Five Feet or Less

by Erik Schubach

  I don't normally do the hardware side of networking, I try to do mostly server admin, remote network setup and web programming. So that I never have to show my face to a client. Like most of my clients, they have never met me at the Ballyhoo. But she begged me to come down. I sighed heavily. I really hate going out in public but this should be an easy fix. I could be in and out in minutes.

  After I hung up I gathered the stuff I thought I might need. And grabbed a spare wireless router and DSL modem from my parts rack in my room, just in case they are truly FUBAR-ed over there. I put everything into a large satchel and slung it over the push-handles behind me. I snagged my purse and keys, checked for the old green envelope in the purse, and was out the door in a flash, locking it behind me before traversing the stairs in my chair.

  Once I was out the lobby door, I looked at my van for a few seconds. Nah... Bessie can have the night off. It is only a few blocks away into the industrial area behind our neighborhood. I didn't feel like hassling with trying to find parking at the club and deal with transferring to and from my chair in front of the people that would be there. So I started wheeling down the sidewalk.

  Chapter 3 – Stomping Around

  I have driven past the club many times during the day, but had never seen it at night. It was like a total transformation. From a fancy looking warehouse building with an empty parking lot, into this colorful neon palace with hundreds of cars packing the lot and a stream of women in line to the front doors stretching half way down the block. I didn't want all these people seeing me in my chair.

  I looked around. Hmmm... maybe there's a back door. I wheeled around the edge of the parking lot then to the back of the building. Back by the loading ramp, there was a door labeled “deliveries” and another labeled “fire exit”. I knocked on the delivery door. Then pounded on it. I could hear the heavy bass of the music thrumming through the concrete walls. There is no way in hell they could hear me knocking in there.

  I sighed and rolled around to the front. I hesitated a second then rolled past the line of women, trying to move fast up to the front. Wow, some of theses girls are just... wow. There was a heavyset, but attractive looking woman in her late thirties on a stool by the door. I rolled up to her and she grinned at me then pointed back the way I came as her heavy smokers voice rasped out, “End of the line is back there sweetheart.” Then she turned her attention back to the line again.

  Cool. I liked her. She talked to me like anyone else trying to skip line. I couldn't stop from smiling at the woman as I laid a hand gently on her arm to get her attention. She turned to me and cocked her head. I said quickly, “I'm Reese with Qualltech. Maggie called and needs me to see if I can't fix your WiFi.”

  She looked immensely relived. “Oh thank God you're here. It is wreaking havoc on the flow of people in and out, it is making my job hell out here tonight! Go right in. Maggie is at the bar. It was nice meeting you Reese. I'm Minnie, by the way.”

  I grinned at her. “It was nice meeting you too, Minnie.” I timidly wheeled myself inside into the wall of music. I reeeealy hate being around people, and this place was packed! Oh wow, a live band! I “excuse me”d and “pardon me”d my way through, toward the bar. Some people looking annoyed until they looked down at me then gave me room or avoided contact like they'd catch something if they touched me. Yeah that's it people, you'll get a severe case of the Reese-s. A couple different girls looked at me with hungry looks and shy smiles. I could feel myself blushing at that, they were kind of... ummm... bar!

  Finally I made it to the bar, it was packed, so I wheeled over to the server's area with the articulated hinged counter-top section. The bar was even with the top of my head, so I locked my wheels and raised myself up a few inches by lifting myself with my arms on my handrims. I caught the attention of the bartender with my eyes. She was a really cute thirty something woman who looked extremely frazzled. She held up a finger to me as she helped a couple customers. I lowered myself back onto my seat and waited.

  A minute later she was leaning on the hinged portion of the bar leaning her head in her hands cutely, her elbows propping her up as she was looking down at me and yelled over the music. “What can I get for you, hon?”

  I smiled, she thought I was a customer and treated me like anyone else. God I loved Crystal's group of people. Through my smile I offered my hand up to her and yelled back, “Hi. You must be Maggie. You called me earlier. I'm Reese with Qualltech.”

  Her eyes went wide and she flipped the counter portion up on the bar and surprised me by leaning down quickly and hugging me while yelling, “Oh thank God you're here!” She released me, and put her hands together like she was praying and looked to the ceiling as she continued. “Pleeeeease tell me you can help us!”

  She was such a funny lady! I grinned and replied, “I'll see what I can do. Where are your DSL modem and wireless router located?” She grabbed a passing waitress as she pointed up to the office area above the massive dance floor. “Amy, can you show Reese here to the main office and show her where the routers are?” Then she looked at me and asked matter of factly, “Stairs or elevator?”

  I smiled back, I really like this place. “I prefer stairs but I'd rather not let all these people see me go up them, so elevator please.”

  She nodded once and shot a non verbal instruction to Amy who was waiting patiently. Then we were off, she was plowing the way for me to a hallway by the restrooms and put a key in the elevator call plate and hit the call button then removed the key. We got to the second floor and I followed her down a hall and around a corner. One wall was all triple paned glass and you could see the dance-floor and bar below. One way glass coooool. I noticed that I could barely hear the music below, must be sound proofing everywhere, this was really a nice setup here.

  She looked back as she unlocked an office door and squeaked at me comically, “Please save us.” Then she flipped on the lights, and pointed at the back wall that had all their electronic equipment laid out neatly on low shelves and all the cables bundled neatly... nirvana! She grinned at what I'm sure was my 'kid in a candy store' look. Then she said, “I gotta get back down to the floor. Just come on down when you are done, you don't need a key for the elevator on this level.”

  I nodded at her with a smile as she left me to my work. OK... first things first. I grabbed my satchel and took out my laptop then looked up all of their network setup information. Pretty straight forward. Now that I was in their building, I tried but couldn't connect to their WiFi so I instantly ruled out their DSL modem. It was an internal problem. I snapped a LAN cable into my network jack and connected the other end of the cable directly to their wireless router. I shook my head, they were using a little residential router for their company, I'm surprised it had the range to hit the entire floor below.

  After DHCP automatically provided an IP address, I had internet access through it when hardwired, so that part of the router was functional. This just solidified the ruling out of the DSL modem. I logged into the wireless router and checked all the settings. Everything looked fine and they had the latest firmware patch. This didn't bode well for the radios in the router. So I did the last thing I could do to try to wake it up. I used a pen to hold in the recessed reset button on the back of the device for ten seconds to restore the device to factory default settings.

  After reconfiguring it for their setup again I tried connecting wirelessly. No go. Well, that answers that question. The wireless portion of the router was dead. I nodded to myself and pulled out the old WiFi router I had brought with me. It was dual band with 19db external antennae. It used to be ours for our apartment until I had upgraded it a few months back.

  I configured it using their settings and attempted to connect wirelessly using their WPA encryption key. Bam! And that my people, is how it is done! I did a victory lap... OK fine, I just spun in place in my chair. Then cleaned everything up and made sure I left the area just as organized as when I got there.

  I pressed the internal lock i
n on the door then pulled it closed behind me and check to make sure it locked. Then I wheeled in front of the glass wall and looked down at the sea of people having a great time. I envied them, watching them dance and sway to the music. I try to imagine what that would be like.

  I was just thirteen when I got confined to my wheelchair. I find it harder and harder to remember what it felt like to run and jump and dance like the other kids. It is more like a vague, general impression of freedom than actual memory of the feeling. Like watching old home movies of a happier time. Even though it was only nine years ago.

  I sighed then made my way to the elevator. Once I rolled out down below I made my way to the bar. Once again excusing and pardoning as I went. Maggie saw me wheeling up and had a huge grin as she held up her iPad. She finished with her customer and ducked under the hinged bar portion then leaned down and engulfed me in a huge hug. “Oh my God! You are officially my hero!” she yelled over the music.

  I felt the burn of a blush on my cheeks again. I grinned at her as she went back to her side of the bar then leaned on her elbows cutely again as I spoke, “It was just the router. The WiFi transmitter inside it is dead. I had an old used one with me. I put it in there temporarily until I can order a permanent replacement for you. You should notice a big speed increase and better range now.”

  She nodded while grinning like an idiot. “It's snappy now. It works like a dream.”

  I was happy to have made her happy. “I'll email an invoice to Bonnie after I get the new router in and configured.”

  She looked over at her customers. “I better get back to work. But seriously Reese, thank you so much!”

  I nodded and grinned as she turned back to her patrons. I spun around and just absently started wheeling away and slammed right into someone. Before I had a chance to apologize, a familiar voice yelled, “Oh, you've got to be kidding me! First skipping the line in Starbucks now you're in here stomping around on my feet! Don't you have someone else you can torment? Just run along with your own kind!”

  What the hell!? Who the hell does she think she is? I looked up at the bright red haired girl from the coffee shop with rage burning in my eyes. “What the hell do you mean my own kind?”

  People were starting to gather as she sneered at me and hissed, “The super hot, super popular girls that always get their way and get away with anything!” She pushed my chair back and I rolled back and clunked into the bar as she started stalking away. Some girls were yelling at her. I glanced over and saw Amy on a headset but Maggie was watching intently and laid a hand on Amy's arm to stop her from calling whoever she was attempting to.

  I was shocked... super hot? I thought she was going to say something about disabled people or something. But she said super hot. Didn't she? I know I was blushing more than I ever had in my life. I wheeled forward quickly and grabbed her arm and turned her back toward me. She raised her hand to slap me and I let go and raised my hands in defense as a couple girls grabbed her. I blurted, “No, wait. I'm sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going. I just want to apologize. It was totally my fault.”

  She shrugged out of the hold the other girls had on her and it was her turn to blush a little though she still looked quite perturbed. Something about this woman held me captivated. She was about to start throwing blows at me and I found that so... welcomed? The way she treated me felt like she seriously didn't see the chair I was in. Wow! She said sharply, “Fine. You apologized.” She turned to walk away again.

  I didn't want her to just leave while mad at me, so I blurted out, “Let me at least buy you a drink. It is the least I can do.”

  She stutter stepped at that. She looked down at me with a look of distrust, like she didn't believe me or something. Then I could see a decision being made in her eyes and she took a deep breath. “Only if you'll dance with me.”

  I could feel all the blood drain from my face. “Are you crazy? I can't dance... I'm in a goddamn chair!”

  She shrugged. “What the fuck does that have to do with dancing?”

  I felt like wheeling away home as fast as I could but her eyes wouldn't let me run. This was worse than when Gwen manipulated me. I couldn't look away. Finally I just nodded and she seemed to let out a breath she had been holding.

  A bouncer showed up behind her just then, but I saw Maggie frantically waving him off.

  I yelled, “Reese, Reese Qualls.” I put out my hand.

  She smiled at me, the first smile I had seen on her face, it was striking. She should smile more! She took my hand and shook it. “Well hello Reese, Reese Qualls. I'm Sarah.”

  I grinned back and she led the way to the tables around the dance floor to where a light jacket and a shoulder bag were on a chair, holding the table for her. She sat in the chair and I wheeled to the other side of the table, moving a chair aside. She kept looking around her all nervous like. I tilted my head in question. She shrugged. “Just not sure if I'm being punked here or not. This is the sort of thing the popular girls at my old school would do to make fun of the school 'dyke'.”

  I looked at her incredulously, I'm sure my mouth was hanging open. “Why do you think I'm so popular? The closest thing I have to friends are my roommates. This damn chair makes sure of that.”

  Amy showed up at the table with a couple beers, I looked at her with a question in my eyes. She smiled hugely, “On the house for your help tonight.” Then she looked over at Sarah, “Reese here just singlehandedly saved the Ballyhoo tonight. She's our hero.”

  I handed my beer back to Amy, shaking my head. “Thank you Amy, but I don't drink.” Then she smiled and ran off back to the bar with my declined beer.

  Sarah quirked an eyebrow in an ah-ha gesture. “See!? Popular! What does she mean you saved the Ballyhoo?”

  I blushed and looked down. “I didn't save them. Their wireless router needed to be replaced, they couldn't take credit cards or place drink orders from the floor. They called me at home to see if I couldn't help them out tonight. I run a web design and tech support business out of my apartment... Qualltech. I rarely ever come out in the public, today is a rarity, I've been out twice.”

  She giggled. “And ran into me both times... once literally.”

  I laughed at that. “That I did. I really am sorry. Twice.”

  She pulled an iPad with a cracked screen out of her bag and started typing something in, squinting an eye and squishing up her mouth at me comically. Then she nodded in satisfaction and showed me her screen. She had my Qualltech website up on her browser. Then her smile faltered. “Oh... so you really are here just fixing their router? You're not gay?”

  I shrugged. “I'm not really anything. The chair limits my options to zilch.”

  She looked a little perturbed and snapped. “What the hell is your problem with your wheelchair? You keep putting yourself down and it isn't flattering.”

  What? My problem? Wait, it really sounds that way doesn't it? I can never tell if it is me or others shunning my situation. My imaginary therapist could get rich off my screwed up head. I just want to go home...

  She seemed to read this and stood up as she slid her iPad back into her bag and she put her hand out. “You promised me a dance!” The band started an upbeat Satin Thunder cover of 'Snowflakes'.

  Before I knew it she was literally dragging me behind her and into the masses on the dance-floor, it was all I could do to keep my wheels straight as she never let go of my hand.

  Now I was terrified, I had no clue what to do. She stood in front of me and swayed with her arms above her and bopped her head to the fun beat. So I copied her and soon we were laughing and having a great time out there. She would occasionally grab my hands above my head and spin me in my chair. My God this is fun!

  All too soon the song was over and we made our way back to the table. There was magically another beer for Sarah and a Pepsi waiting there for me. I glanced over to the bar to see Maggie was watching us intently with a silly smile on her face.

  We sat there and talked for hou
rs. Occasionally returning to the dance floor.

  The music was getting quieter with each song as the night progressed. It was silly how easy it was to talk to this green eyed sprite. I learned that the music store she worked at wasn't a record shop like I had imagined in stereotypical fashion. She worked at a place that sold and repaired symphony and orchestra stringed instruments like violins and the ilk.

  She was madly in love with classical music. She used to be a punk rocker until she suffered partial hearing loss from all the loud music at the concerts she constantly attended. But the harmonic vibrations of classical felt so much richer to her now than the familiar music that she couldn't quite hear all of anymore.

  This was her first time to the Ballyhoo, her mom had called her from Denver and forced her to go out tonight to try to have some fun. For a rebellious punk rocker girl, she had a shy streak a mile wide. I found that... endearing?

  The music was so low now, it was almost two AM and I could hear my iPod ringing. I use it instead of an iPhone since I am never without wireless and I am rarely out of the apartment. I glanced at the screen. Gwen? I held up a finger to Sarah who nodded and I accepted the call. “Gwen? Is everything OK?”

  She answered a little harshly even for her. “I was about to ask you the same thing! Where the hell are you? We got home tonight and you weren't here. Your van was here. There was no note. Nothing! I have been calling for over an hour!” She was slurring her words, obviously still drunk from her night at the Plant.

  Was she actually worried? “Sorry Gwen, I didn't know I'd be out so long. I got called in to fix the network at the Ballyhoo. I just wheeled over. I'll be home soon.”