Ch. 4 Pay It Forward
With the bikers taken out, Charming went back to the day to day lives its people led, except for a half dozen citizens sweating out the first signs of withdrawal. Those individuals were hurting badly, the drug's hold on them not letting go easily. Many tried to offset the symptoms with pot, booze or pills, but nothing could replace what the heroin had created in them.
Eyes were cast upon them, as they walked the streets aimlessly, unkempt and dishevelled. Their only goal was to find another hit and take away the agony they were in. The Hairy Dog was walked by, in hopes the bikers were freed and business was back, but the lack of motorcycles out front, kept telling them the truth of what they didn't want to know.
The sound of the club rolling through town had hopes return, but their presence was met with disdain for them. Them, being the cause for their suffering. The junkies were noticed and observed, the distress their faces carried hard not to see. The club rolled past them, following behind Wally and Moon, as they made their way west to San Francisco.
Everyone enjoyed the clear day and the warm weather, as they drove along, looking back at faces looking at them. The rush hour was over and the highway clear enough to enjoy the cruise, without dodging cars trying to exit the highway from two lanes over. 99 turned into the 205 and the club passed where Jake had taken JT and Piney on their first run. JT felt the pangs of memories hit him, seeing the familiar territory and equating it with Jake.
580 turned north after the hills and the group kept to it, avoiding the city traffic and cruised along the foothills. The city held nothing but noise and confusion and none of them wanted to be a part of it, as they neared the end of the mainland in Oakland. The sight of big water had everyone staring out the windows and the guys heads turning to take in the scenery. They began crossing the Bay Bridge to Yerba Buena Island, the roar of the bikes almost deafening, going through the tunnel, then over to San Francisco. The members of the commune began talking about the area to the others in the cars, explaining the city and the sights they saw.
The drove along Haight St., looking at the rows of Victorian houses, some painted in bright colours, while those on the sidewalk looked at the club. Some waved and others marvelled at the bikes, as they rumbled lowly along. They passed Buena Vista park and soon, Moon pulled over and parked. The club lined up and shut the bikes off, bringing a quiet to the area. Cars and houses reflected the owners' lifestyles, as peace signs and flowers were prevalent everywhere. Large, colourful letters spelling LOVE, were seen written on anything they could be written on.
"You can see where the roots of our commune began, JT. The people here, are the ones who have looked at society and saw the wrongs committed by government policies. They started the change happening that you see, helping spread the message to as many will listen. Come on, let's go meet them."
Moon went up and knocked on the door, waiting for it to open and listened to the music of Bob Dylan inside get turned off. The door opened and a long haired man walked out, an American flag used as a bandana to hold it. He wore a brightly coloured robe and had round, dark blue glasses on, his feet clad with sandals. He saw Moon standing on the porch and his smile stretched his mouth wide. The two hugged warmly, sharing a moment together, before Moon pointed out the group with him.
"Spirit, Poppy, Phoenix, Star, all of you are here. My heart couldn't be filled with any more happiness to see you all. This is a blessing."
"Great to see you again, Free. I brought some new friends along as well."
Moon introduced JT and the club members, as well as their girlfriends to Free, who went to each one personally to welcome them.
"So what brings you all here?"
"I wanted to let JT and the club see how we got our start and how we came to form the commune."
"Wonderful, wonderful. Do you wish to start a commune, JT?"
"We sort of have one already and Moon thought it would be good for us to see how we can make it better."
"Excellent. The world needs more love spread around and we'll be happy to show you ways to improve. Come in, all of you, let's celebrate and then we'll go to the park and talk."
The throng of people filed into the house and up the narrow staircase to the second floor. The familiar aroma of marijuana wafted to them, as they came into the living quarters. Three others, two women and a man, sat around on the couch and chairs, each with a hose to their mouths, drawing smoke from the large hookah. They stopped smoking and stood up, all wearing similar robes to Free. The lone man in a corner never moved, or raised his head to acknowledge their arrival.
Free introduced them to the group and were welcomed to take a seat where they could find one. The two women and the other man passed the tentacles of the hookah to the women and Free packed close to a quarter ounce of pot into the large bowl. Before he lit it, he blessed the bowl and its contents, expressing the love shared between them in smoking it. He lit a propane torch and touched the flame to the bowl, the six hoses sucked on to ignite the herb.
Every girl coughed out huge clouds of smoke and passed the hoses to the next person. Once it had went around to every person once, there was no call for another, as eyes turned red and closed to slits, faces wearing smiles of euphoric happiness on them.
"What kind of shit was that, Free?"
"We grew it ourselves, so, I don't know what shit it is. I got some seeds from a friend who came back from travelling around Europe. He never said where he got them all from, but said it was all amazing shit."
"Well, he wasn't shitting you, that stuff is awesome."
Everyone else voiced their agreement, as they mellowed out from the hit. Free didn't want to spend time sitting around in a vegetative state and had everyone get up and led them outside and down the street to the park. They followed him through the trees, along the winding path, until it opened up to a large grassy area. Pockets of people were sitting around talking, some waving to Free and the others, when they noticed them.
Free had everyone sit in a large circle and waited until they were comfortable, before talking.
"Welcome to our home, everyone. This is where we first started talking of changing the way we lived and how we treated one another. We were all fed up with the way things were done and the rules they wanted us to live by, so, one by one, we went through everything we were opposed to and came up with an alternative that we liked instead. I'm sure Moon Child has explained the basic concept of who were are, is based on respect, trust and love, so I don't think we need to discuss what they are about."
Everyone sat and listened intently to the tall, slim man, his bearded face always showing an inner peace, his movements emphasizing his words in gentle motion. The concepts and beliefs of what they practised, were discussed more in detail, bringing a focus to what Moon was concerned about. JT understood, as did the others and saw where the conflict of ideals lay. In his own mind, he could see that the club and the commune were based on the same principles, but the direction and purpose were completely different in scope. He understood that crime and violence were a part of their lives, no matter how far removed they wanted to be from the system.
More than two hours had passed, before the group broke up and headed back along the street. The club seemed to stand out from the rest of the neighbourhood, most everyone adopting the hippie look. Girls had flowers in their hair and painted on their faces, many adorning their clothes as well. The guys with them, were hard to distinguish from the girls, their hair equally as long and dressed the same. No one looked at them with distaste, or disdain, but smiling and flashing peace signs at them instead. JT saw the unified belief of what they had just heard Free tell them about.
As they filed back inside and up the stairs, JT noticed Tom standing on the sidewalk and looking at everything. He walked back and stood beside him, noticing his look of despondency.
"What's up man?"
"I was just thinking of Beth and how she would just dig all this shit. She was in to all this sort of stuff, all the peace and love stuff."
"Who's Beth?"
"She was my girlfriend."
"Did you guys break up?"
"Not really."
"So, why aren't you with her, Tom?"
Tom looked at the ground, trying to decide if he should tell JT, then looked at him and saw the trust in his eyes and looked around for anyone who could overhear him.
"JT, I got to tell you something, but you can't tell anyone else, not even the club, okay?"
"Sure, Tom, I promise. What is it, brother?"
"I'm a draft dodger. Beth was my girlfriend and we were looking at getting married at one point in time, then I got my notice and decided not to go to join up. The only thing I could do was leave my business and Beth, so I wouldn't get busted. Tom Whitney isn't even my real name, it was my eighth grade teacher's name."
JT was stunned by the admission and looked at Tom with confusion.
"You're a draft dodger? No shit?"
"Yeah. I guess you think I'm a coward, or something?"
"No brother, I don't. I understand why you don't want to go. This war is bullshit man and I wouldn't have served if I had of known it was going to be like this. What did you do before you split?"
"I had a locksmith business. I made great money and had a decent place and shit. Beth understood, that if I stayed with her, I'd be sent to prison and lose my business anyway. She didn't want to see that happen, so we sort of had to break up, only because I could never be with her again. Like, I really dig Flower and everything, but Beth was really special to me."
"Shit, dude, that sucks."
