Poetry1

[Yulia]

OK, let's start!

Early morning, light rain, open window, messy room, red roses on the window, the dew on the roses, smell of gasoline in the air, light wind moves white with blue flowers curtains. He gets up from his bed, his face is mess(after yesterday), comes to the window and freaks out...
You guys keep going, what could it be?...

[kuhlenberg]

From his apartment, situated over Jake's Four Star Auto Service, he could see two big guys, muscle-bound goons, hoisting his '64 Impala behind a tow truck. These weren't repo guys. Sotak knew damned well who they were and, worse, he knew who sent them there and why. As he watched them pull away with his most prized possession, Sotak slumped into the old easy chair next to the window.

Cleo was a big gal whose heart saw the good in everybody who ever passed her way. She met Sotak the day he stepped off the bus at Landray City station, and offered him the room above the garage in exchange for some help managing the business. When her husband Jake died three years ago, he left her with an auto repair shop that was barely staying in business. She added a couple of gas pumps and hired high school boys to pump the gas and wash cars. Today, with Sotak's help, Jake's Four Star is one of Landray City's best business establishments - a full service auto repair and detail shop with an upholstery and custom decal department.

Sotak was reluctant to open the door. He merely unlocked it and walked back to the easy chair.
"It's open," he called out over his shoulder.
Cleo stepped into the tiny apartment with some apprehension. As Sotak turned toward her, getting back into the chair, she noticed his face.
"Peter Sotak, what happend to your sweet face?" She walked over to him quickly, kneeling in front of him for a closer look at the damage. "Those men, the two who took your car," she was now touching his face where there was not a bruise or scrape, "did they do this to you?"
"Cleo...", Sotak wasn't ready to discuss the last few days events with anyone, especially Cleo. "Please Cleo, this is my problem. Let me deal with it my own way."
Cleo stood up and looked back down at Sotak. It was the kind of look an older sister gives a brother who is prone to disappointing but still deserving love. Her hand gently brushing his brown hair. In a quiet but stern voice she demanded, "Peter, talk to me"

[This message has been edited by kuhlenberg (edited 28 January 2000).]

[This message has been edited by kuhlenberg (edited 28 January 2000).]

[Phillip]

Stotac aknoweledged Cleo's concern by placing his hand on hers, but he could not answer. Instead he looked around the room in dismay as if to suggest the answer was someplace in the room. "Peter" Cleo, said in an alarmed tone. She couldn't comprehend his unusually despairing actions. His eyes gestured to the roses by the window then moved about toward the mess inside, and then outside with a look of shock!

Cleo began to worry. Is this really Peter?, she thought. Unable to console him anymore, Cleo moved back and stood in the dark of the doorway, as if trying to discover the gravity of his feelings. She had not known him long enough to have seen him like this and didn't know what it would come to. Stotac saw this, and gave her a half smile. Then he stood up and started to talk in a casual manner as if nothing had happened.

Cleo was now sure that this mornings events were more then they seemed. There was always something more about Peter then met the eye, but he was a good worker and had embraced his work with more then the expected vigour. She needed to know what was wrong but she also wanted desperately that the whole thing was just a simple problem - something that could be rectified.

[Phillip]

Stotac aknoweledged Cleo's concern by placing his hand on hers, but he could not answer. Instead he looked around the room in dismay as if to suggest the answer was someplace in the room. "Peter" Cleo, said in an alarmed tone. She couldn't comprehend his unusually despairing actions. His eyes gestured to the roses by the window then moved about toward the mess inside, and then outside with a look of shock!

Cleo began to worry. Is this really Peter?, she thought. Unable to console him anymore, Cleo moved back and stood in the dark of the doorway, as if trying to discover the gravity of his feelings. She had not known him long enough to have seen him like this and didn't know what it would come to. Stotac saw this, and gave her a half smile. Then he stood up and started to talk in a casual manner as if nothing had happened.

Cleo was now sure that this mornings events were more then they seemed. There was always something more about Peter then met the eye, but he was a good worker and had embraced his work with more then the expected vigour. She needed to know what was wrong but she also wanted desperately that the whole thing was just a simple problem - something that could be rectified.

[kuhlenberg]

It took very little persuading to get Sotak to accompany her to breakfast. He wasn't hungry, but he had a crush on the new waitress at the Tastey Place Diner. Besides, Cleo was buying.
"After we get something in us, we'll go back and clean up your place. No one should live like that." Her eyes peered up from the menu at Sotak, hoping to find him interested in opening up about what just happened. Instead, she saw the young man checking his teeth in the reflection of the napkin dispenser. She grinned and looked back down at the menu. "later," she whispered to herself.

"Well, looks like someone here had a bad meeting with the sidewalk!"
Sotak looked up from his reflection and nervously put the dispenser back in it's place next to the stand of jelly packs. Verleen leaned over the table for a better look.
"Yeah," she was giving his face a thorough review,"I don't know what you did to deserve this, but she had better been worth it!"
Sotak was eager to make it clear that this didn't involve a woman. All he could get out was, "Oh...it wasn't... I mean, it didn't...you see, I..."
Cleo took over, "Verl honey, why don't you get us two coffees while Peter and I discuss the menu." Cleo winked at Verlene who straightened up and gave her gum a crack before heading behind the counter for the coffee pot.

[This message has been edited by kuhlenberg (edited 31 January 2000).]

[kuhlenberg]

Zero and Pauly, two hulking French-Canadians, felt pretty good about the pick-up job they just did. No "incident" with the car's owner, no fights. The light rain made the air pleasantly cool. It also kept a lot of people home and indoors. So, traffic was virtually nonexistant as they drove through the next town.
"Hey, Pauly. look back there and tell me if you think we hooked that car up the right way." Zero wasn't sure, but from the side view mirror, it looked like the '64 Impala was leaning and sort of trailing sideways behind the tow truck. Pauly looked back at the moment the Impala snapped loose from the tow chains.
"Aw, Hell...Zero...Stop the truck!" Pauly was leaping out of the truck before Zero had a chance to stop.
The hill wasn't too steep. Steep enough, though, to allow the Impala to start rolling away from them, slowly first. Zero and Pauly looked at each other, then back at the car. It was picking up speed. They ran to the car and tried to stop it. Pauly grabbed the front bumper. Zero had the antenna. It was no use. The car was moving too fast down the hill now. The two just had to let it roll away.
"Pauly, you bonehead! You said you knew how to hook up a car to these things."
Pauly standing there in disbelief of what he was looking at, turned to Zero. "The antenna? What the heck were you thinking? The antenna! How you gonna stop a runaway car with holding onto the antenna? You moron!
The yellow Impala was moving pretty fast downhill now. It swerved a little to the left, then to the right. It swerved hard to the right, cutting across the other lane, barely missing a car parked at the side of the road. It bumped over the curb and into the parking lot of the Channing's Insurance Company, finally coming to a stop in the "employee of the month" parking space.
"Zero. Look at your watch. What time is it?" Pauly wasn't sure whether to go into shock or to drop to his knees and praise God.
"It's ten past eight," replied Zero, then he tapped his watch and held it to his ear. "Ticking. Yep, ten past eight - a.m."
Pauly took a slow, deep cleansing breath then motioned with his hands a direction for Zero to get the truck over to the parking lot. "We are the luckiest sons-of-greenbeans there ever was."

[This message has been edited by kuhlenberg (edited 29 January 2000).]

[This message has been edited by kuhlenberg (edited 30 January 2000).]

[observer58]

This is starting to look like a Laurel and Hardy situation. Enjoying the read.