The Beginnings - Part 142: WE BOTH NEEDED TO VENT

“Sadness frightens people. 
People avoid you like the plague.”
-La Question Humain (Heartbeat Detector),
a French film

Twenty-five years ago,
November 22, 1987

Mom and I made it to Vegas.   I instructed mom to take a photo of me in front of the sexy statue at CAESAR’S PALACE HOTEL.   I gave a 'thumbs-up'. 
 
She was pointing at something in this retail display window.   I can’t recall ‘what’ exactly.   Was it the crystal car?   In any case, she was smiling and the Vegas escape helped her mood (and mine).  I don’t like to see her sad.  This trip was just what the doctor ordered.  We had such a wonderful time in this fun-filled city.

I took a photo of her in her red blouse when we went out for dinner.   We were both so happy to be away from our usual routine.

The Beginnings - Part 142: 

WE BOTH NEEDED TO VENT...

November 22, 1983

Today I felt a little better.   I was still sick from my continued sniffling and coughing but I still felt better than the day before.

I shared lunch with Helen.   She spoke of her married beau named David.  

“Can you believe he’s married?” She asked.
I discussed my ‘smokaholic’ girlfriend, Paloma.   We both needed to vent about one another’s relationship.
"I don’t know about you but I may have to go out to Bobbie McGee’s this Wednesday night to seek out greener pastures.”
We laughed.

I telephoned Paloma that very night.   I couldn't release her from my mind.

Paloma said, “My car is fixed…at least the broken window.”
“Oh good-now we can work out our movie plans for tomorrow night.”

She paused and alerted me, “Oh, Monica is here to have her car taken care of...”

This was her way of saying she had to hang-up, so we never had a chance to confirm plans or talk further.  She was so abrupt.   It was almost as if she rudely wanted to get off of the phone to avoid further plans together.   It’s annoying.

After work I walked with Rose to her parking lot (a safety measure).   It was dark and she was scared to walk alone.   She politely gave me lift to my parking lot.

I drove home and ate tortellini pasta at mom’s house.   I saw my brothers (Tony and John).   Tony bought a new trench coat and he actually allowed me to try it on for size.   I like it.  

I watched two episodes of THE EDGE OF NIGHT with mom and a good portion of the movie THE EYES OF LAURA MARS.

I returned home to my pad for the remainder of the evening.   I decided to call Steve to see what was going on with him.

Steve said, “I tried calling you a couple of times tonight.   You weren’t home.”
I took this to mean that he wanted to know where I had been, so I explained that I was at my parents’ house.

“Do you want to go to that AUTO SHOW on Sunday night?”
“Hey, yeah maybe.”
The car show is still ‘on’, so maybe we will make it this time.
“What else is new?”
Steve confessed, “Well, I moved out of my mom's house and moved back into the apartment with the two Scotts.”
“Does George know that I invited you to the car show the other day?”
"I’m not sure.”
This leads me to believe that he does know.   No one can really keep a secret for very long.   Someone is always out-for-the-kill.   We talked about our distance from one another, my defunct relationship with George and living in the Los Gatos area.   Where will it end?

“He, too, felt that we were destined to know each other.”

-Oscar Wilde
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY