Life is an intersecting maze of entrances, exits, and hallways called opportunities. You never know when you get lost in the maze, but each day when you wake up, you’re there. There’s always a new puzzle to solve, always a new dream to chase, and always a new street to walk. And today, the maze unfolds leading Jasper and Omar on a highway called life.

The sun dips low in the sky, casting long shadows across the highway as the rickety old work van rumbles along. Inside, the air was stuffy and warm like cigarettes on hot breath, and the van was filled with the soft hum of the road and the damning anticipation of the unknown.

Jasper and Omar found themselves squeezed in among a web of amplifiers, guitar cases, and funny looking strangers, who were still riding their high of destruction. They were high-fiving and fist bumping to the tune of a first-degree felony. Omar stares out the window, hoping to make sense of the nonsense his life had become.

“Dad… guys… What the hell just happened? They’re going to call the cops!” says Omar with his eyes darting around looking for any sign of support.

Jasper sips a stolen Coke nonchalantly, unfazed by their predicament. The Leprechaun Man sits cross-legged beside him, grinning. “Relax – that blowhard ain’t going to do shit.” he says while scratching his crotch.

“But he said—” Omar interrupts.

The Leprechaun Man waves Omar off. “Everything is going to be fine… Dave made sure of it. Right, Dave?” He nods towards the driver.

“Right!” Dave bellows while holding up a pair of wire cutters, daring the van to drive itself.

Omar grabs the wall and braces himself as Dave regains the wheel. After a deep breath, Omar squeaks out, “But what about his cell phone?”

The leprechaun man scoffs. “They got shit for service out here.”

Omar rubs his temples. The Leprechaun Man turns to Jasper.

“The name’s Gentry,” he sticks his hand out. “And this is my band – The Charmers.” He motions around the van to his rag-tag enforcers.

Jasper and Omar exchange a sideways glance.

“Ya’ll are a band?” asks Jasper.

“Best damn band in the land,” says Gentry with a smile.

Jasper nods.

“Well, I’m sure that dickhead didn’t find you too charmin’,” Jasper says with a half-smile.

“If some blowhard doesn’t want to pay out a lotto he sold, well… that’s on him.”

“How much did you win?” Jasper asks.

“Enough to get angry about.”

“Fair enough. “Jasper smiles. Omar rubs his temples. Gentry points to the back of the van.

“That’s Adam, our guitarist,” he says, thumbing to a man who looks as if he crawled straight out of a Guns N’ Roses music video. “Jenny, our lead vocalist,” he motions to a lady with cool blue eyes and hair put up in space buns.

“That’s Jasmine, our bassist – she’s got rhythm for days.” Jasmine smiles her toothy smile. And finally, that’s Paul,” he points to a man with glazed red eyes. “He’s never smoked a joint he didn’t like.” Gentry adds. Omar smiles.

“What about him?” ‘What’s his story?” Jasper thumbs over to Dave who was wearing bright blue overalls and a straw hat.

“Oh, Dave? We met him at one of our shows in Middlefield. He walked out on Rumspringa and hasn’t looked back since.”

Dave turns his head to the back of the van and, with a thick Dutch accent.

“It’s ze truth!” The van bounces up and down as it hits a monster pothole sending the crew flying.

“Focus on the road lad! you’re not driving a horse and buggy anymore!” cries Gentry. “Amish bastard.” Gentry says with a smile.

“Wait he’s Amish? How in the Hell is he driving?” Omar asks.

“Aye don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to!” Gentry gruffs.

Omar rubs his temples a little harder. Gentry notices.

“Eh you’re gonna rub your head off! Paul, get the lad something to drink.”

Jasper pats Omar’s back.

“Hey man, thanks for helping us out back there. We were looking for a ride, one way or the other.” Says Jasper.

“Ahh, It’s the road code – you help others out, and eventually, you get helped out.”

“Where’d you learn that shit?” Jasper asks with a raised eyebrow. “Is that some kind of Eastern philosophy?”

“Nah far from it. Western actually – I learned it at a truck stop in Oklahoma, stall three.”

“Damn. That’s some powerful shit.”

Gentry lights up a cigarette. “In more ways than one! That’s probably why we met.” He motions to his bandmates. “The road code, that is. The road code always knows the way.” Says Gentry as he exhales a cloud of smoke.

Paul hands Omar an unlabeled yellow bottle. He yanks it out of his hand and takes a gulp like it’s the last drink on earth. Immediately, he spits it out.

“Is that milk?!”

“Yeah why?” Paul gruffs.

“I’m lactose!”

“Ahh shit.” Jasper runs his temple.

“Road code makes mistakes too I guess.” Gentry offers.

“Ya think?!” Omar grabs his stomach.

Gentry raises his eyebrows and takes a drag from his cigarette.

“Well… I try not to. It gets in the way of livin’ you know? I don’t want to be all deep;  but it’s only by livin’ is how The Charmers came together.” Says Gentry with pride beaming in his eyes.

The band smiles and makes eye contact with each other eager to relive their story.

“Ain’t that right?” Says Paul.

“Right it is.” Says Gentry.

“Well shit, tell us how ya’ll came together. Ain’t nothing like a story on a road trip.” Says Jasper.

Gentry smiles, cracks his knuckles, and leans in.

“One day, about five years ago, life tapped me on the shoulder. I was laid off from my job. 12 years of hard work, my career gone in an email. Budget cuts they said. Boss needed to keep the stockholders happy… I guess.”

Gentry shakes his head and continues.

“I was really sinking from the cut like a cruise ship taking a torpedo and I didn’t know what to do. I kept wondering how I was going to fend for myself?”

The van was silent. Gentry lights up another cigarette, sending that smooth tobacco smoke into the air.

“Even more troubling, I had a bigger question – what was I going to do with my life? I guess I never really had to think about it until then. Life had caught me and put me right where it wanted me. I only lived to work, and I wasn’t happy. I guess I was caught by the spell of corporate America. That evening, I went for a long walk around the neighborhood, and during that walk, a hearse passed me by. It made me feel lucky, and as soon as it did, I looked up and saw a set of drums in the front window of a music shop. Growing up, I had always liked drumming but gave up the dream a long time ago. And I guess that hearse reminded me you only get one at-bat, so to speak. So you better make it count.”

The van nods.

“So I looked up into the sky and for a moment, only for a moment, I thought I saw a reflection of a man. I don’t know if it was Jesus, I don’t know if it was God, but the message was clear: lean into your faith. All the way in. I walked into that store and sat down behind the drums. And slowly, I hit it. It echoed out. And the strangest thing happened.”

The hair on Gentry’s arm start to stand straight up.

“I felt the unavoidable pull of energy surge through my body. Time stood still and for the first time in a long time I was happy. I made a promise to never again put myself in a situation that didn’t make me happy again. It was cathartic. I bought those drums with what little money I had left, and that’s how my second life started. The store I got the drums from was called “Charmed.” Hence, The Charmers. Over the years, gigging from bar to bar, I met the rest of the crew and the band was born.”

Omar uncrosses his arms and leans forward.

“Damn that is pretty charming.” Jasper offers.

“It is.” Gentry agrees and then, his eyes light up as if someone was shining a big flashlight through them. “I think through it all I learned one thing. You got to do what you’re called to do in life. You can’t waste time, doing shit that doesn’t fill you up. You gotta follow your energy.”

The van nods in agreement, and Jasper leans forward and taps Omar’s arm. Omar stares down at his phone, pretending not to care, but secretly, he holds on to every word as he subtly leans forward too. He’s fighting a truth he inherently knows, but for some strange reason – he’s keeping suppressed.

“All of us in the band, we’re musicians at heart. Me, growing up I was always banging on drums every chance I got, driving my parents up a fuckin’ buttered wall. Jenny sings in the shower nearly every day of her life, Jasmine is so on point, she probably thinks in rhythm, Adam is constantly strumming something, and when Paul’s not sky-high, he’s always writing new music down.” Gentry elbows Jasper. “And Dave, well, Dave’s…Dave.”

Dave starts to rock his head back and forth, making him look like a bobblehead. Jasper’s eyes narrow.

“I guess for us, music has always been in our hearts; it’s a part of who we are, it gives us energy. So really, there’s no way we couldn’t do this. I believe you gotta do what makes you happy, even if it means living on the road.”

Omar’s skin went gooseflesh as if he’d just seen a ghost, but he had seen something more scary. The truth. And the realization he wasn’t living it. Self-reflection had never been so numbing. And If only for a moment, he thought he caught Jasper side-eyeing him in the eye.

Outside the van, the sun kissed the horizon. The van seemed to acknowledge it with a forceful rock. After a beat, Jasper broke the ice.

“And if that don’t work out, ya’ll should consider the UFC.” Jasper says with a grin. “Better yet, the WWE. Y’all can use the same name.”

Gentry smiles.

“So where you headed?”

Jasper looks to Omar.

“I’m moving out west to California” Omar meekly offers.

“Ahh California? Doing some dreaming eh?”

Omar looks down at the carpet.

“Eh, trying to.”

“Well, what’s the reason you going? Come on, you just heard me spill my guts.”

Omar scratches his head.

“New job.”

“That’s exciting! Doing what?”

“Uhh… selling kitchen knives door to door.” Omar mumbles.

A collective grimace rippled through the van. Heads swiveled towards Omar; eyebrows raised in unison.

“Well, you excited? At least? Are you following your energy?”

Omar looks down.

“Yeah.” he lies.

Gentry nods. “Hopefully one day you’ll believe it yourself. Life’s too short to be doing shit you don’t love.”

Omar’s fist tightens. He couldn’t understand how a complete stranger could see right through him. It made him silently question how much he’d been seen, even when he thought he was hiding.

“But until then, hopefully, you’ll enjoy the weather.” Gentry adds.

Omar nods.

“Alright lads, we’ll take you as far west as we can. We got a concert Indiana ways, we can drop you off somewhere down yonder. But you’ll have to go where the road leads you.

“Thank you my friend.” Jasper extends a hand.

“It’s the way of the fuckin’ road.” Gentry confirms.

“The way of the fuckin’ road.” Jasper echoes.

The van hits another pothole, sending Gentry’s head bouncing off the roof.

“Fuck, Dave!” Gentry screams.

Omar continues to hug his knees as he feels his heart stretch apart. He exhales forcefully. The reality starting to upset his stomach.

“You gotta follow your energy. Cheers to that.” Jasper takes a sip from his Coke. “Gotta follow your energy, Omar. Gotta have faith.”

Outside the van, the sky was a brilliant kaleidoscope of blue, white, orange, and yellow cosmos, that let you know the heavens were smiling.

Gentry looks out of the front window and smiles.

“Remember one thing: Life’s a trip lad; so you gotta dance to the music that moves you.”

The band nods in agreement. And even Dave and his stupid straw hat seemed to agree. His Amish haircut moving back and forth like a wave.

“We should be there in a few hours – just get some rest; Dave will get us there.” Gentry adds.

The van hits another pothole and sends the band bouncing off the ceiling.

“Hopefully.”

Omar’s eyes grow heavy and feel like two mountain boulders ready to tumble down to the Earth. And slowly, he drifts into sleep, still clutching his body.

Please like, comment, share and tell me what you think. This is a chapter from my book that follows: The Gas Station Confessions – tonysbologna : Honest. Satirical. Observations 

 

Essentially, this is a story about a Father and son repairing their relationship on the heels of a cancer diagnosis.