Читать книгу War/Peace - Matthew Vandenberg - Страница 35

'She's the definition of a lady,' I say. 'She who can walk into a room and turn heads, shy, withdrawn, composed, and calm, fragile, but determined, wise, diligent, and competent. She's remarkable, this Aung San Suu Kyi. She's a fighter, a role model, an icon. She's got short, dark gold hair with a lick so shiny and prominent, flawless skin, a remarkably piercing gaze that's simultaneously warm and gentle. And most importantly, she's a peacemaker. Have you never wanted to be someone just like her?'

'Like a spy, maybe?' Danielle asks. 'You saying we should spy on the north-siders?'

'No,' I say. 'We should just talk to them. Hang with them. We know they're not so bad. Let's just try to understand them. Let's spend Christmas in the house, that's what I'm saying.'

'Shelly, the joint is probably like some kind of nightclub, and you just wanna waltz into the place? What if Adrian isn't there, nor Shaun? We don't have the faintest clue what the people in there will be like? All we know is that the people in the north are under the rule of the Yanks now. This is not good.'

'Can show you guys something?' I ask, unzipping a knapsack.

'What?' Danielle asks.

'Look: my pastor thinks I have always lived in the south, and that I was in the north recently only because I was spreading the good word to lost souls,' I state. 'In fact, he has given me permission to venture forth into the north again. He thinks I might be able to convince some people to come over to the south, to become Catholic. This guy truly believes that a massive earthquake or volcano will wipe out the people in the north soon.'

'I know,' Jerri says. 'I've heard.'

'What have you got there?' Danielle asks.

'This' – I hold up a plastic bag – 'is a bag full of mushrooms. Ever seen Alice in Wonderland?'

'Of course.'

'Well: the pastor says that the Wollongong church is at the end of a yellow brick road, and that I am to lead people down this road. Now I haven't tried these mushrooms, but they're the magic type. Should you consume some you will have a profound, mystical experience, feel interconnected with all people and things: you will feel joyous, light and free. So I think that if I enter the beach house with these mushrooms and our pastors find out where we are they will not punish us because we can just say that we were trying to spread the good word to some non-believers. We can act like fools.'

'Richard Alpert,' Jerri says, shaking her head.

'Who?' Danielle asks.

'Um . . . a researcher at Harvard in the 60's, gave psilocybin to a student off-campus. I'm guessing that the Catholic church has no problem with this type of behavior: anything to promote spirituality.'

'Which can be a good thing,' Danielle says.

'Sometimes,' I say. 'Eating these mushrooms can increase one's self-confidence, and we all know this would help Adrian and Jamie, and decrease one's nervousness, and increase one's overall well-being.'

'We gotta go in,' Jerri says. 'C'mon Danielle!'

'No,' Danielle replies. 'No. Sorry.'

'Then it's just us two,' I say. 'Yeah?'

'Sure,' Jerri says.

******

References

1 Griffiths, R. R., & Grob, C. S. (2010). Hallucinogens as Medicine. Scientific American, 303(6), 76-79. doi: 10.1038/scientificamerican1210-76

2 9 To 5 – Lady Sovereign

3 Marshall, A. (2010). Postcard: Bangkok. Behind the scenes of a tribute to Burma's democracy icon. Time, 176(26), 11.

4 Fighter – Christina Aguilera

5 Randall, C., [Writer and Director] Catanzariti, D., [Actress] Castle-Hughes, K., [Actress] & Collette, T. [Actress] (2008). Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger.