J & T, LTC. Part II

Wednesday Feb 9, 2005

And now the exciting second chapter in the tale of J & T, LTC. (If you have yet to read part one do yourself a favor and check it out below first)

Travis made his way over to the left lane exit off of the bay bridge. It was clearly marked but Jon always felt it had a way of sneaking up on people. Travis's sharp but practical Toyota Spyder became more visible as it departed from the fog heavy bridge to the windy but clear Treasure Island Rd.

Henry and Shaniqua carpooled to this first office outing. They were patiently waiting for the others at a picnic table. Though they had been told there would be food, Henry had insisted that he bring some extra snacks and such for everyone, "just in case." In his picnic basket set atop the picnic table he had packed some sandwiches, some chips, and some diet caffeine-free sodas because thats just the kind of guy that he is. Note that I would usually refer to sodas as pop but as the narrator of this tale it is my responsibility to place the priority on setting over my own personal vernacular. Call me a sell out but you're still reading for a reason.

Sari, the vixen who J and T both love but who is secretly sleeping with Henry, hadn't decided whether or not she would be attending the retreat. It had been billed as a team building event but she feared it would turn into long discussions about water consultation which really didn't interest her in the least. She was currently enjoying a late lunch with her ex-boyfriend at the Cheesecake Factory in Union square. Her ex-boyfriend still believed they were together even though she had made it clear that she wanted nothing but friendship and was sleeping with other people. But she still would sleep with him every now and then and he would still pay for her cheesecake, so I could see how he felt the issue was a bit ambiguous.

Speaking of ambiguous, Chris, who actually isn't that ambiguous at all, was waiting in his car in the parking lot. He had on a bright yellow shirt and sunglasses with hologram pictures of Marilyn Monroe. It was a peculiar look I must admit. He was waiting in his car because he had seen Henry and Shaniqua at the picnic table and was preparing to join then when he was suddenly overcome with the fear of awkward silences ensuing. So he instead remained in the parking lot waiting for at least Jon and Travis to arrive.

And speak of the devil. Just when I finished typing that last sentence the Toyota Spyder belonging to Travis, who I kind of wished I had named Tavis, pulled up next to Chris and honked. The honk brought Chris out of his car where Shaniqua and Henry had known he had been hiding but wouldn't say anything for fear of an awkward silence. The noise also interrupted Shaniqua's reciting of a poem she had written when she was in middle school entitled "The Littlest Giant." Her and Henry had started rattling off things that they had memorized from their childhood that they seemingly would always have in their mind. Her poem, which was actually my poem, was four stanzas and went a little something like this:

There once was a giant
And he was quite small
And all he wanted
Was to be tall

Everyone was mean to him
They would step on him and crush his bones
He would bleed and bleed
And wish he was at home

One day he fell into the ocean
Unfortunately he was stuck
He couldn't escape
From the awful muck

Nobody saved him
So he died
And at his funeral
Nobody cried.

When the horn had sounded, Shaniqua was half way through the third stanza. Henry never heard the end of the poem and would always wonder what became of the littlest giant. But with the fireworks that were about to happen in just a few short minutes the poem would slip his mind for awhile.

They all met at the table. Jon was carrying a cooler and Travis had a bag full of snacks and a backpack . . . To be continued.

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J & T, LTC. Part II

Wednesday Feb 9, 2005