Blind Luck

"Ya," Cody nodded. "That was weird. But it was pretty funny."

"Only because you had such a good attitude about it," Britney said.

"Ya, well, its important to keep a good attitude," Cody sighed. "Otherwise I would have something to get upset about every ten seconds or so."

"I guess so," Britney said, and Cody thought she sounded more thoughtful than before.

"Plus I got to show off my crazy eyes," Cody smiled. "Getting to scare the shit out of people with my eyes is the best part of being blind."

"Your eyes aren't scary," Britney said. "I mean they are a little gnarly, but not scary."

"Thanks," Cody said, not sure how to respond to that. He didn't actually know what his eyes looked like now. "I don't even know what they look like. I just know how people react to them. And how they feel. They feel like they would look scary."

"Do you mind if I ask what happened?" Britney asked.

"I don't mind you asking," Cody said. "But I'm afraid I can't tell you."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean..." Britney began, sounding nervous, and Cody mercifully cut her off.

"I mean I can't tell you here, in the gym," Cody said quickly. "It just isn't the right setting. I think I should probably tell you over dinner."

"Great," Britney said, and Cody could hear the smile on her face.

"Tonight?" Cody asked, hoping he wasn't being too forward.

"Ya," Britney agreed. "I know a great Chinese place. I mean, I figured since you're new to town I ought to pick the place."

"Sounds great," Cody said happily. "I love Chinese. What time?"

"How about seven," Britney suggested, and Cody agreed. "How, um, how do you get there?"

"I'll need Frank to drive me there," Cody said. "Do you have a car?"

"Ya," Britney said. "I have a little blue Honda."

"Well, maybe if you don't mind, you could drive me home after," Cody said, hoping she wouldn't take that the wrong way. He really would need a ride home, but he also liked the idea of leaving the date with Britney. It might offer opportunities that wouldn't happen if Frank had to pick him up.

"Ya, that's fine," Britney agreed. "Frank might need to give me directions though. Unless you know how to get there."

"I have absolutely no idea where I live," Cody said, and they both laughed. "But Frank does. He's from here, so I'm sure he can give you directions."

"Great," Britney said. Cody could hear Frank coming back. "Hey Frank, I hope you don't have big plans tonight," Britney said.

"Why, what's up," Frank asked, sounding intrigued. "We going somewhere?"

"No, we're going somewhere," Cody said, pointing to himself and then blindly towards where he thought Britney was standing. "And you're going to drive me there."

"Oh, alright," Frank said, sounding a little disappointed at not being invited along. "That's no problem. Where you guys going?"

"Wang Chi, over on Silver street," Britney said.

"Never heard of it," Frank said.

"It's a Chinese place I like," Britney said.

"Don't worry, I'll let you know if it's any good," Cody said.

"Ok," Frank said. "Uh, where on Silver street? Like, will it be hard to find?"

"No, you'll know it when you see it," Britney said. "It'll be the one that looks like a Chinese restaurant."

"Right," Frank said.

"Alright, see you later then Britney," Cody said, feeling the slight awkwardness with Frank there. He could tell Frank liked Britney too, and that just made him wish he knew what she looked like even more.

"Not if I see you first," Britney said, and Cody smiled. "Seven o'clock. Don't be late."

"Hear that Frank," Cody said.

"Nineteen hundred hours, copy," Frank said, taking Cody by the arm again. They walked out of the gym together, and then got back in Frank's truck.

"Dude, how the fuck does the blind guy pick up the hottest chick on his first day?" Frank said once they were inside and he was backing out of the parking space.

"Honestly, not knowing what she looks like probably helps," Cody said. "I mean if she's as hot as you say, I'd probably be more nervous and awkward talking to her. But to me she's just another voice. It is a pretty sexy voice though."

"Everything about that girl is sexy," Frank said, and Cody could hear the jealousy in his voice. "You sure you don't want me to tell you what she looks like?"

"I'm sure," Cody laughed. "If I'm lucky, I'll find out my own way. If I'm not, I'd rather not even know."

"Ya, that makes sense I guess," Frank said, pulling back onto the highway. Frank drove Cody home, and went back to his place fifteen minutes away. Cody was still getting used to his new place, but he was getting better at not bumping into things as he slowly grew accustomed to the place. He had a brail clock on the wall, and he was checking it constantly. He hadn't been on a date since going blind. He realized this would be his first real blind date, and chuckled to himself. He knew he was going to have to tell her about how he had gone blind, and he hoped it wouldn't kill whatever vibe there might be. He knew it was an unpleasant story. Not that any stories about people going blind would be fun, but his was especially rough.

Cody dressed himself using the labels on his clothes that his sister had helped him with a while ago. He wore a nice collared shirt that he hoped was black, but could be bright orange for all he knew. He stepped into a pair of jeans that he knew would look like jeans. He appreciated things that were easy to tell apart without seeing, and jeans were that. He put on a pair of shoes that he had been told looked good, but all he knew was that they were comfortable. Finally he put a bit of gel in his hair. He tossed it around, hoping it had the good messy sort of look it used to, but knowing it might look ridiculous. He would have to ask Frank. He thought about putting a touch of makeup on, and maybe trying to hide some of the scarring on his face, but decided against it. He liked the way Britney had talked to him, and he didn't want to try to trick her. His eyes were his eyes, there wasn't any way around that.

Cody heard Frank's loud truck pull up, and checked the clock again. It was six thirty, and apparently Silver street wasn't too far, so he shouldn't be late. Cody walked to the front door, and stepped out, locking it behind him. He could hear Frank already walking up behind him.

"Woah, you look pretty good man," Frank said as he walked up. "Did you do all that yourself?"

"You mean dress myself?" Cody said with a hint of sarcasm. "Yes Frank, I managed to get dressed all by myself. Aren't I a big boy?"

"Ya, alright," Frank said. "Your hair looks cool though. How do you do that when you can't see it?"

"I can still feel it," Cody pointed out. They were both walking down to Frank's truck. It was still running, and it was loud enough that Cody didn't need any help to walk up to it. "And I do remember what my hair looks like. I just try to do it the way I used to. Although I don't actually know if it looks good. I think sometimes I think I got it right, but really I look like alfalfa." Frank laughed loudly as he got in the truck. Cody opened the door, and hoisted himself up into the truck without help.

"Well it looks good now," Frank said. "You clean up alright kid. Let's just hope Britney likes it."

"Ya," Cody nodded. Frank pulled the truck around, and then they were driving off again. It took about twenty minutes, and Cody was hoping they wouldn't be late.

"Here's Silver street," Frank said, and Cody felt the truck slow down slightly. "I don't know where the place... oh, that'll be it," Frank said, and then the truck pulled off to the side. "You said she has a blue Honda right?"

"That's what she said," Cody nodded.

"Then she's already here," Frank said. "You want me to help you inside?"

"Uh, can you just walk me over to the front door," Cody said, not wanting to seem helpless, but also not wanting to get lost on the very short walk to the building. Frank got out, and Cody did too. Frank led Cody over to the door, but before they got there Britney walked out.

"Hey there," her lovely voice said. Frank gawked for a brief moment, amazed at how good she looked, and then quickly turned away, not wanting to stare at his buddy's date, especially when Cody couldn't.

"Hey," Cody said. Frank let go of his arm, and a second later he felt Britney take his spot.

"Ok, I'll get going then," Frank said. "You two kids have fun." Cody heard Frank walking away, and then getting in his truck. Then he heard the truck drive off down Silver street, and he was alone with Britney.

"You look really great," Britney said, leading Cody toward the building.

"Thanks," Cody said. "I'm sure you do too. You definitely smell really nice."

"Thanks," Britney said happily. "My sister showed me this perfume. Its my favorite." They walked into the building, and the scent of Britney's nice perfume was quickly drowned out by the smells of delicious foods. Britney walked them over to a table, and Cody sat down, trying to get a gauge of the place with his ears and nose. It smelled great, and he could hear other people eating and chatting throughout the place. There was also the low sounds of Chinese style music that always played in the best tasting Chinese restaurants.

"So, how do you like to order?" Britney asked as she looked down at the menu. Like most Chinese places, there were a great many dishes on the menu.

"I usually like whoever I'm with to read me the whole menu," Cody said. "I wouldn't want to miss anything good."

"Oh, uh, well, its sort of a long..." Britney began awkwardly, not wanting to say no, but also not wanting to read the whole menu.

"I'm kidding," Cody cut her off, and he heard her let out a sigh of relief. "I remember what menus in places like this look like. I'll just get the kung pao chicken, and maybe some egg rolls if you want some."

"I'd love some," Britney said, glad to not have to read the full menu, but also appreciating Cody's sense of humor, especially regarding his disability.

"Good, I'll let you handle the ordering part though," Cody said.

"Ok," Britney said. "So, what brings you down here," she asked. "To Florida I mean. It's a long way from Ohio, and it must be difficult with, um, well, you know."

"Ya," Cody nodded, knowing she was still a little weirded out by his blindness. "It is. But I needed to move. Everyone I know back home treats me like some kind of charity case or something. All my old friends and my family just make me feel like a freak. Only my marine buddies treat me normal. That's why I moved down here. Frank is the best friend I've got, and he promised to help me out."

"He seems like a good guy," Britney said. "I didn't know you were in the marines though."

"Ya, six years," Cody nodded. "I would've stayed in longer, but, you know."

"Is that how you went blind?" Britney asked, sounding slightly apprehensive about broaching the subject, but much less so than most people.

"Ya," Cody nodded. "To make a long ugly story short, something blew up in my face, literally."

"Is that what the scars are from too?" Britney asked.

"Yep," Cody said. "I still don't even know what it was that hit me, but I was really lucky that it didn't penetrate my eyes. I'm sure they look gnarly, but its better to have fucked up eyes that don't work than empty sockets."

"I suppose so," Britney said, sounding a bit put off by the topic.

"We don't need to talk about my eyes," Cody said. "Its no fun for anybody. Why don't you tell me about your eyes."

"My eyes," Britney said, sounding surprised.

"Ya," Cody smiled. "You do have eyes right? I mean, you aren't blind too are you?"

"No," Britney laughed. "My eyes work just fine."

"Quit bragging," Cody said, and she laughed again. "Seriously though, what color are they?"

"My eyes?"

"Ya."

"They're blue," Britney said.

"Nice," Cody said, nodding his head in approval. "Light blue? Or darker? Or like a cool mixture?"

"Um, lighter I guess," Britney said. She had never had to describe her own eyes before. She knew she had beautiful eyes, but normally people knew that for themselves. "They're sort of the same color as Paul Newman's eyes. Do you know who he is?"

"Hell ya," Cody said, almost too enthusiastically. "I mean, yes, I know who Paul Newman is. Cool Hand Luke is one of my favorite movies."

"Me too," Britney said. "Do you still get to watch movies? I mean, I know you don't get to watch them."

"Ya, I still like movies," Cody said. "Especially the ones I've already seen. New movies can be hard to tell what's going on. But the ones I saw a bunch are the most fun to watch. When I listen to a movie I used to watch I almost feel like I can see it again."

"Well then we'll have to watch Cool Hand Luke sometime," Britney said.

"Deal," Cody agreed.

"So what do you do?" Britney asked.

"Well, nothing at the moment," Cody said, feeling slightly embarrassed by that. "Right now I'm just living off my disability checks. But Frank says he'll help me get something going. I did just get here. But what about you? What do you do?"

"Well, I'm a private trainer at the gym part time," Britney said. "And I do some part time modelling too."

"Seriously," Cody laughed. "You're a model?"

"Ya, why," Britney asked, wondering why he was laughing.

"I'm finally on a date with a model and I have no idea what you look like," Cody said, and they both laughed.

"Well I actually like that," Britney said. "Most dates I go on I don't know if the guy likes me for anything other than my looks. With you I actually know you like me."

"You think I like you for you," Cody corrected. "But you never know. Maybe I'm faking so I can get the hot chick. That crazy girl might've been right the whole time. Maybe I really was perving on her earlier."

"Well if that's true than you have an amazing makeup artist," Britney laughed. "And you're a great actor too. If you're not blind than you deserve some kind of medal or something."

"I did get a medal," Cody smiled. "Two actually."

"For acting?" Britney said, and Cody couldn't stop from laughing out loud. He could tell she was being serious, and he found it quite adorable.

"No," Cody laughed. "For being injured in the line of duty. And another for bravery under fire."

"Wow," Britney said, sounding impressed. "Where were you when it happened?"

"Afghanistan," Cody said. "We had some really important work to do over there, and I had the honor of losing my sight in the name of that noble cause."

"Oh, um, ya," Britney said, clearly taken aback by that.

"I'm kidding," Cody said, and he heard her relax again. "About it being important I mean. We had no business being over there. I joined because that's what the men in my family do. It took probably less than twenty-four hours before I could tell how stupid it was that we were over there. I sort of have a little bit of resentment about it."

"I would too," Britney said. "I cant even imagine. Are you still angry at the marines?"

"No, not the marines," Cody said. "I am a marine, always will be. We just do what we're told, even the higher ups. It's the politicians that I have a gripe with. But lets not get into politics, that's not good for first dates."

"Ya," Britney agreed, "although I doubt I would disagree with you."

"We can get into that later," Cody said. "On our third or fourth date, you know."

"Oh of course," Britney laughed, "our third or fourth date. We should be able to get through all the small talk by then. And then we can get into the nitty gritty stuff like global politics and international relations."

"Exactly. But today we have to stick to the simple stuff. So, what kind of modelling do you do?" Cody asked with a big grin.

"The kind that you have to see unfortunately," Britney said.

"No, seriously though, there are different kinds of modelling right?" Cody said. "Like, do you hold up a box of cereal, or wear sexy jeans? Or stand next to a wheel of fortune board?"

"No," Britney laughed loudly, "none of that. Mostly I do swimsuit modelling."

"Come on," Cody said, sitting back and frowning, "now you're messing with me."

"I'm not," Britney laughed. "I was in a surfer magazine last month."

"Ok, so you have light blue eyes, and a body that gets you work as a swimsuit model," Cody said. "What color is your hair?"

"Does it matter?" Britney asked.

"No," Cody shook his head, "I'm just trying to build a mental image."

"Maybe I'd rather stay a mystery," Britney said.

"Fine then, play hard to get," Cody said. "I can find out what you look like my own ways."

"Oh ya, you going to ask Frank to describe me?"

"No, but there other ways to find out what someone looks like without needing to see them," Cody pointed out.

"Oh ya, like what," Britney asked.

"I'll just have to use my other senses," Cody said. "I already know what you sound and smell like, there are two other senses."

"You think you're going to get to touch me then?" Britney laughed.

"Maybe, we'll see," Cody shrugged, "so to say," he added. "I think it'll be that fifth sense that's going to be the real prize."

"Oh really," Britney said, a bit surprised at how brash Cody was being.

"Ya, I need to see if you have a good sense of taste," Cody said. "I'm talking about the Chinese food by the way. Why, what were you thinking of?"

"No, I was thinking of Chinese food too," Britney laughed. At that moment Cody heard someone walk up to the table, and then a female voice with a very thick Chinese accent began speaking. Cody just sat there silently as Britney ordered for them both. He still didn't like needing people to do things for him, but he had gotten used to it.

"So," Britney said once the waitress had gone. "How long have you been out of the marines?"

"About five years now," Cody said. "My first year out I spent mostly in hospitals. And then it took me a couple of years just to figure out how to do stuff agin. And then I spent a year and a half back home, trying to figure out what to do next."

"And you decided to come here," Britney said.

"Ya," Cody nodded. "I couldn't stay in my hometown anymore. I mean I wish I could, I liked it there. But after going blind, everyone just treated me so different. My family, my old friends, they all treated me like some kind of freak or something."

"I'm so sorry," Britney said. "That must have been so hard."

"I guess," Cody shrugged. "I would call it annoying though. I know I'm not anymore, but I just want to be treated normal. Or at least as normal as I can be. Just cause I can't see doesn't mean I'm not the same person I was. And everyone back home just treated me so, I don't know, different I guess. It's hard to describe."

"I can imagine," Britney said. Cody's hand was resting on the table, and he was a little startled when he felt Britney's soft hand find his. He flinched only slightly, and then relaxed as Britney held his hand.

"So what's your story then," Cody asked, slowly moving his thumb along Britney's hand. "Do you normally pick up blind guys at the gym?"

"No, I've never been on a date with a blind guy," Britney laughed. "I had a boyfriend for a few years, but we broke up last march. I've dated a little bit since then, but not much." Cody nodded. He didn't want to hear about her ex, or any other dates she had been on.

"Tell me about Florida," Cody said. "I've only been here for a week. All I really know so far is that the air smells different than it does in Ohio."

"Well that's interesting," Britney said thoughtfully. "I've never thought of it in terms of smell before."

"Why would you," Cody said.

"Ya," Britney agreed. "I guess its nice. I don't really know. I mean I've been here pretty much my whole life." Britney continued talking, a little bit about Florida, a little bit about herself. Cody listened attentively, adding a quick jape when the opportunity arose. He liked listening to Britney. Her voice was calming, and yet also sexy. He had built a mental image of her, though he had no idea if it was accurate or not. It didn't really matter though. It was a nice image, and everything he knew about her he liked.