The New Guy

She said yes. Anna Lisa Kristina said yes. Not to marrying me. As if I’d be able to afford her the lifestyle she was diligently pursuing on my salary as a no-job-self-proclaimed Artist of the Universe. She said yes to going with me to the Cafe. The Cafe that Jaycie ran. The one that was slowly attracting some interesting folks from around Los Angeles.

I’d been attending the Cafe for a good couple of months and it started growing on me. The people who performed weren’t so weird to me anymore. Maybe I was becoming weird like them. Or maybe I was beginning to see what they were talking about. After all, I’d been breaking down my walls when it came to my own performing. Maybe something was going on in my head where I wasn’t so quick to judge anymore. Even if there was a guy who wore cardboard clothes and called it his robot love suit.

“Here we are!” I exclaimed, opening the door to my car. I picked her up four hours earlier so we could eat in Little Tokyo. So I could show her all the sights and sounds of this place that I was starting to call comfortable. So I could show her a place where I wasn’t so much of a loser, rather, someone who was well-liked and well-known. At least the Little Tokyo around the Cafe.

She stepped out of my car. Beautiful. Dresses down with blue jeans and white sneakers, a black form fitting shirt and her hair across her shoulders. As normal as normal could be. And just as beautiful. To me.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding, huh?” She said smiling, her eyes turning into crescent moons.

“Yup.” And I lead her to the open courtyard where the performances of the Cafe were to be held. Speakers on stands in the corners. Sporadically placed steel tables and chairs all around. Three microphones stood in the center. And walking, sitting, standing around, was a bunch of people who were strangers to her, but who knew who I was.

“Hey Xavier!”

“What’s up, Xavier!”

“How’s it going Xavier!”

“Bleep Dop Omp Scrot Xavier!” said the guy in the cardboard robot suit.

“Wow. You seem to be a popular guy around these parts.” She said.

I smiled. She entered my world and was slightly impressed. She didn’t know it, but later on in the night, I was going to recite some of the poetry I’d written about her. Some of my best work, actually. Tonight was going to be the night where she fell back in love with me.

“Yo! Xavier! You bitch ass trick!” Came a booming voice from behind me. And a big hand slapped my shoulder, nearly dislocating it.

I quickly turned around and saw a hulk of a figure. Low browed, stooped shouldered, and wide jaw. It was Long. My old friend Long.

“Sup, motherfucker.” I said smirking, trying to hide the wince of pain. “Who you here with?”

“Jack and Corn. Corn said you’d be here tonight so we came by.” Long bellowed. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Ya. It’s good to see you guys. Let’s get a drink later.” I said, then motioning to Anna Lisa Kristina, “Remember Kris?”

He stared at her. Then smiled a big yellow smile. “Damn, girl! Anna Lisa Kristina! Haven’t seen you in a while, too! This is like a family reunion!”

“Yes.” She said forcing a smile. She never liked Long. But she tolerated him because I liked him. “It’s exactly like a family reunion.

“Yo! Xavier!” said Corn and Jack in unison. I gave them a high five each. Reintroduced them to Anna Lisa Kristina. Then Jaycie came walking up to all of us. She was holding a bunch of folders, a couple of pens, a clipboard, and a microphone, all in one hand.

“Hi everyone! Glad to see you all here!” She said hurriedly. “Go ahead and take your seats! The show is about to begin! I’m so excited!” And she excitedly hurried off to tell another group of people to take their seats.

Just as we were about to sit down, Anna Lisa Kristina received a call on her cell phone. She picked it up. “Hello? Hi. Yeah. Well, I’m in Little Tokyo. With Xavier. No, I don’t think so. I can’t. Really, I can’t. No, you don’t have to. Seriously. I’d rather not. Please don’t. I said, don’t! Mason, seriously, I said no. No! Oh my God! You’re so difficult! Okay fine. I’ll be waiting.”

I looked at her face. That chubby little face I fell in love with almost a decade ago. The same chubby face I wrote poems and short stories for. The same chubby face that I was going to recite writings for that very night. The same chubby face that was going to, all over again, break my heart.

“Xavier…” She began, apologetically.

“I know. It’s cool.” I said, fixing my eyes on the microphones in the center of the courtyard. The first performer was heading there. She was wearing a pilgrims outfit and had a boombox chained around her neck.

“I’ll be back in ten minutes.” She said, standing up, putting her purse in her hands, and facing the entryway. “I promise.”

“Not a problem.” I said. Leaned back in my chair, pulled out a cigarette and smoked it like I didn’t care.

She looked at me a little. Sighed. And walked out of the Cafe just as it had begun.