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| Minneapolis Skyline |
October 2001
"Geez man," Joy complains of the cold, as she tightens her black trench coat and places her hand in its jacket's pockets. It is a beautiful Friday evening.
You open the hotel door for her. Autumn breeze brushes your face. You close your eyes, as you zip your dark gray bubble jacket up.
Anyone who'd see you at this hour would know the two of you are not from anywhere around here. The two of you already feel like you are freezing.
"Must be around 40-ish," you guess, as it was about 50 degrees Fahrenheit two hours earlier, according to the news.
"Taxi!", Joy screams, hands still in her pockets, as a yellow cab passes Oakwood, where you and rest of your colleagues are staying.
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| You and Joy on your second day in Minneapolis |
"Shall we just walk?", you ask her, as you rub your hands together in front of your mouth.
Joy stands still. She takes a deep breath and looks around. She extends her neck like a giraffe and looks down the street where Marquette and 11th Street meet. She smiles and exclaims, "There!"
You didn't realize there is a taxi queue, right across Hilton.
You get in the cab and tell the Somali driver to bring you to The Saloon, a dance club on Hennepin Avenue. It's going to be your second time in two weeks here.
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| The Saloon |
The Saloon, from where you stand, has a dance floor and a seating area, dissected by a big bar in the middle. There is an area at the back for karaoke and arcade games.
You light up a stick of Winston Lights, from your last pack, which you had to bring from Manila as the price of cigarettes in America is ridiculous.
Joy, without saying anything, takes your free drink stub from your left hand as you light your cig up.
"Heineken?". It was more of a declarative statement than a question.
Surprised, you just nod as you scan the crowd. About half the crowd is Asians - probably Cambodians, Chinese, Vietnamese and Hmong. You swear to your life that you and Joy are the only Filipinos in the club.
You spot a familiar face and you half-smile, while raising your brows: Pete, a friend of John's, one of the first friends you made in the City of Lakes. Pete is Asian too.
"It's John's friend," you scream at Joy's ear, as Britney's "Slave for You" envelops the entire club. She gives you a bewildered look. Oops, she doesn't know John, you forgot.
"Pete, right?". You shake his hand. He says "Hey" and you proceed to formalities of Joy-this-is-Pete-introductions.
"You've seen John around?", you ask Pete. You try lip-reading his answer, since Mary J. Blige's "Family Affair" draws cheers from the crowd.
All you could decipher is his NO.
You thank Pete and pull Joy farther from the thickening crowd. You are both getting claustrophobic. It's half past nine and in about three hours, they'd be announcing the last call. After all, it's Minnesota. You suddenly miss Manila's party-till-you-drop scene.
"J, you want another drink," Joy yells at you, before finishing the last drop of her beer. You are about to nod when Pete approaches. In his Chinese-accented English, he asks, "Wanna go to a...?". The next couple of words are too faint to be heard, due to the loud dance music. He repeats, " To a party?"
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| Saint Paul & Minneapolis: The Twin Cities |
"Joy, Pete's asking if we wanna go to a party?"
Half-surprised and half-excited, Joy asks, "Where?"
Pete lip-reads good, as he moves closer to you and Joy, "It's jut a couple of miles away, in Saint Paul. Just the next city"
You and Joy do not think twice. You know Saint Paul is Minneapolis' twin city. As if you were in a movie scene, you both mutter, "SURE!", forgetting your supervisors' warning not to wander too far from downtown.
Five minutes later, you find yourself in the passenger seat of Pete's car, with Joy behind you.
"So, Pete, how far is it?", Joy asks as she struggles to check all the signs on the freeway, with no luck.
"Maybe ten more minutes", Pete replies with a blank face, while he keeps his eyes fixed on the road.
"Aren't you scared?", Pete asks, waiting for either Joy or me to answer.
You chuckle, "We've probably been on scarier roads." Not that there are no lights on I-94. It's just weird for you and your slightly gullible friend Joy to be in the car of someone you hardly know, in an unfamiliar city, at this hour.
"So you know where we're going?", Pete asks us.
"I've seen Saint Paul on a map," Joy exclaims, and the two of us laugh.
We get to our destination. Pete parks before a quiet apartment building. Joy is paranoid: "So how do we get home?", she questions me. Before you could say that you'll just call a cab and to not worry, Pete already offers, "I'll take you guys home, don't worry". Wow, Bionic Ears.
Pete knocks on the door. A Caucasian guy in his late 20s opens it, hugs Pete, and introduces himself to you and Joy. You fail to catch his name.
Joy whispers, "It's pretty quiet for a party, don't you think?" You shrug your shoulders.
What you see next is a little unusual: party guests, maybe six or seven, all sleeping in the living room, some on the carpeted floor, some in the couch.
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| Minneapolis at night |
As PF hands you and Joy your drink, Joy couldn't help but say, "Looks like we are late for the party!"
PF laughs. Pete, with a mysterious smile, assures us, "Don't worry, after your drink, we can go." There is a certain coldness in his voice.
PF excuses himself to call someone. You and Pete try to be friendly, with the normal conversation starters, like how long will you be in Minnesota, and all sorts of questions about your job and why you and Joy are in Minneapolis.
Joy whispers to your ear, "PF is asking his friends to come over. He told them he's got some cute Asians here." You just give her a weird look.
Pete and PF hug each other. You thank PF. You and Joy walk ahead of Pete as they seem to be talking about something serious. You hear a faint "Bye Ken" as you approach Pete's car.
Pete catches up and apologizes for the party being over. Joy doesn't care, she's had a free drink. She is pretty happy to save five bucks.
You find it a little unusual that Pete wants to go, after PF was on the phone with his friend.
Before getting on the freeway, Pete asks Joy, whose eyes are glued to the street lamps, "Sleepy, Joy?"
"I'm good", she answers him, with an I-don't-wanna-go-home-yet tone.
A little tired, you close your eyes a bit, as you buckle up, forgetting to do so five blocks ago.
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| Image from Wikipedia |
Since he promised to drive us home anyway, we agreed. You check your watch. A little past eleven.
Before you exit on MN-62, you catch a glimpse of your exit name: France Avenue. Pete parks his car beside an older one on the driveway, in front of a medium-sized house in a quiet community. He whispers and requests that you be quiet. He says his grandma is asleep. Pete unlocks their front door.
On the way here, Joy has asked what we could possibly do while hanging out. Pete says he's got some banana vodka, which sealed the deal.
Pete does not turn on the lights. The house was dark, with only light coming from outside guiding our way to the basement. It smells like dried Chinese herbs and spices. Maybe Grandma's.
Pete is still careful not only with his voice but also with his steps. As if following the leader, you also tiptoe downstairs.
The hall when we got to the basement is darker. And for some reason, Pete is not turning the lights on. You could see Pete's figure walking further down the hall to what looks like a door. He opens it. And at last, he turns the room's lights on.
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| You and Joy at Downtown Minneapolis Two weeks before the incident |
Pete gets out of the room and returns in half a minute, with plastic cups and a bottle of banana vodka, which he hands over to Joy. She gladly accepts and starts reading the label, as you start to feel a little warmer and decide to remove your jacket.
"You guys want some pizza?", Pete politely asks. You both nod and Pete says he'll be back in a minute.
"You okay?", you ask Joy, who now looks a bit sleepy. She tells you she is fine.
"Why didn't Pete want to stay at PF's when he learned that his friends were coming?", you curiously ask her.
All Joy can say is, "I find that weird too." She takes a sip of banana vodka.
"Now what if Pete...", you stop and look at the door, your heart, racing. Then you attempt to turn it down, "Now, what if Pete... is a psycho?"
Joy, who is taking another sip, chokes. She looks at you a bit scared. She opens her mouth to say something but you shut her out, "You know, we're in America. For god's sake, we do not even know where we are right now."
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| At France Avenue, Taken a few weeks after the events on this entry |
Your jaw drops.
And the power goes out.
Joy shrieks and you panic. You almost dropped your cup of vodka, as you pull Joy by the arm, towards the door. Like a blind man, you extend your hands into nothingness, as you make your way to the stairs. You can hear Joy calling all the names of gods she knew. Just when you are about to head up the stairs, the light goes back on.
Pete is in front of you, with a plate of pizza, his deep, dark eyes fixed at you and Joy.
He opens his mouth and asks in a monotone, "Where are you going?" ●
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Watch out for more custom-made Flashbacks from the Flashpacker giveaways.
Thank you everyone for reading!
That picture is actually St. Paul with Minneapolis in the background.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback! Edit done ^_^
Deletearrghh.. cliffhanger. can't wait to read about what happened next.
ReplyDelete