Having consulted my street directory, I proceeded toward where my call should have been only to find impediment in an angry red sign reading "DO NOT ENTER" at the intersection of Main and Carroll. After circling the Capitol Square again, I found the other end of this block and yet another truculent sign bearing an arrow pointing to the right with a line through it, the lettering underneath reading, "Except bikes, buses, cars and police-authorized vehicles."
The traffic light at my intersection turned green, but I did not move. What in the name of all the false gods of heaven was meant by that sign?
The light turned red, then when it turned green once again, I threw caution to the wind and made the turn, noticing a restaurant, Crandall's, a bar, with big letters just above the front door, The Shamrock, a glass door, with steps leading upward, The Rising Sun, which I suspected might be some sort of house of ill-repute. Next to that establishment was a plain wooden door, which bore no lettering that I could see, and the door after that was another bar, with a large, green neon sign in the front picture window. Clancy's. I promptly hit my HiQ.
"Where is theParadise ?"
"Carroll andMain ." The dispatcher responded to other questions before even waiting to hear my acknowledgment. I hit the HiQ again.
"Yes, Mister Farkus. What can I do for you?"
"I am at Carroll and Main, right around the corner from theInn on the Park. Where exactly is theParadise ?"
"Right in front of your nose, fifty. The door immediately west of the Rising Sun. And, Mister Farkus, try to make your transmission more concise."
"Ten-four." Had I not been reasonably concise? This dispatcher seemed not a nice fellow, but I shoved that thought to the back of my mind, then backed up a few feet and parked, the Rising Sun directly to my left. Just west was that plain, wooden door, with no window, no neon, no brightly painted signs. My gaze moved upward. Three-quarters to the top of the two-story tan brick building hung a plain black and white sign, so dingy that the lettering seemed to blend in with the background. "ParadiseLounge." Thiswas the correct place.
The fine art of loading calls. That is what Kern called it. He said we go inside bars and restaurants to "dig out passengers."
No one waited in front of the bar. No one emerged. After about a minute, I went inside. The bar was dark as a cave, the wood paneling absorbing almost all the light. The air reeked of cigarette smoke and stale beer. Though the darkness was certainly comforting, the bar itself was a bustling beehive of humanity, and that is something that has always seemed queer about these mortals - their incessant need to crowd amongst each other and then perhaps complain about how the bar is so crowded, causing them to depart to yet another crowded bar.
"Someone call for a cab?" I quietly asked the bartender.
He was a cadaverous fellow with deeply-set eyes and greasy hair. It almost made me wonder if he perhaps was the one who had dined on the college student who had so kindly provided me with sustenance less than two weeks ago. "Yeah. Granny! Cab's here."
"Granny" looked up from her perch at the end of the bar, a drink in front of her.
"I am right outside, ma'am." She nodded at me, and I turned to leave. Shortly, she emerged, her clothes hanging loosely over an emaciated body. When she neared the cab, I got out and opened the back door for her. She smiled at the gesture. Do cab drivers not exercise common courtesy, let alone chivalry? A lady is a lady after all!
"Good evening. Where may I take you?"
"Twenty-five forty-six East Johnson."
Ah, that would be east of the Capitol, presumably 25 blocks east. And Johnson runs parallel toEast Washington , to the north, if mnemonic-enhanced memory was to be considered correct.
"Do you have a favorite route?" I asked. Then, remembering Kern's advice, I added, "you are my very first passenger."
"Ohhh, well, I'm just kitty-corner from Steven's Restaurant. Know where that is?"
"My apologies, ma'am, I do not."
"Well, just take the outer loop around toEast Washington , go to sixth and hang a left. Uh, yeah, it's after six, so you can do that. Hang a left on sixth, turn right on Johnson, and I'm right at the end of the block. On the left hand side."