Reverend Jim goes to the John

by Rob Morris

NEW YORK CITY, 1981

THE SUNSHINE CAB COMPANY

The time had once more come for the alternate reality occupied by Jim Ignatauski to collide headlong with the one inhabited by most of his friends and co-workers.

They still weren't sure about Louie.

Spotting Alex Rieger, Jim made his latest query.

"Alex, I want to ask you-about my predecessor in this company. My forebear, if you will. The man who paved the way for me to be here, in this place and time. Well, at least I think I'm in this place and time-I'm pretty sure that I'm here, though."

Alex was not so sure of this, but thought about what Jim was asking.

"You mean John? You're talking about John Burns, right?"

Jim pointed and nodded.

"The very man. I feel like I know so little about him."

Alex almost asked why Jim would want to know anything at all about John, but caught himself.

"Jim, there's just not much to know. He's not here anymore."

Rieger knew that trying to shut Jim down with logic was pointless, but he had to make use of the tools at hand. Indeed, Jim began to nod ever more animatedly.

"I KNOW! He's like the Chuck Cunningham of our little group-the Bub O'Casey...gone like he was never here, never discussed or even brought up. Why is that, Alex?"

Alex had tried soft logic. He now went for the hard stuff.

"Jim, John was a nice kid but a marginal cabbie. He wasn't suited for life in the city, and when Louie finally canned him for wrecking Cab 804, no one was surprised, including him. He took it as a sign, took him and his wife back to his hometown, where I presume he's a lot happier."

Jim was starting to get a bit huffy.

"Sure, Alex, sure. Just send him off to the Cornfield. Where did he go again?"

Alex was feeling this conversation should be sent to the Cornfield, or end up lost in space.

"Jim, he didn't go to the Cornfield-although I think he might've come from Iowa. We-we put him and his wife on the bus there, anyway."

Jim now was shaking his head.

"A man touches a lot of lives, Alex. When he's suddenly gone, he leaves an awfully big hole."

Alex puzzled at the words.

"Is that from a movie?"

Jim started to walk away.

"Yeah. From 'It's A Wonderful Life'. That's the one where the man sees the world as if he had never been born-kind of like our boy Johnny. God, I loved that kid. I miss him more every day."

Alex had finally had enough and decided to walk away himself.

"Jim, you never even met the man, and therefore you cannot miss him!"

Jim now sat down, looking resolute.

"His existence denied, his memory erased-but some part of my mind will hold onto him, Alex-it may or may not be a usable part of my mind, but he'll be lurking in there somewhere, you can just betcha by golly wow he will. John Bruns will not pass from the sight of this Earth if I can help it!"

"John Burns, Jim. John Burns."

Alex walked away as Jim's mind did the same.

"See Alex? Even I, his best friend in all the world, is having trouble holding on to our man Jack."

Seeking sanity, Alex saw and moved to talk to his friend Elaine Nardo as she arrived for work. She saw the stress he felt like it was etched on him.

"What happened?"

Alex breathed in.

"Ahhh, Jim was on one of his excursions outside this world, and he took me along for part of the ride."

Elaine rolled her eyes.

"You should know better than that. Where did he go and take you to?"

Alex felt himself relaxing.

"He was asking me these inane questions about John Burns."

Elaine very suddenly looked very quizzical.

"Who's John Burns?"

Alex couldn't tell if he was being pranked, or if perhaps Elaine had simply not thought of the young man in so long, her memory had to be jogged.

Rather than allow for a third possibility, Alex quietly excused himself, went home, and fell asleep.

The next morning, he could not recall for the life of him just what Jim had said to get him so upset.