Jim survey the noon-time crowd at the station with the instructions that a man with the initials R.K. would meet them. When they said anonymous, they weren’t kidding. He was supposed to be holding the AA bible too, so that wouldn’t be too hard to spot as long it was neon.

“Mr. Nelson,” he heard coming from the throng in front of him.

Jim looked around for what he guessed would be a sober Irish police officer with a bad temper and a passing knowledge of the incident in Chicago and braced for the encounter.

“Mr. Nelson, over here!” was the refrain again.

Jim peered carefully through the white faces, and then he saw a handsome dark man holding a book in front of him. He looked at Mags; she looked at him in confusion. Carolyn caught their look and searched for their look of surprise.

“No!” Carolyn said loudly.

Jim turned to look at her with an admonition of quiet. She immediately backed off, and he went back to their train station contact. The man approached them with a stunning smile, as Mags and Carolyn’s reserve melted.

“My, you are what, a movie star?” Mags said without filter.

The friendly tall man laughed good naturedly. Jim pressed his hand and looked at the book in question. Maybe this was an eastern religion of some sort. It didn’t say ‘The Prophet’ by Kahil Gabrain, so Jim let go of his tight breath.

“It is so nice to meet you three, and where is our star pupil?” he said with a laugh.

Jim looked at Mags with another expression of bewilderment.

“Oh, he is sitting in the station, very tired,” Mags replied.

“Whatever you do, do not worry, he is in good hands. We have the best care at General, and after a brief stay there, he will be staying at the Washburn Mansion on First Avenue about a mile and a half from here,” R. K. explained like a tour guide. “Have you been here before?”

Mags and Carolyn replied in unison- “Dayton’s Oval Room!”

“Oh, that addiction,” he said laughing.

Now it was Mags and Carolyn looking at each other after that comment.

“Oh, don’t worry, I have a sponsor for that one too!”

Jim wondered if he was working on his act to get on the Ed Sullivan Show.

“Let’s go see Bill.”

They left Bill at General with hugs and kisses, and now they were in Minneapolis with R.K. and nothing but time. It had been some time since Jim had played the Gophers down the street at Memorial Stadium, and he smiled with the memory.

“I know where we can go, and it’s an amazing restraint, The Forum. Ladies, it is very close to your Oval Room.”

Jim could hear them softly squeal at R.K.’s map services.

It was very busy with the noon-time worker crowd of suits and dresses.

“The first time I came here, I was struck by the blondness of the city. Everywhere I looked, blondes and more blondes. I felt very self-conscious. But, like all things in life, I accepted it and let go of any self-centeredness that I felt. After all, when one is centered on the ego in such a way, that is selfish. It becomes my needs aren’t being met, then comes the self-pity and it just cascades from there,” he said without pausing.

Jim glanced at his ruminating but was too busy trying to stack his food on the two plates. Since their hectic schedule, they hadn’t had time to sit down and have a good meal, and he felt wolfish by what he saw.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Nothing. My name is Rami Khan. R.K.”

“Nice to meet you Mr. Khan.”

“Oh, you don’t have to be so formal, we are friends. You know that extending one’s hand in friendship without wanting anything in return is the healthiest habit one can have. It gets away from the selfishness of what is mine and I want that…”

Jim caught the last part of Rami’s sentence and put the second piece of chocolate cake back on the tray.

“No, no Jim, you take that chocolate cake, I insist. I should also mention that without sustenance, extending the hand in friendship becomes a burden one shouldn’t have to endure. Eat my friend, eat.”

If Jim wasn’t mistaken, his new ‘friend’ acted like a walking, talking thesaurus. Maybe that was good though, since he hadn’t thought about the Chicago cop Dunleavy since meeting Rami. He was curious about what he would say about extending the fist of anger.

“Jim isn’t this place wonderful! Mags exclaimed.

It was the happiest he had seen her in months. Maybe the health of Bill was really weighing her down and he wasn’t aware of it. For his initial reservations about the whole trip, Jim finally felt relieved that it worked out. He liked his new friend Rami and didn’t see any ulterior motives lurking in the corners of the magnificent eatery.

“This is a beautiful building, is it not? It was built in the early nineteen hundreds, and I fell in love with it immediately. You see the joy and festive atmosphere right away. I spend many afternoons reading and absorbing all this positive energy. I would give you a quick summary, but sometimes I get carried away,” Rami said while eating heartily.

Mags and Carolyn had put away their ego centric pettiness and were laughing together, a sight that made Jim smile. Rami had brought a miraculous transformation to them that he found amazing. His smile, his positive attitude, was infectious. He felt a tinge of guilt about their drunken excess on the train, but maybe that was okay since they were being free. Jim thought about asking Rami about that, then spied on the new desert tray and forgot about it.

They cabbed over to the AA clubhouse which was a mansion donated by the family of the local milling company-General Mills. The area had a history of social giving, and this was a great example.

“Rami!” the shouts came as he walked up to the front door of the huge house.

“Hey there. These are my new friends, Jim, Mags and Carolyn. We came to break bread and spread good cheer, come join us!”

Rami walked through the door with another ten friends following. The tables were large and the living room had beautiful davenports and big stuffed leather chairs. Jim could envision the Washburn’s sitting in here smoking cigars and going over the latest Wheaties box cover plans. They settled in the large room, and everyone faced Rami.

“I am so blessed that Jim, Mags and Carolyn have found their way to our sanctuary. When I think of Prophets, like Kahil, I think of Bill W. Imagine the strength he had in working through is sickness, because that is what we, not Jim, Mags or Carolyn of course. But that is what we have, a compulsion that makes us do things we wouldn’t ever contemplate sober. Why? We know why. So we attend meetings in this shrine to AA and live only for today. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, but today. This is all we have, this is our time, our place in the Universe. Every time I come here, I feel it. This is pure unadulterated positive energy. When I leave a meeting, I float out of here in peace and serenity every time. Isn’t that a miracle? Has anyone here ever left worse off?”

They all looked around, and no one raised their hands.

“See. Where else can that happen? The Oval Room? The Forum? Close, but not quite.”

Mags and Carolyn slumped in their chairs perceptively at the mention of Dayton’s Oval Room.

“I am giving you a hard time with the Oval Room. It is beautiful, enjoy it. There is also Powers and Donaldson’s with beautiful garments and shoes, handbags…”

Rami was carrying on with a side eye to see if the ladies were listening. They were intent.

“So, we have a new attendee soon, Bill B. So, show him the love and acceptance that we all feel now, and make sure that is shown immediately. We never know how many leave and never come back, and that is our fault. Remember that. Love and kindness and respect are the most important.”

Rami stopped and looked down as if to show his reverence. Then he looked up at Jim.

“Let’s go have some fun!”