RELAX, RELAX AND FLOW. THE CHANGES ARE GOOD. THE CHANGES ARE ETERNAL. THE CHAGNES BRING LIFE. rive. This, too was a characteristic that I somehow envied. Richard could often be found, even while in a crowd, simply gazing ahead, focusing on nothing. At these times, he seemed very far away, much more so than a simple daydreamer. It was as though if I touched him he would be only half solid. What did he think of at such times? I often wondered. I mentioned this to him once. He seemed to chuckle very faintly, How do I do it?" What do I do?" Richard asked the questions of himself. "I don't know how, and I don't do a thing." His smile was like that of a Buddhist statue, except that it didn't seem to fit his square, furrowed face. I had sometimes thought that his incomprehensible responses and mysterious sayings were mocking me. They were, in fact simply characteristics of Richard. My desire was to have for myself such natural characteristics. I did not know why. Richard looked old. Older than he was. He was twenty-two and looked thirty, to me at least. His face was, as I mentioned, square. His eyes were heavy-lidded slits hiding two small, intense lights. Heavy brows, that he could have combed but didn't, shaded the squinting life of his gaze. He was perpetually smiling as though his 42 cheek bones had been forced up an inch, taking the corners of his mouth along. He smiled over teeth that seemed too large for his mouth. He was not handsome, but he was striking. His hair was long and manelike, curling and frizzing in brown waves around his ears and collar. He had once tied red ribbons in his long, untrimmed side-burns and walked downtown in levis and sweat shirt. He was proud, sometimes confusingly arrogant. Some people called him The Lion. I noticed that Roy was there too. Roy with his humble optimism house of travel and experience These are the qualities that I was attracted to, along with many others, not remembered or not subject to verbal description. Roy noticed me as I aproached the car, having parked mine. He smiled slowly, as if his every movement was directed and subject to examination. You see, Roy seldom made mistakes. It's true. He tended to cover less ground in a day than the average person. But, he covered it well, and safely, being aware of all variables. Roy had a business mind with the ability to peer into a situation, extracting each logical fragment and examining it. I think it was this ability that enabled him to live comfortably, though not lavishly, while having been unemployed for two years. Roy was a man of deals and plans. Some were real, some were grandiose wishes, and some were simply ideas appearing in the mind. Roy slid over as I got into the car. "Howdy, howdy," greeted Richard, sounding like a bartender to a favorite patron. Roy smiled and nodded a "How are you." He spoke little, but seemed to say a lot. His wild blond hair hung about his head like the curls of a child. His eyes held the dancing curiosity of that same child. Except that if you looked close, you could see the deep lines of age and experience. Roy seemed as though he had come from a big city. Richard started the car, letting it warm up for a while. He called his car the "Blue Silk." The car was blue and rode as firm and smooth as a pressed silk, almost driving itself. Richard put a lot of miles on his car, and considered it a friend rather than a servant. "Let's take a ride and see what happens." Richard smiled at Roy, who looked back with the look of one who knows a secret. "We got more to gain than to lose." Optimism effervesced from Roy. We pulled into the light traffic. Richard drove with quiet concentration. Roy reached beneath him under the seat. He brought forth a half-gallon jug of what appeared to be apple cider. As he uncorked the bottle, I noticed that it appeared very old. The glass was cloudy, and dully glistened with age. It was sealed with a large, worn cork, not the screw-one cap. The liquid inside had a golden warmth the color of cider with the texture of fine wine. Roy raised the old jug and drank, taking several long, deep draughts. I felt relaxed and at ease, feeling no need for my battery of social defenses. We turned onto the highway leading from town, leaving the traffic and black noise. Roy held the jug up to Richard, who, glancing sideways at the road, hooked his finger and drank, the jug resting on his raised elbow. Some of the liquid dripped to his chin, dangling like an Olympian raindrop, and fell on his worn leather vest. He reached over, offering me the jug. I grasped it with both hands, glanced at the strange refreshment, and drank. The taste was like nothing I had ever tasted. Sweat and smooth, but tart enough so as not to be heavy. It seemed to pleasantly stimulate every taste bud in my mouth. I marvelled at the stuff, and spoke up to ask what it was. Before I could speak, as I turned my head, I encountered Richard's gaze, a second ahead of me. "Now, the changes begin." I pondered his statement, forgetting my own. A drug? Had I taken a drug? Was it magic? A potion? A trick? Richard smiled and Roy struck up a conversation. We left town and drove on country roads past comfortable farms. The sun shattered on the pavement and bounced off the green of weeds along the side of the road. All of spring was out. The warm air was soft and caressing. Birds sang. Newness was all around. We spoke of many things as we rode. We discussed, heatedly at times, world affairs and other such dynamic topics. We spoke of girls, comparing techniques and experiences. Roy was looking for a strong girl. One who laughed and knew what it meant to get "itchy feet." Richard went more for the high-class socialites. Girls he could show off. We spoke of nothing, as people often do, changing subjects rapidly, releasing ideas. But, behind it all, in back of my consciousness, I felt a stir. What changes? What was going to happen? Richard and Roy seemed content to drive and relax. I was somehow expecting something yet to happen. "Saw Smitty today." Richard was directing his remark to Roy. "He's doing better. I think he's got his wife straightened out a little." "She was a strange chick. Really demanding." Roy was analyzing again. "Seemed like she always 43