DN-009-Pizza

When we walked in, we unlatched our helmets. The hallways were cold, empty or so it seemed. You could hear our footsteps echo through as our boots hit the floor with each step.

The hallways were dark illuminated by fluorescent lights above. Modern but worn. Familiar but foreign.

“It’s not as bad as it seems,” Kurt said. “Never judge a book by its cover.”

“Parker get down!” Alex shouted over to one of the kids who had made her way up the rafters.

“Look, I can fly!” The little girl opened up her arms.

All of a sudden we heard the shift of breakers and the lights went out. The two other kids had made their way to the electrical panel and started turning on and off switches as if it were some sort of game. They found it hilarious. The echoes of their laughter reverberated against the walls. Until we heard the loud clack of metal and the voltage of electricity.

My helmet rose from my hands. My arms became weightless.

“Geronimoooooooooooooooooooo” Parker said as she jumped and didn’t fall but instead she glided through the hallway doing a ballet dance through the air as if she was well accustomed and knew every move like she’s practiced it a million times before.

“Jesus,” Alex said. ”Don’t do that to me. You almost gave me a heart attack!”

“Haha, yeah they love that one. One of these days though… Yeah, we gotta get that fixed.” Kurt said. ”Here, it’s right down this way.”

We walked down the hallways as Alex’s cousins played hopscotch on the tiles of the floors all the way down.

“I never knew this place existed.” I said.

“I did…and he’s right. Best pizza I know.” Alex said with a smirk… “obviously. “

“It’s a hidden gem. Not many people do. Don’t feel too bad.” Kurt said. “My favorite kind of place. Sometimes the more beat up something is, it just means that you know it’s been around for a while. So it has a history. Ya know they might know what they are doing…. Here, it’s right over here. ”

He hit the button on the wall and the large doors opened and out flooded the sound of voices. More than I have ever heard before, at once. There were so many people, at least from my perspective. Their clothes were worn, a little vintage you might say. But they were happy. You could see it in the way they all interacted with each other. There was a sense of warmth that filled the space. It was contagious. Families, a community, neighbors, acquaintances just going about their day. It seemed like this had been the entrance to the district.

There was a main atrium and hubs of all sorts surrounding it. Each seemed like it was for a different purpose. Food, meeting rooms, and all kinds of things. I mean it was a little overwhelming.

“Kurt, my man! Come on in. Jesus, what has it been? 3 years? Where have you been?” The man from the pizza place shouted from a ways away. He was standing outside picking up some plates from the tables outside the parlor.

We all walked in. Some of us more enthusiastic than others. They had trays of pizza from one side of the wall to another. It smelled….Amazing.

I closed my eyes for a minute and just took in all the senses that surrounded me. There was something so beautiful in all of this that I couldn’t quite articulate in my mind.

“Sniff harder…” Chad whispered in my ear. Jesus, he can be such an ass. “But seriously, what are you going to get? It all looks fucking uh-mazing. I’m starving.”

“First time here?” The man behind the counter asked.

“Yeah” I responded with a little bit of an awkward tension. Still just trying to acclimate.

“You definitely want to start out with the Grandma Pie. It’s been passed down for generations. It’s our family recipe. I can’t tell you all the secrets that go into it, but it’s good. If you’re going to start out anywhere. That’s where I’d go. I never met someone who didn’t like it.” The man said.

“Yeah, I’ll have that.” I said. It was square, unlike the others. Different, but it did look amazing.

We all took our orders and sat down. Within a couple of minutes, they brought them out.

I took my first bite and dear lord. It might have been the best thing I ever tasted.

“Dude, Landon. Did you get one with pineapple?” Chad said with a mouth full of pizza that he tried to hold back while he was laughing. It was very visible to everyone. “What the fuuuuuu..?”

“What, it’s a delicacy… So I was curious. You know it’s rarely available anywhere I’ve been. I’m surprised they even have it here, to be honest. “

“You do you, bro. I’m not touching that sheeet. But dang this ish is good.” Chad said… Still chewing a mouth full of pizza.

“So you’re glad I brought you here? I thought so. No need to thank me or anything. We’re good.” Kurt interjected sarcastically. “ But seriously, after this. We’re going to the arcade across the hall. Only the best vintage games.

Chad stopped dead in his tracks. Finally swallowed his pizza and responded with a dead serious face. “Fuck yes.”