by T. C. Clover
a staged prank until he proved otherwise.
Richard watched this latest display of Sunset Syndrome from the safety of a second-floor lounge with muted interest. The man had entered the hotel talking about the end of the world and quoting passages from the bible. But his actions escalated to a violent tantrum when he realized that most people were ignoring him. Although the soldier carried only a baseball bat, he had the menacing eyes of a trained killer, and not someone that hotel security wanted to infuriate. One member of the security team had already been hit in the kneecap and was still rolling around in pain near the front window of the waiting area.
The conservative film editor let his gaze drift to the front desk, where he saw the hotel manager speaking on a satellite phone in a whisper. Richard chuckled when he noticed that the man’s eyes were wide with terror; as though a baseball bat bully was something much deadlier than a nuisance. He looked at his watch with a degree of impatience, wondering how long it would take for the police to arrive and subdue the crazed intruder.
On the main floor of the lobby, the soldier charged through a group of people who were wheeling in luggage from the parking lot. They abandoned their luggage for safety, and the attacker was able to hit two small bags across the room with his weapon. Richard rolled his eyes at this ridiculous display, confused as to why hotel security staff refused to let a drone handle the man. It was all grand entertainment until Richard noticed that Litz and her new boyfriend were making their way into the hotel through the massive sliding doors. He glanced down to see that his co-star was on a collision course with the dangerous soldier and wanted to warn her, but something hateful simmered in his core. Richard gripped his forehead at the onset of this dilemma, and couldn’t decide whether there was a greater chance of Litz being harmed or her astronaut lover.
“He’s a man,” Richard concluded aloud to the other patrons in the lounge, “he’ll have to stand up for her.”
“Are you coming to the party tomorrow?” Jason asked as he escorted the beautiful television star through the lobby of her hotel. “I’d love to spend some more time with you,” he added with the gaze of a person wrapped in the bonds of love.
Litz frowned upon Jason for investing in her at such an early stage. She thought he would have been more of a conquest, but regardless of his semi-clingy nature, the man would be traveling to the moon in less than a week. Therefore, the beauty took his advances as an opportunity to make him work harder.
Jason felt awkward after Litz gave a negative response to his affection. He was about to conclude that she had problems with intimacy when the top of a baseball bat came swinging down at his face. The astronaut’s forearms shot forward in a defensive posture, and the metal bat struck hard just below his left elbow. In a moment of protective instinct, he sidestepped to the right with his arms still in the air, and then pushed off to his left. This maneuver caused his attacker to lose his footing and fall almost onto his face. The soldier released the baseball bat and used his hands to keep his nose from smashing into the carpet.
Litz and Jason watched the event unfold in a surreal state of shock, unaware of what circumstances had led up to this moment. The steel bat bounced a few times on the carpet, and Robert reached out to grab it, but Jason stepped up and kicked it across the room toward the front desk. Litz admired this move by her lover, but she cringed when the metal object clanged hard against the lobby tiles a few times.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jason shouted with a baffled expression as he gripped more of the man’s shirt than his left shoulder.
“Sweetheart, I think he has Sunset Syndrome,” Litz thought aloud as she took the age of the man and his appearance into consideration. “I mean, let’s not be stupid; he could be a total psycho, but don’t hurt him if you don’t need to,” she instructed with hand gestures that embodied a level of calm and wisdom.
“They want me out!” Robert decried to the hotel lobby from his position on all fours. “I don’t understand; I just don’t understand why it has to be this way.”
“Litz, are you okay?” Richard asked as he approached the couple in a pretentious manner. “Did he scare you?”
“I’m the one who almost got brained!” Jason expressed with a fiery gaze, showing his disapproval for Richard’s contrived gesture.
Litz glared at Richard and wanted to spit on his green turtleneck sweater. She hated him from his black wingtips and matching dress pants all the way to his foolish schoolboy haircut. Her right hand trembled when she thought about how Richard had shunned Stoney on perhaps the most vulnerable day of his life.
“This is the man who wants you out; he hates older men,” Litz said to the soldier who had moved to a kneeling position on the carpet and was looking them over.
Richard and Jason gawked at their companion with dumbfounded faces. Neither of them believed that anyone could be so irresponsible and unpredictable. The soldier leapt from his kneeling position and waylaid Richard with a tremendous right-handed punch to his jaw.
“That’s for Stoney, you bastard!” Litz announced as she stood over Richard and shook her fists. “You should have supported him for being gay.”
“You lied to me!” Robert snarled at the pretentious woman as he bolted across the entryway carpet to get in her face. “You lied!”
“No…yes, but you still hit him for a good reason.” She held out her hands toward the enraged soldier and felt dread creeping through her veins.
Robert got within a few inches of her body before Jason tackled him and wrestled him to the floor. Litz began to back away in her high heels and raised her elbow above her face in a defensive position. But when the attack didn’t come, she lowered her arm and observed Jason in an uncharacteristic fit of aggression. The astronaut grappled the soldier like a murderous jungle cat and was able to subdue him with his right elbow against the back of the man’s head. Jason pressed his elbow down with extreme force until he was confident about pinning his attacker’s face to the floor.
In less than a minute, the police showed up to escort the man away, and several people in the lobby applauded Jason’s bravery. Richard was sitting on the carpet with his knees bent in an uncomfortable position. He glared at Litz and rubbed his sore jaw, dismayed that this opportunity had turned into such a loss. His heart sank as Jason reached out and offered him a hand. Although it was the last thing he wanted, the spectators in the hotel would never approve, so Richard accepted his help and rose to his feet.
“You don’t deserve him,” Richard declared to the bold vixen after Jason pulled him to a standing position. “He’s too good for someone as soulless as you, Litz.” The irritable conservative then shook Jason’s hand and turned on his heel, vacating the lobby with the remainder of his dignity.
Litz breathed out through her nose with a sigh. She knew that her actions had lost points with both men, but decided that it was necessary for justice to have its moment.
“I think it’s time to say goodnight,” Litz stated with a frown as she watched Jason come in for a kiss, pushing him back with a firm right hand. “Maybe I’ll see you at the fundraiser tomorrow,” she conveyed in a hollow fashion, refusing to look into his eyes.
“Maybe…” Jason replied in a disenchanted tone as he turned and strutted away without another thought.
The astronaut expected a cold reception from his new lover at the NASA fundraiser and wondered if he should avoid her altogether. He clenched his right hand into a fist and then thought better of this action, wanting to appear collected and mature during his exit. As a middle-aged man, he was empathetic toward the rebellious guy who smashed up the hotel with a baseball bat and wondered if he would do something similar in the future.
Jason gazed up at the sky when he emerged from the hotel to the beautiful outdoors of Houston, Texas. He remembered dreaming about space from the time he was a boy. It seemed like a fantas
tic escape from a world that featured such unnecessary drama. Everything about space was the opposite of the bustling cacophony of modern life. For those who were unafraid of being inches from death at every turn, the universe provided a means to gain an ultimate perspective.
The frustrated astronaut snorted when he thought about Litz and the erotic adventure upon which they had embarked. He had no illusions about his motivations but detected nuances of love in the television star. There were short flashes of eternity that came to light when she let her guard down. However, Jason realized that he may as well have been picking flowers during a tornado. His mission to Mars had a ten-percent chance of survival, and he knew that the second shuttle would be his vehicle to the grave. Despite the glaring finality of this mission, Litz Rack had given him something that he could cling to without fear. With her raucous nature of disobedience, she had shown Jason how to ‘face death like a rock star and ride his motorcycle to hell.’
IX. Blister
For the first time in seven years, Richard felt tempted by a glass of red wine. His eyes were fixed on the brilliant crimson liquid as it whirled around inside a wineglass made of fine crystal. The golden rim of the glass seemed to tempt him, giving off an