Chapter 6

Wednesday September 20, 1978

Billy was extremely happy to be out of the hospital, not only because he was going stir crazy but because he was excited to see what 1978 was like from outside the hospital. As expected, Tiffany showed up in a fancy car that happened to be a BMW convertible which looked ancient to him but was cutting edge for the time. It was exciting to see where he would be living, what the school would be like and what experiences were in store for him in this second go-around at life. Having been an adult in his previous life, things such as planning for the future was a habit which made it harder to enjoy life in the here and now like a kid would. Tiffany was pointing out places on the way home such as the harbor where the family yacht was docked, the country club where his dad played golf and she played tennis and they even took a detour to see the high school.

The house was an estate on twenty acres with an immaculately manicured lawn surrounding a large white mansion. There was a wrought iron gate at the entrance with a long winding driveway up to the house sandwiched between white split rail fencing on each side. The main structure was a two story plantation house with wraparound porches on both levels much like the one in Forest Gump. Billy’s room was upstairs with an ocean view and looked like a typical teenage boy room if you don’t count the private bathroom and a double french door leading out to the upper porch. From just outside his room, you can see the beach and hear the ocean as the waves piled in. After showing him to his room, Tiffany disappeared for a few hours until it was time for the talk she had threatened him with several times previously. He nervously followed her down the hall and into the upper great room where there were some big comfy chairs, a component stereo and a 19” console television he nearly laughed at.

“OK, time for that talk. There’s no one around to overhear so we can stop the charades. Who are you and what have you done with my son?”

Stunned at her semi-accusatory tone, Billy blinked his eyes a few times unable to find any words. Eventually he responded with: “I don’t know quite what you mean, please elaborate.”

“It’s responses like that ... since when does a teenager talk like that? You use phrases and words that are not normal, especially where Billy is concerned. They told me you were clinically dead for nearly a minute, are you some kind of demon or spirit that has inhabited my son’s body?”

Billy choked while restraining a laugh because he knew it wasn’t funny to her and tried to stay serious. “No and no. I am certainly not a demon but the spirit thing is probably the closest. I think I’m more of the latter than the former if you count the soul as a spirit.”

“Stop playing with words, I can and will find a way to turn you into a lab rat if you don’t cooperate and don’t try to convince me your are my son because who better would know than his mother?. You talk like an adult, you know the future, this is like a bad science fiction movie if I ever saw one!”

“Do I have your utmost word to keep this secret? Even from your husband? I can disappear and you’d never find me again if you don’t.”

“Deal”

“OK. My name is Adam Waters and the best I can tell is that I died in 2019 at 35 years of age and woke up in this body. I was hit by a vehicle running a red light.”

Her eyes misted up as she covered her mouth in grief. “So, my real son is dead? Gone? Never to be seen again?”

“I can’t answer that question because I don’t understand what happened. To be completely honest, my bet would be that part of Billy is gone for good. I grew up in Newport, Rhode Island, went into the Army right out of high school and fought in Afghanistan where I saw some real messed up stuff. Denver was my home at the time of death. I was married and had a lovely daughter but they were taken from me by a drunk driver in 2014. The funny thing is my memory about them has many holes. It was a happy life until that happened, but it could’ve been worse. I’m very sorry for the loss of your son. I have no idea why or how I’m here, but I am.”

She stood up and started to walk off before stopping. “Please, I need some time to digest what you just told me. We will continue this conversation later, but please feel free to make this your house ... I think. I don’t know. You aren’t an axe murderer are you? Oh what difference does it make, no one would believe me.” With that she threw up her arms in exasperation and turned to walk quickly away.

Billy retreated to the porch just outside his room to contemplate life and what he might need to do if Tiffany rejected him altogether. The weather wasn’t too hot or humid at this time of year and combined with the ocean breeze currently blowing in from sea, made it very comfortable. In his previous life, music had been his escape mechanism and again later in his career. In the words of Triumph, it was his Magic Power. Without giving it much thought, he grabbed the guitar Tiffany bought him and started playing with nothing in mind. The Ghosts of Jackson Square came to mind and for the first time since the accident, he played and sang with true emotion and it felt good. There were times when he came crashing to a halt because of a forgotten chord and would then continue after working it out until he could play the song from beginning to end nonstop. The thought occurred to him that perhaps he should start writing this stuff down because there was no way to know how long he would be able to remember lyrics, melodies or chord progressions of the songs he was familiar with. There were a ton of great songs from his time and it would be interesting to see if they had the same appeal in this period of history as they did originally. The music of the late 70’s, while being good for its time, did not have the complexities that came as a result of multiple generations building on the foundations of rock-n-roll. Maybe it was time to do some genetic manipulation in the musical world. He got up, grabbed some notebook paper, a pencil and began to create a tablature sheet for the song. Soon the artistic juices were flowing and the words spilled onto the paper but it was inevitable that he’d forget some words so he improvised and made them up. Rob Halford (the singer for Judas Priest) was really good at doing that which he saw first hand when they worked together in his previous life. The guy could make up stuff on the fly and it sounded like he had spent hours writing it. Time passed by quickly and before he knew it, several hours had gone by and there was a nice little stack of paper next to him. It wasn’t long afterwards his enthusiasm began to wane and his mind began to wander to other things such as what equipment was available in this era of history and where he would be able to set it up and then he remembered the structure he saw on the back side of the grounds.

Billy gathered his papers and guitar, set them to the side and set out about the grounds to get a better look at things. He’d need a place to put equipment and the instruments he’d use to record his ideas. Despite having a teenage body again, his legs were still weak from from being laid up for so long. His nervous system had been healed by the mysterious lady, but not his body in its entirety. Perhaps there was something for him to learn from going through the pain and discomfort of completing the healing process. It was as if he’d run a marathon by the time he made it down the stairs and out onto the lawn and yet the barn seemed a million miles away. Each step towards the building seemed to make no progress and he had to stop a few times to stretch his cramping leg muscles. Eventually, he finally made it to the barn. It was a standard Gambrel barn you would find at most farms complete with a hay loft, or at least that’s what he thought. Not knowing much about farms, all his knowledge on the subject had been gleamed from movies, books or stereotypes picked up from everyday life. All he knew was it was made out of wood and needed a coat of paint.

The barn was unlocked so he was able to slip in and take a look around. It was mostly empty other than a dusty trap (drum) set sitting off towards one corner. Visions of how things should lay out began to flood his head which meant pacing off distances and outlining a rough draft was next on the agenda. Due to the lack of light in the barn, he finished everything up on the porch. Billy found his creative juices were flowing again, so he flipped the page and began writing down more lyrics. In many cases, some words were forgotten so he circled the words to come back later in case they returned. Who’d know anyways? The next step was to start recording some of the riffs and melodies before those disappeared, too. It would be interesting to see peoples reaction to some of the genres of his day such as post hardcore (screamo) and symphonic metal. Shoot, heavy metal was in its infancy at this point with Black Sabbath about to part ways with Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest just starting to find their groove. Most of the bands that defined the genre had not yet been formed or were in their early formations, shoot; many artists had not yet been born yet.

The time had gotten away from Billy and hearing his name called out broke his concentration. One of the servants, or “employees” as they were referred to was out calling for him to come to supper. Once he was discovered and notified, he made his way back to the house for his first real meal there. Dining at a large table in a large room by himself was very anti-climatic and he figured it would be this way most of the time. The meal was unexpectedly tasty and soon it was back up to the bedroom where it was time to begin inventorying things to see what he would throw away or keep. Stowed up under the desk was the original Billy’s diary and he began reading it. Shivers ran his body with the thought of how creepy and surrealistic it was to be reading something his current body had written yet he had no knowledge of. Most of it was typical teenage stuff, but there were a few juicy tidbits involving Cindy. Apparently, she was quite the slut which was a good thing to know. It also confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that the previous Billy was not a very nice person which had already been ascertained from interactions with a limited number of select people. For whatever reason, he felt guilty and wanted to right the wrongs his previous tenant had committed. That thought alone showed he was becoming comfortable with referring to the current body as his own. “If I’m going to be stuck in this body, I might as well right all possible wrongs so maybe I’ll have fewer enemies and perhaps make a few friends. Besides, if it made a few peoples’ day happier, it would be worth it” he told himself.

Eventually, he got bored reading the mundane scribbles in the diary and decided to search around the room for something else. In the closet there was an old, well to him it was old but for this year it was probably fairly new, tennis racket. It was a wooden Slazenger racket locked inside one of those 4 sided polygon braces to keep it from warping. It was awkward, heavy and the stringed surface was horribly small so he vowed to try to locate a T-2000 or some other type of metal racket that had to have been on the market at that time. The feel was clunky and after a swing or two and there was something familiar to it but there was no way to be sure until he tried to hit a few balls.

A rumbling stomach notified him a trip down to the kitchen to see what snack could be ferreted out was in order. Going backwards in time means certain creature comforts would be lost and microwave ovens was one of them. ‘Radar Range’ was the term being used for microwaves at this time but they were too bulky and expensive for most people. Many who could afford it were afraid of radiation poisoning which goes to show you how much was known about the technology. Falling back on the old tried and true, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich along with a large glass of cold milk was the order of the evening. With a belly full of PB&J, he began to yawn so Billy headed up to take a shower and hit the hay. He figured it would take a few days or maybe weeks for Tiffany to come to grips with things so he’d have to entertain himself until then. Their yo-yo relationship gave him a little anxiety as he never knew what might set her off.

Thursday Sep 21, 1978

Tiffany poked her head into Billy’s room at 7am. “Billy, I forgot to tell you, a tutor will be here within the hour to help you catch up with the schoolwork you’ve missed. You’ll be able to go back to school once you’re caught up and your body has strengthened a bit. When you’re done with tutoring, I’ll swing by to pick you up and we’ll hit the tennis courts. Have a nice day.”

“Tennis courts? I can hardly walk across the yard, much less be running around a court!” he thought to himself.

The tutor showed up at 8am on the dot and nearly knocked Billy on his keister as she breezed past him with an armful of books and unceremoniously deposited them onto a desk in the study.

“My name is Olivia Kensington” she said in Southern Welsh accent “and we start every day at 8am and end at 2pm with an hour for lunch. Now, please have a seat and let us begin.”

They spent the next six hours going over his studies which was pretty easy except for world geography. The world had changed quite a bit from 1978 to 2019 and it was hard to remember what was what. Europe changed quite a bit after the fall of the USSR and Africa always seems to be spawning new countries just to throw him off. Olivia gave him a curious look when she saw how much he knew about the Soviet Union.

“How could you know such things?” she asked in an admonishing tone.

“It was common knowledge ... uh, never mind” he said as he came to his senses. He was struggling with her condescending attitude and wanted to show her up. There was no way he could prove what he was about to say and it would just make him look crazy if he tried to explain.

Tiffany rushed in the door at precisely 2pm and told him to get dressed for tennis. The country club had a library-like feel to it as they passed through it and it wasn’t long before they found themselves at the courts. Billy just stood there trying to remember how to hit a ball and the stupid wood racket in his hand wasn’t helping matters. Moving was difficult but once the legs got warmed up, it got better but he still had no endurance. It wasn’t long before his legs tired out causing him to stumble and lose his balance. A few of Tiffany’s friends stopped by to say hello and watch them play. Having an audience gave Billy a little more incentive to play harder, especially since they were all trophy wives. Trying to implement everything he remembered from his previous life, he put extra emphasis on getting his hips perpendicular to the net and stepping into the ball. Twisting his hips through the ball was easier than trying to man-handle it since he was lacking in upper body strength. After blasting a few topspin balls past Tiffany she stopped to look at him.

“Where’d you learn to do that?”

“I’ll tell you later. It works better with tighter strings, though” he said while moving his eyes towards her friends who were watching intently. An evil grin came across his face and he addressed the audience: “should I take it easy on the old woman?”

“Old woman? I’ll show you ‘old woman’! You should have more respect for your mother than that, young man” Tiffany sneered back at him while her friends giggled at the exchange.

The next volley had her attacking his backhand resulting in a few shanked balls and then she went after the deep corners knowing he couldn’t move fast enough to cover them. To add insult to injury, she rushed the net on set point and unloaded a volley into his chest which knocked him down. Her friends in the audience started booing which caused Billy to roll around on the ground in mock pain making it look worse than it really was. Tiffany had trouble stifling her competitive nature and it was second nature to try to put her opponents in their place whenever possible. She jumped the net to see if he was OK but he just smiled at her.

“Not bad for an old lady if you ask me” he said in a hushed tone as she helped him to his feet. He turned to her friends and exclaimed “Can you believe she treated her poor, injured son so harshly? If any of you are skilled in massages to aid in my recovery, I’d gladly grant you an inter- oooof!” He said as Tiffany elbowed him in the ribs.

“Shut up. Half of them would probably take you up on that offer and I’m not ready for that” she whispered.

“You’re not ready? What if I am?”

“We’re not having that discussion here.” Changing the topic she continued, “That’s the best you’ve ever played and you had two bum legs. It should get interesting when you build them back up.”

“That was fun mom, it was good to get out and play even though I had no chance. I think the fact you got competitive enough to beat your defenseless son into a pulp with no mercy shows you still have the fight to take it to the next level. Perhaps you should look into joining a league or whatever it is they do around here?”

Tiffany’s friends smothered Billy with well wishes and compliments for trying so hard which caused Tiffany to bristle. A few of the hugs were a little too friendly for her comfort and she had to work hard to keep the claws retracted. They were all trophy wives like her and tennis was how they passed the free time they had which also happened to keep them in shape.

On the drive home, Tiffany said “I saw you checking my friends out. Be careful, they’ll chew you up and spit you out. That is if I’d let them anywhere near you, and I know they’d like to try, too. They think you’re hunky. I’m pretty protective of my baby boy.”

Billy laughed. “I’m willing to find out! Let me at ‘em, I have both youth and experience at my disposal. They won’t know what hit them!”

“Experience?”

“Yeah, I was 35 when I died and according to the diary I found, you can add a few extra years to the mix.”

The comment about his age didn’t phase her but the one insinuating her son had been sexually active, did. She continually wrung her hands on the steering wheel for a few uncomfortable minutes until she finally asked “So, how are we going to do this? How can I parent someone who is for all intents and purposes older than me? I’m still not 100% sure you’re telling the truth or if you’ve left out something important, but I’ve not yet seen anything to contradict what you’ve told me. What about your current self in this time? Have you given any thought to meeting your younger self? Would the world implode if you did? What can you tell me about the future? Would it change the future if one of us acted on what you know? My mind is going crazy just thinking about it.” Billy smiled because this was like ‘Back to the Future’ or ‘Terminator’ only without a murderous cyborg pursuing him.

“Well, considering I won’t be born until 1984, I don’t think that will be a problem for awhile. My biological mother wasn’t much of a mother and it would be nice to experience what having a real one would be like. Legally, I’m not an adult in the eyes of the law so I’ll need you in my corner to do some of the the things I have in mind, besides; it will be nice to have someone to watch out for me. The only time that ever happened was when I met my future wife. She’s the only person I can remember who ever had my back unconditionally. There have been a few nights I’ve not slept because I wonder where she is right now. She never told me much of anything of her past and for some reason, it didn’t matter so I never really pushed. I just know she was older than me but I’m not sure how much older. She may not yet be born, either.”

“OK. For this to work, we have to maintain a mother-son relationship in public. We can have disagreements in private, but in public, I’m the boss and will do my best to not over mother you. Deal?”

“Do I still get hugs and goodnight kisses?” he asked with a sly grin.

Tiffany laughed, “I guess that’s part of being a mother, but if you appear to enjoy them too much, I’ll wring your neck! Teenage boys are not supposed to enjoy being hugged by their mothers.”

“They don’t know what they are missing. Okay, deal.”

After getting back from tennis, there was a little time to kill before dinner so it was time to take a stroll around the grounds to see what else was there other than the barn. Having a lot of money was a new experience and there’s no telling what a person might find. Tiffany’s husband was waiting back on the patio when Billy got back and he beckoned for them to sit down for a talk.