9/11
On 9/11, Jay was living in an RV in a CVS parking lot in NE LA. He finished his 4 morning S’s (shit, shave, shower and shine) when the first AM radio reports came in over KNX 1070. He listened for a while until 10:00 AM when it was time to go to work. He locked up the RV and walked 4 blocks on N. Figueroa past Avenue 56 where Jay tended bar at a dive called Mr.T's. On any other day he might not have bothered to look up at all but today his eyes were fixed on a cloudless sky which seemed unnaturally empty. Jay found himself searching overhead for aircraft and realized the daily perpetual lineup of SSTs heading into LAX had vanished. Jay had not served in the military and never imagined he would ever see the sky as a potential source of danger.
Mr. T's interior was a depressing eighty-year old ex-bowling alley, windowless and strewn with wreckage and made the original Barney's Beanery look like the Bellagio. The morning regulars at Mr. T's were not on any A-list but if you worked graveyard for UPS, it was the perfect bleak dark hole to take the edge off before you crawled home and passed out; only to wake at midnight to spend eight hours loading another endless queue of trucks. There were others who although unemployed, chose the place to spend the first half of nearly every day. They all looked forward to the 3 times a week Dee showed up. Dee felt she ought to get in a few 7 & 7s to mellow out before trudging off to teach drama classes at LACC. She was easy on the eyes with a D-cup and a v-neck wardrobe. She was also Jay's ex.
Jay and Dee both enjoyed the late mornings they spent at Mr. T's. It brought back memories of the terrific time they had together as a couple before having it evaporate during their 5-week marriage. The desire to end things was mutual and, once they began to honor certain limits, they'd been good with each other ever since. The regulars at Mr. T's knew nothing of the couple's past but sensed the two had some history.
Jay wasn't much of a bar tender but it wasn't required at Mr. T's. The selection of drinks was limited. There was no beer on tap with some in bottles but mostly cans. Some hard liquor was stocked but only off-brands which you either drank straight or with your choice of soda pop, OJ, or cheap bottled mixers.
Mr. T's had a TV but it hadn't worked in months. Getting shit-faced stuck in a black hole and cut off from the rest of the world that morning forced the regulars to develop their own version of the whys and wherefores that led to the disaster taking place on the east coast. As the day wore on, additional customers would straggle in each bringing with them some new detail about the tragedy that the regulars would have to reconcile with the complex scenario they had constructed. Each new bit of information was either taken in as confirming evidence or ridiculed and discounted if it conflicted with the general theory that had taken form in the dark interior of Mr. T's.
Dee parked her VW in the lot as usual and walked into Mr. T's having gotten up late and knowing nothing whatsoever about the twin towers. While Jay made Dee the first of several 7 & 7s, he watched as the regulars came out of their seats to bring Dee up to speed on the situation. Javier took the lead and when he realized Dee was oblivious to it all, he really let it all out. Javier was a USPS letter carrier who spent two and a half hours most days at Mr. T's before returning to the streets of NE LA to finish his route. Javier went on a rant that reminded Jay of George C. Scott in the scene from Dr. Strangelove where the leaders of the free world are hunkered down in a war room trying to orchestrate the end of civilization.
Jay could tell that Dee was having doubts. The story concocted by the regulars and presented by Javier was even more surreal than the actual event. Dee would never have bought into it at all but she couldn't imagine Javier and the rest being this animated if they were just putting her on. Dee looked to Jay and asked, "You want to throw me a lifeline here?"
Jay turned up his palms and said, "There was some weird shit on the radio earlier about planes flying into skyscrapers and the Pentagon. It's either real or Orson Welles is at it again."
Jay and Dee both enjoyed the late mornings they spent at Mr. T's. It brought back memories of the terrific time they had together as a couple before having it evaporate during their 5-week marriage. The desire to end things was mutual and, once they began to honor certain limits, they'd been good with each other ever since. The regulars at Mr. T's knew nothing of the couple's past but sensed the two had some history.
Jay wasn't much of a bar tender but it wasn't required at Mr. T's. The selection of drinks was limited. There was no beer on tap with some in bottles but mostly cans. Some hard liquor was stocked but only off-brands which you either drank straight or with your choice of soda pop, OJ, or cheap bottled mixers.
Mr. T's had a TV but it hadn't worked in months. Getting shit-faced stuck in a black hole and cut off from the rest of the world that morning forced the regulars to develop their own version of the whys and wherefores that led to the disaster taking place on the east coast. As the day wore on, additional customers would straggle in each bringing with them some new detail about the tragedy that the regulars would have to reconcile with the complex scenario they had constructed. Each new bit of information was either taken in as confirming evidence or ridiculed and discounted if it conflicted with the general theory that had taken form in the dark interior of Mr. T's.
Dee parked her VW in the lot as usual and walked into Mr. T's having gotten up late and knowing nothing whatsoever about the twin towers. While Jay made Dee the first of several 7 & 7s, he watched as the regulars came out of their seats to bring Dee up to speed on the situation. Javier took the lead and when he realized Dee was oblivious to it all, he really let it all out. Javier was a USPS letter carrier who spent two and a half hours most days at Mr. T's before returning to the streets of NE LA to finish his route. Javier went on a rant that reminded Jay of George C. Scott in the scene from Dr. Strangelove where the leaders of the free world are hunkered down in a war room trying to orchestrate the end of civilization.
Jay could tell that Dee was having doubts. The story concocted by the regulars and presented by Javier was even more surreal than the actual event. Dee would never have bought into it at all but she couldn't imagine Javier and the rest being this animated if they were just putting her on. Dee looked to Jay and asked, "You want to throw me a lifeline here?"
Jay turned up his palms and said, "There was some weird shit on the radio earlier about planes flying into skyscrapers and the Pentagon. It's either real or Orson Welles is at it again."