Chapter 24

Mina kept having a thought skirt the edges of her memory. She was missing something and she couldn’t, for the life of her, remember what it was. Something ... Ah, well. It’ll either come to her or it won’t. But it was important.

For the moment, she and Bill were in the office of Dr. James J. James, Ph.D., Guidance Counselor to students with the R, S and T alphabetic designation. The Sutherland twins were his ‘chore’ of the moment.

“Doc ... We really wanna know, right now ... what’s the J. stand for?” Mina asked.

“It’s taken you nearly six months to ask ... you know, you could look it up at the school.”

“We could ... but we’d feel guilty.” Bill commented.

“Jac ... not Jack ... Jack without the K. Jac.” JimJim was precise.

“Oh My Isis ... You’re the infamous JimiJac!” Mina exclaimed.

“Infamous?”

“Forget it ... no really. Forget it.” Mina said.

You see, back in 1963, when Billy and Wili were going to be new juniors in Lodi, Ohio, Akron was where kids had to go to buy pot ... and the pharmaceutical that got them started on this adventure ... Sandoz Clinical LSD25. JimiJac James was the ‘go to’ guy at the University.

It wouldn’t do, not at all, for Dr. James to dredge up the recollection of Billy and Wili as two of his younger customers ... They being only a single year older ... thanks to Bonnie and Clyde and the bag of loot ... with the broken watch. As it was ... in real time, historical time ... they were just three years younger than the man behind the desk.

Wili was one people remembered. Wili of the proud anti gravity breasts and tight cheeks. Blond over blue and pouty lips. Wili wasn’t exotic. She didn’t have slant eyes or anything different. Wili was average ... all over, there wasn’t any single thing that made you look. Everything was perfect ... The combination of parts that constituted Wili made you look ... Wili caused accidents just walking across the street.

She really didn’t need him to wander down memory lane and find her lurking there. No, indeed. As far as ‘time’ goes, they met him this past spring ... the spring of 1963. That 2002 was newly minted wasn’t her fault. Blame it on the watch.

Bill asked, “So, Doctor James, what classes have you signed us up for?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? As in zip, nada, ziltch, zero?” Mina was miffed.

“I’m trying to get permission to test you out of high school and straight in to the University.” JimiJac explained.

“Who needs to give permission?”

“You do.”

“We do?”

“Yes ... you’re emancipated, so you don’t need an adult to sign.” He opened the shallow middle drawer and took out two simple sheets of paper:

I, (print your name), being emancipated, wish to take the High School Comprehensive Exit Tests and graduate from Armadillo High School upon passing said tests. (Sign your name) (Date) (Witness)(Witness)

“That’s it?” questioned Bill.

“Yup.”

“Why didn’t you do this for last semester?” asked Mina.

“I wanted to be sure you were serious about finishing school.”

Like the twins they were they said, “If I wasn’t serious I wouldn’t have bothered asking.”

“By the way,” JimJim asked, “Have you noticed a certain person in your house seems to be a whole hell of a lot smarter than she was before she died?”

“Dorothy Darling Davis?” this from Bill.

“Our DD?” asked Mina.

“You bet we noticed, and we’d like to find out more about it,” from both.

“I don’t know more about it ... the surgeon tells me it’s impossible. He said he wasn’t even very careful about where he was slicing and dicing ... she being dead and all.” He looked at the twins...”You going to sign or not?”

They signed. Betty Paige from the Main Office walked down to witness, JimJim was the other.

“Tests are next week ... and a more improbable bunch signed up for testing I’ve never seen. Bill? You’re the only guy. There’s one Eighth grader, two Freshmen and a Junior that have what it takes ... the rest are ‘marginal.’ You know what ... the Eighth grader has already been accepted at Alabama and MIT ... full ride ... pending passing these tests.” He grinned, “now, that’s a Christmas present!”

The lightbulb went on in Mina’s head. ‘Christmas Present!’ “Bill, I need to get home right now.”

Megan was driven to go for a walk ... in New Orleans ... in the French Quarter ... at 3AM ... by herself. Daddy was sleeping the sleep of the very well sucked and fucked but Megs was restless.

She wasn’t alone on the street. This is New Orleans ... The French Quarter never stops.

The Silk was just a couple of blocks from Jackson Square and there were benches there.

She didn’t see any signs saying she couldn’t sit if she wanted ... so she did. New Orleans unescorted is a great place to disappear. Several not very nice people were cutting cards to see who was going to ‘disappear’ this beautiful girl when Pyewacket jumped on her lap.

“Pyewacket,” she cried. “How did you get here?”

‘Megan, pay attention... ‘ Pyewacket laid out the next two days for her and ended with, ‘you MUST take me with you. Now ... go back to the Hotel. I’m hungry ... milk and Albacore Tuna. Don’t pay any mind to what I do on the way back.’

Megan ascended the steps to the hotel. Behind her lay several blinded not so very nice people ... Pyewacket clawed their eyes out. The amazing thing was that Pye had also removed the extremely expensive plastic surgery from the ones who had outstanding warrants and had been missing, or unobserved, for as much as ten years.

The New Orleans Office of the US Marshals Service regained custody of a few escaped federal prisoners and one woman who had murdered a federal judge was captured.

Megan was not accosted on her return ... she was kind of disappointed.

The Silk has a ‘No Pets of any Kind’ sign, but no one noticed the small black kitten following Megan to the desk. No one thought it strange when she asked for a glass of milk, a saucer and a chunk of albacore tuna, raw.

No one noticed when the black kitten accompanied her to the elevator and rode up to her floor. In the morning, Monique made the bed around the cat and never registered a blink when she had to move the cat to do it.