I ask the two guys if there's going to be a problem with the payment...
[CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK]
August 27th, 2008
“Son of a bitch, you’re running up the meter!”27 comments
August 20th, 2008
"Hey bro, remember me? You wrote that story about me in the paper."3 comments
August 13th, 2008
“It’s the Californians, man, the Californians are the worst.”15 comments
August 6th, 2008
The middle-aged man I picked up at Vendetta is in a hyperactively verbose lather ...0 comments
July 23rd, 2008
When I step into the obese old woman's apartment5 comments
July 16th, 2008
The obese old woman at Fred Meyer has a bad hip and a wheelchair...8 comments
July 9th, 2008
“...I need to take a shower first and wash all of this blood off.”6 comments
July 2nd, 2008
“So I’ve got these two women in the back of my cab who just refuse to get out...”8 comments
June 25th, 2008
“My friend’s getting divorced, and he’s really drunk,” says the bartender...8 comments
June 18th, 2008
There’s nothing like a good Friday night, and I’m referring to the money.3 comments
[April 2nd, 2008]
As I turn into the Hillsboro hotel, I ask the two guys in the back if there’s going to be a problem with the payment, the first words I’ve said since we turned back from Stars in Beaverton.
“Well, what are you going to do if there is a problem?” asks the guy with the money.
“I’m thinking about that,” I growl.
And I am. The hotel parking lot is dark and empty. I try to pull up to the front door, but it’s set back from the asphalt and there isn’t anyone at the desk. Fuck.
“Oh yeah, and what are you thinking?” he asks, all cocky.
“I’m thinking you probably aren’t going to like any of the options other than paying.” I don’t feel like a tough guy at all—both of these dudes are significantly bigger than me. But I have some advantages: I’m sober, I at least look a little tough, and I can front like a motherfucker.
At this point, the ex-cabbie has discovered that the doors are locked, and this being an ex-cop car, that they aren’t going to unlock unless I do the unlocking. “Dude, he’s gonna call the cops!” he squeals. “He’s gonna call the cops or pull a gun or some shit! Just pay him!”
The guy with the money does some grumbling, but peels me off a crisp 50 nonetheless. As I make his eight dollars change, I hope that he doesn’t notice the slight tremble in my hands as I count out the three ones.
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RECENT COMMENTS ON “I ask the two guys if there's going to be a problem with the payment...”
Actually, the column is 250 words.
Holding the reader away from me, the "real" person, is a very intentional move on my part. When I thought about how I wanted to write t...
Ignore it? Not a chance. 250 words is like building a ship in a bottle.
Keep entertaining me, NC3. Keep on pushing the envelope. This two-parter was good to read. Nice job. Wh...
Love the column, NC3. Even with a measured quantity of poetic license.
I don't think I've taken much poetic license at all, and what I have has been unintentional. I'm not saying that everything in quotation marks is 100% absolutely what was said, word for word, but I s...
