The Uphill Journey.
We spent about eighty percent of our cash on the car Phocus had built for us. We all recognized that funds were tight. We weren’t even sure how long they would last, or even how long we would last. The only goal everyone pretty much agreed upon was to get to the Tzoid, and that was mainly for me because of the postcard’s directive.
However, we didn’t get very far from where we began before the four of us started feeling hungry. Finding nourishment wasn’t the problem as much as narrowing down where we wanted to go. This wasn’t a haven of fast food and quick eats that I was familiar with. All of the restaurants we saw looked to be independently owned.
“Maybe if we could limit it down to what kind of food we wanted,” I suggested.
“I think anything hearty and decently priced should do well,” said Etand.
Soren nodded his head in agreement while Luci pointed to a sign down the road that read “Cusys’ Cantina.” It seemed like as good of a choice as any, so we pulled in to grab a bite.
We were barely in the door before Luci blurted out, “Does Pashtuk Cusys work here?”
“Of course,” said the hostess. “Pashtuk is the owner in manager. Why, do you know him?”
We were also wondering the same thing. I was under the impression that none of us knew anything about this place, but Luci recognizes an obscure name like that? I couldn’t figure it out. Luci looked at me, obviously not understanding what the hostess said, so I let her know that yes, Pashtuk Cusys worked here.
“Would you care to have a seat?” she asked before leading us to a comfortable booth in the middle of the dining room. She then turned to Luci, and still without realizing she was deaf whispered, “I’ll go get Pashtuk for you.”
There were a few other patrons in this cozy place. They all seemed to be enjoying their meals, so I figured the food couldn’t be half bad.
“Hello, I’m Jeff. Can I start you off wit a couple of appetizers?” our server asked.
“I don’t know,” Etand responded. “We don’t have a lot of money to spare, and I’m not sure what the prices are like here.”
Looking at the menu, I added, “I don’t see any prices.”
“Indeed,” Jeff said. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
Soren glanced at him in obvious disgust. “What do you think?” I asked.
Jeff seemed taken aback. “Oh, I see. Well then, how about if you just tell me what you’d like. We don’t charge anything up front here. Everything’s done on the honor system.”
“Interesting,” Etand commented.
“Give us one of everything,” Luci joked.
“Certainly.”
“She’s kidding,” I said. “Why don’t we just start with the stuffed pepper rolls?”
“Sounds good to me,” added Etand.
Soren gestured to himself, as if to say “Me too.”
Jeff left us to look over the menus some more, but I felt the need to question Luci about how she knew Mr. Cusys. I grabbed a napkin and the pen I received at the processing centre so I could effectively communicate with her.
“Where do you know that guy from?” I wrote.
Luci picked up the pen and jotted down her response. “He worked with me.”
“Where?” I continued.
“We were prep cooks in a restaurant a long time ago,” she answered.
“You were in this business?”
“We both were for a while, but Pash left.”
Right at that moment though, he showed up. “I hear you were looking for me,” Pashtuk said with a very hard-to-understand speech impediment.
“Actually, she was,” I answered, gesturing to Luci.
“Hello, Pash. Remember me?”
He looked at her for a moment and said, “No. I’m sorry, but should I?”
Luci looked stunned. She glanced over to me, and I shook my head. Luci grabbed the pen and another napkin. “We worked together at Din, did you forget?” she wrote before passing him the note.
Pashtuk, realizing Luci could not hear, marked his response on the same napkin. “I apologize ma’am, but I believe you have confused me with someone else.”
“What did he tell her,” Etand asked.
“I just told her I didn’t remember her,” Pashtuk said. “I feel bad, but I would love to help you out somehow. Jeff said you were out-of-towners. Do you have someplace to stay around here?”
“To tell you the truth, we hadn’t really planned on staying,” I commented.
“Ah. Well, if by chance you do, there’s lodging up the road called the Tropical Mountain Inn. They are quite reasonable and very accommodating. They helped me out when I first arrived here.”
“So you’re not from this place either?” Etand asked. “I thought your accent sounded very unique.”
“Actually, I believe that is due to my prosthetic tongue. None of us are originally from the island,” he replied.
Prosthetic tongue? The island? What a bizarre – “Why would anyone need to replace their tongue?” I thought.
“I’m sorry,” Etand added, “I meant no offense.”
“None taken. I realize I’m the epitome of irony,” he said, “a restaurateur who lacks the ability to taste. I’m happy with my job though.”
“You should be. You have a nice place here,” said Etand.
“Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I really have to get back to work. I wish you all the best,” he said. Before he left though, he scribbled one more thing to Luci. I caught a glimpse of his note as she read it. “Escape” is all it said. Luci looked like she would cry. Soren reached out and grabbed her hand. We did our best to comfort her until Jeff came back to take our orders.
The meal was delicious. They had prepared a wonderful feast for us, which surprised me since they didn’t charge us outright. It was Etand’s idea to leave a tip, although we all felt a gratuity was warranted.
I reflected on our dinner as we headed back up the boulevard. The light was fading as it grew later, and we knew we had to find the Tropical Mountain Inn before it got too late. We were all extremely tired. Soren had even dozed off in the back for a moment, but Etand’s snoring woke him up. One by one, the lights of the buildings and businesses around us started coming on, and down the road I saw the illuminated sign for the Tropical Mountain Inn appear as an oasis in the night.
We drove up to the place and sluggishly climbed out of the car. The lot of the hotel was full of cars, so I doubted that we would be successful in finding a place to stay here. There was no one at the desk when we first arrived, but a man in the lobby told us he would go find the manager on duty. Shortly thereafter, a slim guy with a pencil-thin moustache walked out from the back.
“Good evening. My name is Aj. Are you in need of a room?” he asked.
“Yes,” Etand replied. “Do you have any available? My friend here mentioned the parking lot seemed full.”
“We have been busy,” answered Aj, “but we do have one vacancy, a suite on the top floor.”
“I don’t know if we can afford a suite,” I said.
“This is true,” Etand added. “We used most of the money we had left for dinner.”
“Well, would you care to barter?” he asked.
I sighed and looked at our car sitting in the portico outside. “We really just have the clothes on our backs and that car out there,” I mused, “and we need that to get to the Tzoid in the morning.”
“Oh, you don’t need a car to make it to the Tzoid,” he told us. “It’s just right up the road. I can have our shuttle driver take you there in the morning.”
“Hmm. In that case, go ahead and put us down for the room, Etand said.
“Just one night though, and on the condition that we may need our car when we come back,” I added.
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll have much use for it after tomorrow,” he said. “Hold on. Let me get you your room keys.”
I tried to figure out what he meant by that last statement, but it was obvious my group was only thinking about getting to the room to rest. I reluctantly handed him the keys of the car Phocus had put together for us, then it was off to our suite.
Once we got inside, Soren immediately let us know he had to relieve himself. Etand and Luci went to draw back the curtains while I stayed by the door to look over some of the
“Evan?” Etand yelled from across the room.
“Yes?”
“Luci thinks you should come over to see this.”
I hastily walked over to where they were. “What is it?” I asked.
“Look,” said Luci, pointing out the window.
And there, bathed in colored floodlights like a
© 2004 by Evan M. Parris
<< Home