I arrived in Nashville, took an Uber and arrived at my hotel.   I was pretty sure my interpretation of Ollie’s clues from the beach bar letter were correct.  He had to be in Nashville.  Now, if he wasn’t, then, it won’t be a complete waste of my time, because there’s sure a lot to do around here, places to see and music to enjoy.  I looked on the map provided to me by the staff at the Marriott, and found what I was looking for: The Honky Tonk Highway. It was on Broadway Street, as Ollie alluded to, so after I got something to eat at the hotel restaurant, I put on my walking shoes and headed to Broadway, only a few blocks away from the hotel.  He was right, both sides of the street as well as sidewalks were lined with pretty bachelorettes, some thin, some thick, some in between, but either way, all wore cowgirl boots and short skirts with cow girl hats. And yes, the cowboys were around trying to lasso them if they were lucky and the girls let them.  Every one of these country girls wore the uniform unless of course, they were tourists attending a convention.  I must admit I am not a fan of conformity, but in this case, I certainly appreciate conformity, especially when it is so pleasing to the eyes.

I was about to cross the street to the Legends bar, on the corner, at the start of the Honky Tonk Highway, just next to the famous Tootsies pink or purple dive bar.  As I crossed the street, I felt like there were softballs in my belly, jumping up and down, making me a little queasy, thinking about what I would find.  Sure, it’s a dive bar, filled with live bands playing excellent country music, lots of happy patrons with walls adorned by albums from years of country music stars.  Would Ollie be there, and what’s more, why would he be there?

I got by the bouncer at the front door quiet easily, with just a nod and then I entered Legends with the long bar to my immediate right, the stage of musicians to my left with the money jar in plain sight, and a whole lot of happy people, some of whom were dancing in front of the musicians. They played some great country music and in between country songs, they played country Christmas songs as well.  An then I saw him —the old man was sitting in the middle of the bar, back to the band, making love to his cold Guinness, while two young 25 somethings with big smiles and perfect um, boots sat next to Ollie, like they were his body guards laughing and talking with the old guy.  I was about five steps away and walked towards him and before I got to him, his back turned to me, he continued to look forward and said, “I wondered when you would find me, Carson. Welcome to a great bar.”

As always, I was amazed he was able to detect me without looking at me.  It stopped me in my tracks like I was a block of ice, because no one does this.  Only Ollie.

“Great to see you, my wandering friend!  Your clues were a little difficult, but I figured you would never be seen in NYC on Broadway”, I said.

He turned around, smiled, and stared at me with his deep blue eyes and his wild white hair looked like he’d been through a tornado.  Then, he ordered a Guinness for me and asked the sexy girl on his right if she would mind getting up so his old friend could sit down.  She smiled, put her arm around him and said, “no problem, Ollie, anything for you.  But you can be sure that we will be back to dance.”

I sat down on his right, glanced at the shadow man in the corner of the bar with a black cowboy hat, and then took a swig of the Guinness and man, that one went down easy. Interestingly, without looking at me, he said, “it’s because I saw you from my peripheral vision when you came in, then, I felt your soul when you were walking closer.”

“I know.  You have that way about you. You answer the questions I have in my mind, before my words leave my mouth. I never met anyone who could do that.   So, tell me Ollie, how have you been?”

“Well, I’ve been doing well.  The music is great here and the people are quite friendly.”

“I see that. But why did you want me to come here Ollie?  You must’ve had something important to tell me, rather than just acting like a tourist director.”

Ollie laughed and almost spilled his beer.  “Carson, you’re right.  There are some things I need to tell you, finally.  You deserve to know more about me. I’ll get right to the point.  I have killed people— bad, evil people and I am not proud of the killing, but I did it in service of the country I love and swore to protect and these secrets I must protect as long as I am alive.  I have saved many lives, but also have taken lives in order to save innocents.  Unfortunately, my service has left some wounds on my soul that I will always carry with me.  Thankfully though, I have discussed this with the father above and he has forgiven me and given me a new chance in life.  He took me once when I died, and showed me the warm light of love, and taught me many things I could not imagine, all in a brief moment beckoning me with a bright warm light, and time had no meaning.  Just love and indescribable beauty with colors and visions that are never found on this planet.  I wanted him to take me away from this dirty earth and keep me there, but he sent me back, with a mission it seems, and a new life that I could not have imagined on this earth.  This is a detail that I cannot share with you Carson.  You see, that is one reason why I have shadow men.

You see my son, I can travel to any beach I want on this earth —they give me freedom to do this, with certain restrictions.  I can enjoy the beauty of the mountains or the beach, drink beer, which I do of course, and dance with pretty young ladies, although I must admit, they are all young now, compared to me.  Ha! But I will not rest for long, as long as I can continue to contribute somehow.”

It seemed everyone was staring at me, but then of course, they were staring because I was receiving all of Ollie’s attention. And at that same moment of laughter, the two young ladies returned and asked Ollie to dance, I turned around on my bar stool, and watched as they danced, but of course, Ollie had to use his cane so he wouldn’t lose his balance.  He was good at spinning around on his good leg, then when he stopped spinning, he steadied himself with his cane, and the crowd loved it.  And while they were still cheering, he took some deep breaths to get his equilibrium back, and took his cane and twirled it in front of him, using both hands at such a speed that it sounded like and airplane propeller, and I could hear the woosh sound, then, he changed directions from right to left then left to right until the bar patrons all stood up and cheered.

He walked back to his seat next to me that remained empty. Despite the crowd of people who had to stand because of no seats, they would not take Ollie’s seat. He said, “You see, I can’t dance very well anymore, but my cane makes a nice prop.”

“Ha!  That’s a world-class understatement.”

Then, he asked the bartender to give everyone present in the bar who wanted one drink of their choice, and then he said, tell them, “Merry Christmas to everyone here, from Ollie.”  After this of course, the crowd surged around him, patting him on the back and even the band leader joined the party.

“Mr. Ollie, are there any favorite songs you want us to play for you tonight?”

Ollie thought about it and said, “I loved your Christmas country songs, but I guess there is one I would like to you sing: “Mornin by Al Jarreau.”

The band looked at each other, perplexed, but the drummer got out his cell phone and recognized it and they listened to the recording on the cell phone, found the correct key and said, “you got it Ollie!”

The crowd was silent now, listening to the Al Jarreau song, everyone trying to find a place to sit and try to understand why Ollie would pick this song.  By the time the band got to the fifth verse, Ollie suddenly stood up and walked to the front of the band.  Fifth verse:

My heart will soar

With love that’s rare and real

My smiling face will feel every cloud

Then higher still

Beyond the blue until

I know I can

Like any man

And at that point before the last 2 verses, Ollie reached out his hand to the heavens and sang:

Reach out my hand

And touch the face of God…

Ollie trembled and is lip quivered, and he  looked unsteady for a brief moment and held himself with his cane.  Some from the crowd came to assist him, but he waved them off, then walked back to me.

I could say nothing.  I felt a powerful force in the bar, almost like the crashing of powerful waves on the seashore and the once raucous crowd was now silent, the band put down their instruments also, wondering what had just happened.  Ollie sat next to me and said: “Carson, some have loved me and I have loved too.  Others have hated me.  Those who hated, I was taught to forgive, so I forgave, and went on. You see, those who hated didn’t know the truth, and even worse, made judgements without seeking the truth. I don’t care about what I can’t change. I was given that second chance to serve with the gifts and blessings given to me by the father. I will continue to serve with my gifts and blessings, until the father finally takes me again and this time, keeps me in paradise. I want to leave this earth without anything left in my pockets, but filled with God’s love and grace because I have not rested from my mission.”

“Go on.  I don’t want to stop your talking.”

“I don’t have anything more to say Carson. As you know, I have chosen you to write my book, and no one else can do it like you.  I see some of me in you, and I know about you, that is why I chose you.”

“What do you know about me?”

“Well, I know that you work to help sick patients, you work hard, you have love within you, and you have suffered a lot of pain in your life with loss. You’ve also made some bone head mistakes, yet, you’ve survived.   But most importantly, you believe in Him.”

“Thanks Ollie, but tell me—”

“I need to go to the restroom now Carson.  That beer is running through me.   Remember, as I said, you are being watched closely now, because of me. This is the path you have chosen, so be strong.  Be careful in life. I will find you again my son, when I am ready, and more importantly, when I feel you need a hand.”

With that, he went in back to the restroom, but I knew he would never return.  He wanted no one to follow him out the front door because he knew the crowd would follow him and he already checked out the back service entrance.

I walked back to the Marriott, my heart filled with warmth and emotions that I cannot describe yet, and I will need to think about this a long time.  And then, I heard footsteps behind me, almost in cadence with mine, but when I looked back, I saw only shadows behind a building and the footsteps stopped instantly…

© SRCarson Publications, 2022