“So how long do you think it’ll be before you nail her?”
Me and Joe are standing two inches inside my end-of-the-hall office, discussing the chick I’ve been hangin’ out with from downstairs. Her name is DJ, but I usually just refer to her as my bitch.
I shook my head, looking down at my mug full of hot, black coffee. Heh, speaking of my bitch… “I don’t know, man. It’s still early.”
“After a week, you usually lose interest,” he laughed.
“That’s only if I don’t think she’s worth the wait.”
“Well I have something that just might move the process along.” He reached into the inside pocket of his navy suit jacket and handed me an envelope. “Here.”
I looked back at him with lack of amusement. “Joe, I’m not gonna pay her to fuck me.”
“Open it, you jackass.”
Inside the little white envelope, there were two tickets before me. I shot my eyes back to Joey, who was grinning wildly. “You’re fuckin’ kidding me.”
“I can’t go, so I hope you and DJ enjoy them. And get a little somethin’ afterwards too, eh?”
I laughed and handed him my coffee mug, headed straight for the elevators. Checking my watch, I saw that it was closing in on a quarter to 10:00, so DJ was sure to be planted at her desk by now. Gingerly, I entered the 10th floor office, disappointed to find DJ’s desk being occupied by some fat blonde woman that I’ve never seen before, and hope to never have to lay eyes on again.
“Excuse me, but did you eat the woman that usually sits here?”
She looked up from her game of Free Cell and removed a set of ear buds from her ears. “I’m sorry, can I help you?”
“Yeah, where’s DJ?”
She gave me a look of bewilderment and shrugged slowly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know who that is.”
Of course they replace the fine piece of chocolate with this big blob of stupidity. “The woman that usually sits here,” I sighed. “Where is she?”
If she was fired, I swear to God… “Oh, you mean Dawn? I believe she’s off today for some kind of appointment,” she answered. “Is there something that I can help you with?”
“If I thought so, I would’ve asked for it.” Who the fuck is Dawn, anyway?
“Well, sir, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be of service.”
“Yeah, thanks,” I mumbled, walking towards the exit.
“I think I have her cellular phone number here,” she called after me, consequently causing me to stop in my tracks. “Would you like it?”
“You’re sure it’s hers?”
“Yes, sir. Dawn James?”
Oh, so that’s what DJ stands for. “Well then hand it over.”
She scribbled a handful of numbers on a bright pink Post-It and shoved it across the desk for me to pick up. I grumbled another “Thanks,” on my way through the door.
I raced upstairs to my office to call ‘Dawn’ immediately, memorizing the numbers as I dialed them.
“Good morning?” I can tell that she’s the kind of broad that smiles when she answers the phone.
“Good morning to you, Dawn.”
“Who is this?”
“You don’t know? You mean my unbearable likeness to Will Hunting, as you so poetically put it the other day, doesn’t give it away?”
There was a shuffle in the background before she put it all together. “How the hell? Justin?”
“Don’t get too excited.”
“Don’t worry, baby. What do you want?”
“I’m just calling to find out why you’re not at work.”
“Why? You miss me or somethin’?”
“Heh, fuck no. I just think you should tell me if you’re not gonna show up so I can save the walk downstairs.”
“Well, just to calm your nerves, I’ll be in after lunch.”
“Don’t hustle in here on my account.”
“I’m not,” she scoffed. “I’m coming in for the benefit of my bank account.”
Yeah, you better. “Bye.”
Well, I guess I’m on my own for lunch today. It won’t be the first time “ just the first time since I’ve met her. Dawn, that is “ or DJ. Whatever I’m supposed to call her. I’ll just trek it to Giuseppe’s and bring a couple of slices of pepperoni back here.
Lunchtime passed and I ate in solitude. I didn’t mind. I’ve been doing it on and off for two years. It was just different from what I’ve gotten used to all week. As annoying as she is, DJ is good company on those rainy October days when I want is someone to hear me talk. She wasn’t lying when she told me she listened well. As it turns out, though, she’s not just an aggravating bitch.
Involuntarily hoping that DJ had made it to work by now, I headed for the staircase, not wanting to fuck with the idiot elevators in this fucking building. The twelve flights of steps between us would take less time than the damn elevator. Happily, I strutted into the office of Burgess & Troy, seeing DJ chomping away at a salad.
“Yo,” she smiled, with a mouth full of food.
“Yo,” I imitated, slapping a ticket onto her desk. “Meet me at 7:30 sharp.” I winked and headed straight back for where I came from.
+++++++++++++++
At 7:29PM, I sat in my seat at Yankee Stadium, watching the throngs of fans pile inside. The night was pleasantly warm for this time of year “ so much so that I was almost tempted to smile at the feel of the breeze against my cheek. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t dare set foot in this fucking stadium, but the tickets were free and I still get to see my boys play.
Just as I was about to consult my watch for the time once again, the top of a navy blue cap, covering a short, oval, brown face, came bobbing up to me. “Wow! Timberlands and a leather jacket “ I knew you could dress normal,” DJ exclaimed. She stood before me with her NY cap, peeling off her jacket to reveal a short-sleeved, dark blue shirt over a long-sleeved white one, and baggy black jeans.
“And you actually look halfway decent, yourself,” I retorted, rolling my eyes.
“Is that a complim”“
“You know, compared to the train wreck that you usually are.”
“You just can’t stand to be nice for more than half a second, can you?” she laughed, indulging in the enemy territory. “It’s all good. I know you love me.”
“Yeah, I love you as much as I love the Yankees.”
“That’s two shocking admissions in one sentence. You better watch out before you admit that you love New York, too.”
“Ha. Ha. Just sit down, all right?”
“Whatever you say, sir.”
+++
Silently amused, we cheered for the entering teams. I couldn’t quite root for the Sox as I wanted to, seeing how we were seated directly to the right of the fucking Yankees dugout. I may be stubborn, but I’m no idiot. New Yorkers don’t play about that shit.
I cheered to myself when Boston scored while the rest of the raucous crowd threw shit at them. I had to hold my tongue whenever New York would get a run so that I wouldn’t get stoned. In spite of it all, and as much as I hate to admit it, I had fun with DJ, chowing down on hot dogs and popcorn. She recognized my excitement for the Red Sox and playfully shunned it while I did the same to her. Everything was going practically perfectly.
Until the Sox lost. We sat through twelve innings. Johnny Damon had been playing amazingly all night “ Four runs and one home run. Myers had his pitching down to a tee. Not one walk. But that fucking Giambi had to step in and fuck it all up. The motherfucker has been out all fucking season, but tonight, of all nights, he chooses to come back. The bases were loaded when he hit a fly ball into left. We were done for after that.
“Yo,” DJ started, rising from her seat, “let’s go.” She’d begun to tap my shoulder, but I remained where I was, ignoring her before she hit me. “Get up!”
I shot my eyes up to her after looking at the spot that she’d struck. “Are you insane?”
“Are you? Get up before we’re stuck here all night trying to get out.”
I turned to see the piles of people attempting to exit the stadium. “What’s the difference if we get up now or in five minutes. There’s a fuckload of people up there.”
“Stop being lazy,” she laughed. “It’s too late for me to be sitting here.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get you home.”
“What? You’re offering to be a gentleman and take me home?”
“Yeah, I’m not always a prick,” I chuckled back at her. “Besides, we’re riding the subway. Nothing extravagant.”
“If you’re willing to ride all the way to Brooklyn, then that’s extravagant enough for me.”
I looked at her like she was out of her goddamn mind. “Brooklyn?” I yelled.
“Yeah, where’d you think I lived?”
“No further than downtown! It’s 1:00 in the fucking morning. I’m not goin’ all the way to Brooklyn!”
“Well then that’s why you need to get up!”
Shit, if I’d known she lived in Brooklyn, I would’ve left an hour ago. Now, I won’t get home until fucking 4AM. “Come on,” I said, grabbing her arm and pushing our way through the crowds. I don’t have time for this shit.
“Yo, where are we going?”
“To fuckin’ Brooklyn.”
“Justin, you really don’t have to do this,” she screeched behind me. “I’m a big girl. I can get home alone.”
I better get some major fucking brownie points for this. “Just come on.”
Finally making it out of the chaos of the stadium, we stood in the station of the Bronx’s most famous subway, with what looks like about five hundred people, waiting for the next train. It didn’t seem to want to come. We stood for minutes, waiting on a 1, 2, 3, or even a 9. The only thing that seemed to find this station were trains going to fucking Queens.
“This is just perfect,” I yelled, waiting on other people to look in my direction in confusion.
“What’s your problem?” DJ shot at me.
“What do you think the fuckin’ problem is? It’s almost 2 o’clock and I’m standing here.”
“Justin, I told you that you didn’t have to do this. I can take a cab, and you can go on your way.”
“You think you’re gonna find a cab out there that’s going to your neck of the woods?”
“Well whatever,” she retorted. “I don’t need you with me. We were just “ we had a good time, and I don’t want the night to be ruined because of this.”
Heh, too late. I looked at her in sorrow, knowing that I was overreacting. I’m just pissed that we lost. “I apologize.”
“Don’t even sweat it,” she said, rubbing my arm.
I shrugged her hand off of me. “Don’t touch me, all right?”
Turning from me to watch the approach of the 3, she said, “This angry-at-the-world routine isn’t gonna shut me out forever, Justin.”
“What are you talkin’ about?”
“Just get on the train.”
We rode through New York in silence. We had to stand all the way through midtown, finally squeezing into seats adjacent to one another once we reached the 14th Street stop.
“Where are we getting off?” I asked.
“Nevins Street,” she replied tersely.
I don’t know why I asked. I don’t know shit about train stops in Brooklyn. “How many more stops do we have to go?” She glared at me with deep brown eyes and shuffled through her jacket pocket, handing me two one-dollar bills. “What is this for?”
“Your fare to get home.” Without a second glance, she rested back into her seat and closed her eyes. “We have five more stops.”
More silence enveloped us while we made our way through Brooklyn, unwilling to speak to each other, but unsure exactly why. Exiting the train station, I memorized our path through the quiet, empty streets. Damn, Brooklyn sure as hell is a lot quieter than Manhattan at 2AM. She walked ahead of me, briskly, her navy blue Timberlands making a quiet thump against the concrete. She switched her hips as if she were mad about something, but keeping it to herself in order to avoid drama.
“If there’s something on your mind, why don’t you just say it?” I called after her.
“Justin, I have nothing to say to you, okay?”
“Then why are you acting like you do?”
“If I had something to say, then I’d say it.”
“You’re full of shit, you know that?” I chided.
She finally stopped and turned around to look at me. She kept walking, but slowed her pace in order to walk backwards. “Because?”
“Because you’re afraid to talk to me, but you act like you’re so keen on getting me to open up.”
“Yeah, and you’re so stuck on being an arrogant, stuffy asshole that you can’t recognize when you’ve had a good time and leave it at that. You always have to ruin shit with your attitude.”
“See? I knew you had something to say.”
“Go home, Justin. I’m right around the corner from my apartment, so your obligatory company ends here.”
“Now who’s pushing who away?”
“Don’t you get it? I’m sick of you! I thought you were someone that I wanted to get to know, but as it turns out, I knew you for the jerk that you are when I first laid eyes on you.”
I watched as she continued to walk, hardly paying attention to where she was going. “DJ, you need to, uh”“
“There you go again. Always telling other people what they need. You need to “ Ow!” She can’t say I didn’t try to warn her. In the wake of her sentence, she went walking right into a street pole.
Before she could stumble off of the sidewalk and yell at me some more, I grabbed her and made a dive for her lips. I don’t know what compelled me to do it, but I figured it couldn’t hurt too much. At the very least, it shut her up for a minute.
When it was done, she lifted her slim, curvy eyebrow at me, licking her lips. “What was that about?”
I backed off and looked at the car parked behind our exchange. “Yeah, I know right.”
She sighed and turned to the cross street that was also situated behind us. “Justin, I”“
“Don’t say anything stupid,” I interrupted, jokingly.
“I uh, have to go.”
She tried to dart off, but I grabbed her hand before she could. “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, fine. It’s just really late and I have to get up in the morning.”
“I do, too.”
“Yeah, so you should go, too.”
“I could go… with you.”
“Or you could go… home,” she said, relieving her hand of my grasp. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Justin.”
I watched her rush off, into the darkness of Smith Street, not fully grasping the fact that she’d just shot me down. It’s a rare occurrence for me, but sometimes, it makes me just that more interested. “Yeah, see you tomorrow, Dawn.”
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