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EDITOR'S NOTE: Ritch Hall was chosen for the "first class" of The Hundred and Four in part for his ability to create atmosphere and realistic interactions between characters. This is something he does innately, and a gift that can be fashioned into something stronger with proper assistance. We present here an example of his fiction work, which shows the gem within that can be developed.
He awoke in a moment of confused panic, not knowing where he was. The sun was up and cut through the blinds into his eyes. He covered his face with his hand for a moment and noticed his left arm was held down by a body.
Jesse looked over at the woman in bed with him and tried to remember her name. Was it Kim? He remembered now that he had tended bar last night at Kilimanjaro as a favor to a friend and had met the girl when she came in for a drink. He offered her an ear and she told him how she had broken up with her man a little while ago and was looking to have a little fun. She had shown up with a friend but the friend had left after getting an urgent phone call. Jesse offered to ride the girl home on his motorcycle and she had accepted.
Jesse worked to get his arm from beneath the woman whose name he could only barely recall. She shifted a bit and he was able to get free. He rose in the bed and did a mental check for his belongings. On the nightstand on his side was his Treo and keys. On the floor in the far corner were his pants. He hoped his boxers were with them.
Jesse rose and stood to look around the place, having a different perspective than he did last night. The place was cute, but simple. There was a stuffed bear on the dresser with a heart on his chest. The woman had paintings on the wall; reprints like you buy at a museum of impressionist stuff. Jesse stretched and wondered if he could sneak out without the awkwardness of having to say goodbye. He moved towards his pants and put them on first. He located his shirt by the door and put it on as well. His socks were not in sight and he found himself crawling on the floor to locate them.
Her voice said, "Your socks should be on your side, check under the bed." She sounded groggy but awake.
Jesse rose to see her sitting up. She was cute, even in the disheveled light of the morning. Her hair was cut short, like Halle Berry's back in the day. Her breasts were exposed as she sat rubbing her eyes. She had great breasts. Jesse tried not to stare and instead looked back to the floor for his socks. For a moment he tried to recall how much fun he'd had last night, but couldn't remember. He tried to mutter "good morning" and still sound cool.
She said "Hey," in response. She rolled to the side of the bed and stood. Her naked caramel body in the light was curved and proportionate. Her hips were thick with a round ass but her flat stomach made him wonder if she was a personal trainer or something, her body seeming so toned and muscular. Jesse tried to recall if they ever talked about her occupation the night before.
She said "Man, I was wasted." She walked towards the bathroom that was to the left of the bed. She was thoughtful enough to close the door. As he heard her begin to pee she said "Man, you know how to pour a stiff drink."
There was a casual way she spoke to him that seemed to put Jesse at ease and at the same time make him nervous. Her voice seemed too comfortable with him. Jesse tried to say something cool but couldn't think of anything. He was fully dressed now and was putting his Treo in his pocket. He put his little Bluetooth earpiece in his ear in case he had to fake a call.
He wondered if it would seem strange if he stood by the door as though ready to go. He wondered why he felt so nervous. He heard her washing her hands in the bathroom before the door opened.
She stretched a bit and said, "Well, you're leaving right?"
He was a little surprised by this but nodded yes, trying to maintain his cool. "Yeah, I got to go, I got work in about an hour or so," He wondered why he was lying to her instead of just saying nothing.
"Well," She said again. "If I don't hear from you again, that's cool. I wanted to thank you for a wonderful evening, and all the listening, even if it was only to get into my pants, I appreciated it. I really needed the release I guess, so ... there's that." She shrugged and leaned to pull a big T shirt off the back of a chair. She used it to cover herself. "I guess you've had enough of a show." She said smiling uneasily.
He was unsure what to say but found himself saying "I had a good time too." He blinked a few times before saying, "No one's ever thanked me before."
She shrugged again, "Yeah, I've never done this before so I don't know what to do. It seems like some shit I would read in a novel, so I'm trying to play it cool and let you, you know, get out of here without thinking I'm psycho, or needy or anything. I think we've crossed enough boundaries thank you."
"Yeah, I guess." This girl really left him without a comeback every time.
"So before I start talking too much, which will surely run you off I suggest you go now, and I hope you call again, or I call you or something, but only after I have a week or two to live down the humiliation of this moment I'm having right now. God, I'm talking too much."
"It's okay. I'll go." He said.
She followed him out, trailing a little bit behind. As he reached her door he said "Do I have your number?"
She nodded and smiled, seeming more relieved than happy. She said "Yeah, you put it in your super phone at the bar when we were talking."
"Yeah, okay. I'll call you."
She said, "Don't say it unless you mean it." Her voice sounding a little resigned as though she cared a little but not too much.
He grabbed his motorcycle helmet off the floor by the door and said "I will. I promise." He leaned in as though he meant to kiss her. Her face seemed shocked before his lips pressed against hers. He wasn't sure why he did it, but he was glad he did. Her full lips opened just a bit and he felt the warmth of her mouth. It was a good kiss, and he felt he should continue it along. He put his arms around her and pulled her into him. They stood in this strange living room kissing like they'd been doing it for years. There was a fire in her lips that attracted him. She put her hands on his back and neck and part of him felt ignited to try and be with her again. His mind was consumed with this moment and yet activated to recall the passion of the night before. He fell against the door kissing her neck and she sighed sweetly in his ear.
She broke him free from the embrace with her hand lightly against his chest. She said, "You should go." Her voice was almost a whisper. "I'm trying to be cool and all that but if you keep being sexy and all I'm going to have to jump you again, and then I'll be into you, and you won't be able to leave." He looked at her quizzically. "Yeah, puppy dog eyes, you should go." She reached past him to pull on the door. He leaned forward for her to open it. He was in her space again and she sighed sweetly, again.
He whispered "I'll call you." After he disappeared through the door she found herself leaning her head against it and covering her face in her hands. The scent of him was in her hair and on her skin. She sucked in air to shore up herself. After a moment of standing at the door she turned towards the bedroom and thought that a shower would definitely clear her head.
Jesse stood in the hallway for a minute, wondering if he should knock on the door and try to get back in with her. He thought that would seem desperate. He slowly walked out of the building towards his bike. He decided he should pull out his phone and check for the number, to be sure he had it, just in case he had to go back and get it from her. He powered his treo on and got the low battery signal. He saw that he had messages but instead chose to use the remaining power to scroll through the numbers to find the one that looked new. When he saw Kira Demetmer he was put at ease. It wasn't Kim, it was Kira. He turned the phone off and stowed it in his jacket pocket.
Jesse looked around for a moment to figure out where he was and how he had gotten there. He realized that he was on Galbraith road, and so he had to go up a ways to reach the highway. He put on his Helmet before starting up the cycle. The engine roared a little louder than he was expecting, his mind still on the night before, picking through details to keep the good memories salient. He pulled out of her parking lot and glanced back one more time to remember which apartment was hers.
* * *
Jesse hit 75 going South before the details of his own life came back to him. There were things he was supposed to be doing on a Friday afternoon that didn't include waking up next to a hot chick and making out in her living room. He figured he should call in to work to tell them he would be a little late, but he had time still. Jesse wondered if any of the messages in his phone were important. He still had that singer to book for that thing at the bar next weekend, and he was expecting a call from the girl about the party this week. At his exit there were a few cars backed up that he zipped around, knowing it was illegal to drive on the shoulder but not noticing any cops around so he didn't care.
He made it home and immediately hit the phone. He dialed Gerald first and got the voicemail. "Man, you will not believe the night I had. Dude, I met the hottest chick at the bar, pimping you know, as usual and offered her a ride home on my bike. She bit and it was like a movie dude. I smashed like an Idaho potato. You gots to call me back man. I got to tell someone a bout this. The chick was so hot man. I mean like wake up in the morning looking cute. Call me back man."
The next number he dialed after putting his Treo on the charger and checking it. He wondered if he should have showered first. As the line rang he thought to hang up and call back.
When she answered it was too late.
"Hello?" She sounded a little confused.
"Yeah," He said, trying to keep his cool. "This is Jesse, sorry, I um. I don't know why I called, I think I wanted to be sure the number was right."
She sat there quiet for a minute before he said "Hello?"
She said "I'm sorry I was shocked. I really didn't expect to hear from you, at least not so soon. I didn't recognize the number and I wasn't going to answer it."
"I'm glad you did." He said.
"I am too." She replied, her voice trailing off into an awkward silence.
"What happened, are you still there?" He asked.
"Yeah," She said. "I am trying to figure out what to say without scaring you off."
"You keep saying that."
"I have a track record of pushing guys away for whatever reason. I don't want you caught up in my curse."
"Most women say shit like that, how they can't get nobody decent." Jesse said, "I don't believe it. Girl that looks like you do have guys asking her out all the time."
"Not really" She chuckled. "And the guys that do have the nerve you don't want to date."
"So we're talking quality not quantity.
"Absolutely, it isn't about the number, it is about their personality, like is it gonna work out or not."
"I see. I figured you were too cute to have to deal with all that."
"Thank you, and don't think I don't notice you slipping in all these compliments under the table. You call all the girls cute?"
"Only the ones that deserve it. You cute, so I'm going to tell you that. If you wasn't I wouldn't bring it up." He laughed.
"That ain't right. You always go home with the cute ones?"
"Not ever, that was honestly my first time meeting someone and moving that fast. Usually I like to go out first, get to know the person. Which is maybe why I called you."
"Why is that?"
"To ask you out, on like a real date, you know? We can go to dinner or something and try to start out on a good note."
She was quiet again before saying. "Really?"
"Yeah, really."
"You aren't thinking you owe me that or nothing, like you're a good guy whose trying to not feel bad because I have these issues around what we did, because I don't."
"I didn't think anything like that. I just thought I liked you and wanted to see you again."
"Okay," She said. "We can go out. You pick the place."
"Sure, you like ..." his line beeped in mid sentence and it gave him pause.
The voice on the call waiting said "Incoming call from, Gerald and Leslie Parsons.
She said, "Are you there? You cut out."
He said, "Sorry, I got another call, let me take it, and I'll be right back."
She said "Sure," right before he clicked over.
On the other end a soft voice said "hello?"
Jesse recognized the voice. "Hey Sandra, what you doing at Gerald's folks place?"
Sandra said, "Jesse, where you been? We been calling you. You got to come down here." Her voice sounded sad and urgent.
"I was out, what's going on? You okay?" He asked.
Sandra said, "It's Gerald, Jesse. You really need to come down to his parent's house."
"What's the matter with Gerald?" Jesse asked.
"He's dead Jesse, didn't you get our messages? They found him in his apartment. His folks are freaking out and the cops came by to talk to everyone, and they want to know stuff about everybody."
Jesse almost dropped the phone to the news. When he realized he had gone too long without talking he said "what?"
"You heard me right? About Gerald? I don't want to say it again."
"I don't think I want to hear it again." Jesse said.
"So get here soon please. The family needs you here."
"I'm on my way." Jesse said firmly excusing himself and hanging up the phone.
It rung him immediately back. He was puzzled when the phone read "unknown caller." He answered it and heard Kira on the other end.
"I am so sorry, I forgot you were there," he began apologizing.
"It's okay," The happiness in her tone sounded wrong to Jesse.
"I'm sorry but I really have to go, Its important. I'll call you okay?"
"Is everything all right?"
"No, it's not, Look, I really have to go. I had ... Sorry, I'll call you." He found himself stumbling over words as he hung up the phone, not sure if she got the message. He stood there in his apartment staring at the blank wall by the door and feeling his eyes well with tears. The world seemed to lurch beneath his feet before he fell towards the door with enough sense to grab his keys on the way out.
What the heck is this assignment again?
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