OFF AND RUNNING

written in 2000 by Dennis Landmann

Chapter 2 - Time of Greatness

     "Are we lost?"
We are lost.
     "I do not think we are lost. We're barely at the edge of the city," I said. I wanted to cheer her up. But I knew we were lost. I didn't expect Lacey to believe me. And beside that, I wasn't believing it myself either.
     "I don't know, Danny. I just think we're not supposed to be here. This street doesn't look safe. Look at the buildings. All crappy. We have to get out of here," Lacey said with a great deal of concern.
     "We'll take a right at the corner. We'll catch a cab and ask to be taken to an up top hotel. Sounds good to you," I asked Lacey. I knew we weren't going to catch a cab anywhere. But that didn't satisfy me. I wanted to get out of this place immediately. Suddenly, a loud roar from behind started to emerge from dead silence. I turned. A cab. We would get out of here.

DANGER IS MY MIDDLE NAME

     "Thanks for stopping," Lacey addressed the cab driver.
     "No pro'lem, I see you two and I know you los'. So which hotel do you want to go to," said the cabby. He was thai. His accent made it clear. I wasn't sure which one. I didn't know shit about this city. "Any good hotel would do it. Like 5-star hotel. Get us there, that'd be great."
     "Sure, ma'. No pro'lem. I ta'e you to hotel. It 6-star. You don' wan' to go to bad hotel, ha? I see." The cabby turned on the radio. Thai music was playing.

     The cabby was driving quite fast. Me and Lacey had to hold on for most of the ride. It wasn't too pleasant to fall left and right. It was fun in one way, though. It was like a rollercoaster. But in this case a rollercoaster would've been safer. This cabby was driving Formula One it seemed. A car could crash into us any second. Any minute. I didn't complain about the speed. The cabby sang to the thai music. He was enjoying this. Then the cabby made a hard right and I was thrown against the other side of the car. Me and Lacey were sitting in the back, of course. So Lacey fell on me and we shared a laugh. It was fun but then again it was dangerous as well. Lacey looked at me. Her face illuminating the cab. It was foggy outside. No sign of the sun. But sun wasn't needed for me to see the light in Lacey's face. It was shining. It was beautiful. Lacey came closer. I came closer. I expected a smooth kiss but it wasn't coming to that. THUMP! The car jumped a hole in the street. I hit my head.
     "Hey man, can you drive a little slower," I demanded of the cabby.
     "Ha? Dri'e slow? I can' understan'," complained the cabby. I clearly told him what to do.
     "I want you to drive a little slower. It's a little too fast. Take it easy on the speed, eh, man." If he didn't understand that
then I didn't know what the hell I'd say to him to make him comprende.      "Bu' why you wan' to do tha'. You be at hotel ve'y fas'. You see. Hold on, ok. Okay."
     "Yeah, but watch out for those holes in the street. I hit my head back there. We're paying you to take us to the hotel safely. Not dangerously." This had to slow him down.
     "You know tha' is my middle name," joked the cabby. Ah, great, a funny guy he was.
     "Mine too." I sat back and looked at Lacey. She was sleeping. I was tired myself. But I couldn't sleep. It wouldn't be smart. I feared the idea of being jacked. I didn't want to lose our one million dollars.

ROOM OF FIRST ENCOUNTER

     The receptionist gave Lacey the key. The hotel was indeed 6-star quality. It had everything. Too much for me to explain. It was golden. The number thirty was carved in it. I followed Lacey to the elevators. She pushed the button and already one of the four doors opened. Lacey went inside the elevator and I followed. As the doors closed we were completely alone. I pushed the button for the sixth floor. Me and Lacey kissed.
     She stopped. "Let's wait, Danny. I want to do it in the room."
     "Okay." And so I waited for the elevator to read the sixth floor. Time passed and so did the silence. We didn't talk. Lacey stared at something. I didn't know what it was. I didn't really care. I just wanted the elevator to stop. Then it did. The door opened and I went outside. Lacey ran ahead down the corridor. She found the door to our room and entered. I went by the ice machine. I thought why the hell not. I took some ice from the machine and ran to the room. I shut the door with my left foot. As I came in, the lights were hardly on. I felt a sudden surge going through my body.
     "Lacey. Where are you," I called out. I heard water dripping. It became stronger as I approached the single bed. "Cool. Single bed. Hey Lacey, they gave us a single bed. You want me to call them and tell the receptionist they gave us a wrong room? Lacey?"
     I looked for the TV remote. It was the drawer. Not a place to keep a remote. I usually kept my TV remote on the TV. That way I always found it and knew where it was.
     The water continued to rush. I figure it was the shower. Lacey was showering. My head was spinning. The idea had already crossed my mind. I wasn't sure if I should really do it. It didn't take me long to decide. I went inside the bathroom. Steamy. I closed bathroom door so the steam couldn't escape. I listened to the water. I heard a humming. It was Lacey. She was humming. I came closer to the shower. It was surrounded entirely by glass. It was one of the nicest showers I've ever seen. The steam became thicker and I began to sweat. It was damn hot in there. I took off my shirt. Then my pants. Socks. Watch.
     Lacey stopped humming the song she was humming to. "Danny?"
     "Yes Lacey." Thoughts were rushing through my mind. How did she feel about me being in the bathroom while she was showering?
     "Did you close the door? I can hardly see," Lacey said.
     "Yeah. I closed the door." She didn't say anything about me yet.
     "What did you say about the room?"
Lacey kept showering. She was talking to me while showering. I never was that close to a girl. A girl in the shower. A naked girl. I felt hot. The steam was so thick I sweated like a monkey. I didn't see Lacey through the glass, only shimmering, the steam obscured her appearance.
     "Uh, they gave us a single bed room. We wanted a double bed room. Is this okay with you," I asked. Even now she didn't mention anything about me being inside the bathroom with her showering. I expected it to come now.
     "No it's okay. Uh, what are you doing, Danny?" Now she mentioned it.
     "I, uh, I was just..."
     "Do you need to use the shower," Lacey said.
     "Y-y-yeah, kinda. But I can wait when you're done." I didn't mean that really. I was lying. A liar. Faker.
     "Why don't you come in. The water is fresh and all. Feels good."
Whoa. Okay. Calm down. She said come in. Did I hear right. I did. Should I go in? I didn't pay one second of thought to that.
     "I'd love to," I said with excitement. I went in. I had the first encounter with a girl. So close. This place. But it was great.

THE INSIDE

     The TV showed a car chase. It was high-speed. It was very surprising for me to find out that it was a cab that was running from the cops. The cab was flying down the freeway. A chopper caught all the action. I watched with excitement.
     "Is that the cab we were in," Lacey asked with high interest.
     "I don't know. It could be." Was it? I watched the TV more closely. The chase continued on TV. Suddenly a newswoman's voice emerged from the dark ends of the TV set.
     "The driver of the cab has been identified. He is male and is a Thai-American. His name is Kho San," the voice blathered.
     "Shit, Lacey, this is him," I laughed.
     "Ha, well whaddaya know, huh," Lacey chuckled.
It was funny to see the cabby driving down the freeway. Chased by cops. He had absolutely no chance to escape. I turned the TV off. I didn't feel like watching TV now. I wanted to go out and explore the city.
     "Hey Lacey. You want to go shopping?"
Lacey combed her hair.
     "Sure. I'll be done in ten minutes."
     "Take your time. I can wait. I will wait."
Thinking back with me and Lacey together for the first time. It was super. I would never forget it. It wasn't just Lacey herself. It was the time and atmosphere that added to it. I never experienced sex until then. I felt dumb. I felt like I'm in this room with ten other people who are talking about movies and I couldn't talk. I didn't know what to say because I didn't know what they were talking about. I'm a movie buff. A movie freak. I know a lot about movies. Biliv' dat! But in that room I felt misplaced. I felt the same when I was in the shower. I think we both never had the experience. But now I can say it was one hell of a fucking experience.
     The streets packed with people. I bought a map of the city. It came to be that this city was none other than Seattle. This city is supposed to receive a lot of rain. It didn't rain yet. A good thing. Lacey was walking beside me. The air was fresh. We crossed an intersection. There was the mall. It was 6 stories up. A bib mall indeed.
     "Hey Lacey. Want to go into the mall and shop around," I said softly.
     "Yeah. How much money do we have on us," Lacey wanted to know.
I took a thousand dollars out of my lovely backpack which I got for Christmas and put it in my wallet. It was fat.
     "Enough. Money's taken care of. What do we want to shop for?"
     "I don't know. Let's go inside."
And so we entered the mall.

FAVORITES

     The mall' inside was very nice. You could see the entire mall. Every shop. All the people. Though, I didn't like it too much. I've disliked the mall, don't matter which one, since I came to the States. But don't let me tell you why and what I hate about the mall. It doesn't matter much.
     "Let's eat first. I'm very hungry," Lacey said.
That was the best idea I've heard today. Food. I was hungry, too.
     "Good idea. I'm rooting for pizza. What do would you like to eat, Lacey?"
I followed Lacey down the mall. Further down there was Pizza Hut. I could smell the fresh pizza's. No. I didn't really smell them. My mind was telling my nose, my nose was telling my instinct, my instinct was telling my stomach, and my stomach was telling my desire for pizza.
     "I love pizza," Lacey admitted.
     "I love pizza, too. What is your favorite one," I wanted to know.
     "The way it should be. Plain cheese."
     "We both seem to have the same favorite kind of pizza. I adore cheese pizza's. If the pizza's crust is all crispy and the tomato ketchup under the wall of cheese is in a great amount then I can't possibly resist."
     "Yes. The most important thing is though that the bottom of the pizza has to be right or it isn't good enough."
     "That's true. Costco and Domino's have the best pizza's."
     "They do. They taste excellent."
     "Most excellent," I added with a laugh.

THE INSIDER

     The menu didn't have to many varieties. I just wanted a cheese pizza. I imagined Lacey wanted the same. Two sodas and that was it. I couldn't wait for the pizza to be delivered to our table. There seemed to be no one around to take our order. I looked around. I looked right and left. Behind me. In front of me. I didn't see one single employee.
     "Hello," I called out. Lacey threw a look at me. She was confused and so was I.
     "Somebody here. We'd like to order some cheese... pizza," I said. I wanted to eat. I couldn't wait. Order. Pizza. Now. Right now. A young guy appeared from the kitchen. He had to be an employee. He was because he just looked like one. He approached us. I was ready to give instructions. But was he? I didn't care. Just wanted him to take our order.
     "Hi, I'm Andrew. I'll be taking your odrer tonight. What can I do for ya," he said.
     "Good day to you, Andrew. Yes. Uh, Lacey, go ahead," I said letting Lacey say her part first. How gentle-man of me. Or was I just in a good mood? I believe I was.
     "Yeah, I just want a cheese pizza and a water," Lacey told Andrew. Andrew wrote down her order.
     "What can I get you," he said politely.
     "Well, lets see. The menu has great choices. I can't decide. What is better. The cheese pizza or, uh, or the cheese pizza," I joked.
Andrew looked at me. A face of confusion.
     "I, I recommend the cheese pizza. It's the best," Andrew said, returning the joke I started.
     "Great. Then that's what I'll have. Thanks. And a water for me, too."
     "You got it."
Lacey looked at me. Then at Andrew.
     "I'm curious, umm, how old are you," Lacey asked Andrew.
Andrew looked at Lacey. A moment of silence.
     "I'm sixteen. Just new here. How about you? You live here," Andrew wanted to know.
     "I'm sixteen also. But I'll turn seventeen in a couple of days. No I don't live here. Me and my friend Danny originally came from Los Angeles," Lacey said.
     "Man, you're a long way from home, aren't ya? So, how do you like Seattle so far? No rain today. Good sign."
     "Quite. Well, I haven't seen all of Seattle yet. But this part of the city is great."
     "Yes. You should visit Cineplex 26. They have huge and I mean very huge theaters. You should definitely go there. But only if it's raining. If it's like today, you should ride the ferry," Andrew said with great pleasure.
     "Thanks. We'll do both. Sounds great. Okay," Lacey said, smiling. Now I was sitting there, waiting patiently. I was hungry. I wanted to eat. Now that they've talked for I don't know how long I want him to go already. I want that cheese pizza. So I told Andrew that I'd like my pizza now. And he was gone.
     "The Cineplex thing sounds great, right," I asked Lacey.
Lacey looked up at me.
     "Yeah. We should go," Lacey replied.
     "Right after or are we going to shop first?"
Lacey didn't respond right after I asked her. I looked at her waiting for her to answer.
     "I don't know. What movies are out?"
Now that was an easy question.
     "Blue Streak, Stigmata which looks like an 'Exorcist' wanna-be, For Love of the Game, Breakfast of Champions, American Beauty, and others. I'd prefer American Beauty. It's supposed to be very good movie."
     "Yes. Let's watch that one. The story is simple. Sounds good to me."
     "So do you want to shop after the movie," I wanted to know.
She hesitated.
     "Uh, let's shop first," she said.
     "Right on, Lacey."

AN UNPLEASANT SIGHT

     We were going on a date. But first I had to go shopping with her. It turned out to be fun. We joked around. Laughed. Kissed. Had ice cream. Looked at backpacks. Looked for all kinds of clothes. Bought stuff. Talked about evil water polo girls, yes we did, and about Owen and how boring and stupid he is all the time. How he steals time. All that. I really liked being around her. I never had a girlfriend before. This was great. A great time. One million dollars waiting in the hotel. A date tonight. Watching am movie. All up close and personal. And so after shopping we went back to the hotel to put away the stuff we bought.
     "I really like the dress you bought, Lacey. You look gorgeous," I admitted to her.
     "Thank you. It wasn't too cheap either," she said. And she was right. It cost five hundred dollar. Give or take a few more dollars. I wondered what would have happened if we never did take the money. It made me feel weird inside. I couldn't find an answer. I wondered if Lacey was having second thoughts about the money. It sure affected both of us. If affected me, that I know. It affected my mood, what I said, what I was doing, how I felt. If I never went on that train I never would've met Lacey. I would've missed out on all the good time. I would've never even been here in Seattle. Seattle, man. Damn. What the hell am I doing here? Carrying a million dollars in a backpack. How dumb is that? I get jacked and everything is gone. I don't want that to happen and so I put those thoughts aside. I pulled up my thoughts about Lacey and me and how we got together and all this shit. It just so happened these thoughts were all positive. I just wanted this to be one hell of a time. I wanted it to be al that. Lacey and me would go out on a date. We would have a great time together watching American Beauty. Yes, all great stuff. But what happened next was all but great stuff. It was one fucking sight. It was frightening. It frightened Lacey the most. But I can't say for real. I just knew it wasn't something nice to look at. Lacey looked for someone to hold on to. I was the only person with her so I held on to her. She didn't like the sight of our room and neither did I as I already stated. It was bad shit. Fucking bandits. Everything was turned upside down.

CONTINUE: Chapter Three