By Dimmer
"So," asked Liz, staring eagerly out the window of Perfect Tommy's rental car at the interstate signs, "where are we escaping to?"
"My place," he threw out, hoping to catch her.
"Cool. How long until then?"
"About an hour to the bus, then we're on the road for another week."
"Bus? Road? What, are you in a circus or a band or something?" She seemed disturbed by this for some reason.
"Yeah." He waited, but she wasn't going to admit she knew who he was. "Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers." Liz burst out laughing, at which the Cavalier frowned, "What? You think it's funny or something?"
"Well, yeah." She controlled her laughter quickly, but not her derision, "Buckaroo Banzai? What kind of a name is that? And what does Hong Kong have to do with anything?"
"What!" Tommy couldn't believe anyone could be this ignorant of Banzai, at the least. The Cavaliers were an eclectic group, and not everyone knew they existed, and even he, Perfect Tommy, was occasionally not recognized, but to claim to have never heard of Buckaroo Banzai, it was unthinkable! So unthinkable that it took a horn blast and a slight gasp from his passenger to suggest to him that he had left his lane, ever so gently, and was leaning seriously in the direction of a mini-van in the outside lane.
With a curse, he pulled over to the side, gritting his teeth at the crosscuts in the shoulder and parked the car. He turned angrily toward his passenger, "What the h*** do you mean what kind of a name is Buckaroo Banzai? He's only the world's best neurosurgeon, the foremost authority on multi-dimensional geometry, two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, Grammies and Emmies too numerous to count, and you want to know what kind of a name he has?"
Liz shrank back a little at his vehemence, but chuckled when he was done, and shook her head, "Sounds like a fan-fic character. A modern-day pastiche of Doc Savage." She abruptly caught the fury in the depths of his gaze, and went defensive, "What, so I've never heard of the guy. Are you sure aren't making him up? I happen to be a multi-dimensional geometer myself, and I've never seen a paper with the name 'Banzai' on it. Let alone 'Buckaroo.'"
Perfect Tommy stared at her for a full ten seconds before breathing, "What planet are you from?"
"Colorado." Her answer was frank, but he was beginning to think she might be crazy after all.
"Fine. I'll introduce you when we get there." He turned back to the wheel and pulled onto the highway and sped off, not daring to look at her for the rest of the drive.
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