        Hi  ......  As always, comments are both  appreciated and
encouraged.  Tell me what you liked  about the story and what
you disliked. Don't just say  , "nice story"  or "it stunk"   I
only ask that you reply  by e-mail instead of postings, that
way I'm sure to  get your reaction.  Any and all email will
always be  answered.



Thanks,
Ann D.

     - FRIDAY AT THE MOVIES-
                    Part One
                    by  Ann Douglas
                (AnnD@Pipeline.Com)


        Jack Tayor couldn't believe his luck. He was  going to be the
first of all his friends to see the new  Clint Conner's action
film, Deadly Larry.  With a  bravado worthy of Clint Conner
himself, the 16 yr  old had spent a week planning the operation
that had  resulted in his triumph.
        First he had reported to school that morning  and attended his
home room and the first period  class, just enough time to
establish in the eyes of the  school authorities that he had
been to school that  day. That way he avoided the postcard they
sent  home to your parents whenever you were marked  absent.
Then he had hid out in the boys bathroom  for the first fifteen
minutes of the second period. Like a spy penetrating the most
secret halls of the  Pentagon, Jack had then worked his way to
the  school's side entrance, the only one that was open  after
the start of second period.
        Careful observation had taught him that it  was about twenty
after that Mrs. Kaminsky, the  woman who was the door monitor
there, usually  took a cigarette break. Arriving at the top of
the  staircase at quarter after, Jack watched as she locked
the door and headed for the teacher's lounge on the  other end
of the first floor.  With the passing of all  the no smoking
rules, it was the only place an adult  could smoke in the
building. Most students usually  just lit up in the closest
bathroom.
        Having previously timed the operation, the  sandy haired
teenager knew it would take her two  minutes to reach the
lounge. Adding five minutes for  the smoke, that gave him nine
minutes to make his  escape.
        As the gray haired matron disappeared into  the first floor
hallway, Jack carefully watched the  second hand on his watch.
He would give her two  minutes to get at least get to the
lounge.  It wouldn't  do for her to suddenly realize she forgot
her lighter  and catch him playing with the door lock.
        As the sweep hand passed four for the
second time, he bolted from his hiding place and ran  for the
door. Normally once locked, the door  couldn't  be opened from
the inside without setting  off the fire alarms.  To most kids,
this would be a  major problem, but not to a fan of Clint
Conners. A  little research in the school library had told him
that  a little piece of conductive tape in the right place
would let him bypass the alarm.
        Two minutes later, a wide smile filled his  face as he heard a
satisfying click when the door  locked behind him. The little
piece of tape would fall  off of its own accord when Mrs.
Kaminsky reopened  the door.  He had made the perfect escape.
        Arriving at the theater at 11:18, he quickly  bought his
ticket while the woman  in the ticket  booth was more
interested in watching her morning  soap than in noting that he
was too young to be  buying a ticket for the R rated film.  The
rest of his  friends would get around this restriction later
that  night by having one of their older brothers come  with
them to the show.
        Now, safe in his seat in the back two rows of  the theater, he
anxiously waited the start of the  show.  There were only about
a dozen people in the  movie house, spread out among a theater
which  normally held almost 500 people.  That was the  beauty
of his plan.  He would be able to savor every  minute of  the
film in a quiet, empty theater.  When  his buddies saw it
tonight, it would be with a couple  of hundred screaming fans.
        In the front of the theater, Jack could see  two other teens
who must've also skipped school to  see the film.  Sitting in
the front rows was always a  bad move, Jack believed.  It was
too easy to be seen  from the back doors.  Sometimes the
Theater  Manager would spot check each auditorium, looking  out
for kids playing hooky.  Checking his watch,  Jack happily
noted it was only five minutes to show  time.

        "Excuse me, is this seat taken?"  Said a tall  woman who had
moved into the row just in front of  Jack.
        "Er...no."  Jack replied.
        "Good,"  She smiled, I don't like to sit too  close to the
screen, it hurts my eyes."
        "Oh jeez!"  Jack said under his breath.  "Practically an empty
theater and she's going to sit  right in front of me."
        Actually, she sat 2 seats to the right of the  empty seat in
front of him.  Even so, it was close  enough to intrude on
Jack's own little private space.
        The woman stood again as she laid her coat  over one of the
empty chairs.  As she stood in the  light, Jack got a better
look at her. Her face showed  more than a few age lines and her
curly black hair  had more than a few steaks of gray-white.
Jack was  never good at guessing ages but he figured that she
was older than his mother. who was 45.  If he could  look in
her purse and see her driver's license, he  would've see that
she was actually 49.  She wasn't  heavy like his mother or any
of her friends, but she  still wasn't a woman he would look at
twice.  In fact,  all she really was to him at that moment was
an  annoyance.  Someone who was upsetting his  carefully
thought out plans.
        "Two minutes to show time."  Flashed the  imagine on the
screen, replacing the various adds the  theater showed while
you waited.  "Last chance to
visit our snack bar."
        "Ok,"  Thought Jack, putting the woman out  of his mind.
"Here we go!"
        It was then that he noticed the man in the  suit jacket
talking to the two teens in front.  He was  using a flashlight
to check their id's.  A few moments later he was leading them
back up the aisle to the  exits.  Jack sunk down a little lower
in his seat, he  could've told them sitting up front was a
mistake.
        The Manager had already passed  Jack when  one of the teens
saw him and called out.
        "Hey, what about him?"
        "Shit!"  Jack thought as the flashlight beam  spun around and
rested on him.  "What a fuckin'  asshole!  He gets caught so he
has  to make sure that  no one else gets to see the movie."
        The Manager was already half way down the  row to check Jack's
identification when the woman  in front of him turned around
and asked....
        "Is there a problem?"
        "Sorry for the disruption, Ma'am."  The  Theater Manager said
apologetically.  "We've been
having a problem with kids cutting school and  hanging out
here, especially when we're running  action movies like these.
The School Board has  asked us to do spot checks on unescorted
teens to  cut down on truancy.  It'll just take a minute and
you'll be able to enjoy the movie.  Again I apologize  but I'm
sure you understand?"
        "Oh of course,"  She replied. "In fact I'm  glad to see you
take such a personal interest in the  matter.  You see so
little of that these days."
        Jack paid little attention to the exchange,  instead cursing
the luck that had undone his carefully  crafted plan.
        "But I'm afraid there's been a small mistake." The woman
continued. "This young man behind me  is my nephew."
        "Your nephew?"  The Manager repeated.
        "Why yes,"  She continued.  "I normally  don't sit with him
cause he's a little embarrassed  about sitting with his "Old
Aunt".  I don't know  about these two young gentlemen, but my
nephew is  obviously too young to have bought a ticket to this
film without an adult having been with him."
        "Well I guess its ok then."  The Manager  said, his voice
showing he wasn't really convinced.
         But by now a few of the other patrons were  standing and
looking in his direction to see what was  the delay was in
starting the movie.
        If it'll make you happy, I'll sit back there with  him and
make sure there's no problem."  The woman  said as she rose and
moved around to enter the row  from the other side.
        The Manager was about to say that it
wouldn't be necessary, but she was already moving. Instead he
withdrew as quick as he could and  signaled the projectionist
to start the film.
        As the house lights dimmed, Jack leaned  over and said a quiet
thank you to the woman.  He  still wasn't overjoyed about her
sitting near him,  much less next to him, but it sure beat
getting  thrown out and missing the movie.
        "That's ok,"  The woman who told him her  name was Alice
replied. "I was young once, believe  it or not.  I'll try not
to detract from your enjoyment  of the film."
        Twenty minutes later, after 2 car crashes, a  bank robbery,
and a dozen dead hoods had appeared  on the screen, Jack had
forgotten that Alice was  even there.


Ann Douglas


 
