In the Land of Turquoise and Pink
Okay, we are back!
The Land of Turquoise and Pink…where to start?
You heard me tell Bobby about the beginning of the Proto-Scene; how theme-oriented nightclubs began springing up in abandoned buildings and kids started going out again. Well, the very first of those nightclubs was the Land of Turquoise and Pink. It’s the longest continually running club in the Scene — there’s been a Land of Turquoise and Pink in every site we’ve occupied — and because of that, it has a special status. Run by the Executive Council, it’s the one place where the Righteous Adults hang out, and in that sense, it’s a nexus — a place between worlds, where the kids can socialize with their predecessors; the people who created the Underground. It’s a popular place, not as mobbed as the G-Zone to be sure, but always full.
The décor is cool and loungy. There are puffy white leather couches everywhere and small islands of tables, dotted around a bar shaped like a great white starfish, with several “arms” that reach out, which means that wherever you are, you’re never more than a foot or two away from a drink. There’s also a small stage, where live acts perform, and the jukebox is loaded with classic glam rock, punk, post-punk, New Wave, and New Romantic music. The lighting is purple and blue and there’s a whole collection of Andy Warhol paintings lining the walls — don’t ask me where they got them — it’s like a bar crossed with the Getty museum.
If you ever wanted to get a representative sample of the Rebellion and Scene, the Land of Turquoise and Pink is the place to go. Everyone hangs out here. There’s the typical Scene set, of course, people just out for their regular night on the “town,” but members of the Religious Caste also come here sometimes — for them, it’s a shrine — and you’ll even catch one of the Drifters now and again; those mysterious kids who just appeared out of nowhere and who play no official role, but are just there, almost like watchers. It’s rare that you ever get to talk to them, but in the Land of Turquoise and Pink, anything is possible.
Bobby: I’m really looking forward to this.
Claire: I know that you love this place. I do too.
Bobby: It’s like the ancestral home. The spirits of the elders are everywhere. Every time I walk in, it feels special; like something really important is going to happen.
Claire: It will.
Bobby: Do you think any of the Righteous Adults will be out tonight? It is your birthday after all; the sixteenth birthday of the Ascended. That’s a big deal.
Claire: It may not be enough. They tend to keep to themselves, even when they do come out. And I’m not sure how big a deal my birthday is to them. Anyway, I’m not expecting anything.
Bobby: Ye of little faith. They’ll come out Claire, because it’s you.
Claire: I may not be a Queen, Bobby, but you make me feel like one.
Bobby: You’re more than a Queen, you’re the Ascended. And you’re also the love of my life.
Claire: From the first time I saw you, Bobby.
Bobby: And I have to say, you’re also totally wrong.
Claire: Oh?
Bobby: Your pessimism notwithstanding, at least one of the Righteous Adults will definitely be here tonight.
Claire: You mean, Peter.
Bobby: Yes.
Claire: Not fair!
Bobby: Why not? He’s one of the Righteous Adults — a high-ranking one, in fact — and he’ll be here tonight.
Claire: Yeah, but he’s always here. He runs the place.
Bobby: A technicality.
Claire: That’s one word for it.
Bobby: But, I also happen to think you’re wrong in a non-technical sense. They’ll come out.
Claire: Peter intimidates me a little.
Bobby: Because he’s so old?
Claire: No, well, maybe a little. It’s because he’s so strong. He has this, like, natural authority, you know? I’ve never seen him wrong or contradicted about anything. Not that he gives orders or even tells us that much, but when he does, you can take it to the bank.
Bobby: Frankly, I wish they’d be more involved. I’m not sure what I think about this “wall of separation” between the kids and the Righteous Adults. I thought the whole point of the Rebellion and the Underground was not to divide and separate us; to live normally.
Claire: It’s in the Articles of Inception, Bobby; Articles that the Righteous Adults wrote. And it’s there for a reason.
Bobby: I guess I’m questioning the Articles, then, or at least, that part of them.
Claire: Bobby, they’re there to protect us; to make sure that adults never do to kids again what they’re doing in the Overground.
Bobby: Our Righteous Adults aren’t like that. They care about us more than we care about ourselves. They’d never hurt us. This policy smells like collective guilt.
Claire: Maybe it is — that’s a really good point — but even so, it may still be for the best. I mean, this just happened — is still happening — to our brothers and sisters in the Overground. Everyone’s a little raw and a lot scared, the Righteous Adults too. Don’t forget that even though they seem old to us, they’re only in their early and mid-twenties, so I’m not surprised that we’re all looking for a little security, you know? I mean, in a way, you’re looking for it too.
Bobby: How do you figure?
Claire: Well, you wish the Righteous Adults were more involved. You say they care for us more than we care about ourselves. It sounds like someone wants mom and dad back.
Bobby: Fair enough. I’m definitely feeling a little insecure. All your dark talk has spooked me a little. Add Farmer Ted’s sudden burst of humanity, and I’m looking for some reassurance.
Claire: From an adult.
Bobby: Yes.
Claire: Oh, Bobby, I know…
Bobby: God, I love you.
Claire: Come here, baby, mmm….
Peter: Well, if it isn’t Claire Standish and Bobby Richstone. What brings you two fine young people out tonight?
Claire: As if. You know it’s my sixteenth birthday, Peter.
Peter: Is it? I wonder if that’s why this package is sitting back here.
Claire: A present!
Peter: Looks like it.
Claire: Peter, you shouldn’t have!
Peter: I didn’t. Let’s see, what does the card say? Oh, look, it’s from the entire Executive Council.
Bobby: See, I told you.
Claire: You said that the Righteous Adults would be out tonight, not that they’d give me a present.
Bobby: A technicality.
Claire: You’re full of those tonight.
Peter: This is all very interesting, but are you going to open it?
Claire: Oh, right! It’s a book! Oh my God, Peter! A first edition of A Wrinkle in Time! This is one of my favorites!
Peter: Let’s just say that you’re our own Meg Murray. Now go out and save the world.
Claire: My dear, lovely man. You get a kiss for that.
Peter: I won’t turn that down. Mmm. Happy Birthday, sweetheart.
Claire: Thank you so much; for the book, for everything. This night has been so amazing. I keep wanting to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.
Peter: The night’s not over yet, Claire. Don’t you know?
Claire: Know what?
Peter: The nights in the Land of Turquoise and Pink last forever.
Claire: Wowww.
Bobby: But then, there’d just be one night, wouldn’t there?
Peter: Have a drink, Bobby.
Bobby: Drink! Right! What should I have?
Peter: What were you drinking before? We don’t want to make you sick.
Bobby: Well, a few glasses of Cristal, at the beginning, but mostly Bombay and Tonic.
Peter: Okay, we’ll do a variation on that; a real British colonial drink, Imperial Rampur Tanqueray and Tonics.
Bobby: Is everyone in this town swimming in top shelf booze except for me?
Peter: We know Farmer Ted too, you know.
Claire: And thank God for it! Woo Hoo!
Bobby: Oh no, it’s the “Woo Hoos” again.
Claire: I’m in a “Woo Hoo” mood.
Bobby: Well, then, Woo Hoo!
All: Woo Hoo!
Peter: Here are the drinks. Claire, speaking for the Executive Council, as well as for myself, you have done us proud here at the Cult and throughout the SoCal Rebellion. You are an inspiring leader. We love you, we support you, and wish you a very Happy Birthday! Nostrovia!
All: Nostrovia!
Claire: I’m so happy I feel like I’m going to burst. Or cry. Or both.
Bobby: You deserve this.
Peter: So, how’d it go in the G-Zone?
Claire: Fantastic. It looks like Raps may finally have found himself a girl, and Farmer Ted had some very interesting things to say.
Peter: Anything you want to tell me about?
Claire: I may make a report to the Executive Council. Not sure, yet.
Peter: Well, you’re in charge. Just remember, if you need us, we’re here and always at your disposal.
Claire: Bobby and I were just talking about this. Sometimes we wish you’d tell us what to do a little more.
Peter: Of course you do. It’s natural. Sometimes, we wish someone older would tell us what to do too. I don’t think that ever stops, Claire.
Claire: You’re right, of course.
Peter: Old equals right.
Bobby: Ha!
Peter: You know why things are this way, Claire. It was the very first principle that we established, when we started the Rebellion: from here on, the youthful spirit must be the ruling spirit. With age comes bitterness, resentment, fear…and these can’t be the things that rule us. We’ve seen what their rule looks like in the Overground.
Claire: I hear what you’re saying, but when I think about you guys, I just can’t believe it. You love us and you love the Rebellion and you’d never do anything to hurt us or to destroy it.
Peter: Of course not. But you’re only thinking of harm and destruction in the way they happen in the Overground. But bitterness, resentment, and fear can operate more subtly that that. They can manifest themselves in jadedness and inertia, and in the long run, those can be as harmful as the stuff they’re doing up there.
Claire: God…
Peter: Don’t take it too hard, Claire. We’re doing okay; more than okay. What we’ve put together here is amazing; beyond science or magic. The youthful spirit is in charge and will stay that way, no matter how old we get. And my generation only played the smallest part. We were the catalyst, but you guys are the ones who developed it into the glorious thing it is now.
Bobby: Sorry to interrupt, but Danny-Boy and Ariel just walked in.
Peter: Well, that’s trouble waiting to happen.
Claire: Trouble? For God’s sake, why?
Peter: Why? Look at Ariel, Claire. Look at her!
It’s like she’s on fire. Her hair — usually in pigtails or braids — is free and wild; like velvety tendrils of golden light. The scrubs and doctor’s smock she was wearing earlier have been replaced by a pale, pink linen dress. Roman sandals are on her feet, the straps crawling up her calves like vines, and her fingernails and toenails and lips painted a brilliant white. Ariel is physically tiny, but her presence is huge. The glow coming off of her pulses and breathes. You can feel it — feel her — like the sun on your skin.
Bobby: I think that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
Claire: You’ve got company. Half the bar is drifting towards her.
Peter: They look hypnotized.
Bobby: And Danny-Boy looks panicked.
Peter: I don’t like that look. Something bad’s gonna’ go down.
Claire: Look at that boy. It’s Jason, isn’t it? He’s reaching out to touch her face.
Bobby: Oh, shit, Danny-Boy just grabbed him. You have to do something, Claire. He’s gonna’ fucking kill him.
Peter: No, I have to do something. Danny-Boy is one of ours. Excuse me, for a minute.
Claire: Oh, Bobby, this is awful. What if Danny-Boy goes after Peter?
Bobby: He won’t. No way. Not Peter.
Claire: I don’t know, he looks out of control. Ariel’s pleading with him, but it’s like he doesn’t even hear her.
Bobby: Come on. Peter may need our help.
Claire: Okay. But don’t get into it, unless Peter asks you to, okay? I just had this horrible flash of all three of you beating the crap out of each other.
Bobby: Not gonna’ happen Claire. Have a little faith!
Peter: Danny!
Danny-Boy: Stay out of this, Peter. Stay out of it!
Peter: Fuck I will. You’re way out of line, man. Let go of that kid, right now!
Danny-Boy: She’s my sister, Pete. He’s got his hands all over my sister.
Peter: Hands all over her? He barely touched her cheek, and you put him in a goddamned headlock!
Danny-Boy: She’s twelve years old, for God’s sake.
Peter: And he’s thirteen. You’re twenty-two. He can’t touch her, but you can beat him up? Is that your fucking point?!
Danny-Boy: Uh…no, of course not.
Peter: Then what’s your fucking objection?!
Danny-Boy: Well…he’s…they’re…hitting on her, Pete.
Peter: And…?
Danny-Boy: And nothing. That’s it. This kid’s hitting on my sister. Shit, half the bar looks like it wants to hit on my sister.
Peter: So what? She’s young and pretty. They’re young and pretty. That’s how it works, man. Puberty, remember it? Or maybe you don’t. You’ve been pretty fucking weird these past few years with this whole monk-protector routine. I’ve warned you about it.
Danny-Boy: I can’t, Peter, I just can’t. Not after what he did to her…not after seeing her beaten black-and-blue.
Peter: That was your father, Danny-Boy, not this poor kid.
Danny-Boy: I killed him, Peter.
Peter: So, you gonna’ kill Jason too?
Danny-Boy: No.
Peter: I didn’t think so. Shape up, man.
Danny-Boy: I’m sorry.
Peter: ‘Cause this is everything we’re not about, Danny. This is not why you killed your father and brought Ariel here; so you could play Bad Dad yourself.
Danny-Boy: Oh, God…
Peter: You brought her here — and you helped us build this thing — so she could live; so she and the other kids could be happy.
Danny-Boy: And what am I doing? Interfering. Bullying. Attacking people.
Peter: I’m glad you see it.
Danny-Boy: Jason, I don’t know what to say.
Jason: It’s cool, man. I totally understand. And I’m sorry for being so bold. I’m not sure what got into me. It was like I was being pulled, drawn in…
Danny-Boy: She has that effect on people.
Ariel: Are you ok, Danny?
Danny-Boy: Yes. A little shaken up, but ok.
Ariel: I knew this would be hard for you, but I didn’t realize it would be this hard. Maybe we should have waited longer.
Danny-Boy: No, it’s all right. This whole time, I’ve been playing a part. I have to start acting my age and holding true to what I claim to believe in.
Peter: Good man.
Claire: I need a drink.
Peter: We all need drinks. Have you forgotten there’s a birthday party going on?
Danny-Boy: Jesus, I think I’m going to win the dick of the year award. Happy Birthday, Claire!
Claire: It’s all right, and thank you!
Danny-Boy: The least I can do after forcing everyone to watch the ugly hour is buy the drinks. Drinks for the house, Peter, on me!
All: Woo Hoo!
Peter: And don’t think that Farmer Ted’s the only person around town with a doctor in the house. This is from our hydroponics lab. They grow Kush right next to the asparagus. And the hookah? It’s an antique. Over three hundred years old. Drinks and sensimilia! To everyone’s health!
Claire, Bobby, Danny-Boy and Ariel: Health!
Claire: I feel like I’m rocking the Kasbah.
Bobby: Sharif don’t like it.
Claire: Fuck the Sharif. It’s my birthday, not his.
Bobby: It’s actually tomorrow, now, Claire. It’s not your birthday any more.
Peter: Have another drink, Bobby.
Bobby: Ah, right.
Claire: It’s my birthday until the “evening” is over. I don’t care what time it is.
Peter: Woo Hoo!
Danny-Boy: I know the Articles of Non-Interference. Shit, I helped draft the most recent version of them. Funny, right? It’s just that with Ariel, I get tunnel-vision. I guess I’m still not over what happened.
Peter: Cut yourself some slack, man. You guys have only been here two years. That stuff is still fresh; raw.
Danny-Boy: God, you’re right. It doesn’t feel like two years.
Claire: I’ve noticed that too. It’s like time is stretched out in the Underground. I’ve only been Leader for two years, but it feels like forever.
Peter: The entire Rebellion has only existed for eight years, Claire. This whole thing is brand new.
Bobby: Funny, I can remember my life before the Rebellion — even my early childhood, before this horrible stuff started happening — but it’s almost like watching a movie about somebody else. This is all so big — so real — you know? And everything before it? They’re like black and white pictures on the wall; like you’re looking at your parents or grandparents, when they were kids.
Claire: That makes me happy and sad at the same time.
Ariel: These are the moments when we’re most fully alive, Claire. When we are truly in tune. Because that’s how things really are — happy and sad, together. Because there are infinitely many consequences for everything that happens, and some are happy and some are sad.
Danny-Boy: Do you hate me, Ariel?
Ariel: Don’t be silly, of course not.
Danny-Boy: Do you think Jason will forgive me?
Ariel: I think so, especially since I’m going to go over there and hang out with him.
Danny-Boy: You are?
Ariel: Yes, I am. And it looks like he’s talking to a very lovely girl, so I’ll be hanging out with her too.
Danny-Boy: I can live with that.
Ariel: You always could. You just had to let yourself.
Danny-Boy: Have fun, baby.
Ariel: I will. Catch you all a little later!
Bobby: Well, this certainly has been some evening. I’ve seen about thirty things I’ve never seen before. I’m starting to wonder whether we’ve broken nature or something.
Claire: Maybe, Peter was right.
Peter: Maybe?
Bobby: About what?
Claire: About the nights at the Land of Turquoise and Pink and how they last forever.
Bobby: Heh, weirder things, right?
Claire: Exactly.
Peter: Danny-Boy, why don’t you and I go throw some darts? Darla can cover for me. Let these two kids go about their business.
Danny-Boy: Excellent idea.
Claire: Aw!
Peter: Don’t worry, we’ll be back. This one’s going into the wee hours.
Claire: Yay!
Bobby: See you, guys. And thanks for everything!
Peter: You got it, man. It’s all on the house tonight. Enjoy yourselves!
Claire: We will!
Bobby: Let’s take over that couch over there.
Claire: Snuggle time!
Bobby: Bingo.
Claire: Darla, we’re heading over there. Can you send another round of drinks?
Darla: Coming right up!
Bobby: So, Ariel’s finally done it, huh? Come out of her shell.
Claire: Seems to me it’s Danny-Boy who really came out tonight. Ariel was just biding her time.
Bobby: I hadn’t thought of it that way. Then again, I don’t know Danny-Boy very well or Ariel either for that matter. I always feel awkward around them; inadequate.
Claire: I know the feeling — he’s so big and powerful and she’s so beautiful and transcendent — but they’re human, Bobby, as you just saw.
Bobby: Yeah, I guess that’s true.
Claire: Holy shit!
Bobby: What?
Claire: Look, over there. Is that Anaita?
Bobby: My god, it is! And she’s with Dina. Wow!
Claire: I know the Religious Caste hang out here, but I can count the times I’ve actually seen them out on one hand.
Bobby: I feel like I shouldn’t let them see me smoking and drinking.
Claire: That’s crazy.
Bobby: Is it? They look like nuns.
Claire: The habits aren’t for modesty, Bobby. The girls in the Religious Caste aren’t prudes or teetotalers. Shit, they make the best white wines in Southern California. They wear the outfits as a kind of homage to the Orders of the past and to identify themselves here in the present. It definitely helps with discipline, too, when they teach the younger grades. They get a lot more respect than when they dress in civies.
Bobby: Are they all teachers?
Claire: Yes. I mean, obviously they have a bunch of religious and spiritual roles too, but their main job is to teach the kids, when they come here; to make up for the lack of school, you know? And to make sure they know the history of the Cult. nd of course, to provide religious education; to teach them about the Eternal Teenager.
Bobby: I kind of regret I’d had school already, before coming here. It would have been really useful to have been taught that stuff. I feel like I’m constantly playing catch-up.
Claire: Let’s see if they want to come over and hang out. Anaita! Dina! They see us. Dina just waved.
Bobby: So much for snuggling.
Claire: Patience, my dear boy.
Anaita: Happy Birthday!
Dina: Happy Birthday, Claire!
Claire: Everyone knows it’s my birthday!
Dina: Well, we’d better know when the Ascended’s birthday is. We are supposed to be teachers, after all.
Claire: So, what’s going on?
Dina: Taking a much needed rest. We’re at a really challenging point in the curriculum, and it’s tiring me out.
Claire: What are you guys doing?
Anaita: The Cold War. The kids are reading The Gulag Archipelago.
Claire: That’s heavy stuff.
Dina: Not as heavy as the topic we just finished doing: the Holocaust. I could barely make it through Survival in Auschwitz. I can’t imagine how badly I taught it.
Anaita: You’re too emotional, Dina. The kids need to learn that stuff, not watch you blubber.
Dina: I know, I’m probably exaggerating, but it was tough. There was a lot of crying in those classes. I’m looking forward to getting to the Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties. They’re always fun to teach.
Claire: Ooh, that was my favorite part of school! Especially the movies. I could watch Easy Rider, Saturday Night Fever, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High a thousand times.
Dina: I love ‘em too, they’re so relevant. I mean, that’s why the units from the Sixties-on take up so much of the curriculum. They’re the decades that produced the world we live in now. And it’s not as if it’s all popular culture studies, there’re still some really important historical events in that period — the Civil Rights movement; Vietnam; Watergate…
Claire: Guess I wasn’t that serious of a student. It was the social and pop-cultural stuff that always interested me the most. I would dream that I was living back in those days, when being young meant being on top of the world.
Anaita: It will mean that again, Claire. When the Eternal Teenager returns.
Bobby: Amen. What are you girls drinking?
Dina: Well…
Anaita: Nothing, Bobby, thanks. It’s late for us. We should be heading out.
Dina: One more couldn’t hurt, could it?
Anaita: In the morning it could. It’s a weeknight, and we have classes, remember? You don’t want to be hung-over.
Dina: Yeah, you’re right. Grumble, grumble.
Anaita: I hope to see you at Services this weekend, Claire. It’s been a while.
Claire: I know. I feel terrible about it. But, I’ve been really preoccupied lately; lots of worries and doubts.
Anaita: Those are the times we most need the company of others, Claire, otherwise, we become morbid.
Bobby: Yes! Haven’t I been telling you that, Claire?
Claire: Incessantly. I could tell time by it.
Dina: What have you been worrying about?
Claire: Nothing specific. Just a general, vague disquiet.
Anaita: Is it the Sight?
Claire: Yes, it is. I wasn’t sure at first, but it’s definitely the Sight.
Anaita: And you turned sixteen today?
Claire: Right.
Dina: Do you think?
Anaita: The Prophecy. Claire, you should come see me in my office tomorrow. Privately.
Claire: Prophecy? What Prophecy?
Anaita: There are texts — commentaries on the Diary — which are only read by the members of the Religious Caste. They tell of a Prophecy that may be triggered, when one of the Ascended reaches her sixteenth year.
Claire: May be triggered?
Anaita: If certain conditions are met.
Claire: What conditions?
Anaita: Not here. In my office. Tomorrow.
Claire: Well, what’s the Prophecy, then?
Anaita: Not here. In my office. Tomorrow.
Dina: You don’t have to sound like the fucking Pope, ‘Nait. It’s just not something we talk about in public, Claire. The Commentaries are considered “mysteries.”
Anaita: Yes, that’s right. And don’t curse.
Dina: Ooh, sorry! Fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck.
Anaita: Now you’re just baiting me. Definitely time to go home.
Dina: On that we agree. Have a great birthday, Claire!
Claire: Thanks! And it was so nice seeing you guys out!
Bobby: Seriously, it was awesome seeing you.
Anaita: Bless you, Claire. And you too Bobby.
Claire and Bobby: Night!
Claire: Hmm.
Bobby: You’re going to obsess about this Prophecy, aren’t you?
Claire: It’s likely.
Bobby: Can I talk you out of it?
Claire: Probably not, but let’s not discuss it now. I’m having too good of a time.
Bobby: Anyway, there’s no point in speculating, until you see Anaita tomorrow.
Claire: Oh, I plan on hitting the Library tomorrow morning, before I see her. I might even pop over there tonight, after we take off.
Bobby: Another round?
Claire: Absolutely. And roll up a joint of that delicious ganja, while you’re there. Something tells me that the three hundred year old hookah isn’t supposed to be moved.
Bobby: You got it.
