Being pursued by many men I found was not my cup of tea. I wanted a partner, a mate, the other half of a couple. Even though our past scared me, I loved Elsie. He was fun, we had so much in common and he was still too handsome for words. We decided we would live together and if after a year we were still alive we would consider marriage. I talked about adopting a baby. Adoption ticks much like a biological clock. Elsie wasn't thrilled at that prospect, being a dad, but he agreed to think about it seriously.
I could have been happy with Bart. I knew that. I just couldn't see him without being reminded of the horror. I saw his eyes in that invisible baby. Just couldn't handle that. He seemed fine. Women weren't ever a problem for him.
I told Elsie that while I would live with him, I would not give up my house. No way. I would continue to pay rent until he and I had a permanent plan. This irked Elsie, he thought this was a stupid plan. Why should I pay rent some where when I didn't live there?
"I don't trust you completely, Elsie.", I explained. It was mean but true. "Why, what have I ever done to you?", he asked with some frustration. "Sleazy Whore Dog". I think that covered it.
I moved in my clothes and personal belongings, no furniture or anything I couldn't remove by myself. I still had my dog but Elsie was not happy about dog in his house plus he had cats. Zelda agreed to keep the dog. This made me happy. A Zelda dog was a healthy, happy dog.
Everything was fine. I was content. I should have sensed a disturbance in the force. One day at work Wonder Woman announced that Xerox had a new plan. They were going to combine all the branches into centralized admin centers in 5 locations. We would be merging 13 branches together into our center. First we were moving our office to the Dallas Branch while Xerox built a huge glass building in new upscale office park. Our permanent home would be in Irving, Texas, home of Texas Stadium. Approximately 50 miles from Elsie's house. All the temps were assured they would have positions and as soon as approval was received from the approximately 27 layers of management we would be hired. Insurance, medical and dental. Temporary disability in the event of long term illness, after 5 years you are vested and eligible for 401K. Sounded awesome. All I had to do was drive 100 miles a day and work my ass off.
Jeff was by now on dialysis. This sounds easy. You sit in a chair, they clean your blood, and several hours later you are good for two days. Jeff didn't have any easy time at all. Dialysis was very miserable. They put him on the kidney transplant list. Still we played every weekend and usually one night a week.
One evening before a gig Elsie told me that his older brother, Kia, (know it all), had told him it was ridiculous that we was doing all this work singing and not getting paid. Now Elsie wanted a third of our measly earnings. I understood his point. That was after all fair. But is wasn't right. Jeff needed every penny he could earn. I explained to Elsie that I would gladly give him my half and sing for free. It was not something I did for the money anyway. No, that wasn't right. He wanted a third.
At this point I pulled out my soapbox and began my moral rant. "Take my money, I don't care. Taking from Jeff is cruel. It's kicking him when he's down. NO. I won't agree to that". "Kia says I should get a third". he insisted. "Is Kia in the band or just your talent agent?" "Well, he is a CPA".
Let's say I got ugly. Real ugly. I was right. Period. There was no mistaking that. Now I was also furious that Kia had interfered in something that was not his business. Elsie worked for Kia. He managed Kia's business for him. Kia played golf and got drunk. He didn't like me. I didn't like him.
I told Elsie, "Look, we don't need you. Fine. Don't sing with us anymore. I will pay you back for the P. A. and that will be that, Judas". "I have to go play our gig, you stay here and count your money. I'll be back tomorrow to get my things. THIS is why I still have my own house".
"You're wrong about this", said Elsie. "I just want what's fair".
"I could be wrong, but I don't much think so." HOLY COW I am my father.
No comments:
Post a Comment