I'll See You In Your Dreams (15 page)

Colton let out a sigh. “It’s hard to look outward when you’re in a cell.”

“That’s true, but Zulus train like a boxer to be constantly alert for any opportunity to defeat an enemy or to acquire food or any other of life’s necessities. Envision the end result, then put all efforts in looking outward for opportunity, and none on one’s self. Just get the end result or die.”

Sam stood and leaned against the bars. He relished the coolness of the steel in the sweltering cell. He had to give Colton hope. He drew in a breath and continued.

“They became acutely aware of their environment and were fearless.  Their history had shown them conclusively that the answers are outward, in the environment and never inside one’s head. They knew it was opportunity and the courage to take it that insured success.

“According to ancient history, this wisdom was acquired by the Zulu’s original leader, Zulu’s grandson, Shaka. He built a kraal, or village, called Bulawayo, which means the persecuted one. This referred to his father, Senzangakhona. It was Zulu’s expulsion from Zululand. His father was a peaceful and spiritual leader, and much loved by his people. Shaka’s determination to avenge this outrage resulted in development of superior weapons and more important, an idea.

“This idea was to set a goal and accept nothing but the goal envisioned. He described to all under his charge the Zululand he planned to create. He got them to envision it, too. He then swore a blood oath to achieve that or die. He got all his charges to swear to such an oath as well.”

Colton piped up. “I’d like to swear an oath, all right. Right in Paul’s face as he dies at my hands.”

Sam smiled at his friend and continued as though uninterrupted.

“He conquered all his enemies, including the British, and did create his Zululand. His warriors were fearsome. He, however, became a tyrant. His wholesale slaughter of his enemies soon spilled over into his killing anyone who displeased him. It got so bad that at his mother, Nandi’s, funeral he ordered some people put to death just as a show of respect. The devotion to Shaka was such that seven thousand mourners set upon each other to prove their devotion. A year later Shaka’s half-brothers assassinated him to stop the bloodshed.”

“So, what’s the point of that story, Sam?”

“The point is, Colton, we must decide the end result we desire, and set our resolve to achieve it by constantly looking for the opportunity. Then have the courage to take it at all costs. But we must never lose sight of the underlying positive reasons for why we wish to succeed in the first place.”

Colton had seemed almost angry for a moment as he listened to Sam. That anger subsided into boredom at the ideas Sam was impacting. Now he was becoming interested.

“What possible, positive reason could there be before all of this? I didn’t want it.”

“What did you want, Colton?”

“I just wanted Anne. I just wanted to love her!” His head lowered and tears fell to the floor.

“Then that should be the positive goal for you in all we do. This it the true purpose and is the foundation of all other efforts.

“In my Zulu history, it is Zulu, the founder, who set the goal of creating a civilization where each individual was free to create their own positive goals. He had the idea that freedom was heaven. That is what Zulu means, heaven.

“The original Zulu was oppressed for his positive desire for freedom of the individual. Slave masters considered such an idea of course a threat to their aspirations. It was from that oppression that Shaka was born, a warrior, the grandson of Zulu, a king of peace.”

Sam walked over to his bunk and sat down. He paused to let Colton consider the irony of a king of peace creating a future of fearsome warriors.

After a moment he continued.

“In my later education in England, I learned of the duality of the physical universe. The positive must have a negative. The yin and yang of existence, I pondered until I realized that oppressing the positive resulted in the strengthening of its opposite, the negative. It also works the other way. To oppress the negative, strengthens the positive.

“From my studies of many religions and science I realized the first idea, whatever it was, is considered to be the truth. That first idea had to be to create something, because the opposite is destruction, and no one can destroy anything that hasn’t been created. The positive will eventually win.”

Colton was riveted to Sam’s words. Sam paused a moment and continued.

“It’s why my ancestors are known as Zulus, not Shakas. It was Zulu’s creative and positive goal of freedom that had to exist before Shaka could fight for it. His mistake was to forget Zulu’s goal of individual freedom. That was the goal on which his goal depended. Shaka became an oppressor, for to forget the original goal is to become the thing one opposes.”

“You’re an amazing person, Sam. I’m glad I know you.” Colton let out a long breath of air.

“My positive goal, Sam, is simply to freely love Anne.”

“That is a good and understandable goal, Colton. It is a Zulu goal, freedom, and who or what prevents you from creating that goal?”

“Paul.”

“Then you must call him master, Colton, for you are saying Paul controls you.”

Colton looked puzzled and frowned. “I don’t understand, Sam. What is it, if it isn’t Paul?”

“What about Paul prevents you from freely loving Anne?”

“His lies.”

“Good, what else?”

“My own cowardliness, I guess.”

“What is at the basis of your fear?

“My social status I guess.” Colton sighed.

“Are you inferior to Paul, Colton?”

“No!”

“Then what holds you from freely loving Anne?”

Colton’s brow furrowed and he put his head in his hands. Sam patiently sat silently and waited. He continued to wait.

Finally, Colton abruptly stood and with a fierce determination and eyes flashing, he faced Sam. “Lies, lies, my own, Paul’s, and any others that say I can’t freely love Anne. I can love her, I do love her, and I can do all I can to earn her love.”

“Remember that goal, Colton. That’s where your strength is. Only lies are the enemy.”

“How about you, Sam?  What is your goal in all this?” Sam smiled.

“My goal is to fulfill Zulu’s quest. It’s why I came to America. Freedom for the individual is the idea or goal I seek, freedom from lies and ignorance. To be Zulu is to be free, and my enemies are the oppressors of freedom. Paul is an enemy to Zulu, and he is an enemy of your love for Anne.”

“So what do we do, Sam?”

“We do what Shaka Zulu did.  We become warriors and kick some ass. We will just be a bit smarter and not lose sight of the purpose of our war.”

Colton stepped closer to the bars that separated him from Sam.

“Sam, let’s agree never to look inward, only outward, and find that opportunity that will set us free!”

“Zulu style,” replied Sam.

<><><>

There was a click, and the door from the office to the cells opened. The deputy stepped through, followed by three burly guys with shotguns. The deputy gestured toward the wall opposite the cells. His burly buddies lined up and leaned against the back wall. The deputy then stepped back into his office and retrieved his own shotgun.

They all lined up across from the cells and faced Sam and Colton. With his eyes still on the gun-toting visitors, Colton said to Sam out of the side of his mouth, “I hate to be a pessimist, Sam, but I fail to see an opportunity shaping up here.”

“I’m starting to doubt the validity of Zulu wisdom myself,” Sam replied.

The deputy stepped forward and cocked his shotgun while glaring at Sam. “So, you boys making up a good story to fool the jury with?”

“Nope,” Sam replied without flinching.

“Well, I aim to see justice is done for that little girl’s sake. I think there’s nothing lower than a snake that would have his way with a kid. It ain’t right!” 

“I agree,” Sam replied once more, while holding his gaze steady. 

“Don’t try to con me, nigger, no one fools Jimbo!” He said this last part slowly and with emphasis.

“Evidently, Paul Hawthorne did!”

The boom of the shotgun discharge was deafening in the closed space. Sam reeled back as chunks of shirt and flesh splattered on the back of the cell. His body spun and collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Colton was in a momentary daze as he realized his friend had just been shot to death. He grabbed the bars between his and Sam’s cell. A desperate cry choked out of him. He looked at his friend lying face-down on the floor and a growing pool of blood creeping over toward him. His mind started to play all the stored images he had of Sam and his patience and wisdom, his humor, all the way back to that day when he’d hired Colton as a wrangler.

The scene he was in now was unreal. This couldn’t be happening. He willed himself to wake up. He was caught in a nightmare.

“Well, nigger lover, aren’t you sorry you hooked up with this piece of shit, now?”

The deputy’s voice pulled Colton out of his horror to the focused moment. The deputy stepped down to the front of Colton’s cell and gestured for his buddies to line up with him.

“Okay, boys, we all pull the trigger on this one, and then we know no one will talk.” Jimbo glanced down the line to make sure he got agreement.

Colton saw the opportunity and lunged forward, shoving his leg through the bars with all his might. His aim was perfect, and he felt Jimbo’s knee snap and bend backwards. He heard the scream of pain, and then the three shotguns discharged with a deafening blast. Colton felt his body flying backwards, and the last thought he had was, Zulu style. His last bodily gesture was a small smile as he followed Sam.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Charlie opened his eyes. He was disoriented at first. Is this heaven, he thought? He focused his eyes, and the cobwebs seemed to clear. He was looking at the window of Anne’s bedroom, and he dropped his gaze and sat suddenly upright. There was Stanley snoring lightly in the chair where he sat the night before.

It was light outside. He checked his watch; it was 7:30 A.M. He jumped to his feet.

“Wake up, Stanley.” He tapped Stanley’s leg with his toe.

“Wake up; we’ve got to get out of here!”

Stanley opened his eyes and looked around, blinking.

“Huh?”

“We’ve got to get going, Anne evidently didn’t show up.” He busied himself with picking up his camera and putting his shoes back on. They quickly headed down the stairs and Charlie mumbled as he gently eased open the door.

“The dream I had was unbelievable. You can’t imagine how disappointed I was when I woke up and realized it was just a dream.”

They headed across the yard to the van and soon were headed down Tulare Street to the freeway. Charlie looked at Stanley. “You’re awfully quiet.  Sleep well?”

“I was just thinking about your dream. I’m glad it wasn’t true, the one where I get shot to death.” Stanley said.

The van swerved a bit and Charlie instinctively tapped the brake peddle, then resumed his pace down the freeway.

“Uh, what, where you get shot to death? My god Stanley, how did you know what I dreamed?”

“I dreamed it too! “Oh my god … oh my god, it wasn’t a dream … oh my god.”

“Easy, Charlie, it may well be a dream; it’s just, that I dreamed it, too.”

“We were in each other’s dream?” asked Charlie.

“Something like that or this is the dream.”

“Hey, now don’t say that, or we are dead, and this is heaven!” said Charlie.

“Or the other place, more likely.” Stanley smiled.

“Uh, Stanley, did you know you were a black man as Sam?”

“Of course, and what’s your point?”

“I was just wondering, did you notice if your willy was noticeably bigger?”

“Charlie, Charlie, Charlie, your humor never ceases, but yes it was huge like mine now.”

“Yeah, right, Stanley.”

“So, if we are all done with our anatomy inquisition, we have to talk about our mutual dream now before it fades.”

“Okay, just wondering.”

<><><>

They arrived at the Denny’s on Herndon and ordered breakfast. As they ate, they discussed the dream in its entirety. Finally they just sat there in a trance staring out the window, contemplating the ramifications of their trip to the Dreamtime. Stanley broke the silence. “We must return to finish it.”

“Bullshit, Tonto. We just got shot to death. If we go back, boom, boom. Dead again!” Charlie said.

“No Kimosabe. Remember, we’re in the barn with Anne as she tells the story of our first encounter with Paul and Ludwig. Remember? You and I were Sam and Colton, and we got our asses tricked and kicked by a couple of shrink want to be’s, but we got past all that and have returned to before the boom, boom, remember?” Stanley said.

“Oh, yeah, this last visit is before the rape and our demise.” Charlie said with a slightly forlorn expression.