Psychic Detective 31 By: Jake Preston
This is a work of erotic gay fiction, intended for readers who enjoy a murder mystery in which fully developed characters interact sexually and in other ways. Their sexual encounters are sometimes romantic, sometimes recreational, sometimes spiritual, and almost always described explicitly. My attention is equally divided between narrative, character development, and sex scenes. If you don't care for this combination, there are many other excellent "nifty" stories to choose from. And remember that while nifty stories are free, maintaining a website is not. Please think about donating at http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html
Writing is usually a solitary avocation, but not necessarily so on nifty.org, where a longer story appears in installments. If my characters and my story grab your attention, you can always intervene with suggestions for improvements. All sincere comments will get a response!
Jake, at jemtling@gmail.com
Chapter 31 Two Vultures at a Funeral
Three days of chastity can be endured, but another chapter without sex cannot be endured. Let us, therefore, proceed to the peyote-funeral for Johnnie Elk Heart and Craig Clark, and three others whose names were unknown to the mourners. Ricky Eagle Cap drove to South Dakota for the event, accompanied by Peter Durham. Jonathan Sand Crane was there with three Lakota elders. Jack Jackson and Calvin Cohn attended, and Göran Svenson, and Anna Ravitch, who documented the ritual with a painting. Billy Blue Heron presided as shaman.
Göran planted five white crosses at the sites where (he said) the skeletons would be found. Each cross was inscribed. Beside the intact skull, he planted a cross that read 'CRAIG CLARK'. Ten yards left, at a spot that had no bone-remnant, a second cross read 'JOHNNIE ELK HEART, SHAMAN'. Three remaining crosses, placed equidistantly to suggest a pentangle, bore the inscription 'OKÄND'. "It's the Swedish word for 'unknown', Göran explained, "the closest I could get to a sacred language."
"This promises to be an unusual ceremony," Ricky Eagle Cap said to Billy. "It's customary to hold the funeral first, and then proceed to a gravesite ceremony, but the bodies have already been buried."
"They were put in the ground by Enemies of Life who forced them to dig their own graves," Billy replied. "When they come out, they'll be reburied with dignity."
"Good for Billy," Göran whispered to Jack. "He's starting to speak like Dark Eagle."
At the first sign of peyote-colored vision, Billy Blue Heron began a chant. It was the Ojibwe invocation, in which the participants were named in order of their rank or standing, and Manitou was thanked for their presence. Jonathan Sand Crane (who was named first) beat the water-drum. The three Lakota accompanies with a wooden flute, a rattle, and a clay bell. Jack initiated the dance on the ceremonial carpet, and was joined by Göran and Calvin, who knew the Ojibwe invocation and chanted along with Billy, to the astonishment of the Lakotas, who applauded the enthusiastic way in which they'd gone native. Jack was dressed in his buckskin warrior-garb, while Göran and Calvin looked more like cowboys. As the chant progressed, they doffed shirts and dungarees and exchanged their bronc-buster gear for the more suitable attire of birthday suits.
Billy began the first Lakota chant. It was for Johnnie Elk Heart, the late Wallowa shaman. As he chanted, he joined the dance- a departure from Dark Eagle's practice. He motioned for Ricky Eagle Cap to dance, too. Midway through the chant, Ricky beckoned Peter Durham to join the dance. Göran and Calvin helped Peter get naked, as he wasn't dressed in the costume of a warrior.
Billy began the funeral-chant for Craig Clark. Each of the men dressed in warrior-attire paired with a naked partner. Billy chose Göran. Ricky chose Calvin, to his eye an exotic stranger. Jack chose Peter, the handsome patrolman who he had known yet not known in Joseph. The 'warriors' fondled their naked partners in lascivious assertion of hoped-for dominance.
The chants for the unknown victims began. Billy called them okänd-chants, borrowing the Swedish word that Göran had inscribed on their memorial crosses. From Dark Eagle he had learned the art of peyote-syncretism. During the first okänd-chant, Jack had the honor of fucking Peter, who was seized by his haunches and caught by surprise, not knowing that he was expected to give his all in the ritual. After the initial shock of penetration, Peter surrendered to the warrior- sheriff with dignity.
During the second okänd-chant, Ricky fucked Calvin, not without an initial struggle, as Calvin was accustomed to playing the role of a top, but the struggle was perceived by others as part of the ritual, signifying conquest. Ricky's erotic skills, perfected on the body of his patrolman-lover, went into play to bring Calvin to orgasm without any laying of hands.
In the third okänd-dance, Billy fucked Göran- unlike the others, a willing partner.
After the dance and the ritual fucking, Billy announced that they must move the ceremonial carpet to the shade of the willow and wait. When they did, two vultures soared into the valley and sat on the limb overhanging the pond. They were turkey-vultures, dark brown with bright red coloration on their heads. Anna Ravitch sketched the scene, in preparation for a second painting.
"Who are these men who danced on our graves?" one vulture asked the other.
"One is called Svenson, the skeleton-whisperer," the second vulture replied. "Another is Calvin Cohn, the leader of a band when I played drums at Apollo's. He's taken the Lakota lawman as his lover."
To Jack, Billy, Jonathan, and the three elders, the vultures seemed to speak in Lakota, but the others heard them speak English.
The first vulture spoke again: "I know that one, Ricky Eagle Cap the dairyman. He's taken a lawman as his lover, too. I knew him when he was a boy and I was a shaman. The others are unknown to me."
"Why are they idling below on a carpet when they should be sporting in the water?" the second vulture asked.
"I suppose they're waiting for the others to come, but they can't come, because they weren't called by name in the ritual," the first vulture said.
"How could they not know the names of Kenny Ray and his brother Terry, who suffered more than the others when the crows flew away with their eyeballs?" the second vulture asked. His words startled Jack, who recognized the names of two boys who he thought were still living on the Res.
"How could they not know Sammy Lee, the one who settled in town to start a Chinese restaurant?" the first vulture asked. "The evil ones thought he was a Lakota shaman. When he cried out, they thought he was speaking in tongues. That's why Albino severed his balls from his body while Staley raped him."
"Maybe they're expecting a prophecy," the second vulture said.
"So prophesy then!" the first vulture exclaimed.
"Me prophesy? I'm a percussionist. You're the shaman. You prophesy," the second vulture said.
"Let the whisperer prophesy," the first vulture replied.
The birds looked down at Göran, who sat in silence. They flew to the top of a red bluff, and disappeared into the sky.
"We are meant to swim in the pond," Billy Blue Heron said. He led the way, followed by the others, except for Göran who remained seated on the carpet. Göran didn't think about prophecy. He thought about Jésus the Bartender. Right now he needed his lover. He saw Jésus's image and sensed his presence. He felt Jésus's rod in his anal canal. He orgazzed on his abdomen and took care not to soil the ceremonial carpet. Only then did go to the pond to cleanse himself and sport in the water with the others.
Dusk came. Jack, Göran, Calvin, and Billy spent the night under the willow. The others returned to Lakota. "How is it with you?" Jack asked when they were alone.
"I had telepathic sex with Jésus," he said. "Reinaldo Arenas wrote about that in his biography. He said it was practiced by Cuban prisoners in El Morro Castle, where they called it 'shot', but I didn't think it possible. Albino has gone to Mexico. He found a job at a new campus of the Universidad del Valle, in the desert just below Cuernavaca."
"We should fly to Mexico and track him down," Jack said.
"Wait until Spring," Göran replied. "Then we can fly to Mérida for Holy Week. We'll drive south from there. We'll find him at Chichen Itza on Easter Sunday. No one else must know except Jésus. He will be our guide in Mexico.