| HOG TOWN THREE By Paul Corman |
| In the first drawing Dirk Davies is sitting in front of a large glass window. Behind him we see the nose section and cockpit windows of a 747 passenger aircraft. Behind that a plane lifts off the runway. A dialogue balloon sprouts from a ceiling speaker. "Air Canada flight 146 LA to Toronto, now boarding." Dirk put away his drawing pad and pencil, picks up his carry on bag and follows the other passengers to the boarding gate. In the next few frames a taxi pulls up in front of the terminal. A young, attractive woman leaps out and runs for the entrance, pulling her wheeled suitcase. Two swat cops, in black combat gear, turn their heads and watched her come through the glass doors. The shorter one fondles the Glock Special that hangs on a shoulder strap. The taller one, with the red heavy drinker's complexion, casually adjusts his tight jockey briefs-a birthday gift from his wife's stepmother. The young woman feels their eyes following her. Her dialogue balloon asks, "Why are men such pigs?" As she passes a bookstore, the woman glances at her reflection in the window and wondered what it was made men turn into horn dogs around her. She wasn't wearing makeup. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail. The cotton skirt was conservative, even though it clung to her thighs. The T-shirt was a bit tight over her breasts. She thought she could see her nipples through the thin material. "Kitty, baby, you've got hot pheromones," her ex-boyfriend Charles had once told her. "Men smell you coming a mile away." This from the man who shagged every woman in LA who was able to spread her legs. He'd called last night, crying. "Sweetheart, give me another chance, I swear I've changed." In a curly enclosed day dream balloon Kitty imagines Charles with another woman. They are taking off each other's clothes. In the next frame Kitty is throwing his CD collection over her balcony railing, into the swimming pool. Taking a holiday out of town was the best thing she could do. Wash that creep right out of her life. In the next frame Kitty is standing in the check-in line. Her cell phone rings. It's her agent. Something warm and wet nuzzles the inside of her thigh. She looks at the cop holding the German Shepherd. "Do you mind restraining your dog!" He flushes red, pulls on his dog's leash and walks off. "Hey Kitty." It's her agent Phil. "You're not running out on me are you?" "No Phil, I'm just going up to Toronto to see my brother. If Charles calls don't tell him where I've gone." "No problem. Don't forget about the Disney movie. It starts shooting next month. It's a great part for you." "I didn't forget," she tells Phil. "Don't worry I'll be back in two weeks." "You're a real pro. Have a safe trip." A pimply faced security guard grinnes and starres at her as her luggage pass through the X-ray machine. She walks through the metal detector and it squawked like a wounded duck. A tall female officer, with short cropped red hair and three rings in each ear, takes Kitty aside and begins patting her down. "Enjoy your work?" Kitty asks. "Some days I sure do," she says. In a close up frame we see her long fingers as they pass over Kitty's breasts. "They're real in case you were wondering." "Oh I could tell that," she says, and slippes a note with her phone number into Kitty's hand. "Thanks but I don't go that way." "Hey you never know till you've tried." As kitty hurries towards the departure lounge she reaches out to drop the note in the trash. She changes her mind and slippes the paper into her purse wondering if the other team wasn't her best choice. It couldn't be any worse than being screwed over by men. The security guard, who calls herself Thelma, watches Kitty pass through the doors into the waiting lounge. We see her imagination balloon. She grew up in a small town near the Bush Family ranch in Texas. She was the only virgin left in her high school graduating class. The day she turned 18 she walked out of her job at the grocery store and grabbed a bus to LA. She'll leave LA within a year, when she and her live in lover, who calls herself Loise, fly to Vancouver to get married and apply for landed immigrant status. Her family will refuse to come up for the service. Neither woman will give a shit. Kitty settled into her first class window seat and watches a pile of suitcases fall off a passing luggage trailer. A large catering truck drives over them mashing clothing and personal effects into the hot sticky tarmac. She checks her voice mail as the plane readies for take off. She deletes the one from Charles, with out listening to it. Her one saved message is from her brother, Eldridge, saying that he would be on the train from Ottawa and would call her hotel when he arrived in Toronto. Dirk Davies comes down the aisle. He puts a carry on bag in the overhead compartment and sits down beside Kitty. He nods, gives her a tight smile and openes his newspaper. Nothing arouses Kitty's attention more than an attractive man who ignores her. It brings out some need she has to prove herself. Easy conquests are a dime a dozen. The ones she works for are the ones she cherishes. Kitty's imagination balloon shows the two of them eating by candlelight and holding hands as they walk on a beach. Dirk's imagination balloon shows their plane trailing smoke. One wing floats free as they plummet to earth. Flames errupt in a spectacular explosion. "I hate flying," she says. "Me too. Scares the hell out of me," Dirk answers. She notes his fresh shaved face and clean white shirt. His eyes are soft green with gentle laugh lines at the corners. No rings on his fingers. Great smile and not afraid to express his emotions. I'll give him some space, she thought. It's a long flight. |
| THE ROMANTIC TWIST |
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