I was at a huge hotel, the type usual integrated into a convention and shopping complex. Sitting at a spare gray table, I was paying for some transaction. A bald man in a suit added up the charges: $41.
I pulled out my wallet and withdrew a credit card. As I did, I opened my wallet and laid it flat. That showed my retired military ID, and three other documents, including a gift certificate for $1451. I was hoping that he would see my ID and offer a discount or suggest that I could use the gift certificate. As I thought each of these things, I thought, why don’t you just ask?
The man took my credit card and said, “You didn’t take a diamond, did you?”
“A diamond? What did it look like?”
He pulled out a photo of a diamond. “Like this.”
I looked over to the glass exit doors. A large, disheveled man was there. Acting furtive, he carried a case. But on the bottom of the case, which he was inadvertently holding up to the side, was a diamond just like in the photo. I said, “Do you mean a diamond like that?”
The bald man looked over, and then seeing it, stood and began walking to the door. The man hastily walked out the doors. The bald man shouted, “Hey you.” The man with the diamond ran.
The bald man took off running down the length of the hotel. I don’t know what his plan was. I rushed out and saw the man with the diamond getting into a gray car with yellow letter. Part of that lettering was a number, so I memorized that. I figured I could pass the info on and they — police or whatever — could look for that vehicle as a clue to where the man had gone.
The bald man returned. We went back to the table and sat. I told him about the man getting into a gray car and the other details. The man replied, “We use white taxis with blue lettering.”
I shrugged. That’s not what I saw. I repeated all that. The bald man dismissed it.
Returning to my documents, he said, “I can set up your money so that it makes more money.”
The change of topic surprised me. Had we talked about this before? He then went into a spiel about columns and how much I had where. I politely listened, knowing I was turning him down.
A well-dressed blonde woman then approached. The bald man was pleased to see her, exclaiming about how she’d taken his advice and now had so much more. She presented him with a paper similar to what the bald man had written down for me. He enthused about how much my situation was like the blonde woman.
I’d had enough, stood, said, “Thank you,” and “We’ll talk later.”
I moved to the entrance to leave. Workers were there. They had the floor torn up and blocked the exit. Resigned, I went along the hotel to find another exit.
The hotel turned into a Macy’s. I walked through different departments, trying to find an exit. Then I heard an announcement, will the strange man in the hat come to blah blah.
I could hear the woman making the announcement. I was wearing my olive green hat, so I went around the corner and asked, “Do you mean me?”
This was a young, white woman, short, fuzzy blonde hair, dressed in shorts and hiking boots. “Yes,” she said, and the told me I needed to go with her.
I refused, asking, “Why?”
She didn’t explain. Instead, she pulled out a taser and threatened me.
I said, “Go ahead. Use it.” I figured I had a law suit if she did.
A group of her fellow employees had gathered to watch. She used the taser. It shot out wires and attached to me, but there was nothing else. I grabbed the wires and wadded them up in my hand and then took the taser from her. She ordered me to give it back.
I refused, demanded an apology and an admission from her that she’d made assumptions and she was wrong. Then I walked off. She followed, demanding her taser back. I ignored her.
Still looking for an exit, I finally tossed the taser aside and saw her pick it up and leave. I was now in some kind of financial services place. Not wanting to get involved with any of them, I avoided eye contact and walked through, looking for an exit. A young man in a shirt and tie rushed over and offered me a bottle of water. I accepted that, thanked him, drank, and went on.
By now, I was cross with myself. Finding an exit should be easier than this! I decided to retrace my steps, go back and begin again.
I ran into two of my younger sisters. They were waiting to leave so I sat down with them. I wanted to tell the taser story but the ignored me. One of them filled a reuseable water bottle with water from a fountain, and then added sugar. She said something to me but I didn’t catch it.
Dream end
