Driving Down the 101

Excerpt from Driving Down the 101 by Jawa & Dana Copyright © 2005-2006

The driver got us to the hotel, it was almost noon by then and the sun was scorching hot.

We entered the hotel fully confident, although we must have looked ridiculous. Dana went up to a man behind the counter “Hello, I’m looking for a relative of mine. I know his first name only, and that he’s from Kuwait. Can you help me find him?”

The man hid a giggle as he exchanged glances with a woman next to him, “I’m sorry Madam but that’s private information, if he’s your relative you should at least know his full name, which even if you knew I still wouldn’t be able to tell you which room he’s staying at. So if you’re looking for the Kuwaiti family that’s staying at the penthouse suite I’m afraid I can’t help you”

“Dammit!” Dana slapped her thigh.
“It’s okay!” Moody-Na-Na patted her shoulder, “I will find a way”. He began climbing on top of the counter, pushing away some papers and brochures. He crossed his legs and began humming. Minutes later he stopped and opened his eyes, a smile on his face.

“I have meditated about it, and I have an answer to your problem. The family you are looking for are staying in the penthouse suite!”
He really was gifted!

Now to move on to our second problem, we needed a key to the penthouse. This time it was I who was able to solve our new problem. I suggested that we find someone from the maintenance and steal the keys from her. With Moody-Na-Na expertly leading the way we headed towards the back of the hotel where the kitchen and storage rooms were found. We opened the first storage room and came across an old woman sitting on a broken stool.
“Can I help you?” she asked looking at us with a sweet gentle smile. Moody-Na-Na took control of the situation and started walking towards her. He began smiling in a way that was supposed to be sexy but instead it looked like he was nauseous and for some reason he kept moving his head in circles.

“Do you want a bucket?” she asked quickly getting up from her stool and heading to a shelf.
“No … I wanted to ask you something” he made a movement to stop her but ended up crashing into the stool and knocking it over. He let out a string of curse words as he hopped on one foot and rubbed his shin.
“What are you blind?” the old woman snapped, she didn’t seem so gentle anymore.

Moody-Na-Na looked helpless for a second then his eyes glazed over with anger. He stared intently at the woman then made a grab for her pocket. She let out a scream and fell back into the shelves knocking over some things. Moody-Na-Na turned to us and screamed “Run!” before taking off in front of us towards the hotel’s kitchen. We followed him, losing him for a moment, then following his evil cackle and finding him again. We continued running until we made it past the kitchen and into the main lobby of the hotel.

There we regained our composure and huddled close together.
“What was that about?” I snapped at him.
“Shh … look what I got” he whispered taking out a chain of keys from his robe.

He really was a genius.