Awake Page 21

  “Okay, that does sound good to me, when you put it that way.”

  When they got away from the zoo they found that the taxis were swamped by all of the other tourists clearing out of the park, so it took them a lot longer to flag one down than usual. Lee’s stomach was growling by the time this finally got a cab to pull over.

  “What happened at the zoo?” the driver asked as soon as Lee got into the passenger’s seat. “It’s a madhouse out here.”

  “A gorilla escaped, it was a complete mess,” Lee said.

  The driver whistled. “Damn, now that’s something that doesn’t happen every day. You can’t say that a lot here.”

  “Yeah, it’s proving to be a memorable trip all right. Can you take us somewhere where we can get some lunch and drinks where we’d be able to get a seat without too much of a wait? We want to relax for a bit after that shit.”

  “Sure thing boss, I know just the place” the driver said, and they were off.

  The cabbie dropped them off at a place called the Pine Inn that he assured them was exactly what they were looking for. Lee thanked the driver and paid, and they all got out.

  It turned out to be an Italian joint, and as specified, they had plenty of tables available. There was a sign inviting them to seat themselves, so they found an empty table in the middle of the tavern.

  “Hi, welcome to the Pine Inn, can I start you off with some drinks?” a pretty brunette waitress with a Mexican accent asked, appearing at their table after a few minutes and putting menus in front of each of them.

  “Sure, I’ll take a beer, whatever import you guys have on tap that’s good,” Ben said instantly.

  “Actually, make that a pitcher, we’ll share,” Lee said, looking over to Ben for confirmation, and getting a nod.

  The girls asked about the wine, and after some debate eventually settled on a red the waitress recommended. The waitress smiled and said she’d be back shortly, then walked over to the bar to place the order.

  “Damn, I really wasn’t thinking pasta,” Ben said, frowning as he studied the menu.

  “I just asked the driver to take us to a place where we could get a table, food, and drinks. I think this was probably one of our best options,” Lee said.

  “I just wanted the drinks. I’m probably just going to get an appetizer,” Stella said, looking at Ben. “There’s plenty of stuff that’s not pasta.”

  “You’re right, should we get a couple of plates of the bacon-wrapped shrimp?” Ben asked Stella with a sly grin.

  “Ew, you’re gross! If you eat those I’m not kissing you for an hour, at least.”

  “Bacon-wrapped shrimp? What happened to you thinking about cutting back on meat?” Lee said.

  “Uh, the gorilla happened? I’ll cut back tomorrow. Right now I need some comfort food, and anything with bacon in it fits that bill.”

  “Fair enough.”

  The waitress came back with their drinks just as quickly as she’d promised. “Are you guys ready to order?” she asked, after setting everything down and uncorking the wine bottle.

  They all ended up ordering appetizers. Stella and Ivy ordered the tomato and mozzarella combination to split between them, while Lee and Ben each ordered a plate of bacon-wrapped shrimp. Lee hadn’t known what he was going to get a few minutes before, but after Ben ordered the dish he knew he had to have it too.

  While they waited for the food they downed drink after drink, and soon it was as if they’d never witnessed the incident at the zoo. Lee was relieved to see that he wasn’t the only one who could push traumatic events away as if they’d never happened.

  “So what was the plan for tonight?” Ben asked while pouring his third pint. He was starting to get the faraway look that became obvious whenever he was buzzed.

  “Oh yeah, I got us tickets to a baseball game,” Lee said. “Almost completely forgot about that. We’re supposed to pick them up from will call, I’ve got the confirmation number in my pocket.”

  “That sounds cool,” Ben said. “I’m not really into sports but seeing them live is always fun. The fact they have beer there doesn’t hurt either.”

  “That’s pretty much the same as me,” Lee said. “You know I’m not into sports. But I went to a few Mariners games as a kid, and they were pretty cool.”

  “We don’t have any good teams in Portland, but I got drunk at a Blazer’s game once and it was really fun,” Stella said.

  “Yeah it was. I mean, I did have to hold your hair back while you puked in the handicapped stall after the game was over, but other than that it was awesome,” Ivy said.

  “Aw, why’d you have to remind me? I prefer to remember around that part,” Stella said.

  When the food came they ate slowly, drinking more than they were eating. The food was good, but drinking quickly became the priority.

  “We still have a few hours before the game starts, what are we doing until then?” Ben said.

  “I’m kind of tired, I was thinking of going back to the hotel and resting up before the game,” Ivy answered, looking over to Lee.

  “That sounds good to me,” Lee said.

  “Aw, I’m just getting started,” Stella protested, the waitress setting down a fresh mixed drink in front of her.

  “I’ll stay here with you,” Ben said to her, then turned to Lee and Ivy. “I guess we’ll knock on your door when we get back to the hotel.”

  “Sounds good, just make sure to get back at least an hour before the game starts so we have time to get there,” Lee said. “I want to head out by six.”

  Lee paid their bill and he and Ivy headed outside. They caught a cab within a few minutes, and were back at the hotel a short while later.

  “Man, I really hope those two don’t get too drunk before the game,” Ivy said as they got onto the now-familiar elevator. “Ben’s alright, but when Stella gets too drunk she can get a little loud and annoying.”

  “I hadn’t noticed,” Lee said and Ivy snorted.

  Ivy hadn’t been lying about being tired as a pretense for sex, like Lee halfway hoped she’d been — almost as soon as they got into the room she collapsed onto the bed and was out like a light. Hoping to be able to get some sleep himself, he rummaged around in his computer bag for his pills, but instead came up with his phone. He realized he hadn’t turned it on in days.

  “I really am starting to lose it,” Lee said to himself quietly. He pressed the button that powered up the phone.

  When the phone started up he saw that he had missed several calls from the doctor’s office back in Minnesota. They’d left a voicemail message. Sure it wasn’t going to be anything good, he pressed the button to play the message and placed the phone to his ear.

  “Hi Lee, this is Dr. Strauss. We’ve gotten some of your blood work done and there were a few abnormalities. We’d really love to do a few more tests to clarify some things if you could possibly come in sometime soon. Thanks, give us a call.”

  Lee closed the phone. He wondered what the message meant. It filled him with anxiety, even more than what he was already experiencing. They’re going to tell you that your condition is progressing more rapidly than they originally thought, but of course you knew that, didn’t you? You studied the symptoms, and you know you’ve been flying through the stages, he thought to himself.

  He sat and worried for a half an hour, then decided that he wasn’t going to call the doctor back. Looking at Ivy sleeping peacefully, he knew that he didn’t want to spend the last of his time fretting about a disease he couldn’t stop. He wanted to spend his time with her.

  The decision calmed him, and he dropped the phone back into his bag and retrieved his pills. He popped one each of the prescriptions and then lay down next to Ivy, spooning her. Before he knew it, he was asleep.

  He was trapped in a labyrinth. It was so dark that he could just barely make his way through the maze; though what he was making his way towards he didn’t know. After a while he realized that he wasn’t moving towards something, but fleeing
from some unseen creature. He could hear it slithering behind him, moving with a sickening wet sound.

  He began to panic, moving faster and faster though the maze, getting more and more lost. Though he could no longer hear the thing chasing him, he knew it was still there. He turned a corner in the maze and nearly ran smack into a dead end. Horrified, he turned to backtrack, but it was too late. It was there, blocking his path. He couldn’t quite make out what it was in the darkness, but it filled him with dread.

  As it slithered closer to him, he recognized it. It was the demon, at least its head was. Its body had tuned into that of some horrible prehistoric snake, or perhaps a worm, with a bloated purple body that secreted thick, green mucus. Lee opened his mouth to scream, but couldn’t make a sound.

  “Lee!” Ivy shouted, snapping him out of his nightmare. He sat up with a start and looked over to her.

  “What is it?” he said.

  Relief washed over Ivy’s face. “Sorry to wake you up, but you were screaming in your sleep.”

  Lee tried to remember what he’d been dreaming about, but it was already gone. “Thanks for waking me up. It must have been a bad dream.”

  “What was it about? It sounded awful.”

  “I’m not quite sure. You know how dreams can be sometimes.”

  She started massaging his shoulders. “Well sorry you had to go through that honey. You sounded terrified. You just kept yelling ‘It’s here, it’s here!’ over and over.”

  A chill went down Lee’s spine. “Have Stella and Ben called yet?” he asked, trying to forget about it.

  “No, not yet but they’d better soon, it’s almost time to head out,” Ivy said. As if on cue, her phone started ringing. “Speak of the devil, that’s Stella” she said, looking at the screen.

  She chatted with Stella for a minute, and hung up the phone. “What’s the story with them?” Lee said.

  “She said her and Ben will be here in ten minutes. They’re in a cab right now.”

  “How drunk did they sound?”

  “Not too bad, surprisingly. I’ve seen Stella drunk so many times I can tell exactly how drunk she is by how much she’s slurring. She’s at a four or a five out of ten, I’d say.”

  “I guess that’s the best we could have hoped for.”

  True to their word, Stella and Ben were banging on their door ten minutes later. “Why didn’t you guys just call us again? We could have met you downstairs,” Lee said as he and Ivy left the room and joined them in the hallway.

  “Uh, maybe because I didn’t think about it?” Ben said, giving Lee a huge grin and leaning in closer to whisper, “I got three-quarters of a handy on the ride up though, so it was worth it.”

  “I don’t know what that means,” Lee whispered back.

  “You’d better not be talking about me, Ben,” Stella said.

  “I’m not,” Ben said, and shut up.

  They got on the elevator and rode down to the lobby. The lounge was as packed with elderly people, as it always was, and they had to work their way through the crowd to get out of the hotel.

  “God I hate the smell of old people, why did we pick this place again?” Stella asked as they got outside. Lee rolled his eyes at her for what felt like the millionth time.

  “Maybe next time you can pay for the hotel and then you can pick wherever you want,” Ivy said, jabbing Stella playfully in the ribs with her index finger.

  “Ouch! Don’t be such a bitch!” Stella said, and jumped back giggling.

  They got a cab, Ben taking the dreaded front seat this time. Ivy and Stella chatted about what was going on in Portland for most of the half hour ride, with Lee popping into the conversation from time to time. Mostly Lee stared out the window, trying to forget about what Ivy said he’d been yelling out in his sleep.

  Traffic slowed almost to a halt as they got near the stadium, so Lee had the driver stop and let them out, everyone agreeing that it would be quicker to walk the remaining few blocks, including the cabbie. Lee made sure to give the driver an extra tip for his honesty.

  “So where exactly is the will call?” Ivy said when they got to the stadium, looking around the packed scene worriedly.

  “Not sure, but we’ll find it. I’m sure it’s got to be somewhere by the ticketing area,” Lee said.

  “Let’s find it soon, I’m starting to lose my buzz,” Ben said. “I want to get in and get a beer already.”

  It took a while to work through the dense crowd, but after ten minutes they found the will call booth next to the long line of ticketing booths, as Lee had predicted. Lee waited in line for another ten minutes to get the tickets while the others waited elsewhere. After presenting his confirmation number and ID, a somewhat rude, pimply-faced clerk finally handed over his four tickets.

  It was another wait to get into the stadium, but a shorter one than the will call line. When they got in they walked around slowly, looking around and marveling. The stadium seemed huge on the outside, but somehow it seemed even bigger inside. “Holy crap, this makes the stadium in Portland look like a joke,” Stella said.

  “I think it’s about the same size as the baseball stadium in Seattle, but it really is awesome,” Ben said.

  They found a beer station and stopped to grab drinks for the game. The prices were ridiculous even by stadium standards, but the beers were at least large.

  “What a rip off. How do these people sleep at night?” Ivy asked as they walked away with their drinks.

  “Probably on a hundred-thousand dollar bed,” Lee said.

  They got lost trying to find their seats, but with the assistance of a helpful stadium worker they were pointed in the right direction and were able to get seated just before the game was to start. The seats were midway up from the field, and had a great view.

  “Hey, look what I found underneath my seat!” Ben said after they sat down. He held up a pair of binoculars.

  “Neat, I paid for the tickets so those are totally mine now right?” Lee said, grinning to show he was joking.

  “Awesome! Let me try them,” Stella said, snatching them out of Ben’s hands and putting them up to her eyes before Ben could answer.

  “Hey, you’re not keeping those for the whole game, you know. They’re mine now, under the finders-keepers rule,” Ben said.

  “I’ll give them back to you after the national anthem, I saw that Christina Aguilera was singing it,” Stella said, sweeping the binoculars around the stadium.

  “Fine, I’m not her biggest fan anyway,” Ben said.

  “Those two are always a riot aren’t they?” Ivy said to Lee, drinking her beer. She was siting to Lee’s left while Ben and Stella were on his right, so they couldn’t hear her unless she raised her voice.

  The game started right on time; Christina Aguilera came out and sang the national anthem, while the entire stadium stood up, hands over hearts. Stella kept yelling “Oh my god it’s like she’s standing right in front of me!” When the song was finished, the baseball players started taking over the field.

  The first two innings were action-packed, with each team scoring several runs. At the start of the third inning a hot dog man came around, yelling “Hotdogs, eight dollars!”

  “Man, I wish that you could just shout ‘Over here!’ and they’d throw one to you without you having to give them money the way they do on TV shows,” Ben said as the vendor walked by their row.

  “I know, that’s way too much for a freaking hotdog. Fuck it though, I’m going to go get one,” Lee said. “You want one Ivy?”

  “No thanks, I’m going to hold out for the pretzel or the popcorn guy,” she said. Lee went and got a hot dog, eating it back at his seat. It was good, but not eight dollars good.

  They watched another three innings before the pretzel man came around, each of them drinking an average of a beer an inning. The game stayed close, each team pulling ahead at their at bat, only to lose it when the other team came up. When the pretzel vendor finally came, Ivy snagged one right away, paying extr
a to get a small tub of molten cheese to go with it.

  At one point a fly ball came their way. For a moment Lee thought it was going to come right at him and prepared to jump away, his catching skills nonexistent. Just as he was about to jump away, he saw the ball’s path would take it over his head, and he relaxed. The ball came down a few rows behind them and was caught by a middle-aged portly man wearing a Yankees shirt, who promptly gave it to his beaming son.

  “Let me use those binoculars at some point. I want to check them out,” Lee said to Ben, a little while later. Ben had finally gotten them back from Stella after the third inning.

  “In a little bit, I’ve barely gotten to use them,” Ben said, watching the pitcher through the binoculars closely.

  “Well that’s not my fault. You’re the one who let Stella bogart them,” Lee said, knowing Stella couldn’t hear him over the crowd.

  “Hey, if you were touching my dick regularly I’d let you do that too,” Ben said, laughing at his joke as he scanned the field with the binoculars.

  “How romantic,” Lee said.

  “Oh come on, you know I’m joking. I wouldn’t even let you touch my dick,” Ben said, lowering the binoculars. Lee laughed.

  Ben took the binoculars from around his neck and passed them over to Lee. “Here, I don’t want you bitching for them the whole time, but I get them back after the seventh inning stretch.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  Lee spent the rest of the inning looking at the field and marveling at how close the players looked, and passing them to Ivy whenever she asked to check something out or he found something he wanted to show her. The binoculars were so high-quality that Lee couldn’t help but feel sorry for whoever had dropped them.

  “One more inning, then they’re back to me,” Ben reminded Lee when the next inning started.

  “I can count,” Lee said, and gave Ben a playful backhand slap on the shoulder.

  Bored with watching the game, Lee started scanning the crowd on the opposite side of the stadium. The diversity of the people was amazing. People watching in New York never got boring, it seemed as if you sat and looked around for long enough you’d eventually see every sort of human possible.