"Dude, seriously??" Even through the fuzzy phone-booth receiver, Marty could hear the agitation in Russ' voice.
"Listen, I know this question sounds bad --even to me-- but is there any way you can push my recording date later?" Marty asked desperately, "The mechanics are saying they won't be able to get the car part in until tomorrow,"
He leaned dramatically against the plexiglass wall. Outside, Bill was busy talking to a person in a Hi-Viz vest. The flashing lights of the parked tow truck reflected off his sweaty forehead, while the glow of the nearby building shone through the settled evening fog. Marty's desperation grew as he clutched the phone chord in his hand. All of his fantasies about becoming rich and famous were now teetering on the edge of destruction.
"Absolutely not!" Russ replied. "You gambled with everyone's time driving across the country when you could have gotten a plane ticket,"
"I tried! I really tried, but there weren't any--"
"You could have looked at alternative routes. Different airlines. Anything! But now there's nothing I can do. I already warned you: if you can't be here by first thing tomorrow, you're off the project,"
"..."
Marty said nothing. After a slight pause, Russ' voice became distant, as though she had moved the phone away from her ear.
"I shouldn't have let my manager talk me into calling you in the first place..." she said quietly, perhaps not for Marty to hear.
But Marty DID hear.
"Russ, wait--" he started.
"Show up tomorrow or not, I don't care," Russ interrupted. "Just don't call me again, okay?"
"Russ!"
CLICK.
She had hung up once again, leaving Marty with a strange mixture of emptiness and anger. Letting out a loud "UGH!", he smacked his head against the wall of the phone booth.
Outside, the smell of rusting metal and gasoline filled the air, accompanied by the rumble of an idling tow-truck. Bill was still speaking with the person in the vest, his voice filled with exhaustion. He didn't even glance over as Marty came storming up to him. Without waiting for an acknowledgement, Marty grabbed onto Bill's shoulders and shoved him backwards like a child throwing a tantrum.
Startled, Bill stumbled backwards a few steps.
"Dude! What the hell?"
"You're asking me 'What the hell?'?" Marty shouted, "This is your fault!"
"What on earth are you talking about??"
"If you hadn't taken that detour for that weird ghost lady, I would have made it to the studio on time!"
The person in the Hi-Viz vest slowly backed away from the conversation, blinking awkwardly. Neither Bill nor Marty noticed anything, instead plowing on with their argument amidst the warm late-night breeze.
"Marty, the car broke down. How does that have anything to do with me?"
"You could have sped up, taken another route, anything! Now I've gotten into trouble with Russ, and my entire future is at stake!"
"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have even gotten on the road to begin with," said Bill, "Now you're blaming me for everything?!"
By this point Marty's face was also beaded with sweat, causing him to sparkle angrily in the bright lights of the tow truck.
"This was supposed to be my chance to make it big," he said, "I could be sipping champagne with Jimi Hendrix right now. Or something. --But you ruined it!"
YOU ARE READING
Mile 15
Humor"Ridin' on down this ol' highway. Listen to what this Joe has seen. His story how he went astray, when he- Met the Devil on mile fifteen," Marty was voted "Most likely to become a pop-star" in his high school yearbook, but has yet to become anything...
