I notice the crime scene tape as the door opens. While standing in the doorway, people are moving in and out of the house. My eyes are darting left and right, trying to make sense of the chaos. Blood splatter everywhere, holes as big as my fist in the walls. It's like a scene of a mob movie. I try to stop one of the workers that walk by, but he doesn't hear me. I'm not sure if the noise is too loud or if I'm so stunned, that my lips are moving but no sound is coming out.
I walk to the middle of the room and scream as loud as I can;
"Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on, RIGHT NOW!"
A guy pops his head out of a room down the hall;
"Hi my man, my name Manny, come here so that we can talk."
I'm trying to keep my calm before I explode. As I'm on my way to the room, I'm falling over the building rubble, shell casings, paint cans, walking around ladders, and I'm thinking, this is a disaster. I finally get to the room, he is standing just inside, he has gloves on and he's holding a door. He looks at me and says;
"Hey man, could you help me to get the door in the hinges? Grab that side, and I'll tell you when to pick it up."
He looks up and sees that I'm not amused at all while I'm just standing there looking at him. Manny lets the door go and sticks out his hand to greet me and says;
"You already know my name, what's yours?"
I stare at him with anger written all over my face. I'm just standing there, trying to keep my calm. I try to act as calmly as possible and have a conversation with Manny.
"My name is Tom Marks. What the hell happened here?"
Manny looks confused at me;
"Welcome to L.A. man. Where guns, gangs, and drugs are everywhere. The cops told us that one rival gang, the twenty-three's took out another, they cleaned house."
I look completely stunned at him and say;
"Well, luckily they didn't burn the house down."
Manny laughs and then says:
"It wasn't for a lack of trying. When the cops arrived on the scene, the house was filled with gas. They couldn't go in with guns drawn. One spark from a gun could let it go up in flames, essay. They said that the candle the twenty-three's set up in the living room, fell over and that's why the house didn't go BOOOOM you know."
I listen carefully to his colorful explanation and then he frowns and asks me;
"So, what are you doing here?"
I just stare at him with a blank expression on my face;
"I've been having a bad day, and walking into this place just left me with no words. I'm moving to L.A. and this is my new home. I feel so proud to be part of the community."
One of the workers then scream at Manny;
"Hey Manny, are you expecting a delivery of some kind? I have a guy at the door who says he needs to deliver stuff to this address."
I walk off thinking, this day is just getting better and better. I get to the front door and look at the delivery guy, he says to me;
"Do you know Mr. Marks?"
Confident I smile and reply;
"Well yes, that's me."
The delivery guy looks relieved and says;
"I'm so glad was wondering if I had the right address. He turns around and screams to the workers on the truck, we have the correct address, start unloading the furniture."
Struck with panic, I say to him;
"NO NO NO! You can't, look at this place. You can't bring my stuff in here while they are still scraping the blood off the walls! I'm going to call my realtor Shelley, and find out where I'll be sleeping tonight, excuse me."
Manny pokes his head out and asks;
"Did you say, Shelley? I think that's the name of the woman that passed out this morning in the living room. An ambulance took her to the hospital to get her checked out."
It feels like a dream, a really bad dream and I just need to wake up. I just know I need to do something and then an idea pops up in my head.
"Hey Manny, do you know of a storage unit close by?"
Manny pops his head out the door again.
"Yeah man, my cousin can help with that. He's the owner of a storage unit five or ten min away. I'll give him a call and let him know you are on your way."
I give Manny my number so that he can text the address to me. Then I make arrangements with the moving company to deliver my stuff to the units. They move my stuff in so fast before I even realize they are done. While standing at the storage unit looking at my stuff, I realize I still have one big problem on my hands. Where am I going to sleep tonight?
First things first, I need to eat. I start my car and drive around for a few minutes looking for the best place to eat. I see a nice restaurant and decide to try it out. I walk up to the bar and the bartender sees me coming in. He stares at me until I get to the counter and he asks;
"What will it be, sir?"
It feels like I can barely stand up straight with everything that has happened and I say to him:
"Whatever is in your hands, start pouring, and I'll tell you when to stop."
The bartender just stands there with a blank expression on his face.
"Single malt whiskey and make it a double please."
The bartender turns and starts pouring me a glass. While sliding it to me he asks;
"That bad of a day, huh?"
I drink it all on one gulp and then answer;
"You have no idea. Give me another one please."
While I wait for my second glass, I turn and scan the room. A few couples are sitting around the tables, three other people at the bar. I ask the bartender.
"Until what time is the kitchen open?"
"We serve till eleven, sir. You still have a few minutes to place your order. Would you like a table?"
I start looking at the best table where the least amount of people is. I point to a table I like and ask;
"You can send the waiter to me over there."
A few minutes later the waiter arrives;
"Here's a menu, sir. Do you know what you want to eat or would you like a few more minutes to decide?"
I take the menu and say;
"It's my first time here so, I don't know what's good. Anything that you can recommend?"
The waiter smiles and answers;
"Our chili lime steak fajitas is the best in town."
It sounds interesting, so I decide to order it. Now that I can sit and relax for the first time. I start to process everything that has happened. I stare at a candle in the distance and how the flame dances in the dark. Suddenly, I notice something moving behind the flame. She's so stunningly beautiful.
From what I can see, her hair is dark brown, almost black. Her dark brown eyes are looking at her laptop screen while darting back and forth as if she is reading something intently. She takes a sip of her drink with her red-velvet lips. It's like she hypnotized me with her beauty. I know I need to look away, but I just can't get my eyes to look away.
The waiter drops my plate of food on the table before me with a loud bang. I almost jump out of my seat. He leans in and tells me;
"Sir, the lady at table twelve, asked that you should stop staring. It's not polite."
With a stunned look on my face. I look around surprised to see if anyone is looking at me. I look up and our eyes meet for just for a moment while she shyly looks back at her laptop still smiling. Then a blush starts to play on her face.