The Meeting:
One afternoon, as I was returning from running an errand, I was suprised to find my friend Chuy sitting on my front porch swing. He had come to visit me and decided to wait for me on the porch since I wasn't home. This wasn't unusual because my mama would tell whomever came calling in my absence that they would wait on the swing if they wanted to. This time I noticed that Chuy wasn't alone.
I didn't recognize the guy who had came with him, but Chuy had many friends I didn't know so it wasn't a big deal. I greeted the guy anyway. He wasn't much to look at and I certainly wasn't impressed by his presence, but I was making an attempt to be friendly since he was a guest. He was short and squatty without a unique trait about him. The three of us spend the next half hour chatting about nothing in particular and swinging on the porch. Finally, Short & Squatty spoke up. He asked me when we were going to go out. I was surprised by his boldness and offended by his assumption that I would even give him the time of day. I figured he was bluffing - trying to be funny in front of Chuy, so I decided to call his bluff. I said we could go out that night to return the favor of putting him on the spot just like he had done to me. Except he wasn't bluffing.
This is the exact moment that my life was ruined. That was exactly the kind of crossroad that makes you feel like you're in the middle of a really bad Afterschool Special with someone harping on you about consequences. That was the exact point where my life might have played out very differently, had I chosen to react differently. That moment in time is the only one I have regretted in my thirty years on this earth. If I had only said, "Never" when he asked me.......
I wasn't too sure of Short & Squatty's intentions so I told him that I would drive. We drove around town in my truck for a while and ended up at a dance that was being held across town. There wasn't anything remarkable or interesting about the date. There was no chemistry that would have called me back for more. He was a gentleman and paid for everything. He was very polite with common courtesies and just exactly what you would expect on a date. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't mind-blowing either. We wrapped up the non-descript evening about midnight and parted ways. I drove him back to his house and I returned to mine, content with my evening, but not impressed enough by it to spend much time thinking about it.
One afternoon, as I was returning from running an errand, I was suprised to find my friend Chuy sitting on my front porch swing. He had come to visit me and decided to wait for me on the porch since I wasn't home. This wasn't unusual because my mama would tell whomever came calling in my absence that they would wait on the swing if they wanted to. This time I noticed that Chuy wasn't alone.
I didn't recognize the guy who had came with him, but Chuy had many friends I didn't know so it wasn't a big deal. I greeted the guy anyway. He wasn't much to look at and I certainly wasn't impressed by his presence, but I was making an attempt to be friendly since he was a guest. He was short and squatty without a unique trait about him. The three of us spend the next half hour chatting about nothing in particular and swinging on the porch. Finally, Short & Squatty spoke up. He asked me when we were going to go out. I was surprised by his boldness and offended by his assumption that I would even give him the time of day. I figured he was bluffing - trying to be funny in front of Chuy, so I decided to call his bluff. I said we could go out that night to return the favor of putting him on the spot just like he had done to me. Except he wasn't bluffing.
This is the exact moment that my life was ruined. That was exactly the kind of crossroad that makes you feel like you're in the middle of a really bad Afterschool Special with someone harping on you about consequences. That was the exact point where my life might have played out very differently, had I chosen to react differently. That moment in time is the only one I have regretted in my thirty years on this earth. If I had only said, "Never" when he asked me.......
I wasn't too sure of Short & Squatty's intentions so I told him that I would drive. We drove around town in my truck for a while and ended up at a dance that was being held across town. There wasn't anything remarkable or interesting about the date. There was no chemistry that would have called me back for more. He was a gentleman and paid for everything. He was very polite with common courtesies and just exactly what you would expect on a date. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't mind-blowing either. We wrapped up the non-descript evening about midnight and parted ways. I drove him back to his house and I returned to mine, content with my evening, but not impressed enough by it to spend much time thinking about it.
That didn't stop me from accepting more dates from him. He was a diversion and I needed one. My daughter tagged along on most every date from then on and he didn't seem to mind. I'm pretty sure that's what sealed our fate. I was in this for her, not me. And our lives seemed to be headed in the very direction I hoped, one day, that they would.
No comments:
Post a Comment