaste. The divine in me salutes the divine in you and thanks you for integrating your consciousness with his. He is still there, don’t you think? Didn’t you feel it? I do. Did you see the wolf? He was Floyd’s best friend. I keep wishing the wolf would communicate with me. And sometimes I’ve gone out there at night and heard a woman trying to tell me something.”
“A big-hair woman?”
“I don’t know but she’s telling me to make my peace with the world and that’s what I’m trying to do. Come over, Jimmy. I need to see you.” So he zipped up his parka and, though he hadn’t ordered any breakfast, he slipped a $20 bill under a used coffee cup on the counter. Myrt was watching his reflection in the toaster. She didn’t miss a trick. He headed for the door and she was on the twenty like a bald eagle on a bunny.
17. A séance with Faye
F aye was a fool but sometimes fools have a good message for us in among their foolishness and so James steeled himself with a cup of coffee and marched down to Faye’s little house with the wind chimes dinging and tinkling on the front porch and the sign on the front door, Abandon Fear and Prejudice, All Ye Who Enter Here, and knocked on the door. She was right there, waiting for him. “Come in,” she cried. “Oh you look exhausted. Oh it is good to see you!” She took some white powder from her pocket and tossed it over his left shoulder and the right and dropped some at his feet and then hugged him. “You and I are kins-men, Jimmy. We are family. We are interconnected whether we know it or not. We nurture each other with our common myths and rituals and in each other we find a wholeness of wisdom.”
He heard water dripping from
“Yes, sir.”
Sitting tight sounded good to him. He’d spent a good night out on the lake and nobody knew where he was and that was a first for him. A solo flight.
“I looked into the possibility of renting snowmobiles but nobody here thinks it’s a good idea. Not with visibility like this,” Buzz said.
“We’ll just sit tight and see what happens,” he said.
“Sorry about this, sir. Storm came up faster and harder than what they predicted. I should’ve been a little more cautious, in retrospect.”
“Not a problem.”
“I know how anxious you were to get to Kuhikuhikapapa’-u’maumau.”
“Kuhikuhikapapa’u’maumau will still be there next week.”
At the mention of Kuhikuhikapapa’u’maumau, Myrt, Bobby, and the old man looked straight at him and you could see the question forming in balloons over their head but they didn’t ask. That was Looseleaf, for you. Stoicism, through and through, to the point of stupidity. No surprise, no alarm. Act like it’s nothing. Blizzard, robbery, major coronary— hey, no problem. Everything’s under control.
And then his phone rang again. A local number. He had a hunch who it might be—the Ojibway storyteller arisen before dawn to await the sun, and he didn’t want to talk to her, not at all—but he had been given twenty-four hours to make his peace and he intended to do that. He opened the phone. “Hi, Faye,” he said. “How’s tricks?”
“Jimmy,” she said. “I’ve been up for hours, saying empowering prayers for you and lighting Shoshone vision sticks. Liz called me at 4:00 A.M. and said you are suicidal. She said you stripped off your clothes and jumped into the lake and she had to dive in and pull you out. What is going on? I love you. We all love you and we support your journey, wherever it may lead, but don’t choose the Death Mother, Jimmy. Don’t embrace the Great Bear of Perpetual Solitude. If there’s anything we can do to help you return to your deeper self you only need ask. I am so very very happy you felt free to use Floyd’s fishing shack, Jimmy. It was his spirit house, I know it welcomed you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Namaste. The divine in me salutes the divine in you and thanks you for integrating your consciousness with his. He is still there, don’t you think? Didn’t you feel it? I do. Did you see the wolf? He was Floyd’s best friend. I keep wishing the wolf would communicate with me. And sometimes I’ve gone out there at night and heard a woman trying to tell me something.”
“A big-hair woman?”
“I don’t know but she’s telling me to make my peace with the world and that’s what I’m trying to do. Come over, Jimmy. I need to see you.” So he zipped up his parka and, though he hadn’t ordered any breakfast, he slipped a $20 bill under a used coffee cup on the counter. Myrt was watching his reflection in the toaster. She didn’t miss a trick. He headed for the door and she was on the twenty like a bald eagle on a bunny.
17. A séance with Faye
F aye was a fool but sometimes fools have a good message for us in among their foolishness and so James steeled himself with a cup of coffee and marched down to Faye’s little house with the wind chimes dinging and tinkling on the front porch and the sign on the front door, Abandon Fear and Prejudice, All Ye Who Enter Here, and knocked on the door. She was right there, waiting for him. “Come in,” she cried. “Oh you look exhausted. Oh it is good to see you!” She took some white powder from her pocket and tossed it over his left shoulder and the right and dropped some at his feet and then hugged him. “You and I are kins-men, Jimmy. We are family. We are interconnected whether we know it or not. We nurture each other with our common myths and rituals and in each other we find a wholeness of wisdom.”
He heard water dripping from
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