See again?
Words by Joel Dale. Image curated by Joel Dale, generated by Gemini
From his perch at Dirt coffee, on a corner in downtown Santa Barbara, Ken took a bite of his donut and experienced déjà vu. He sat alone by the giant, showpiece window that belied the name of the business. He knows it’s selfish to take up a four person table, but the divorce proceedings were really wearing on his nerves and he needed his space. He stared at the tall man wearing a rider's cap, electric blue raincoat, and carrying an oversized shopping bag with the giant image of a cat shooting lightning bolts out of its eyes. He tried hard to predict what would happen next, a task he attempted every time he experienced the aforementioned french phenomenon. He always felt that if he really was experiencing something a second time, he should be able to predict the outcome. Normally déjà vu has this sensation of grasping a cloud, almost knowing what is supposed to happen but never quite getting there. This time, however, the sensation was more clear. His memory told him this blue coated gentleman with the hat and bag would casually walk past and turn the corner just past Ken’s vision. And that’s exactly what happened. Holy shit. It worked. He predicted the future. It’s not much of an event to remember, but he’ll take it. What to do with this new milestone, he didn’t really know yet. So for now, he looked back at his computer, where the email he started writing to his lawyer awaited him.
Ken took a bite of his donut. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed but a new sensation came over him as he looked up. Can you have déjà vu of déjà vu? The man in the blue coat, bag in hand, walked past the window, turned the corner, and disappeared from Ken’s view.
“What is going on,” Ken said audibly.
Ken looked at his donut. Was that the same bite or a new bite? He couldn’t remember. Had he been drinking his coffee? It felt just as heavy. He sensed something was true about the details of his life, but couldn’t quite get grounded.
The fourth time Ken saw that crazy laser eyed cat go past, he looked around the coffee shop incredulously. Predicting the future was no longer fun. Was anybody else seeing this?!? Donut looked the same. Coffee felt the same. Blue coat was walking the same, languid pace. He hadn’t paid any attention to the other customers. Was anything different? The cursor on his laptop mockingly blinked at the last half-finished sentence: “a scary experience”.
When the blue coat appeared for a fifth time, Ken lost all of the collectedness he had displayed in the court room. “Not today Satan” he reflexively yelled, desperate for something new to happen. He needed information he didn’t already have. Ken stood up, pushed his face into the window hoping to see around the corner for what happens next. Or is it, what happened next? “You better surprise me mother fucker!” Gesticulating with force, the condensation of his breath on the window uncovered a previously drawn smiley face.
Jamar glanced at the coffee patron pounding on the window and pointing in his direction. Jamar knew his fit was on point, but he must have outdone himself. He made a mental note to thank his Mom for the gift of the hat.
