Crown Jewels #1: Playing for Mike

There was no question that life somewhat fizzled out between the time Tamera graduated from high school and started her full-time job at Door-Mart. Before, her grades and hobbies warranted her the “Honors Student” title, and now she was a minimum wage employee.

“Hey! Hey, dumbass, you hear me!?! I said these eggs are too expensive!”

Tamera shook her head and said, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Karen, but I can’t do anything about that.”

“Then. Get. Me. The. Manager!” Tamera groaned. It seemed like Mrs. Karen had a new complaint every trip she made there. “What was that?” asked Mrs. Karen.

“What?”

“That little rude sound you just made! What? You think you’re all high and mighty, or something?”

“Oh no, no, no, no, Mrs. Karen. I’m just…not sure if she could help you with the eggs. From what I hear a number of factors go into pricing them…” Mrs. Karen’s lips pursed and eyebrows slanted, “ Then again, what would a lowly stock girl like me know about economics. Follow me, ma’am.”

By the time Tamera had found Ms. Johnson in the home-wear section of the store, She and Mrs. Karen had been through half the aisles, and just before the soccer mom’s head was about to explode.

Ms. Johnson had just waved bye to a couple that had a new set of dishware in their cart. Tamera gave a short cough and said, “Ma’am, um...Mrs. Karen wants to speak to you...again.”

The manager turned and said, “Oh, hi, Mrs. Karen. Are you finding everything okay today?”

“No. I’m looking for two dozen eggs at a decent price! Look at this,” she thrust out a small carton, “Half a dozen for four dollars! That’s madness!”

“Well, ma’am, organic goods tend to be more expensive. I find the Awesome Value eggs, our store brand ones, to be adequate substitutes in times when money is sparse. An eighteen count is half the price of those.”

“I don’t want to feed my kids that crappy shit! I want quality at a decent price!”

“I can’t cut the prices, but you know what I can do?”

“What?”

“I could give you a couple of coupons you could redeem at checkout. It won’t reduce your total dramatically, but it will help some. Come on, I keep some in the office. You could get back to work, Tamera.”

Mrs. Karen said, “Oh and we need to talk about that girl…” as Ms. Johnson led her away. On her way back to the dairy aisle, she saw a sobbing woman pass by. “Mrs. Bookbinder?” said Tamera.

“Oh, hello, Ms. Jones.”

“Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine. I have to go,” Mrs. Bookbinder quickly sped away.

Before her shift ended, Tamera was tracked down by Ms. Johnson said, “I know some people can be frustrating, but you must have patients with them.” 

“But I didn’t snap at Mrs. Karen.”

“I understand that. It’s just some people may be having such a rough time, they grow so sensitive, that anything someone does seem to be threatening, so they snap.”

“Snipping is her default mode, though. It’s like she was born that way.”

“You should have met her in high school. Always the sweetest. Would give anyone having a bad day an ear to listen to.”

“What? No...”

“Oh, yes.”

“What happened?”

“Well...I suppose it was the death of her spouse. She had to quickly find a stable job to support the kids…”

“...So, you were friends in high school?”

“No, I was the bitch of the school. Anyway, keep in mind that people get stressed and there’s a reason behind their feelings.”

She changed out of her uniform and swiped her time card. On her way out, she stopped by the bathroom. From the end stall, she heard sobbing, but only after using the toilet and washing her hands, she said, “Mrs. Bookbinder, is that you in there?”

“Please, go away,” said the woman.

“It’s just, the store’s going to close soon…”

“I said, ‘GO AWAY!’”

Tamera raised her eyebrows. Then she took a breath and said, “Do you want to get a drink?”

For a minute nothing came from the stall, then Mrs. Bookbinder agreed.

At a nearby bar, the two women were served beer. Mrs. Bookbinder chugged hers down before saying, “So, what have you been up to, Ms. Jones?”

“Not much,” said Tamera taking a sip, “Just started at Door-Mart this summer.”

“I thought you headed off to college?”

“I went for a couple of years. Bombed the fifth semester, though, and lost my scholarship, so I dropped out.”

“That’s a shame, you were always such a smart girl. Up there with Bobby Torrance, Margaret Moriarty, and my little Mikey…” Mrs. Bookbinder's eyes dropped.

“Are...are things alright between the two of you?”

“It’s nothing,” she waved toward the server, “Another please.”

Nothing was said for a while, then Tamera re-sparked the conversation, “So...are you still teaching history?”

“Well, I’ve got to pay the bills somehow.”

Again there was a silence, then the barkeeper announced a band. They started playing a song. “Hey, I recognize this,” Tamera said.

“Oh, right,” said Mrs. Bookbinder, “You, Mikey, and the entire jazz band played it for graduation.

A small smile flickered onto both faces. “Reminds me of so many good times,” said Tamera, “Practicing, the concerts, the year we went to Clucking Chicken Camp…”

Tears broke from Mrs. Bookbinder’s eyes. “I...I just wish he’d remember!”

“What? What’s wrong?” 

“Mikey...He doesn’t remember a thing!”

“Mike has amnesia? What happened?

“I don’t know. They found him that way…We’ve tried triggering something, but-but we haven’t made progress…”

“I-I’m sorry to hear that, Mrs. Bookbinder. I wish I could help, but I don’t…”

“Can you play the saxophone for him?”

“Huh?”

“He always said he loved hearing from you.”

“But I was never much of a solo act…”

“He’s said he loved it when you played between practice runs.”

“My warm-ups?”

“Just please, please play for him.” Mrs. Bookbinder gripped onto Tamera’s sleeve and looked into her eyes.

“I guess I could give it a shot…”

A few days later, Tamera visited the Hospital and was led to Mikalagalo Bookbinder’s room by a nurse. “Mr. Bookbinder. You have a visitor. Call if you need anything.”

“Hey, Mike. Remember me?” asked Tamera, mentally face-palming herself.

“Sorry, but no,” said Mike, “Please leave. I don’t feel like talking to anymore ‘old friends.’”

“Well, I don’t think we were friends per se...but how about listening to an old peer play,” Tamera lifted up her saxophone case.

Mike looked at it then said, “Do whatever you want…”

She set the case down and opened it, pulling out the instrument and bringing it to her lips. The first notes to come out were like screeches.

“What the hell was that?” said Mike, “It was abysmal!”

“Sorry! I just haven’t played in a while...Oh, so this isn’t quite a song, more of a warmup really…”

“Just get on with it!”

“Right…” She began playing again, starting out slow. As she continued, she found herself deviating and she closed her eyes. The sounds synchronizing into dance. She played until it became hard to breathe.

Taking in a few gulps of air, Tamera lowered the instrument. Mike gapped at her and asked, “What the hell was that? It was…” The room shook.

Lights flickering, Tamera lost her footing and began to fall through a dark abyss. After a moment, she realized she wasn’t alone as Mike screamed into the void with her. She shut her eyes tight and clung to the saxophone.

Then a bouncy surface caught them and they slid off it into something soft. She opened an eye, finding herself in some far-reaching, purple grass. She sat up and looked around at the large, surrounding mushrooms. 

On the other side, she heard a voice saying, “No, no, no, no!” and ran around to where Mike was pacing.

“Um, Mike...Am I dreaming?” asked Tamera, “This has to be a dream right? ‘Cause I went to bed nervous and don’t remember the trip to the hospital…”

“No! This isn’t a dream!” said Mike, “oh, how did I get back here...You!”

“Me?”

“You must have triggered something!”

“Meaning…”

“I remembered something!”

“And that’s bad, Dream Mike?

“This is not a dream!”

“That’s what a dream person would say.”

“Just-just stay away from me,” said Mike, turning away.

“Wait, where are you going?” said Tamera.

“I’m going to look for the wise man. Look I’ll send him for you so long as you stay put.”

“Dream or not, we should stick together.”

“I won’t let you trigger anything else. I’m not risking being found by her.”

“Who.”

“Leave me alone! I don’t want to know you, again!” Mike ran off, Tamera tried to keep up but lost stamina quickly. 

“It’s okay,” she said to herself, “This is a dream. I’m going to wake up any moment…”