Good Fortune, Bad Luck

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

    Mike turned left, and walked down to his apartment, the 2nd door on the left.  It had a worn and tarnished antique brass 42 on it.  He fumbled for the key, and found it at the bottom of his left pants pocket.  He dug it out, put it in the lock, and turned.  He could already hear the T.V.  His roommate was probably watching another one of those bloody Animal Planet documentaries where lions eat gazelles or something. 

    “Hey Timo!  What are you, deaf?  I can hear that stupid thing out in the hallway!” 

    “Yeah, I know.  Mrs. Whittaker called me earlier and asked me to turn it down.  I tried to explain how you can’t really feel the drama in a lion’s roar unless the walls vibrate, but she wasn’t having any of it.”  Timothy Miller looked up from the couch with a sheepish grin.  With boyish good looks, blond hair, blue eyes and a body well toned by 27 years of surfing, “average” was not a word any woman in Timo’s life had ever used to describe him.

    “So, what is it this time?  More lions?”  Mike dropped his briefcase on the bench by the door and took off his wet coat.

    “Nah, man, Wombats!  Man, these things will blow your mind!”  Timo was practically bouncing with excitement on the couch.

    “What the fuck is a Wombat?  Sounds like something out of Star Wars …  Isn’t that what Luke said he and Biggs used to shoot when they were kids?”

    “Dude!  Those were ‘Womp Rats!’  You’re mental, you know that?”  Timo threw a pillow at Mike, who caught it and threw it back.

    “Right, this from someone who sits on the couch all day in his underwear!”  Mike grinned at his roommate.  “Put some clothes on, man, we’re gonna be late to meet Kari and Jenna as it is.”

    “Shit!  Is that tonight?  Where the hell are they taking us, anyway?” Timo scrambled to get up.  “Some shopping village or something?”

    “I dunno,” Mike shrugged, “Kari’s been going on all week about some place called ‘Frank and Edith’s Tavern.’  Supposedly they have really good food.  It’s supposed to be in the middle of some Historic Johnsonville Shopping Mall.”

    Timo made a face.  “I just know we’re gonna regret this.  Women and shopping is never fun.  It’s not even like in a regular mall, where there’s an arcade we can hide in.” Timo grabbed a pair of worn jeans and sniffed them.  With a rueful look, he slipped them on.  “I hope casual is ok, because Timo don’t get dressed up for a tavern on a Thursday night.” 

    Mike threw a clean blue button down shirt at Timo.  “Make a little bit of an effort to dress, and tuck in your waistband.”  Mike changed out of his damp suit and put on a darker colored pair of jeans, and chose a tan button down shirt from the closet. 

    The boys finished dressing and left the apartment.  Mrs. Whittaker stuck her head out of 41 as they ran past for the elevator. 

    “Goodness!  I thought perhaps some elephants had escaped from your T.V. and were stampeding down the hallway!”  Mrs. Whittaker was a kindly old soul who made cookies on Sundays and always shared with her young neighbors. 

    “What is this vision of beauty I see before me?”  Timo always flattered her outrageously.  “Be still my heart, but I do think heaven has lost an angel!”

    “You boys need to slow down!”  Mrs. Whittaker called after them as they ran to the elevator and pressed the button.  “What ever you are running for will either wait or is not worth waiting for!”