Page 10 - Contrast2009

,karaconstantine

'Nick called it "The Spot." I~ was like a code. My friend
Kayla and I followed him through the food court of
Westminster's Town Mall, our guide in black jeans, black
sweatshirt, and black Converse All-Stars. He was very
thin, subsisting on drugs; cigarettes, and th~ occasional

"Re'd Bull. Kayla, his protege, felt honored-this, was an
- affirmation, an initiation for her. She was also thin, and

dressed identically to Nick. I,was just always with her
then. part' of the package.
, Nick tossed his head occasionally as ~e walked, swiping
his ftuburn'hair out of his eyes. It was sheared in the
back, Lonqvi.n front, almost feminine-looking. He walked
lea~ing backwards a little, hands in his pockets., He led
us towards one of the big department stores, but veered '
off towards a corner. Surrounded by bright display windows
and crowd-sized,entrances, the grubby gray door was nearly
invisible: it ,reminded me of the tiny door Alice needed
to~shrink to enter. ~ prehistoric-looking'ficus partially
obscured it. I felt a little like a criminal or trespasser
going through the door, ,although it had no "Keep out" _;:;ign
or other warning. I was afraid of being caught by the mall
securi ty, but I was equally afraid of finding someone cooler,
and therefore more qualified to be there, on the other side.
Ni~k and K~yla slid past the door coolly, and I followed,
glancing behind me.

The hallway on the other side was brown and dingy, and,
smelled like rotten vegetables forgotten in a drawer of the
refrigerator. Doors on either side led to the back rooms
and storage areas of stores a~d restaurants,' and sticky
s~bstarices splashed the 'white cinderblock walls an~ inched
'down towards .t he floor. Some had solidified, perpetually mid-
drip. No one had bothered to mop up the grimy footprints '
'on the -t orn li'noleuro.'It was the kind .of grime my shoes'
accumulated during a shift at Pizza Hut-after which the
,soles, when clapped together, ,produced little'baok worms of
, packed grease.

- ,_Kayla was never nervous about taking her time/in this
hallway. For a few months, a shopping cart from the nearby
Giant had 'loitered there, providing us with entertainment
and photo opportunities. 'I pushed Kayla down the hall, Kayla
pushed me, Nick sent us' both flying with one shove and we
banged into the door at the other end.

This was the door to The Spot. It was even grubbier