Chapter Seven: OTIS GOES TO HELL / POLUTROPOS

Chapter 7

OTIS GOES TO HELL

 

  Otis held Polutropos close to his heart.  There was a long, aching hiss that came from the direction of Dante's Inferno, the former hot spot of the South Bay Riviera.  Suddenly the mist turned green and without moving a muscle, Otis found himself gliding into the yawning doors of the condemned building.
  Once inside, the room began to spin like a whirlpool and there was the very loud sound of something chunky going down a great drain.  A huge disco ball violently swung round and round the room. Otis had to keep ducking to avoid being hit.  Stobe lights occassionally pierced the green air.  He soon recognized the voices of a fierce high school band called Charybdis singing, "Burn, baby, Burn, Disco Inferno".  When he caught glimpses of them, he knew something was up.  They had all died when their van drove over one of the steep Palos Verdes cliffs more than a quarter of a century ago.

  Otis and Polutropos hit bottom and an unearthly silence enveloped them.  There was an eerie canal where thick green fluid slowly sludged.  On the other side of this revolting river Otis could see many transparent people who did not seem aware of him or each other.  One of the see-through people was a dead ringer for his beloved Penny.
  "Do you see what I see, Polutropos?"  It was a rhetorical question, so Otis was mortified when the puppy grinned ear-to-ear like a Cheshire cat and answered, "Yes."
  Polutropos got the giggles and this really disturbed Otis even further, but he didn't put the puppy down.  He didn't want to have to search for him in this place.
  "Damn Circe!  Hell!  I'm having a flashback!"  Otis moaned.
  Circe had sent him to hell.  The spirit of the Prophet Teiresias appeared to Otis and explained that the reason the others seemed hollow and unaware was because they were mere PRE-IMAGES of people who would soon be arriving in hell but were not dead yet.
  Teiresias went on to say that unless Otis could get home in time to change the flow of events, Penny would be raped after the poetry party that very night and in a moment of insane despair she would take her life.  Otis recognized other PRE-IMAGES flickering on the other side of the eerie canal.  Professor Antonio, Melanie, the Skylla Surfers and the stranger on the beach who had warned Otis about the Skylla were all PRE-IMAGES.
  Otis was eager to leave hell and rescue Penny.  However, Teiresias indicated there was one more matter to attend to.  Although Otis had not eaten of the prize-winning three bean habanero chili that was made from the poached beef of the Helios Cattle Ranch, Polutropos was guilty as hell and must be punished.  Otis was free to go, but Polutropos was not.

- To Be Continued -

Chapter Five: SOME NICE NEPENTHE, ANYONE?

Chapter Five

NEPENTHE

 

  The outraged children caught up with Otis but were disgusted by the pitiful sight.  They vowed to yell at him later and make him buy their little sister a new kite, after he finished crying.
  Someone gave Otis a bowl of chili to comfort him but it only made him cry louder.  Many adult males gathered to discuss the possible meanings of a barefoot man in a tux crying on the beach at noon.  Cell phones were whipped out and the stock market took a jolt, all because of the fallen puppy, Polutropos.

  The stranger who had warned Otis about the Skylla Surfers happened by again and told Otis he must lower his head.  Otis took him for a seer.
  "Are you telling me that I am suffering this misery because I am guilty of the sin of pride?"  Otis was ready to repent.
  "I don't know you that well, " The stranger shrugged, "but if you look down you'll see that dog you've been looking for."  The stranger rolled his eyes and walked away.
  Sure enough, Polutropos was sitting next to Otis and the little dog had just polished off the bowl of three bean habanero chili bigger than he was.  He looked green around the edges but he was alive!
  It was going to be a long walk home since Otis no longer had his wallet.  He couldn't even buy his wife the Valentine chocolates and roses, but at least he had Polutropos.
  By and by some of Otis's former students recognized him and after a bit of conversation, agreed to drive him home.  First they would have to fetch Edgewood from the Jujube Rathskeller under the pier.
 

"We HAVE to go in there. Edgewood's our ride.  He's been in there for days and each time we send someone in there after him, we never see them again.  Nobody comes out!"
  "We have a plan!" another of the boys began to explain to Professor Otis, "When you go in there, don't breathe! You remember what Edgewood looks like, don't you, Professor?"
  "He was a promising student. Yes, I remember Edgewood."  Otis said the only nice thing he could.
  "That's him! He still makes lots of promises!"  One of the boys shouted over the crashing surf.
  "Don't breathe!  Don't listen! Don't talk!  Don't drink or eat anything! We just get the Edge and split!  Got it?"  They synchronized their intent and went into the breach with one mind.
  Otis went with them, but it didn't go simple.  The Jujube was very crowded and the smoke was so dense that it was impossible to see across the dance floor.  By the time Otis recognized his ex-wife's face, it was too late.  Circe was already holding him and giving him the ole contact high.  Her lovely hair defied gravity and seemed to float as if she was under water.
  "Have some lotus, Otis!"  She purred like Roger Rabbit's wife, then put her mouth over his and blew the smoke.
  Otis tried to spit it out.  He involuntarily squeezed Polutropos and the chihauhau released habanero fumes, which for the moment counteracted the lotus smoke that made men forget.
 

"Nepenthe?"  A waiter glided up with a tray of martini glasses glowing with the Egyptian elixir that took away grief and memory.
  "No thank you." Otis said.
  "Otis, show them what you can do with words, baby!"  Circe coaxed.
  "No, Circe! I said 'NO'",  Otis struggled as Circe pulled him towards the stage where red eyed poets with hoarse voices fought a vicious king-of-the-mountian battle of words.
  Otis concentrated on the chihuahua that he must return to Penny.  His eyes burned and he rubbed them.  When he opened them again, he saw a giant chihuahua on the stage, screaming free verse poetry.

"You think
I think
I own you.
Shut and come to bed boy,
I only want to clone you!"   The giant chihuahua said with much flare and attitude in the delivery.
 

Everywhere that Otis looked there was nothing but chihuahuas.  Everyone was a chihuahua.  He was afraid to check his own appearance, afraid to see a reflection of a chihuahua in a tuxedo. He avoided looking towards the mirrored walls.
  This was exactly the reason he had divorced Circe.  This sort of thing.  Her drug problem was more than any mortal man could contend with.
  "You're on your own boys!"  Otis shouted, closed his eyes tight, secured his grasp on Polutropos, quit breathing and headed for the door.
  "O God! God! Thank you! Thank you!" Otis gratefully gulped the sweet and salty night air while admiring his big naked human feet.  "We made it out!  O!  That woman!  Nice body, but her MIND! O!  Let's go home, Polutropos!  We'll walk."

  Just then the Jujube Rathskeller door burst open and out blasted the boys carrying their squirming quarry like a ramrod.
  The boys landed in a heap on the pier and struggled to keep their buddy Edgewood from escaping back into the Jujube.
  "You are NOT going back in there, Edgewood!"  the boys chimed.
  "Tie him up, man!  We have to tie him up until that stuff wears off!  He'll thank us one day!"
  They tied him up and threw him in the back of his van and drove down Catalina Avenue towards the Riviera.  The plan was to make a quick stop at Trader Joe's to get some carrot juice for Edgewood to help bring him around and then on to the professor's house.

- to be continued -

Chapter Four: THE ATTACK OF THE SKYLLA SURFERS / POLUTROPOS/THE ODYSSEY OF OTIS

Chapter Four

The Attack Of The Skylla Surfers

 

 

The Skylla Surfers beat the hell out of Otis and he came to on the edge of the Palos Verdes Golf Course wearing nothing but bruises.  The good news was that he found a large leaf to cover his privates.  The bad news was  that he found that he was very allergic to this plant.  It caused an awful rash with terrible swelling which compounded the difficulty of covering the essentials.

  As fate had it, earlier that day, in a mansion overlooking the Palos Verdes County Club, Nancy, a dignitary's daughter and three other debutantes, were soaking up the sun in the backyard and did not hear the gate buzzer in time.  The Artemis Laundry truck turned and left when no one opened the front gate.  The bikini clad, sunburnt girls crammed into a borrowed golf cart and took a short cut across the golf course to intercept the truck with its precious cargo of prom dresses.
  When they came upon Otis they gave him a lift.  Nancy told him that since he was on the market again, she would consider marrying an older man of his caliber, after the prom, of course.  Otis was used to silly offers by now.  He thanked her just the same.
  The Artemis truck was in sight, delivering linens to the Country Club, and yet it seemed so far away to Otis.  One of the girls would shout, "Hi daddy!" as the little cart zipped by yet another cart carrying many of the South Bay's leaders in government and commerce.  It seemed everyone was playing golf that day.  Otis gave friendly nods and encouraged the girls to drive faster.

  While the girls obtained their dresses, Otis slipped into the laundry truck and hid.  He found a tuxedo in his size, but of course there were no socks and shoes to be had.
  The trucks next stop was to deliver towels and table cloths to the charity chili festival contest at the pier.
  Otis was hopping on one foot then the other, desperately seeking cool shadows to walk in because the hot sand and cement really made his feet hurt.  He heard a familiar yelp and saw Polutropos glide by overhead.
  Otis spotted another kite flying by the pier and asked to borrow it to use as a lasso.  The little girl refused at first to make the loan.  Otis argued skillfully and just as she was handing him the string, he was distracted by the horrible sight of Polutropos tumbing from the sky.  For the second time in one day he lost a kite.
  Otis ran through the crowds and towards the festival booths to collect the fallen chihuahua.  In his wake there followed the little girl and her older brothers, all screaming for justice.
  Otis gasped again when he saw where the puppy had landed .He arrived just in time to watch the basket sink slowly in a great kettle of boiling three bean habanero chili.  A long line of people waited to sample the blue ribbon winning entry.  Otis sat in the sand and wept.

- to be continued - 

  

Chapter Two SIGN / Chapter Three THE ROSY FINGER OF FATE /POLUTROPOS/THE ODYSSEY OF OTIS

Chapter Two

SIGN

 

  Otis was  floating on a purple and gold cocktail barge, drifting in the vicinity of Seattle.  He had been on book tours for too long, had too much champagne too many nights in a row.  He wasn't listening anymore as the great literay agent, Kalipso, carried on, over the din of the live band and the thumping of the dancing passengers,  as to how she would make him immortal.
  Otis snapped a photo of the moon with his iphone and sent it to Penny via twitter.  He waited for her to send him a photo of the moon from the deck of their home in return.  It was a comforting ritual.
  Kalipso gave him a document to sign.  Otis studied the fountain pen as if he'd never seen one before.  The only reason he held a pen these days was to sign autographs, checks and contracts.  He sighed deeply when he noticed smoke rising from a chimney on the shore.  It brought back memories of the copper coloured fire light dancing on Penny's cheeks back when their love was green and growing.
  Otis signed yet another tour agreement without reading it.  Kalipso told him it was time for the reading followed by Q & A and autograph portion of the evening.
  "Let's get this over with before the heavy drinking begins,"  Kalipso was thinking of the night before when Otis was so potted that he signed his books using lyrics from THE DOORS: "Poor Otis, dead and gone...."
  Otis checked his twitter account again to see Penny's response.  It wasn't there.  He sent her a direct message asking if her sky was overcast.  His post did not go through.  It bounced back with the message: "Recipient not following you."
  Otis felt as if the full moon had lodged in his throat.  He threw the iphone into the sea.
  "That was my phone," Kalipso said dryly.  "This one is yours."
  Otis took the phone Kalipso had in hand and put it in his jacket.  He jumped off the barge and swam towards the shore.
  "You have a 5 am.  We don't have time for this!"  Kalipso shouted into the darkness that had swallowed her client.

~ to be continued ~

Chapter Three 

THE ROSY FINGER OF FATE 

The rosy fingers of dawn stretched across the morning of the last poetry party. He watched her from the beach and forced himself to be patient, to think of a proper way to reenter his world. Otis resisted the urge to to run to Penny. A man cannot circle the globe reciting love poetry to everyone except his wife and then after two decades just expect her to simply take him back into her heart.
The great poet laureate hid behind a lifeguard tower and watched his lovely wife supervise their son Telly leap about on the sun deck of their home. Telly was 21 but due to severe autism, never developed speech. Otis shed tears of remorse for all the years he had missed with his family and may yet lose.
"Professor?" Telly's special ed teacher, Mr. Mentor, put his hand on the sobbing poet's shoulder.
"Shhh!" Otis pulled the teacher from view. Lost in grief, he had not noticed Mr. Mentor coming down the beach for the morning's in home lesson with Telly.
Mr. Mentor was relieved that Otis had returned. He told Otis that Telly had begun having nightmares that kept his mother by his side most of the night and that these nightmares began around the same time that Professor Antonio began to linger after the poetry parties. Mr. Mentor believed it was Telly's way of looking after his mother, making sure she was safe.
Mr. Mentor felt that Telly knew Antonio and the others were eating his food, drinking his father's wine and that Antonio wanted to steal his mother. Mr. Mentor confirmed Otis's worst fears about Telly's nanny, Melanie. She was always telling Mr. Mentor how Professor Antonio would make such a fine step-father for Telly. Otis devised a plan to at least comfort Telly while he worked out a master plan of how to approach Penny after all this time.
When Penny left for the grocery store to shop for the party, Otis slipped past the nasty nanny, Melanie, by wearing Mr. Mentor's cap and jacket. Telly immediately saw though his father's disguise. They had a happy time on the deck while Melanie was busy in the kitchen making as many long distance calls as she could before Penny returned from shopping.
"Look at the fine kite Mr. Mentor brought for you to fly in the kite festival this year! It has a little basket to hold this beanie bag puppy that looks just like Polutropos!"
The real Polutropos scampered across the deck to inspect the basket for anything edible. The chihuahua was tiny and sounded like a centipede wearing tap shoes when he ran.
"You see? This Polutropos has a special job. His job is to remind you that mommy and daddy will always love you. Let's put him in the basket and give him a ride in the clouds so he can tell the angels to watch over you and mommy until I come home to stay." Otis went to the edge of the deck to motion to Mr. Mentor that it was time to change places again. He looked back and saw Telly was holding the toy chihuahua to his heart and watching the real one leave the earth.
"O NO!" cried Otis at the sight of his wife's beloved Polutropos floating high in the sky out over the ocean.
"Polutropos! Stay in the basket!" Otis was sure the chihuahua was no swimmer and even if he was, he would probably serve as some sea creature's hors d'oeuvre before he had the opportunity to drown.
"This is not the way back into my Penny's heart!" Otis ran down the beach following the wayward kite with its trembling, barking cargo. He was almost parallel with the flying puppy when a stranger on the beach warned him to go no further.
"That beach is the turf of the Skylla Surfers! Do not go there! They are very violent this time of year!" The stranger said.
"I'm sure when I tell them the problem, they will understand and offer assistance." Otis was optimistic.

- to be continued -