2002
Nebraska
"Una, dos, tres..." Said the stereo.
"Una.. dos... tres..." Repeated Cassy.
"Cassy! Can you turn that off!" Said a very frustrated Bob.
After having quick bite to eat, they searched for the Interstate that would take them to Nevada. Bob was certain that he was lost.
The streets that were once adorn with an abundance of American flags were replaced by broken windows and the flags from the Axis of Evil. Bob even spotted a burly man on a motorcycle with an angry grimace, this was a terrible neighbourhood!
After several intersections with the street lights out, Bob was exasperated.
"Don't take that tone with me!" Cassy snipped. "It's not my fault that YOU got lost!"
Bob adored his wife with all his heart, so much so that he supported her in all her endeavours, especially in achieving her romantic fantasies, but he was at his wits end!
"Cautro..." Said the stereo.
"Hey!" Yelped Cassy as Bob ejected the CD. "Why did you do that!"
"I can't focus!" He yelled to his petite black haired wife. "I can't find the I666!!"
Cassy snatched the CD, then dug around for her CD player, all the while she shouted obscenities at her husband.
"You are an idiot!" Declared Cassy loudly. "I bet the I666 a figment of your imagination!"
Bob withered under the barrage of insults as she called him out on everything from his inability to drive to his inability to satisfy her in bed. He long ago confessed how this line of nagging aroused him greatly. Even though he was starting to get hard he was unsure if she were actually mad.
"I don't even know why I sleep with you!" She said starting on a new line of put-downs when she saw the smoke. "Uh... Bobby, what is that?"
Smoke started billowing from the hood of the car, it didn't look good at all. The smell was even worse! Cassy covered her nose and shrieked. They passed by a basketball court with several men playing to finally stop around the corner.
Although they were in a very urbanized area, it was very quiet. Bob put the car in park, then shut it off.
"Bobby?" Cassy asked looking around. "Where are we?"
Bob shrugged back at his wife saying, "I have no clue."
He got out to prop the hood of the car up, a large puff of smoke erupted before finally dissipating.
"I don't like this Bobby!" Shouted Cassy out to her husband.
Bob stood dumbfounded unsure what to do. He glanced over at his wife in her tight blue mini-dress. They had left her parent's home and were headed to Las Vegas before returning to Washington State.
Somehow between switching highways they got lost in some mid-west concrete jungle! It resembled something from Detroit's worst neighbourhood than a mid-west paradise.
"I'm going to ask those... uh men for help..." Bob said, "maybe they can direct me to a pay phone."
"Fine!" Exclaimed Cassy as she put on her headphones then grabbed a fashion magazine from the back seat.
Bob started walking towards the men then stopped himself. He could tell that he was moving about like a man searching for a lost golf ball. He'd seen enough TV shows of urban life that he'd appear as prey.
"Rojo, Azul..." Came from the car.
Bob needed to clear his head, there were too many distractions. Leaning forward he picked up some grass, then standing he let it drop. He watch it fall, then judged the wind speed. Feeling centred he strode forth like a man underpar approaching the green.
"Pontis procul!" Shouted the tall and lean man with the brown and reddish skin.
The ball went into the hoop, the two other men hooted in Joy.
"Good shot!" Called out the very muscular brown man. "I would have used nimus longe."
"You would!" Teased the first man as he recovered the ball.
"This game doesn't make sense!" Said the lone white man of the trio.
"What not to understand?" Said the muscular man. "Get the translation, get an extra point."
The white man bounced the ball a couple times then sighed loudly.
"But why Latin?" He said perplexed.
"Cus that white ape over yonder needs the practice." The tall lean man said. "His Latin is as about as good as Charlemagne!"
The two black men chuckled as the lone white man tried to figure out why a dude with a Latin name didn't speak Latin.
"Ugh..." Grumbled the short white man.
"Shoot the ball man!" Cried out the muscular man before saying. "Terrible lizard!"
"I got this!" The short man declared.
"I bet you do!" Teased the taller man.
"Dinosaur!" Cried out the short man as he launched the ball, then watching the ball he cried out, "Nothing but hoop!"
The two black men watched the ball bounce off the rim in a terrible miss. They pointed at the net, then at each other before collapsing on the ground laughing deeply.
"What's up?" Asked the short man confused. "Dinosaur... terrible lizard?"
"Yo C!" Said the taller man wiping his eyes. "We tricked you good!"
"What?" Said the baffled little man.
"Yeah!" Said the large muscular man. "We fooled you!"
The smaller man threw a mini-fit until his friends regained their composure and their feet!
"So check this out C," said the taller man, "the Greek word would have been deinos sauros."
The short white man did not look impressed.
"Yeah," said the larger more muscular black man, "in Latin you coulda said vae lacerti."
The tall man patted his small friend's shoulder as he spoke. "Or horribilis lacerti, don't sweat it."
"Tell me again why I'm friends with you two?" The short man asked getting a laugh from his friend.
The tallest of the three spotted someone approaching, he shot the smaller man a glance. It was his cue to change the music from classical to the mix CD. The old school tunes kept away undesirables, but this clean cut stranger seemed anything but.
Bob entered the ball court with the three men. The first black man was tall in a fade black and red basketball jersey with large angry bull on the front.
The second black man wore a tight shorts and a loose tank-top that displayed his big arms and strong shoulders, Bob was no fan of the more physical sports, but he knew he what a boxer looked like.
The final man was taller than Bob, but short compared to the other men. He had brown hair. His build was just like Bob's, in that it was average.
Bob took a deep breath before he spoke. "Pardon me gentlemen, I have a big favour to ask of you."
"Verde, armillo..." Said Cassy.
Bob taped on the window causing his wife to scream.
"Why are you trying to scare me!" Yelled his wife.
"No!" Bob said. "Turn off your CD so you can hear me."
Cassy uncovered an ear as she spoke. "I'm not going to lose at poker because I can't follow a side-conversation. Now where is our tow truck?"
"I still need to find a phone booth." Bob said.
"Bobby! What were you doing for the last ten minutes!" Complained his wife.
"I befriended some... um... locals, they say there's a phone booth nearby that works!" He explained to his unamused wife.
"So?" She said. "Go call!"
"So..." Bob said slowly as he thought. "I didn't want to leave you alone."
Cassy frowned then crossed her arms.
"I also left my wallet in the car..." He said wiping sweat from his brow.
"Fine," She said undoing her seatbelt to get out of the car, then pressing play on her CD player. "Verde... verde..."
Minutes later as the crossed the basketball court Bob was shaking with nervousness. Cassy however was oblivious as she worked on her Spanish.
"Negro... Negro..." She said loudly as she attempted to get the pronunciation.
"What she say?" Said the muscular man who ceased playing ball.
"Cassy..." Bob whispered, but was unheard.
"Negro..." Cassy said. "Negro."
"Yo!" Yelled a tall black man. "Shut that bitch up!"
"Cassy..." Bob begged jiggling his wife's elbow.
Cassy shook Bob loose, then rewound her CD.
"Amarillo... Negro..." She said.
The short white man grabbed the basketball and threw it at Bob. It missed. All the while they shouted at Bob and Cassy.
"Yo man!" The tall reddish-brown man yelled at full volume. "Control that bitch before I do!!"
"Cassy..." Bob tried to say but the words were merely a feather in the wind.
"Negro... Negro..." Cassy said louder as she felt she had the pronunciation.
The shouting from the three men got louder as they approached. Bob held his hands out as he attempted to calm the angry beasts around him to no effect.
The muscular man got up into Bob's face calling him names. Cassy seemed not to notice the approaching melee. The short white man went left but Bob checked him, the tall man went right and finally caught up with Cassy.
"Negro..." She said, then "Ah!!"
The tall man had gripped her by her long black hair and held it on an angle making it difficult for her to stand. Terror filled her eyes as she took in the scene!
She could see Bob was all red faced as the other two other men each gripped a wrist. He struggled, but lacked the muscle to resist.