Oliver Benjamin
It was at that moment that I saw Joe Fortune for the first time.
Among the short, undernourished Indians on the train Joe
Fortune stood out like a fortress in the desert. The only quality he
seemed to share with the other passengers was the darkness of his
skin, although he had them beat on that one too. He was black as
coal, and big as a furnace, with arms like smokestacks and teeth like
diamonds. One didn’t look at Joe Fortune as much as behold him,
and his presence was so powerful in those cramped quarters that
even the Indians couldn’t stare at him for too long without starting to
feel a trifle overwhelmed. Glancing at his ticket, he found his seat,
which was directly opposite mine and two over from Oscar. As he
parted his lips, the diamonds illuminated the dim compartment.
“That’s my seat,” he said simply, pointing an enormous finger at
seat number 62. Within seconds, the whole bench was cleared,
except for Oscar, and Joe Fortune carefully descended onto his
purchased landing platform.
“Hi,” he said humbly to me. “My
name is Joe Fortune. Seattle, Washington. Originally from New
Orleans.” He extended his hand and shook my forearm.
“Jake Rippy, Los Angeles, California. Life sentence.”
“Hey, congratulations on your escape!” He said, then turned to
Oscar and offered his hand, “Joe Fortune,” he said. I watched as
Oscar’s hand, and part of his forearm, vanished and reappeared.
“I’m Oscar Turnbull, but you can call me Oscar Turnbull. Or,
just Oscar, if you’d like. Whatever you feel like calling me, you can
call me, I don’t mind, really.”
“What would you like me to call you?”
“Oscar.”
“Okay Oscar. Where are you from?”
“England originally. More recently from Thailand.”
“Groovy. I gather from your outfit that you’re some kind of
monk, although I’ve never known any that wore that particular shade
of blue, nor a beanie like that. Is that what you were in Thailand for?”
“Yeah, partially. I’m sort of in a sect of Buddhism.”
“Extraordinary! Buddhism is one of the world’s most wonderful
philosophies. Very gentle and compassionate. I consider myself
somewhat Buddhist, though I must admit I disagree with a lot of the
dogma they tacked on to it over the years. Throw all dogma to the
dogs!—that’s my credo!” He pulled the red bandanna off his head,
revealing a massive bald dome, and wiped at the sweat trickling off
his brow. “I must admit though, that your blue robe is a lot more slick
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