“Two
bobs left, two bobs right, then one left, one right, one left, and then it
starts all over again, but from right to left,” Jared explained.
I
watched, dizzied as my little brother bobbed his head from side to side in
perfect rhythm.
“And
you're always telling me that it's my turn to move, when I wonder what could
make the needle jump the groove,” Amiee sang to the beat.
Jared’s
head danced while I waited for the right moment to join in, like a little girl
watching for her cue to leap between whirling double-dutch jump ropes.
My
head bobbed left twice, right twice, and then back to the right for a single
bob, just as Jared had instructed. I was feeling pretty good about my chances,
and went left.
For
two bobs…
Jared
laughed as I tried to correct and catch up to his easy going movements. It was
too late; my head frenzied back and forth in a seizure-like loop as Aimee sang
on.
“Acting
steady always ready to defend your fears, what's the matter with the truth, did
I offend your ears?”
“Kid,
it’s not that hard,” Jared said.
“Maybe
for you it isn’t, but my head has a mind of its own,” I replied in jesting defense
.
“Just
follow me,” my brother said, ignoring my protest. His head began to bob.
Aimee
ignored us both. “Now I could talk to you till I'm blue in the face, But we
still would arrive at the very same place, with you running around and me out
of the race…”
I
followed Jared’s example, and he nodded with encouragement as my head bobbed
for one complete, correct, and rhythmic cycle.
“You
got it!”
I
grinned, and the multitasking center in my brain flickered under the sudden
load. My head threatened calamity with a feint to the left, but just then a
synapse fired, sending my head to the right, back in sync with Jared’s.
We
spent the rest of the afternoon driving around Seattle to carpet-cleaning
appointments, rewinding the tape and playing the song over and over again, our
heads bobbing in unison to the rhythm of Aimee’s counsel.
“You're
like a sleepwalking man, it's a danger to wake you, even when it is apparent
where your actions will take you,” Aimee sang.
"That's just what you are..."
--
Happy
Birthday, Jared. I hope you know that I am no longer a sleepwalking man; that's just not who I am...anymore.
