She checked her phone and smiled. “This party is a bust. I think I know a place that will provide the wide-open spaces you’re seeking.”
“I’m down.” Anything to get away from this den of iniquity.
After a quick twenty-minute drive, we were back downtown and pulling up to a chain linked fence. Pushing the call button, we waited for what felt like an eternity before the speaker crackled. “Who is it?” an aggressive male voice asked.
Danessa draped her body across my lap to be closer to the speaker. “It’s Danessa.” She leaned further out the window so she could wave toward the camera, her ass perched in my face. It was perfectly positioned for a quick smack or a naughty love bite. There was another brief pause and then the gate rattled open. Danessa made her way back to the passenger seat and said, “Take the first left.”
Once inside we stopped at a guard station and parked next to the only other car in the small lot.
“Danessa, what are you doing here?” An older gentlemen exited the guard shack with a limp.
“I know it’s late Earl, but I was hoping I could show my friend around.”
When I exited the car, Earl’s face lit up. “Oh shit it’s number four.”
“Earl, this is Aldridge Mosley, he’s a client.”
“Damn, you’re tall.” Earl accepted the hand I extended, and we exchanged daps. “Welcome to Vegas.”
“Thank you.”
“I see you’ve met one of our finest resources … Miss Danessa.”
“We actually went to college together,” Danessa said.
“Is that right? So you got to witness his meteoric rise from the bottom up.”
“I don’t know about all that.” Normally I wasn’t shy, but something about Earl’s down-to-earth nature made me want to be modest.
“Shiiiiiit, you brought your team to the finals in your third year. That team was a mess when you were drafted. They wentfrom dead last to contenders in the span of three seasons. Hopefully you sprinkle some of that magic on the Ramblers.”
“I’m sure gonna try.”
“If it isn’t too much trouble, could I get a picture for my son?”
I posed for a picture and grabbed a basketball from my gym bag in the backseat. Signing it, I gave it to Earl.
“I appreciate it.”
“Anytime.”
“Do you remember your way?” Earl asked Danessa.
“Yep, just follow the lights.”
“Alright, I’ll leave you two to it.”
I watched Earl walk away. He was bowlegged and each step looked painful. “Where are we?”
Danessa pointed in the direction of travel, and I fell in step with her on the dirt path. “We are at a Vegas staple. It used to be a hidden gem, but now everybody and their momma knows about this place.”
Although it was well after one in the morning, the area up ahead was bright with a flicking light source. When we rounded the corner, my feet stalled and my mouth unhinged.
“Welcome to the Neon Museum.”
“Are you shitting me right now?” In front of me was a metal Hard Rock guitar standing over eighty feet tall, all lit up in red and white lights. Next to it was a Stardust sign in a funky vintage font.
“This is the place where old Vegas signs are retired. Which is cool because it gives them a second life.” Danessa had always been a history buff. She loved digging into the story behind forgotten things.
