Sharing Afflictions

Ode to Joy

The tow truck from the garage arrived first. I rode with him to where the car was. The car was jacked up in front. They had taken both front wheels. Something must have spooked the stooges before they got to the back or stripped anything else. The tow truck driver said I was lucky they had left the back wheels. This way he could get it towed to the garage without doing any more damage. At the garage, he would check over the car to make sure they had not tampered with the brakes or anything else before he replaced the wheels. It could be ready by Sunday afternoon and it would only cost me half of a small fortune.

With my car in tow he dropped me off back at the highway. By then Ripley's friend had arrived in a vintage Volkswagen bus. The others were already inside.

"Roger, this is Chuck Farley. Chuck, this is Roger 'the dodger' Ryan." Ripley made the introduction from the front seat as I got into the van. The inside of the bus smelled of marijuana. He asked if we wanted to light up, we all declined. I'd say it was just "a toke in gesture" but someone would hit me.

"Good to meet you Roger," I said shaking his hand. "We really appreciate you coming to get us."

"It's cool bro," Roger said smiling. "And I really appreciate the C-notes the Beau-Meister gave me."

"This van has a lot more room in it than I thought it would," I said trying to come up with something to complement.

"Time Lord Technology, bro," Roger offered the Doctor Who reference as explanation. "You know, bigger on the inside. Who did the number on your car, man?"

"We are not really sure."

"Want me to find out? I know some guys who are tuned in to the car stripping gangs."

"Can I get back to you on that?"

"No problem-o. Beau has my number."

"So, what were you guys doing up here?"

"Rescuing damsels in distress of course," I said.

"That explains why such good-looking ladies are hanging around such ugly mugs. So, who needed rescuing from whom?"

"It's a long story I'd rather not go into. We're all good now."

"That's cool. I can be discreet. So, you guys are like a real-life Scooby Gang." He acknowledged Max and Max wagged in appreciation. I've never seen Max take to anyone so quickly as if he already knew Roger. After Roger's Scooby reference, Max gave me a smug look that said, finally, he was being recognized as the true leader of our group.

Roger passed us a plastic freezer bag full of homemade brownies. "You must be hungry. A Scooby adventure deserves Scooby treats. It's my own recipe."

Max perked up at the word "treats," but I explained to him they were chocolate, so he couldn't have one." The rest of us were too hungry not to try some, and too afraid to ask what else was in them. They were very tasty, but the more I ate the hungrier I got. Roger kept us entertained all the way back to the valley with Scooby Doo references. I'm sure he's seen every episode. His retellings seemed a lot funnier. In fact, everything seemed funnier at the time than it probably should have. Roger did look a lot like Shaggy.

We were all feeling really mellow by the time we got to town. We decided to take Roger out to dinner. We were all famished. We went to a pasta place Roger told us about with all you can eat pasta, generous servings of wine, and an outdoor eating area so Max could join us. The waiter brought Max his own water bowl. We ate lots of pasta that we shared with Max and we drank lots of wine which we didn't. Roger furnished dessert. They were brownies that he said were extra special Scooby snacks. I asked him why he didn't have one and he explained as our designated driver he had to forgo eating one of the specials. That should have been a warning to me, but I ate one anyway. Max and Ripley had the good sense to pass. Ripley still planned to drive his car yet tonight and Max thought they smelled funny.

Roger dropped Rogue, Max and me back at my apartment. As we got out, Ripley said he would come back tomorrow afternoon to take me to pick up my car. Roger then drove everyone else back to Carmella's apartment complex where Ripley had left his car.

Rogue and I went inside and collapsed on the bed. I can't really tell you exactly what happened after that. Clearly Rogers's brownies had something more than marijuana to them. My memory of the night is all about the senses. I'm sure we had sex, but I don't remember the physical act. I just remember being one, a single entity. We literally fused together. Every emptiness within our bodies, minds, and souls was filled with each other. The entire night was a continuous crescendo of sights, sounds, scents, and touch all merging into a euphoric unending climax. All of time and space were compressed into one single moment of perfection and nothing else mattered.

In my head, the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, "Ode to Joy" was playing. This is how I knew I had had sex, my normal pop music thinking always turns classical during sex. You'd think something sexy like Bolero would be going through my mind, but I'm weird so it was Beethoven's ninth. Of course, "Ode to Joy" has been used in so many popular settings including the Beatles film HELP!, Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange and in the Die Hard film franchise I guess, it could be considered a pop tune. It is also a religious hymn. The basic melody was adopted for the hymn "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" which you might recognize from church or as the winning performance in the movie Sister Act Two. The music, like my experience with Rogue was simultaneously so many different things, but most of all joyful, joyful.

#End Chapter Nineteen