I hardly packed anything, a back pack full of clothes & makeup, & about $1,000. packed a couple of outfits for Jimmy & a sandwich, Jimmy likes Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches for lunch. We took the subway to Celladon. (I should mention that a lot has changed since I was in Team Rocket. With the money from our fines, the cities all chipped in & built a subway.)
When we got off, I couldn’t believe that this was Celladon. The city was huge! Skyscrapers replaced old buildings, & I was astonished. (Fuchsia was huge too, but I was used to Celladon being a lot smaller.) Jimmy held tight to my hand. He wasn’t scared, he always holds my hand. Butch seemed to know his way around, he pointed to buildings & roads while we searched for a hotel.
We finally found the perfect place, The Crystal Onyx Inn. It was a beautiful building. (The floor tiles were black marble, & the walls were stained wood, a dark, pretty color. I liked that place.) We left our stuff on the bed & went to look for James. Jimmy rode on my shoulders, he hardly weighed anything at all. We followed Butch as he walked around the city.
“The last time I saw him, he was working her.” He said pointing to an old restaurant. “Who works there?” my son asked sleepily. “My friend, I guessed” I replied. The building was a little run down & looked like a dive, why would James work here. It was called the Blue Moon Cafe and first I was surprised that it wasn’t a tavern. The name sounded more like an expensive restaurant than this old place, but the name fit perfectly with the inside of the building.
It was very classy & not all run down an the inside of the Cafe. The light from the lamps glowed a pale blue to add to the restaurant’s title. No wonder James wanted to work there. We walked up to the man at the counter & I asked him if James worked here. “No, but he used to. Why, he your brother?” he asked. “Yea, something like that.” I replied “You don’t know where he works now, do you?”
“Actually, yea!” . James worked across the street from his apartment building. Going to the Blue Moon wasn’t entirely bad, a waiter named June knew Cassidy’s cousin & gave us his number. So we decided to find Pidgey’s Palace, the casino where James works now. (why he would leave a good job at a beautiful restaurant is still a mystery to me.)
Inside the casino, I noticed James dealing cards for some weird game. I wanted to run up & talk to him, but he was working. (I know what you’re thinking, “If you went all that way just to see him, why didn’t you talk to him?” Well, here’s the answer. How would you like it if someone ran up to you while you were working? Sure, I wanted to, but I also didn’t want him to lose his job. If we started talking, you couldn’t have gotten us to shut up.)
Anyway, I decided to wait until he was off duty, so Butch & I decided to call Cassidy’s cousin. We didn’t know his name, but he was very polite. He told us Cassidy’s number & address & said “She always talks about you guys, she’ll be thrilled to know you called.” (I still don’t know his name, but he was a nice guy.)
I looked over & noticed that James wasn’t at the table anymore. Butch seemed to notice too “Ah, he’s not working.” I knew it was the perfect time to see him “let’s go see if he wants too talk.” Butch suggested. I held Jimmy’s hand & we walked to the main counter.
“Hello, & welcome to Pidgey’s Palace, my name is Wendy. There’s a map of the casino right over there. Would you like some game tokens?” the girl behind the counter said in routine. “Uh, no. We were just wondering about a guy who works here.” Butch told her, motioning towards me. “Oh, you mean personal stuff? What guy?” she asked while twirling her hair in her index finger. (She wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box, but she at least cared enough to help us when she didn’t have to.) “His name is James” I said. “Him? His shift ended. He’s lucky, I’m stuck here for another hour.” she explained groggily. “You don’t know his room number, do you?” Butch asked with his fingers crossed. “Sure”. she said “107, why?” That was all we needed, we thanked her & left.
The apartment wasn’t hard to find, but it was late by the time we arrived there. I looked at my watch & it was 10. ( okay, it’s not that late, but for a 5-year-old like Jimmy, it was. He is usually in bed by 8:30, & every hour counts with little children.) I knocked on the door & heard a voice call “Just a minute!”, the first time I heard that voice in 8 years.
