What? Damn you're right
dare is about obsession
it's something inside
Biff was in Southtown. Southtown was mostly a suburb. It had housing developments, some real houses, and commercial complexes. A corporation named Marksen Lot had an office in Southtown. It was in the parking lot of this office that Biff was cruising on his bike, slowly, as if looking for a place to park. His right hand was on the throttle. In his left was his phone. Biff was pretending to text with it but was actually snapping pictures of license plates.
Someone stepped in front of him. It was deliberate. Gus McGeuber, an extra chubby software developer with a tie and a short-sleeved button down, had opinions on many things. They included such topics as veganism, organic food, which way toilet paper should be hung, and the one he was most passionate about: cell phone use while driving. Gus would have been correct to think that most people should not use cell phones when driving (especially him) because most people suck and driving and cannot do both safetly. Gus was wrong to think that applied to everyone. Gus was shocked that someone would attempt to ride a motorcycle, a vehicle he regarded as scary and dangerous, while using a cell phone.
Had Gus stepped in front of Dave, he would have gotten an earful, something about comparing the difficult to completing the descent checklist for a complex airplane while ducking under a(n airspace ceiling) all the while listening to and remember up to three different instructions from an aircraft traffic controller all the while keeping his eyes outside for traffic--he would have compared that to the simple matter of typing some keys while driving vehicle so simple all you had to do was turn the giant wheel in front of you. Dave kept and updated his waiting verbal tirades in order to make people stupid.
Biff was not Dave. Biff believe that talking was not for fighting but for teaching. Biff had his own way of fighting his battles: keeping his cell phone out, and maintaining eye contact with his fat challenger, he took his time kicking the kick stand. The bike settled to its left gently. Biff waited another two seconds, then dismounted. Again, he took his time. Biff's jaw moving slightly in a chewing motion. It was not clenched, just moving as if he had a piece of gum in it. It was one of his only tells, revealing when he was truly angry and only one person had ever known it. Biff started walking towards Gus. It was not a slow, indimidating walk, the kind where you are hoping the other person runs. It was quick, efficient walk, like the quick steps before a sword thrust. Biff was thinking of a quick two-handed shove, up and out, but he wanted to make a point of holding his cell phone the whole time. Instead, he decided on a one-handed grab and throw to his left. That would put the fat guy onto a car and also out of Biff's way.
Gus sprinted for the building before Biff reached him.
Biff continued his search. Biff did not know this, but the car he was looking for was rarely, if ever, parked in an open lot. Had he known, he would have kept searching anyway. The others always made mistakes.
Elsewhere, Dave sat outside of a coffee shop. The coffee shop. He was musing. One leg was up on another chair, and he was sipping his latte so slowly it was going to get lukewarm before he could finish it. Carby was parked a few feet away. Dave was unsure about his next move. He was relieved when Eve had replied to his text message; had she not done so, he would have avoided the coffee shop until she did. She had smiled when she saw him. Dave was wishing he could just get her in to bed. There was always the risk that she was in the 15 percent, but he had learned many times that relationships require risk, just as a business contract requires consideration on both sides. The risk is what made it an adventure.
In the past, as soon as most girls slept with him once...well...one...set...one evening-night-morning, were typically shocked, amazed, more than pleased and very much wanting to come back. If Eve slept with him, she would probably have the same reaction, making it a simple matter for the two of them to become an item, and hopefully later, a Mr and Mrs. The long search would be over and he would have reached Avalon. Eighty five and fifteen. Those were his odds. Except that Dave had not slept with a hundred girls, or even twenty, or even ten, and like every other male, he likely had a completely unrealistic and overexaggerated view of his prowess in bed. The degree of his overconfidence is not important to this story; what is important is that girls tended to either love it or hate it, and also that he didn't care how long he had to wait--he'd marry her first if he had to.
Inside the coffee shop, Eve smiled to herself every time her eye caught Dave outside, but she also frowned. She was, of course, confused. Dave was everything she wanted, on paper. He had no kids, he did not live with his parents, he had a steady job and a car and no fuck buddies or scary ex-girlfriends. He was polite, even tempered, and even chivalrous on occasion. It was sexy. Kissing him had been like...kissing a romance novel. It was nice...different than usual. She would have to slow that horse down though.
At the same time...she nearly slept with Biff for no reason at all. What was wrong with her? She knew nothing about this man, and as far as she knew he was a hotheaded creeper, but Eve still wantted him to bend her over her motorcycle. What was wrong with her? Eve felt shame but told herself that she wasn't even dating either, let alone be in a relationship, so she would see where this all went. She had her own problems to deal with.
On her way home, a light turned yellow just before she crossed into the intersection. The light normally stayed on yellow for two seconds, but this time it turned red less in less than one, although she didn't see it. She did see the flash. A $300 ticket came in the mail a few weeks later. When Dave found out about it, he started going off about conspiracies, and the way they changed the light timings, and insisted that she at least talk to his lawyer friend. Dave had an agreement with that lawyer friend that he would help Eve with the ticket and Dave would pay for everything, but Eve didn't know that.
The laywer friend made he go over everything in detail, and then again in excrutiating detail. He took her down to the light, and the sat in his car while he timed it. A cop bothered them, but backed off when he realized he that one of them knew the law.
Dave's lawyer friend made no promises. Eve was worried. She could not afford an extra $300 this month. She knew Dave could, but there was no way she would allow him to lend it to her--she did not want him thinking they had reached the point where he could give or lend her money. That was before her bike was stolen.
NOTE:
the move
"Listen. You're going to get another one. That's not me telling you what to do; that's me telling you what you are."
bike comes back with a "i missed you!" sticker
notes:
use later:
sunset's on the wane
in life we suffer the same
when sundown comes around
stalking strangers on hollowed ground
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