Unicorn Sighting, Part I
Thursday, January 18th, 2007There were a few men lingering outside when we walked in. They waited, presumably watching thru the heavily-tinted glass doors, to see if we were buying tickets. Inside, it felt like an abandoned movie theatre, suspended in time: tattered carpet, frameless posters hanging on the dingy colored walls, empty refreshment counter. I’d have liked to see some hand sanitizer, condoms, etc in those cabinets. But, that’s just me.
“Two tickets?” J asked. He offered the man behind the counter forty dollars, but the man gingerly plucked only one twenty dollar bill from J’s hand.
“She’s free,” he said under his breath, gesturing to me.
J held me close, his arm around my waist and ushered me into the theatre. He could already feel the eyes on us. And, I felt only slightly better with him there. I could count. I felt like at any moment we could get mobbed. I wasn’t comfortable. I’m not sure what I expected, having never been here before. But, it was the last week that this theatre would be open. The neighbors finally pressured the city into rezoning for condominiums. J and I wanted to at least say that we’d been there “back in the day.”
Two men standing at the door held back the vinyl-lined doors for us. The theatre was long, narrow and completely black save the girl-on-girl porn on screen. Thank god for the glaring white background behind the girls on screen. We could at least make out heads to find a seat several rows from the back. We’d have tucked ourselves into the back row, but it looked fairly occupied.
PART II will follow in the morning…