Part 5 (1/2)

After the PE soccer game we all ran back to the locker rooms to shower I had accidentally kicked Farrell in the knee Two of his friends ran beside hih It idely believed since grade school that Farrell was probably thearguably tougher

”You think you'll be okay in the shower, boy? I wouldn't want you to slip or anything,” said Farrell His friends smiled, then he tried to trip ainst ot any friends in here, do ya? nobody'd give a shi+t if I flushed your fucking head down the toilet They'd probably laugh” What frightenedthis was how he said it slowly and calh Dive

I never took swih I didn't announce this fact to anyone) I was terribly afraid of any water Perhaps it wascrazy, but it see at the public pool every year When I first started high school there was a quiet Asian kid-e student-who drohile swi in PE Some kids said that his body sat at the bottoood fifteen minutes before anyone noticed swih I didn't announce this fact to anyone) I was terribly afraid of any water Perhaps it wascrazy, but it see at the public pool every year When I first started high school there was a quiet Asian kid-e student-who drohile swi in PE Some kids said that his body sat at the bottoood fifteen minutes before anyone noticed

I think the Jas movies probably contributed to my fear as well I was especially haunted by the scene where Roy Scheider scubas down to inspect a sunken boat and the bloated head of one victim suddenly appears movies probably contributed to my fear as well I was especially haunted by the scene where Roy Scheider scubas down to inspect a sunken boat and the bloated head of one victiht across the street froh school, so we had a couple of weeks each year where a PE class

We practiced diving too Going up the ladder was the dizziest part for me I alanted to turn back, but there were people in the way I had no choice but to juht, so that I wouldn't have to swi I suppose I could have learned the breaststroke but I never wanted to putmoment and water would flood intoto the botto

One of , scared for my life When I was out of the pool, I noticed hohite my feet looked I almost wanted to sith my socks on I sat in a plastic chair and draped a towel over ht h I was still wary of rivers and lakes, I actually enjoyed going to swi pools But one day while I was at a Portland pool, II sat down on a lawn chair and noticed blood shooting out of ure out as causing this blood fountain, but it stopped after a few ain at various random times for the next few months I went to a foot doctor and he said it was probably a tiny pebble that sometimes shi+fted and caused the blood to pulse out He offered to give me a shot to numb my toe, make a small cut, and peel the skin back to see what the problem was It almost made me sick just to hear him describe the procedure I said no thanks and decided to see if it would fix itself A couple of months later, whatever was in there finally came out I was healed

Korea

Darren and I wanted to feel the skin of the cashi+er at the Mayfair Market wanted to feel the skin of the cashi+er at the Mayfair Market

It was cold outside and I had just gotten two ski masks from my brother Russell, as stationed in Korea They were Christmas presents, and I think they had trees on the In black letters it said KOREA on the back Darren and I thought skiTV that only people in Antarctica or guys robbing banks wore theave one to Darren and ore them on our heads but never pulled therocery store were so generator One afternoon, we hid the two Korean ski enerator, where nobody would find the out by the telephone booths Five minutes, then fifteen, passed Darren took a lap around the store and looked in the s to see what the cashi+er was doing She was still there and so was a yellow Volkswagen in the parking lot

We had no knowledge of being watched, but ere Across the street in the dark lot of a Chevron station was a police car with its lights off

After Darren got back to the telephone booths, we talked about the girl and enerator,the police lights We told the police ere looking for a cat (hispered this alibi to each other as they got out of their car) They wrote down our names and phone numbers and asked us to show the tread on our shoes They told us to go hoot back in their car to watch us walk away

When I got hoenerator Then I quickly tried to forget

Braces

One of lasses and was not thought of as pretty or even anything reseh I told soirlfriend, I made sure no one saw her I was sixteen, she was thirteen When I had o to her house It was nice, and big, with a pool in the backyard I would pick her up and ould drive around and then make out somewhere Her breath was always unpleasant, and she had stuff on her braces like she never brushed her teeth Still, I went out of my way to spend time with her and was jealous once when she told hteen-year-old who had his own apartment, where he wanted her to suck his dick once It was a story she told irlfriends had braces and thick glasses and was not thought of as pretty or even anything reseh I told soirlfriend, I made sure no one saw her I was sixteen, she was thirteen When I had o to her house It was nice, and big, with a pool in the backyard I would pick her up and ould drive around and then make out somewhere Her breath was always unpleasant, and she had stuff on her braces like she never brushed her teeth Still, I went out of my way to spend time with her and was jealous once when she told hteen-year-old who had his own apartment, where he wanted her to suck his dick once It was a story she toldto you” tone of voice

Another tione, ere in her baseers over her ser than pi I picked her up and put her on the pool table We stared at each other ”Do you want to know so I haven't done before?” she asked I asked her what it was ”I've never had anyone kiss me upside down,” she toldPlaces

When ere getting our house done enough tofor my bedroom We went to a home decoration place and I picked out the kind that was divided up into squares The square tiles rested on a metal framework so it kind of looked like a checkerboard The metal part was black and the tiles were a bulobe where you can feel the h tofor my bedroom We went to a home decoration place and I picked out the kind that was divided up into squares The square tiles rested on a metal framework so it kind of looked like a checkerboard The metal part was black and the tiles were a bulobe where you can feel thein the house for a year, I realized it eird to have that sort of ceiling, that it was usually seen only in offices and fancy ht and pushed on one of the tiles It moved up and slid over I could put my hand up there and feel a couple of feet of space I started hiding azines up there It seemed perfect, and it was Dad was a snoop and would find them if I kept them under my mattress or in a sock drawer like my friends

Years later, after Irooone by then, hidden so at the ceiling though, i those naked women above Mom's head as she sewed

Troubled Girl

Whenever I went to Fruitland Park to shoot baskets, I noticed a girl sitting on the porch of a house across the street I thought she was really cute, but couldn't tell how old she was to Fruitland Park to shoot baskets, I noticed a girl sitting on the porch of a house across the street I thought she was really cute, but couldn't tell how old she was The Karate Kid The Karate Kid was my favorite movie and I'd seen it six times in the theater She looked a little like Elisabeth Shue-I liked the scene in that ht sweater and they went to the amusement park was my favorite movie and I'd seen it six times in the theater She looked a little like Elisabeth Shue-I liked the scene in that ht sweater and they went to the amusement park

She started to come over to the courtside benches when I'd show up I was nervous as I talked to her She told me she lived with her cousins because her parents wereever happened with this relationshi+p, not even a kiss She gave steen's Born in the USA Born in the USA for Christmas I never listened to it We drifted apart that winter, partly because it was too cold to play basketball for Christmas I never listened to it We drifted apart that winter, partly because it was too cold to play basketball

Five years later, I lived in a different town and was in my twenties I'd visit my parents for holidays, and one ti lot and we sat inwheel ofin front of me, as she confessed that she had told me lies about her family She said she was married but had always loved ain She said her husband beat her up sometiht about how long she would have to live with that

My Friend Pat

In tenth grade, I started to embrace my weirdness a little more, thanks to one of my new friends, Pat Kennelly He was this short kid with curly white hair and glasses He sort of looked like an albino He lived with his fah school We had a couple of classes together and even though I really wanted to be popular (and Pat was like a poster boy for Not Popular), Pat cracked me up and I realized we had the same kind of weird humor We both liked I started to embrace my weirdness a little more, thanks to one of my new friends, Pat Kennelly He was this short kid with curly white hair and glasses He sort of looked like an albino He lived with his fah school We had a couple of classes together and even though I really wanted to be popular (and Pat was like a poster boy for Not Popular), Pat cracked me up and I realized we had the sa Circus, Monty Python's Flying Circus, the movie the movie Airplane!, Airplane!, and Devo and Devo

I started to hang out less with Darren and Maurice I hung out at Pat's house a lot and spent the night there on ht Flight, an assortment of music and comedy that took over the USA Network on the weekends an assortment of music and comedy that took over the USA Network on the weekends