Sarah Of The Moon (21 page)

As Sarah was changing, so was Haight-Ashbury. Now, instead of the younger residents leaving solo or in groups of two and three, packs of ten or more were heading out in vans and small buses. Counter-culture stores along Haight Street displayed and distributed maps and directions to communes in California and other nearby states.

In the first week of September, hippies still ruled the district, but their numbers were dwindling rapidly. Soon, despite the best efforts of some, the free spirits of Haight-Ashbury would be gone to places unknown. Their philosophies and dreams scattered about the mountains and valleys of the north and west.

Some would still talk of the possibility of a golden age free of discrimination and strife. Some would still insist that money is the root of all evil, and the farming communes were the new way of life. Those were the true believers, as Chick would say. The pretenders would go home to jobs or school. Some would make their way to Canada for a while, or for the remainder of their days. Others would go to war, where their elders forgave all sins. Those who returned safely, in both body and mind, would perhaps protest the futility of armed conflict to any who might listen, or they would go on to become proper citizens and hopefully, at some time in the future, be recognized for their service to their country.

It was the first sentence his father said to Alex when he picked up the phone on Thursday morning, the 7th day of September.

“Your draft notice arrived son. It was in yesterday’s mail.”

Neither said a word for a few seconds. The inside of the phone booth was hot. Alex opened the glass doors.

“When?” he asked.

“They want you to report to Fort Holabird for processing on Wednesday, the twentieth of this month.”

“Okay,” Alex said.

“Sorry son,” his father replied with genuine concern in his voice. “I was kind of hoping they’d forgotten about you.”

“No such luck.” Alex noticed that two people were waiting to use the phone. “At least they waited until the end of summer.”

“When are you coming home, son?”

He knew his father well enough to know he only called him son when worried.

“The Sunday after I submit my last article. I’ll call you when I know the flight times.”

“What about Sarah?” his father asked in a gentle way.

Alex turned from the open phone booth door and looked out on Haight Street.

“I might lose her, dad. I might lose her.”

His father hesitated before he spoke, and when he did, his voice cracked with emotion.

“You are a man of courage son. You have made us proud parents by your words and your deeds. Remember that in the days, weeks, and months ahead. You have made us proud.”

His mother would not stop crying and he had to cut her short as the growing line of young callers-in-waiting were displaying signs of behavior contrary to peace and love.

Sarah was already on the hill at the park when he arrived. Sitting in front of her were a few young men and women, but none, including Sarah, were talking. They all had eyes closed and appeared to be either meditating or in deep thought.

Alex was hesitant about approaching the group. He did not want to interrupt whatever ceremony they were performing. If they were praying for world peace, he was prepared to wait as long as necessary.

He sat close by and watched Sarah. He had often seen her with her eyes closed. Sometimes at night, after she had fallen asleep, he would gaze at her face by candlelight. On those nights, he imagined them married in another place, in another time. He fantasized a life with Sarah as his wife, the children they would have, and the adventures they would experience.

On those nights, he no longer chased a girl he could never catch. On those nights, the flowers he never earned were gardens extending as far as his eyes could see. Everything he ever wanted, everything he ever hoped for, was lying next to him, and he needed to look at her before the candle died and the room became as black as night.

“Tomorrow we will try again,” Sarah said as she opened her eyes.

She caught Alex out of the corner of her eye. She smiled and waved to him.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Sarah stood up. “I have a boyfriend who needs attending to.”

The group began to disperse as Sarah walked toward him. He smiled at her, but Sarah sensed something was wrong.

“Your eyes are sad,” she said as she sat next to him.

“What did I tell you about napping in the park during the day? Remember the last time; you were up half the night,” he replied.

“You’re changing the subject, and we were not napping. A few wanted to try channeling our thoughts to bring about change.”

“Do you think it worked?” Alex asked her.

“No, but I needed a rest. I was all talked out.”

“Now that would be a first.”

“Shut up!” She brushed her shoulder into his, and then collapsed onto him, resting her head on his lap.

She looked up at him. “Don’t tell me anything bad today, Alex. Today and tonight, just tell me how much you love me. Will you do that for me? Promise me you’ll make this a day of good thoughts, a day to remember.”

He looked down on her. She had given him so many days to remember, how could he deny her this one wish.

“I promise,” he said.

A MORNING IN SEPTEMBER

The next morning
as the members of the house gathered for breakfast, Matt and Celeste announced they would be leaving the house that afternoon. They had both registered at the University of San Francisco and had secured a reasonably priced apartment within walking distance of the school. Matt had even found an evening and weekend job at a local hardware store.

“Both of our parents are helping us out until we get on our feet,” Matt said to the assembled houseguests.

“Of course you are all welcome to visit us anytime you want,” Celeste added. “We’re a family now, and always will be.”

Sandman, who was holding Aisha and Blossom in each arm, spoke up. “We are leaving too, tomorrow.”

“What the hell?” Chick threw his arms in the air. “Anyone who is still staying, please raise your hands.”

Belladonna, as usual, ignored him. “Where is your family going?” she asked Cactus Girl.

“Home, El Paso, at least for a while. My parents miss their grandchildren. We’ll stay the winter there, at least, and if Marcus finds work, maybe longer.”

Chick could not contain himself any longer. “Sandman, Marcus, whatever your name is, you’d better get a haircut before you arrive in El Paso or you will be tarred and feathered before you get halfway into town. You do know that most employers require you to stay awake for the entire eight-hour shift, right?”

“Don’t worry about me, Chick,” Sandman answered. “I’ll be just fine.”

Belladonna looked at Chick. “Isn’t there something you want to tell your friends?”

Chick thought for a moment. “Sandman, did you forget about the five bucks you owed me from last month?”

Belladonna shook her head in dismay. “Chick’s father is stopping the rent payments on the place at the end of the month. It seems he feels it is time for Chick to begin making his own way through life. I tend to agree. Chick, you want to tell them the rest?”

Chick sighed loudly. “Bella has found a large co-op commune in Oregon. They grow their own food and sell to local businesses.”

“It’s over twenty acres of farmland,” Belladonna added.

“Chick a farmer,” Benny laughed. “That I would pay to see.”

“No need to pay.” Chick walked over to Benny and put his arm around his shoulder. “You and Skip are coming with us.”

“No way!” Skip shouted. “I’m staying right where I’m at.”

“Me too,” Benny added as he felt Chick’s hand apply pressure to his arm.

“And where might you stay? In case you haven’t noticed this part of town is closing up shop. In a month or two, the both of you will be janitors at the zoo, cleaning up after your relatives at the monkey cage.”

Chick released Benny’s shoulder. “Oh, I almost forgot, we will have at least an acre of land put aside exclusively for the growing and nurturing of marijuana.”

Skip scrambled over to Benny and whispered something in his ear.

“Skip and I will think about it,” Benny said as he rubbed his shoulder. “We will certainly think about it.”

The girls gathered around Celeste while the men of the house escorted Matt to the porch.

Alex took Matt off to the side as Chick unveiled a large round reefer and proclaimed this day the start of many Haight-Ashbury farewells.

“I got my draft notice,” Alex told his best friend. “I report on the twentieth, in about three weeks.”

“Oh wow!” Matt leaned back against the railing for support. “Does Sarah know?”

“I think she suspects something, but I’m telling her today.”

“Man.” Matt shook his head. “I was kind of hoping you would stick around for a spell. Maybe try some college at the university.”

“I was hoping to maybe go full time at the paper,” Alex said. “I guess Uncle Sam has more influence than Uncle Max.”

“I could have told you that,” Matt added. “What happens now?”

“I wish I knew.” Alex looked out on Ashbury Street. “I’ll ask Sarah to come home with me, but I feel bad doing it. She won’t know anyone there, and I’ll be gone for some time.”

“She can stay with us if she wants. We have the room.”

“Thanks Matt, I’ll mention it to her.”

“Listen Alex, no matter what, you keep in touch. If you go to Vietnam, keep your head down and do as you are told. Don’t try to be a hero too often. Unlike cars, bullets don’t swerve.”

Alex looked through the open door. In the lobby, Sarah embraced Celeste, both were crying.

“I hate goodbyes,” he said.

“We need to get back before Matt and Celeste leave,” Alex said to Sarah, later that morning, as they crossed over into the Golden Gate Park. “We will.” She replied.

They walked through the cluster of people mingling about on the hill. A few acknowledged Sarah’s presence, but she waved them off.

Sarah took his hand and led him past their usual place of rest. When they reached the crest of the hill, Sarah kneeled down, on the grass where she once danced.

She beckoned him to join her, and he knelt in front of her. She took both his hands and looked into his eyes.

“Tell me,” she said.

He hesitated for the briefest of moments before he began. From this point on, nothing will ever be the same, he thought before he spoke.

“I got my draft notice.”

Her eyes closed. When they opened, they were moist with tears. “Go on,” she said.

“I report for active duty in three weeks.”

Then he said it. He could not help himself. She was all he wanted, for as long as he lived.

“Come back with me. You can stay with my parents while I’m gone. I’ll be home from time to time on leave. Maybe I’ll be stationed nearby. I will write you every day, I promise. I love you, and I want you with me.”

A smile creased her face as the tears flowed freely across her cheeks. They dropped, one at a time, on to her shoulders and the straps of her white dress. She never stopped looking at his face and, when she spoke, her voice brimmed with sorrow.

“I promise I will always love you. I cannot do more than that right now. That is the only promise I am sure I can keep. Anything else might be a lie.”

He always knew he might lose her. From the day he met her until this very second, he knew she might never be his. Finding her had been a miracle. It was a miracle she had been his for the summer of love. Did he dare reach one last time into his box of wishes for the chance of a life with Sarah, or should he be content with the time she was his and let her go into the night, to dance forever in the splintered light of the moon.

She stood up and he followed her, their hands still together. Then she wrapped her arms around his waist and they walked back home, as close to each other as time would allow.

FAREWELLS

Before they left,
Matt and Alex sat together on the porch swing, each with a beer in hand, and celebrated their friendship.

Matt raised his bottle in the air. “Here’s to a bright and safe future for both of us.”

“Your future might be more dangerous than mine,” Alex said as their bottles met. “Celeste is quite a handful.”

“I’ll admit she’s a mischievous little imp.” Matt took a long pull of his beer. “She’ll keep me on my toes.”

“She asked Sarah about staying at our place.” Matt looked at Alex. “Sarah said thanks but no thanks.”

“That was all she said?”

“Yeah, just that,” Matt replied.

Alex mulled this over. Was it good news or bad? Had she decided to go with him? Or did she have other plans?

“I have a bad feeling about keeping her, Matt, and I’m not sure it’s even fair of me to ask it of her.”

“Screw fair! You need to be cutthroat about this. You love her; she loves you, what else matters?”

“It’s just that I don’t want her to hate me for it. If I go to Vietnam, I’ll be there for at least a year. She will be in a different culture the entire time, without friends or family.”

“She will make friends, and she doesn’t have a family now,” Matt said.

“Maybe she will make friends, but she does have a family here, and here she is understood.” Alex drank some of his beer. “I don’t know. I just want her to be happy.”

“Well, good luck to you Alex. You two make a great couple. I hope it works out for you.”

“Me too,” Alex replied as he gulped down the last of his beer.

The talk had turned to the army, specifically how to survive boot camp, when Celeste interrupted.

“We should be leaving if we’re going to meet the landlord at four.”

Matt and Alex stood up. “I suppose you’re right,” Matt said, and then put his arms around Alex. “A handshake just ain’t gonna cut it.”

They embraced for several seconds.

“Great summer,” Matt said to him as they separated.

Alex shook his head in agreement. “That it was.”

Sarah made it to the porch in time to see them leave. Alex saw her sob and he put his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder.