Entering the patio and trailed by the distinctive scent of freshly smoked cannabis Gabriel sat in the leather recliner, his face relaxed in satisfaction as he held a cold bottle of Coors beer sprinkled with beads of condensation. The potent aromatic remnants of the ganja immediately seized Leonard's nostrils. Though strong it was not entirely unpleasant. The smoky sweetness reminded Leonard of half burnt leaves mixed with a hint of pineapple and mangoes. Even in the shallow lighting Leonard could see Gabriel's eyes had the classic stoner-squint from the effects of the marijuana. But apparently it did not appear to interfere with his attentiveness or ability to concentrate. In fact, over the course of their conversation Gabriel's awareness seemed intensified under the plant's influence, even if it was peppered with a little giddiness, while Leonard began feeling the subtle unhinging of his own inhibitions at the urging of the Scotch.
Leonard said, "Since we now seem to officially be sought of buddies budding…"
"Liquor and weed," Gabriel announced, "can have that effect my brother from another." He raised his beer bottle in a toast and a sip. "Excuse the interruption. You were saying?"
"I've a confession," Leonard continued, "Last night when I invaded…I mean incapacitated those two agents my intention was to only do one of them; the agent I met at the door, but somehow I was able to tune into his partner."
"Pop the champagne," Gabriel celebrated. "Two birds one stone."
"You don't understand," Leonard explained. "I mean…I wasn't expecting that to happen. I never did that before. Didn't even know I could."
"What, effect two people at the same time?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. So your saying your powers are expanded or you just weren't aware that you had the capability?"
"Both, I think."
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"I don't know. It's strange. Felt odd. Weird."
"Uh, weird? Let me tell you, brother, that ability of yours is classic quirky far as anybody's concerned. Kind of dope too. If I had that ability…"
"You wouldn't want it," Leonard said gravely. "Brings more problems than you can imagine."
"You would know," Gabriel granted. "Didn't mean to romanticize. Just…"
"It's okay."
They shared a brief awkward silence until Leonard said pensively, "And that dream."
"Dream?"
"I don't usually dream after. Or can't remember them."
"Is something happening here?" Gabriel inquired. "Concerning I mean."
"Not sure." Leonard sipped more Scotch.
"What about the dream?" Gabriel asked.
"I was after a woman. I don't know who she was. I couldn't see her face, but I felt compelled to help her somehow. Well…I was after her and somebody or some people were chasing us. We were in this… jungle. She ran into a pit of quicksand and just as she was about to turn and face me, I could see her profile and somehow seemed familiar and she appeared to be very calm in spite of her precarious predicament, then dream ended."
"Talk about weird," Gabriel said. "Dreams they can be the weirdest of weird." He swallowed more brew.
Leonard placed his Scotch on a pedestal stand and stared contemplatively at a night sky that sparkled like diamonds with countless stars. "There was a time Lawrence and I were inseparable," He said nostalgically tainted with sadness.
"How old were you guys when the experiments started?" Gabriel asked.
"Around eight I think. My memory's vague about that whole period."
Gabriel's finger tapped nervously against the beer bottle as he hesitated to say what he wanted to say, then dived in, "Your father was a two-star general in the army at the time, is that right?"
"Yeah."
"Do you remember anything else about him?" Gabriel asked cautiously.
Leonard's attention now focused on Gabriel. "Like what? Why? Should I know anything else?"
Gabriel drank the rest of his beer. Sighed as he placed the empty bottle down on the artificial turf. "I need to tell you something and at the same time I probably shouldn't."
"Buddy buds," Leonard cheered. "Right?"
Gabriel paused weighing the heaviness of what he had to say before saying it. "Lawrence asked a favor of me. A tough one, Leonard. But I promised him I would do it and my word is bond. I had hoped it would come to you on its own but apparently it hasn't."
"What are you talking about?" Leonard asked.
"Give me a moment," Gabriel begged respectively. "According to Lawrence's timeline of things it's critical you become aware of the truth in order for you to figure out the code and be able to utilize it before it's too late."
"Too late. Too late for what, man?"
"I don't know. Lawrence didn't say. But whatever it may be I believed in Lawrence enough to take him seriously. He knew things, brother… about the future. He felt premonitions and was never wrong.
"Go on," Leonard encouraged curiously.
Gabriel sighed deeply, cleared his throat. "Your father… he… was the…initiator of the experiments in the MK-Ultra program that involved you, Lawrence and your mother, He headed the experiments.
Leonard stared at Gabriel; actually his look was more a peer inward across barricades of memories, feelings and sensations long suppressed but nonetheless perched at the periphery of his subconscious. Anamnesis tapping ever so gently and consistently at the door of remembrance. Now however, like smoke seeping through cracks in a locked room, chocking the present with the scent of something long buried, this dreaded truth billowed like rot-sweet fumes from a long-sealed crypt. Leonard felt disoriented, dizzy, nausea tried to wind its way to release but he held it back.
"Leonard… Leonard… Leonard."
Leonard was somewhere else entirely - caught between memory and meaning as the echo of his name barely registered. He rose to his feet as if caught in a sleepwalkers dream and walked through the patio's screen door onto the deck. Steam rose from his mouth, nose and misted from his head as he was now exposed to the frigid air and he let out a long sagging breath as though his ribs let loose the weight of a secret.
Gabriel followed him onto the deck offering him a glass of water. "Yo, my brother, you okay?"
Leonard accepted the water, drinking it with urgency, wiping across his mouth as he handed Gabriel the empty glass. "I knew… I suspected it. I told my father the other day… outside the funeral home that I was starting to remember things. Disturbing things."
"Are you okay," Gabriel asked concerned. "Maybe I should've waited then. Given it more time to dawn in you on its own.
"No," Leonard said. "Things happen for a reason. I'll be okay. Damn. I am okay."
"Sorry I dropped such a bomb on you, brother."
"Don't be, Gab. You… did me a favor. I feel… lighter now. Pissed. But lighter. The truth sets you free, right?."
"Hurts like hell too."
"Now what?" Leonard quiried. Wow. It… it's all flooding back to me now.
"Anything in particular?"
"Everything is particular."
"So tell me." Gabriel implored. "What do you remember about this MK-Ultra business?"
"You don't know about it? Your CIA. Or you were."
"That was back when. Nobody talks about it anymore The older agents are tight lipped or clueless and the younger ones are just plain clueless. Like it's a taboo subject to even mention. And you know, out of sight out of mind. Your brother barely spoke of it unless it was necessary when he was trying explain his theories to me."
Leonard let out a slow sigh as if finally given permission to release a burden. "The program was actually an illegal, secret CIA human research program run by the Office of Scientific Intelligence. It began in the early nineteen fifties and ran through the late sixties. Mostly Canadians and United States citizens were the test subjects."
"Diabolical." Then Gabriel smiled thoughtfully.
"What's with the smile?" Leonard said.
"Lawrence… never expressed any negative feelings toward your father," Gabriel revealed.. "At least not in my presence and when the subject of your parents did come up I didn't really sense any hostility in him."
Leonard said. "Lawrence wasn't the grudge type. Me on the other hand I wanted him to be bitter and because I felt that way and I realize now that was the reason I was so frustrated with him. I couldn't understand him not being angry while I held on to anger like it was a companion."
"Hey, no two people handle the same situation the same way," Gabriel said.
"It was the fuel that fed our arguments and eventually distanced us," Leonard said. "In a way I think I was kind of jealous of the fact that he seemed to be able to make peace with himself and my parents while I was still battling personal demons in that regard."
"Was that the reason you left the states?" Gabriel asked.
"One of many," said Leonard. "It got to the point I couldn't even be around my family without an argument coming up. I was so… acrimonious."
"Was?" Gabriel probed.
Leonard looked over at Gabriel, who was looking at him, patiently awaiting a reply. "You're right," Leonard finally admitted. "I guess I still am."
"Hey, I'm not one to give advice on not being bitter." Gabriel said, "God knows I hated my father most of my teenage and half of my adult life… but you know it was your brother that encouraged me to let it go… to forgive and move on. He said it was only emotional baggage that weighed me down and kept me from progressing, especially on a spiritual level… and who knows, he said, probably on many other levels as well."
"So did you forgive him?" Leonard asked.
"Still a work in progress," Gabriel admitted. "Better than I was. But anyway… we've gotten off track. You good on Scotch?"
"I'm good."
"I'm getting another brew."
Gabriel returned with another perspiring bottle of Coors light and resumed the conversation: "How'd your dad get involved with this thing anyway?" Gabriel gulped heartily on the beer.
Leonard hugged himself from the cold. "Wanna get back inside. Cold out here."
"I love the cold," Gabriel said, "but yeah. Let's go."
Once inside and back in their respective seats, Leonard continued, "By the early seventies MK-ULTRA had been revealed to the public by a group called The Church Committee. They were a group of U.S. senators formed specifically to study and investigate governmental operations related to intelligence activities within the country. When things got hot, then director of the CIA, Richard Helms decided all the files on the project would make a nice bonfire."