Terry Neale - Jo-el

In my ear, I heard, “ they called the police, you’ve only got two minutes.” Gee thanks, Sally. Fuck! I was just about to exit stage left, when one of the girls rose up and came towards me. She beamed happiness and held out a credit card. I was speechless. Here was an act of kindness, the world was not going to pot. The waiter saw what was happening and shouted something at the bull-mastiff, then reached out and took the credit card.

“I’m only thirteen dollars short.” I said to the girl standing by my table, pushing my forty-five dollars in her direction to ease the pain.

She smiled warmly and said, “that’s okay, we couldn’t see a fellow American dragged off.” She was American, don’t you just love ‘em? Her long, brown hair was pinned back in a pony-tail, her face soft with high, angular cheek bones. She reminded me of the blond girl in Friends, but not so tall. “Come over and join us,” she added.

The waiter smiled, the bull-mastiff was nowhere to be seen and I didn’t hear any sirens. All was good. I joined the two young ladies at their table, but my mind was on the Brits, I was going to get her money back and repay their kindness. The beauty was, it would be a piece of cake. Those assholes didn’t know who they were messing with?

“Thank-you so much,” I said, pulling out a chair to sit down. “They stiffed me!”

“No problem, you’re cute,” said the Friends girl. She said her name was Melody and her companion was Briana, both from Austin, Texas. Those southern girls are forward, I thought.

“Dave,” I said, holding out a hand to shake, but they both just giggled. “How long will you be here?”

They looked at each other, Melody said, “half hour or so, we only just ordered.”

“Okay, I’m going to get your money back. Don’t go away.” I left before they could object.

Around the corner I called up Sally on the heads-up. “ Where are those guys?”

“They went to Ipanema beach. They’re sitting on a wall watching the sea.”

“Where are they staying?”

“Hotel Metro.”

“What room?”

“Three-two-four.”

“Bounce me in there as soon as I’m out of sight.”

“Okay.” I walked across the street to the entrance to the General Osorio Metro station and walked down the steps looking for somewhere to hide. There was a pillar, I started to walk around it but didn’t make it. I had bounced into a hotel room and immediately fell over. I needed more practice. It was untidy with clothes strewn everywhere. The customary hotel safe was attached to the wall in the closet.

“ What’s the code?”

“Five, six, seven, eight.”

Original. I punched in the numbers. Inside were two passports, an ipad, a wallet and some loose English pound coins. I picked up the coins and put them in my pocket and looked through the wallet. A credit card said Ian LaTrain, there were more pound notes all twenties and tens, probably two hundred pounds altogether and five hundred and fifty Brazilian Real. I pocketed all the money and the passports, then put the wallet back in the safe and smiled. I left the safe open. Fuck-you guys.

“ Bounce me back to the café.”

“Okay.”

I waited a few seconds, guessing that Sally was figuring out a good landing spot. Then, suddenly I was in an alley, standing in a doorway, on two feet, yeah! For a moment, I was disorientated, “ where’s the café?”

“Turn right, then left, it’s there.”

I did what she said and the café was on my left, the two girls still at the same table. They didn’t see me, I crossed the road again and dumped the passports in a trash bin outside the Metro station then when back to my new friends. Oh, that felt so good. “ Thanks Sally.”

I’d only been gone five or six minutes; they’d only just received their order. I grinned at Melody and brought out the Reals peeling off two hundred, I handed them to her. “Thanks again, this and the dollars should cover your meal,” I said. She didn’t object, I don’t think she had paid any attention to the actual amount she’d signed for with the credit card.

I ordered coffee and watched the girls eat. Between small talk I checked them out on the heads-up. It felt a little like I was snooping but I didn’t care, they were very young. They were from wealthy families in Austin, both on Spring Break from Texas U. Melody’s father was working in Rio and she had tagged along, bringing her friend. They were heading back to Austin on Wednesday, missing a day of classes. Neither was likely to make the honor roll. Since being in Rio, both had had sex with two different guys and one time they’d had a threesome with a guy from Holland. This was written on the screen and was followed with the word ‘Private’ in black capitals.

“ What’s the ‘private’ designation, Sally?”

“You can’t see the actual sex,” she answered.

“Why?”

“It’s private and consensual, all such things are blocked.”

“Explain.”

“The Cirion people have blocked all things that are innocent and private for millions of years. Only if there is a crime can they be viewed. As soon as someone walks inside their home or into a private area, like a hotel room, providing they don’t do anything wrong, it’s blocked. Out of the house they are deemed to be in public.

I had to think about that for a while. The ACLU would be happy. Seemed totally reasonable to me.

I wondered where Melody’s father was, being a Sunday, and discovered that he was being entertained by his client at Girls-a-gogo. Need I say more. Like father like daughter.

I reviewed their conversation together while I’d been gone and wasn’t surprised to find out that I was earmarked as their next conquest. I felt flattered and confused. My loins swelled and I crossed my legs awkwardly. The temptation was enormous, but Mary had only been gone a few months and I just couldn’t come to terms with the situation. I wondered what Sally thought? And that made me question why I would worry about what my computer would think? The holographic image played tricks with your mind. Interesting perspective, leave it to the phycologists to sort out.

I feigned the need to use the bathroom and didn’t return. It made me feel guilty but I had no doubt that they would find a willing male very quickly and forget about the one that got away.

I walked along Ipanema beach watching the people. The girls were everything I’d fantasized about and more. Beautiful, slim bodies a perfect shade of brown. Bikinis so small that nothing was left to the imagination. The young men had hard bodies and swim shorts that also left little to picture. Then there were the old brown bodies, men and women strolling along slowly, no doubt reminiscing about their youth and the time when they too would solicit the gazes of the voyeurs. In between the tall buildings across the street I caught sight of Christ the Redeemer. That icon of Rio and Brazil. Mary so wanted to visit the statue one day, but we always put it off until it was too late. She was a good Catholic girl, attending church often, usually without me. Yet she never criticized my lack of faith and always appeared content that her husband was faithful and what she called a ‘good family man’.

I crossed the street to a hotel and found a back stairway. “ Sally, bounce me to the statue, out of sight.”

“Okay.” She didn’t need to be told what statue. I waited for two or three minutes, realizing that she was having a little difficulty finding a spot out of sight, then suddenly I was standing on a concrete landing directly behind the statue. There were steps both sides, I walked to the right and then around to the front and gazed up at the face of Jesus. My mind turned to Mary and a tear rolled gently down my cheek. I was cognizant of two nuns not too far off, watching me, I glanced at them and smiled. I could see the joy in their faces at my tears, I’m sure they believed that the statue of Jesus had caused my emotion.