THE
MIND ALTERING
ADVENTURE
"Welcome to hell," Luke says to Sonny who has found him taking refuge in an early morning bottle of scotch. "Hey man, that stuff is bad for you. Too much of that will kill you." "That might be an improvement," Luke observes, upending his glass. He drains it and starts to reach for the bottle which Sonny deftly removes from the table. "You've had enough, Luke." "There isn't that much in the whole world." "Been there, done that. Doesn't work. Look, man, I heard about Laura." Luke laughs brokenly, "Well, sit down, old pal, and let me tell you the rest--how my son walked out, and the love of my life can't stand to look at the miserable bastard she married. How I've been living a lie for...oh, hell, Sonny, maybe my whole life is a lie." Hmmmmmm ![]() ![]() "Good morning," Felicia smiles as she enters the basement carrying an armload of items. Kevin regards her warily, noting that she has a small tv/vcr combination. "Good morning," he says. "Dare I hope that you've come to release me from your less than tender care?" "Come on, now, Kevin," Felicia smiles, a glint of malice sparkling from her eyes. "All my thoughts circle around you, about just how I can make you more comfortable." "Right," he mocks. "Only the best dogfood, tepid tap-water, and clumping cat litter for me." "And I thought I was being generous. I didn't get the bargain brand. None of that generic stuff for the good Dr. Collins. And, that tap-water, I'll have you know, came straight out of the garden hose. Of course, I had to rinse the bugs out of it first. You know how it gets if you don't coil it up on the hose hanger. As for the cat litter, well, I was thinking of TC, not you." "Thanks, Felicia," Kevin grumbles. "On behalf of the cat, of course. I notice that he gets his own bowl." "Quit griping," Felicia tells him. "I have been thinking of you, how you're probably getting bored down here." "Me? Bored?? Never!" "And, then," Filly smiles, "I thought of this movie--how it's just the thing to brighten your day." "'Escape from Alcatraz'? Maybe 'The Rock'?" he suggests, hopefully. "Not exactly," she tells him. "But, it's a favorite. A classic. It's a tape you made for the girls a while back....." Kevin blanches, looking tortured. "Please, Felicia, not that one." "Yes, Kevin. All eight hours of it. The same movie over and over again." She smiles. "Oh, yes, and to show how much I hope you enjoy it, I brought you a treat." She tosses him a bag of cold microwave popcorn which had probably been popped quite some time ago, and a bottle of cola which was both warm and flat. "This is natural. No salt, no butter," Kevin mutters. "Felicia, GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" "No can do," she smiles as she turns the television on, and starts the video. It's just out of his reach, and the volume is a little high. "Enjoy it. I'll be back to change the tape when this one is over. Let me see, next is eight hours of Barney....." "Oh hell!" Kevin moans as the credits come up on The Wizard of Oz. Hmmmmm ![]() ![]() "Gotta find Kevin," Lucy thinks again, sitting down to stare into her crystal ball. "Kevin, where are you?? I've got to find you and quick! Madame Maia said that it's not safe for me here, and that I have to find you. Where are you?" Lucy takes a deep breath. "Relax, Lucy, let your mind float free. You're looking for Kevin. He needs you.....Okay, okay.....I'm getting something. It's dark! No, not dark, well, maybe a little dark. I see bricks. Dark bricks. It looks like a basement. A basement in a brownstone....Ohmigosh!! Kevin must be in the basement at the brownstone!! Kevin, what are you doing??" Nearly frantic, Lucy grabs a jacket and heads towards the brownstone. All the way over in her car, she's rehearsing what she'll say to whoever she encounters there. "Oh, hi, I just thought I'd drop in and check out your basement. No, that won't work. Maybe I'll just say I left something there. Not likely. Okay, I'll sneak in. I can do that. I own a major cosmetics company. I am a savvy businesswoman. I'll just....I'll think of something. If the cops find Kevin lurking around the brownstone, they'll lock him up and throw away the key--if they don't shoot him first." Minutes later, she's at the brownstone, where she meets Felicia, on her way out of the house. "Oh, hi, Felicia." "Well, hello, Lucy," Felicia greets, a smile lighting her eyes. "Any word from Kevin yet?" "Uh, hmm, No, Felicia," Lucy finally says. "I, uh, just dropped by to uh, check on Bobbie. Yes, that's it. How is Bobbie?" A smile tugging at her lips, Felicia answers, "You mean, you haven't heard?" "Heard what?" "About Bobbie and Tony and Carly?" Lucy, who had been out of touch with the world in her quest for Kevin via the crystal ball, is curious. "What about them?? You can't possibly mean them together--I mean, as a threesome, so what exactly do you mean?" "Carly was found yesterday, murdered, and she apparently died in Bobbie's arms. Carly and Tony had been having an affair." "What?" Lucy is amazed. "Tony? Not that I'd blame him, but Carly? Good grief! Of course, she does look like a younger, blonde-haired version of Bobbie, which would make you wonder, but murdered?" Felicia nods, "Stabbed to death. Same as the Gina Williams killing." Lucy turns white, and sways against the door of the brownstone. Felicia says, "I'm sorry, Lucy. Would you like to sit down for a few minutes?" "Please," Lucy whispers, drawing a ragged breath. She sits down on the couch in the living room at Bobbie's, and asks, "Where are Bobbie and Tony, now?" "I think that they're down at the police station." "I wonder if they'd mind if I stayed here for a few minutes? My god, Felicia. What's going on?" "I'm the wrong person to ask," Felicia says. "You know that the police are looking for Kevin, but they are also questioning Bobbie and Tony." She glances down at her watch. "I've got to run now. Be sure to lock up on your way out." Felicia leaves, and Lucy's recovery is instant. "Okay, I've got a few minutes. Now, where is the door to the basement? I think that it's....right here!" Seconds later, she clicks on the light, and hurries down the basement stairs. "Kevin?" she whispers. "Kevin?" Nothing. Nobody. Just a few old storage boxes and the heater. Disappointed, she comforts herself with the thought that at least he wasn't down there lurking around. But why, she wonders, was she continuously getting flashes of the brownstone and basements? "Oh hell," she mutters as she leaves the place. Hmmmmmmmm ![]() ![]() Stay tuned!! What will Sonny think of the truth about Luke and Laura?? Will he, too, turn his back on the man he's called "friend" for years? And, how will Kevin cope with this latest torture from Felicia? How can he live through eight straight hours of The Wizard of Oz followed by eight of Barney? Can things get any worse for the Doc?? And, now that we come to think of it, why wasn't Lucy able to find Kevin in the basement? Is there something that we haven't learned about this old brownstone? Like a secret basement, maybe??? Hmmmmmm
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