Little girl, Big City

1015am  5.5.11

Scene: the dreaded 405 headed to Santa Monica

“Hi.  This is Jennifer Stavros.  I’m calling because I am stuck in a line of traffic heading out there.  I know that my interview is at 10:30.  I apologize for my potential tardiness.”

“It’s fine.  It was bad today.  Just get here as soonest you can.  Thank you for calling in advance.  We are looking forward to meeting you!”

I didn’t expect it to be that bad.  I should’ve known better.  There’s reasons why people rant and rave about the infamous freeway connecting the west side of Los Angeles.  I was hauling ass in my Firebird.  I don’t generally drive as bad as that bat out of hell, but today was major.  I wanted this job.  I needed this job.  Bills had to get paid.  You know, the normal.

I hit mid-city and the crunch was bad.  I cut off a silver PT Cruiser that was none too happy about it.  The dark haired gentleman in the car then proceeded to follow me in my blind spot.

Creeping.

Inching.

Intimidating me.

I felt bad for cutting the guy off and waved to apologize in an awkward smile.

He didn’t go for it.

At this point, I was concerned for my safety and decided I needed to lose him.  I pulled off the freeway to turn around.  Being late for the interview was a null issue.  I looked in my mirror to see he was still following me.

“I’m being followed.”  I texted to a relative.

As I went back to the freeway I looked up to see that the Cruiser was now cutting me off and blocking the entrance to the freeway.

Please please let me get to my interview in one piece.

11:24am 9.11.9

Scene: a messy apartment in Palms- a section of Culver City, Los Angeles adjacent

I was awaiting a meeting and brooding when I got the text:

“Hopeless fucks took my carry on in Seattle because “the overhead compartments were full” then proceeded to lose it.  Laptop, camera, medication.  Fucking American air system.”

It was my friend from Australia,  making an extended layover in Los Angeles before returning back to the Aussie after his trip to the Penny Arcade Expo.  It was to be his first trip stateside.  This detour was specifically to visit me- a woman he’d met online a year prior on a video game forum with a cheesy name.

“Where are you now?  Do you have a phone charger?”

“Sitting at LAX thinking about my next move.  Too early to check in to my hotel.   Need to find a decent cab fee and call Delta in two hours.  Bleh, fucking bleh.”

So, I did what any decent human being should do, I went immediately to go get him.

Now, let me put this out there right away: cars and I don’t have the best of relationships.  Specifically ones that have come from my Uncle Jay.  I love my uncle to pieces, but there have been horror stories of most every vehicle I’ve gotten from this uncle.  Today was no exception.

I took off on the 405 and headed towards LAX in my 1995 Firebird.  At the time, this car was gorgeous (on the outside).  However, it was a bit difficult for me to drive as the stick had been ridiculously hard to shift since it was purchased.

As I went my merry way being the hero, I noticed that the car was becoming more and more easy to shift.

“Maybe dad is right and I just needed to get used to it.” I said to myself as I pulled up curbside to retrieve my foreign friend.  He and I hugged as I took his belongings and loaded them into the tiny white sports car.

The drive back was light at this time of day.  We were in lane three when it happened.  Yes, it, happened.  The buildings started to slow down.  The blur of the passing cars was coming to a close.  Right there in lane three on the dreaded 405.  I looked over at him as the car silently came to a stop and just smiled.  I reached into the center console for my phone and my video camera and began to sing.

“Blue skies.  All of them gone.  Nothing but blue skies. From now on.”