Baltimore, MD: Thursday,
October 25
th, 8:40 PM, 2001
Reuben waited patiently at the exit in Baltimore Washington International airport, watching for MadFast to emerge. Since September 11th, it was no longer so simple to pick people up.
Everyone from all the different gates seemed to come out together. It was tough to search through such a crowd for one person he’d only seen once before in his life. But soon enough, the face he was looking for emerged, and saw him as well.
Chapter 4
“Hey hey! Good to see you.” “Same here! How was the flight?”
“Security was a bitch! But I don’t really mind. At least they’re serious now. Had to lose my razor though.That seems a bit hardcore.”
“Really? What kind of razor was it?”
“Just a normal disposable. I don’t really know what someone could do with it. Even if they took the blade out, then what? It’s not exactly strong or pointy.”
“Beats me. But you know how it is. After something happens, every- thing changes too much, and gets more sensible later. And nobody around here knows what to do; they’re all terrified. National Airport is still only flying certain flights now. I used to fly out of there all the time, and they may not reopen it now. And if you think the security people are paranoid, you ain’t seen nothing yet. All sorts of people are spooked like crazy right now. If it’s not the bombings, it’s the anthrax scare. I talked to a guy the other day, he was going downtown, and was afraid of catching anthrax from someone. I had to point out to him that basically nobody had caught it, statistically speaking, and that it can’t be transmitted from person to person like that. It’s the damned news; they’re pumping every bit of this for all its worth, for the ratings.They’re scaring the hell out of the public by selectively reporting facts, and I hate it. Right now people need to know what is and isn’t a real threat, not this whoring of fear that everyone seems to be into.” Reuben had strong feelings about the subject, obviously.
“Wow.Tell me how you really feel, huh? But yeah, you’re right. Well, let’s go.This is creeping me out a bit.”
They walked away and downstairs, to the baggage claim. “One good thing,” MadFast noted. “Nobody’s flying right now, so it’s more comfort- able. I hope my bags are OK though.” Sure enough, the baggage claim area was relatively empty.
“Wow. It seemed like so many people at the exit to the terminal,” Reuben noted. “I wonder what that will look like when people start flying again!”
“Yeah, no kidding. Ah, this looks like it.”They walked up to a baggage carousel, and waited for bags to start coming out. Oddly enough, it didn’t take long. MadFast grabbed his two bags off the conveyor.
“Here, let me get one,” Reuben offered. He grabbed a duffel, and the pair walked out, Reuben leading. “I’m not parked too far away; there aren’t too many cars in the parking lot either. I guess I should have known, eh?”
They stepped outside into the cooling fall air, and across to the parking garage. Going up a set of stairs, they went over to Reuben’s black Honda. Disarming the alarm, Reuben opened up the back hatch and put the duffel in as MadFast followed suit before they both sat in the car.
As Reuben pulled out of the airport complex and onto the highway, he asked, “So, what kind of food are you up for? I was thinking tonight we’d eat out, whatever you want, my treat. I’m just so glad you could come, and I’m really looking forward to working together.”
“Are you sure? It’s my pleasure, you don’t have to do that.” MadFast smiled back.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Don’t worry, I get paid well, but I’m not breaking the bank. And we’ll be working hard the next couple of weeks, we need to have fun too.”
“Right on. Well, how about something simple tonight, and a rain check? I’m a bit worn out from the flight.”
“Ah, that’s a good idea. We need to get you checked in too, I just real- ized.”
“Right.”
“Okay, simple it is.There’s this great place for Chinese delivery, and we can all chill and watch TV at my place, and maybe talk some shop. Oh, and you can meet Briana.”
“Right on.”
Reuben pulled out his cell phone, and scrolled through phone numbers to find the one for home, and dialed. “Bri? It’s Reuben. We’re going to have dinner there, City Lights I was thinking.Yeah, he’s here, safe and sound, and we’re headed to the Inn to check him in first. So do me a favor, and straighten up a bit? Thanks. Love you too.” He closed the phone. “All set,” he reported, as he turned off onto 95 south toward Washington.
“Heh.You drive like I do,” MadFast commented. Reuben smiled. “How so?”
“Oh, pretty fast. And aggressive without being a dick about it. It’s clear where you’re going and what you’re planning to do in traffic. Oh, and did I say you drive fast?” He smirked.
Reuben laughed a bit. “Well, traffic here fairly hauls.They’ve talked about making the limit 65 for this stretch, and they damned well should.” He looked down at the speedometer, and noted that they, and everyone else around them, were going a solid 85 miles an hour. He had no problem with it; even though his car was used and not much to look at, the pre- vious owner had done some suspension modifications to it that improved its handling quite a bit, although at the expense of comfort.The engine modifications were another matter, though; the car sounded faster than it really was. Still, it was nice how the car emanated a nice deep growl when under acceleration; it was extremely small, and sometimes other cars didn’t see it as easily as they heard it.
In no time they were pulling onto the beltway, and Reuben was deciding which of several ways to go into the city. He chose the longer but more interesting route of the GW Parkway, which afforded MadFast a view of the lights in Georgetown across the Potomac River.
“Wow. Here it’s all woods, and right there, the city.”
“Yep. DC is a beautiful place to live.You’ll see over the next couple of weeks.You know, it was designed to awe and intimidate visitors from other countries?”
“No way!”
“Yeah. It works too, I bet. I know that the first year I lived here, I’d just walk around and look at things. And I’d already been coming here every year for a long time before that, so it wasn’t new to me.The White House pales in comparison to Versailles, but this city took a lot less time to build than Europe. A few other things you’ll notice; there are no really tall build- ings in DC.That’s because there’s an ordinance that states that nothing built can be taller than…I think it’s the statue on the Capitol Building that is the height limit. Of course, the Washington Monument is taller, I think, but I think that’s an exception for being a monument rather than a
building.”
Reuben turned off onto the exit for the Key Bridge, braking as it curved sharply upwards.Turning onto the bridge, he shot across, thankful for the nearly-nonexistent traffic. “You’ll like this…hang on.” Braking abruptly, he shot to the right through a surprise turnoff on the bridge. Gaining acceleration down the ramp, he got onto the Whitehurst Freeway, a short elevated section of highway running through the bottom of
Georgetown.
“What’s that to the right?” MadFast asked, pointing at a brilliantly-lit rectangular white structure.
“That’s the Kennedy Center. Arts and the like.” “You ever go?”
“Nope. Sign of a true Washingtonian, there are majestic and amazing things here I haven’t taken advantage of.You’ll see a lot of that too; the people who grow up here never see the monuments or museums except when they have visiting friends who want to see them. Funny, huh? Oh yeah, there’s another thing you’ll notice; nobody’s from here. We all came here for a job, or to go to college, and stay. But it’s one of the things that powers the city. We’re dependent upon brainpower; there is no industrial base whatsoever in the DC area, so we need to constantly populate with smart people.”
MadFast laughed, “What, you trying to recruit me?”
Reuben smiled at him for a moment before putting his eyes back to the road, which curved abruptly as the Freeway ended. “It wouldn’t be a bad thing, that’s for sure. But mostly I think I just love living here myself.”
“I can see that.”
“Okay, here’s the part of the trip home that I love the most,” Reuben said as he turned onto Rock Creek Parkway. “I can’t believe there’s road like this in the middle of a major city!” He gave the little car gas and shot down the relatively straight road, between a creek on the right side and a lush foliage-covered hill on the left. In an instant, there were no buildings, no stoplights, just like a trip in the country. Except that they were doing sixty.
“Amazing.You drive this often?”
“Every day.”The road suddenly became more curvy, and the forces of turning slewed from side to side as Reuben worked the steering and
throttle to maintain a solid grip. If MadFast liked driving hard, then Reuben wanted to give him the full tour.
“Did you ever see that old Steve McQueen movie, ‘Bullitt’?” MadFast inquired matter-of-factly.
“No, but I’ve heard of it. Big black car, movie from the ‘70s, right?” “Yeah.You drive like that.You should see it, it’s great.”
“Uh, is that a good thing?” Reuben came off the gas a bit, feeling a bit embarrassed that perhaps he was showing off too much.
“Oh, yes! It’s definitely a good thing.”
Reuben relaxed. “Oh, good! Yeah, my driving scares some people. But I never drive beyond the ability of the car, or my ability to react. I can do this road faster, I think, except that if something was just around the corner, I wouldn’t see it in time. I totally fail to understand motorcyclists who go well into triple-digits; there’s no way anyone can see far enough ahead into the future to avoid an accident at that speed.”
“Uh, yeah. Besides being out in the open like that! No seatbelt, no metal around you, no airbag…”
The lush greenery on either side of the road whipped past the car as they talked. “The best thing about this road is that it takes five minutes to cover it…but if we went through the city any other way, it’d have taken three or four times as long.”The road curved more sharply still, and Reuben downshifted, getting to the right lane. “Almost there.”
Under a tunnel they passed, and took the exit for the National Zoo, stopping at the light. “Now we’re only about three blocks from my place, and about the same to where you’ll be staying.”
“Right on.”
Reuben turned at a few intersections, and finally turned right onto Lanier Place, parking at the first available spot.They got out, and started pulling luggage out of the back. “Parking here can be a bit tight at night, so I’ll just leave the car here. It’s only a block that way,” he pointed behind himself with his thumb, “to my place, so this is fine.The Inn is just a few doors up on the left.”
Reuben helped carry the luggage up to the Adams Inn and to the door. “The office isn’t open at this point, but I made an arrangement,” he said as he reached into the mailbox. “Aha, here it is.” He pulled out an
envelope with his name on it, and opened it, revealing a pair of keys. “Not the best security, but what the hell. One of these opens their front door, and the other opens your room.You’ll notice the room number on the keychain; don’t lose that key, obviously.”
“These are not paranoid innkeepers, are they?”
“Yeah, apparently not. But it’s comfortable, and they’re really nice. When I lived in the suburbs, I used to come stay here every now and then when I wanted to spend a weekend in the city. We’re two blocks from a whole ton of nightlife.”
MadFast looked back and forth along the quiet street. “How many blocks?”
“Yeah, quiet here, isn’t it? You’ll see; this is very cool.” He opened the front door and went inside, holding it open for MadFast. “Let’s get you set up in the room and then get some food delivered at my place.”