To Be a Fool – Video Transcript #1

Nate Luca speaking to JJ Lynch
Recorded on 2011/10/16 2:13 p.m.
Playback triggered on 2012/01/11 9:15 p.m.

Hey, bro, welcome back. Jin and Tamara are letting me do this introduction for you. They first asked me to write it, but you know me. Unlike you, I couldn’t write my way out of a paper bag—it would take me days to write this down. And it would be even harder to tell you…

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m here to introduce you to SECI 2.0 and to give you some news.

Since your book, Shuffled Off, came out SECI has taken off. There are lots of ghosts trying their hand at the SECI Chamber and a few are even able to use it. They are getting transmissions in all the time. Tamara got worried that with the traffic in the chamber now you would have trouble getting through if you wanted to. And everyone wants to hear from you again.

So we were having dinner one night and Tam and Jin were talking about making another chamber for you and hiding it so the other ghosts couldn’t find it. They were talking about a few improvements, and I suggested they make you a real keyboard. Like when you made that little light and hovered it over the keys to my laptop, back when you first started to communicate with me. I thought it would be easier than making all those crazy symbols you had to make for the original SECI chamber.

Well, they liked the idea, and here we are. SECI 2.0. It’s just like a big keyboard and any unusual electromagnetic radiation in the rectangle of the key will register the corresponding letter. It should be a lot easier on you and a lot quicker.

So, that’s the intro, and now I have some news for you.

I won’t lie to you. It’s been tough. I’ve been in counseling since… since… God, JJ, that night. I don’t really even know how to talk about it. I was crazy with grief and then you showed up and started to communicate with me. Well, I was off my nut thinking that I wanted to be a ghost too. That druggy tried to steal the tow truck and what did I do? I tried to get him to shoot me. And he would have killed me, but you tapped into the electricity of the Prius and moved his hand just enough so he didn’t shoot me in the head. He died from electrocution, you nearly destroyed your ghostly form, and I nearly died from the gunshot wound to my chest.

It’s been over a year and I still have nightmares about that night. About what I almost did and what you did do to save me. I…

I miss you, man. I miss you bad. I mean, it is comforting knowing you are out there, but I miss sitting and talking with you. Working on cars. Having a beer or two. Hanging out.

But, you know, things are getting better. Slowly, but surely, they are getting better.

Your mother, Ma, is doing good. Not “good” in the sense of skipping around and singing, but good in the sense of having buried both her husband and her son and getting her feet under her. She’s got a part-time job and does some volunteer work. I’d tell you more, but I know she would rather do it herself. Once we know you’re back, Tam and Jin will get her in here to record a video for you.

Speaking of volunteering. I am on the board of the “JJ Lynch Foundation.” Anna-Beth and William—well, mostly Anna-Beth—have started a foundation in your name. Who would have thought this would come out of them being in the car that killed you.

They’ve collected a lot of money, and we are going to help “at-risk” teens with vocational education. Sounds fancy, but basically we are going to teach troubled kids to fix cars. Get them dirty, give them something to do.

This is all Anna-Beth, bro. What she went through with you, what happened with you and her… Well, it changed her in a big way. She’s… She’s…

God I wish you were here. I wish we could talk about shit like this. I am doing my best to implement the patented “JJ Lynch’s slowly grow on them” method, but there are some subtleties I am not sure of. I enjoy spending time with her and I am doing my best to be her friend and let things go from there. But…

William is still in the picture, but I don’t think for much longer. Maybe they’ll break up, and I’ll be there like you were for Rhiannon…

Shit, JJ, this is so damn hard. Tam isn’t letting me do this so I can babble on about Ma and me, about the little pieces of our lives. She is letting me do this because I have something important to say. Something I would love not to have to tell you.

It’s Rhiannon, bro, she’s real sick. I… You…

Ah, hell. This sucks. She’s got a tumor in her brain. It’s got some damn fancy name that I can’t remember, but it’s killing her, bro. It’s killing her.

They discovered it about eight months ago. She had surgery and chemo and it looked pretty good, but it’s back now, and they’re saying they can’t operate. They’re gonna do radiation, but reading between the lines, it’s not hopeful. This thing is a killer, almost no one survives it for very long.

I’m so sorry to be the bearer of these bad tidings. I can just imagine how you are feeling. But listen to me, I know it hurts but you’ve got to take care of yourself. Don’t go all JJ-apeshit on me. Don’t go doing crazy things.

Look, the reason I am telling you this is… Well, because I know you would want to know. But, also, so maybe you can be there if she does… you know… die. You can be there to help her along if she’s earth-bound like you. If she’s a ghost.

I can’t imagine you wouldn’t want to be there. So, in case you haven’t mastered traveling, that “popping” thing you talked about in your book, Jin is going to put some maps on the end of this. She’s still in Texas, and the maps will show you how to get to her.

I am going to keep tabs on things and go out there at some point before…

Take care of yourself, bro, and keep your head on.

I sure hope you come back. I hope you get this message in time. I hope you’re OK.

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