Chapter 4 — Tea
And thus begins Chapter Four.
Now, children.
There we were.
Three idiots.
One scooter.
Several pieces of the scooter attempting independence.
The council nods.
The Abomination lived.
Barely.
Children.
Every few minutes,
something rattled.
Something shook.
Something sounded as though it had recently become optional.
The horn?
The council leans forward.
There was no horn.
The council pauses.
None?
None.
Children.
The Abomination communicated with traffic through raw presence.
Cars moved because they feared what would happen if they didn’t.
The council approves.
A powerful system.
Now.
There was another minor issue.
Footrests.
The council waits.
There were none.
Naturally.
So my legs existed wherever physics permitted.
One foot rested dangerously near the silencer.
The other sat upon some mechanical structure whose purpose I never discovered.
The council becomes concerned.
Children.
I was essentially helping hold the scooter together with my ankles.
Paul and Kosmo continued talking.
About what?
No idea.
Probably important things.
Routes.
People.
Plans.
The acid.
The council nods.
And I?
Headphones on.
Reggae music playing.
Looking around.
The council smiles.
Children.
For once,
I was awake for the road.
Palm trees.
Shops.
Sunlight.
People.
Goa moving around us in warm, bright pieces.
The wind hit my face.
The Abomination screamed beneath us.
And somehow,
it was beautiful.
Not because anything profound happened.
Nothing did.
I was simply there.
Present.
Watching.
The council grows quiet.
Perhaps the wanderer existed before I knew his name.
Now.
Eventually,
Kosmo signaled.
We slowed.
Turned.
And entered a market.
The council leans forward.
Busy.
Colorful.
People everywhere.
Stalls.
Shops.
Noise.
And directly before us
a tea shop.
The council applauds.
At last.
Civilization.
We parked the Abomination.
Or perhaps simply abandoned it in a position where it remained upright.
The distinction is unclear.
And inside we went.
Children.
We ordered tea.
Simple.
Beautiful.
A moment of peace.
The owner brought the glasses over.
We sat.
I lifted mine.
Hot.
Sweet.
Glorious.
The council nods.
A sacred beverage.
Now.
For several minutes,
nothing happened.
I drank.
Paul sat nearby.
Kosmo looked around.
Then,
the owner returned.
The council becomes interested.
Kosmo stood.
The two of them moved toward another table.
Separate from us.
The council leans forward.
Their voices lowered.
Conversation began.
Fast.
Quiet.
Barely audible.
Children.
I watched.
Were they negotiating?
Possibly.
Were they discussing tea?
Also possible.
Was I curious?
Not enough to stop drinking mine.
The council sighs.
Of course.
Kosmo spoke.
The owner responded.
More hushed words.
A glance around.
Then Kosmo reached into his pocket.
The council grows still.
An envelope.
He slid it across the table.
The owner took it.
Then reached somewhere beneath the counter,
or into a pocket,
or perhaps directly into the shadow realm.
The archive is uncertain.
And produced
another envelope.
Smaller.
Much smaller.
The council erupts.
Children.
This should have explained everything.
It did not.
I continued drinking tea.
The owner slid the tiny envelope toward Kosmo.
Kosmo pocketed it.
Then looked toward us.
Time to go.
The council pauses.
But the tea?
Exactly.
My tea was half finished.
Paul’s was untouched.
Kosmo’s was untouched.
Children.
This was an unacceptable waste.
I looked at the cup.
Looked at Kosmo.
Looked at the cup again.
Then made a decision.
The council braces.
I chugged it.
The council erupts.
Children.
The tea had been prepared approximately thirty seconds earlier.
It was not meant for chugging.
My throat discovered this immediately.
Fire.
Pain.
Regret.
The council applauds.
A heroic sacrifice.
I swallowed the last mouthful,
briefly cooked several internal structures,
and followed them outside.
Paul looked toward Kosmo.
“Got it?”
Kosmo nodded.
The council turns toward me.
I stood there.
Clueless.
Completely.
Children.
I had just witnessed a cash exchange,
a hidden envelope,
hushed negotiations,
and an immediate departure.
My brain concluded:
Interesting tea shop.
The council collapses.
Then,
either outside,
or several minutes later,
or perhaps only when someone finally explained it to me,
the truth arrived.
That was the dealer.
The council erupts.
The tea stall owner?
The acid dealer.
Children.
The entire exchange had happened directly in front of me.
And I had missed it because I was emotionally committed to tea.
The council applauds.
Priorities.
Kosmo now possessed the thing we had traveled to Goa for.
LSD.
The quest item.
Acquired.
The council grows quiet.
Children.
Years later,
quests would be stranger.
Relics.
Rivers.
Dogs.
Ashrams.
People.
But this?
This was the first truly ridiculous objective.
We had crossed state lines,
slept through the journey,
spent six hours smoking in a hotel,
rented a scooter from a bandaged man who had forgotten where he crashed,
and now acquired acid from a tea shop owner.
The council nods solemnly.
Flawless execution.
Now.
There was only one thing left to do.
The council becomes concerned.
Go somewhere safe?
Yes.
Reasonable.
And apparently,
Kosmo had a place.
The council leans forward.
His abode.
His base.
His chosen dwelling.
The name?
That Krazy Hostel.
The council pauses.
Children.
That was the actual name.
Not a nickname.
Not something I assigned later for dramatic effect.
That Krazy Hostel.
The council erupts.
Naturally.
Of course Kosmo lived there.
It would have been disappointing otherwise.
We climbed onto the Abomination.
Three idiots once more.
The engine coughed awake.
I resumed my position as secondary structural support.
Paul and Kosmo began talking again.
I returned to music.
And somewhere in Kosmo’s pocket sat a tiny envelope.
The entire reason for Goa.
The council grows quiet.
Children.
The pilgrimage had succeeded.
We had the acid.
Now all that remained was to decide when to take it.
Where.
How much.
What to expect.
Sensible questions.
Important questions.
The council looks toward me.
Questions I would almost certainly allow Paul and Kosmo to answer while I contributed absolutely nothing.
The council applauds.
Consistency.
And off we went.
Toward That Krazy Hostel.
Toward Kosmo’s home.
Toward whatever happened after you spend an entire journey chasing something,
finally acquire it,
and realize
the actual story has not even started yet.
Thus concludes Chapter Four.
The Abomination.
The Tea Shop.
The Envelope Exchange I Completely Failed To Understand.
And The Acquisition Of The Sacred Square.
Children.
The mission had been simple.
Acquire LSD.
Mission accomplished.
The council nods.
Which meant only one thing.
The dangerous part could finally begin.
