My two friends returned to our table in Cafe Luna with caffeine reinforcements and I took a deep breath to calm the anxious mind. I knew Claudia would have a lot of questions and I knew that I wouldn't have answers for them all. I could only hope that Lupe would be able to smooth any rough spots that I left in conversation.
Lupe gave her a concerned look and placed the palm of her hand on Claudia's forehead.
"Oh, no," I said. "Of course not. We simply facilitate the soul's ascension by helping it get to the right person."
"What about the sewer harpies or whatever? What's that got to do with it."
"Maybe I should begin with how I got involved in the first place. You see, a few years ago I read a novel called Dirty Job. The author is Christopher Moore."
"He wrote Lust Lizard," she said.
"That's right."
"And Sequined Love Nun."
"Yes, well in Dirty Job the main character is recruited to become a soul merchant. That's the name used in the book. I don't particularly like it but there it is.
Anyway, I loved the book and think of it often because of some of the strange events that happen in my daily life. Eventually, I realized that my life parallels the main character in the book.
The more I thought about it, the more I seemed to be living a life much like Charlie Asher's. He's the main character."
"Wow," said Claudia. "This reminds me of the Will Farrell movie, Stranger Than Fiction. In that movie, the main character is living a story that is being written by a fiction author."
"Hmm," I said for she had interested me strangely with this idea of actually living a life that is the storyline in a novel. "Tell me more," I said.
"Well, he's living a normal life it seems, until he begins hearing a voice narrating his life in real-time, sort of."
"Incredulous!" I said.
"Incredible," said Lupe.
"Exactly," I said. "Sounds so much like my life."
"No it doesn't," said Lupe. "It sounds nothing like your life unless you throw away all the backstory that we already know about you and Princess Amy."
"And don't forget the hypothalamus," I said. "I watched an episode of Closer to the Truth last night and discovered that the behaviors resulting from Princess Amy's analyses are initiated by the hypo-T."
"Whatever!" said Lupe. "You're not living a story in a book of fiction. It's much more complex and a lot deeper than that.
I'll give you the full rundown after dinner tonight," she said to Claudia.
"Deeper and more complex?" said Claudia. "I'm sorry, Genome it sounds serious, but don't worry, I'm confident that Lupe and I can help you with it. Keep confident and it will all work out."
I must admit, her cheerful attitude and generous offer to be a member of the Genome team did help to lift my spirit. I realized that I don't have to go through all this alone. I felt much better.
A few moments of silence passed with the two girls looking at each other as if to say, What now?
"What now?" said Claudia.
"My mom says that it's either get a barista job at Starbucks or enroll in Cape Fear Community College," said Lupe.
That's when I realized that these two downtown girls were in the middle of a dilemma of their own. I decided to hang around and listen for a change. You never know when you're going to learn something by simply paying attention.
And besides, perhaps I could contribute something to the conversation to make them feel better. Stranger things have happened.