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Monday, September 2, 2013

8 Balls and the House on Dana Part 12



“I don’t think the apartment is haunted,” replies the landlord as he laughs nervously. “We just can’t seem to get anyone to live in it long term.” “Now, if we are done, I have several other people who are looking at this property, so if you have any questions?” 

Kim slides her hand into the air like a first grader asking “Do you need first, last and security?”

Kim immediately calls her parents when we get home, to ask for money to help us move. Her parents make her sweat a little bit because they seem to think that we are living the life of drug addicts and that we might just use the money to “further our lifestyle.” Kim has to remind her Mom that we are not drug addicts and that we are just surrounded by them. The money is really to “help us to move.”

Fifteen minutes later, the deal is set; we will pay Kim’s mother back when we can, even though we all know that will be “never.” Kim then phones our new landlord at the property to tell him that we will be over the next day to drop off our down payment to him.
Next, we have to pack and move all our crap. We have little time and beg anyone at 8 Balls and the Half Moon Café who has a car to help us out. Everything is moving forward, we are about to get out of a cockroach-infested apartment and move into a shady neighborhood that is in the crime-ridden fringes of Albany.

We pack what little we are prepared to move. We have a fear that the cockroaches will be moving along with us, so we double bag everything, spray roach killer into it and tie the bag shut. I could care less that Kim and I and all our clothes will smell like roach spray for the next month.

Jim who works at The Half Moon Café expresses to Kim and me one night at work, that he thinks the move in together is not a good one. It is clear that Jim thinks that Kim has a crush on me and hopes that she will find a straight man to settle down with or in the very least find one to date.

Jim not only works at the Half Moon Café but also is the owner of a basement flower shop on Lark St and sings part time in a hard-core punk band. He is as sweet as he is cute but clearly has a hard time letting anyone get close to him. One day he confesses to me while we are stirring the Kefir, that he knows that he is gay but doesn’t want to be identified as one. “It is hard to be gay and be a singer in a Punk band,” Jim whispers to me as he scoops up a hand full of glop with a net. “People tend to make fun of you.” I nod as if I understand but suddenly ask “What about Morrissey?”

Jim has a shaggy mop top haircut that hangs playfully in his face. He hides his eyes behind   bangs and tends to only speak when spoken to. When he is dead serious he pushes his bangs out of his face and looks at you out of the corner of his eyes. He suddenly pushes his bangs aside and looks at me.“I don’t think you and Kim should move in together.” “It’s not a good idea,” he says fastening the lid on the Keifer and then spins away on his heel.

Kim and I never realize that Jim’s words of reserve would prove to be a warning in hindsight. Things were about to blossom into drug-fueled binges washed down with large amounts of booze between Kim and I.

To be continued…


Geoffrey Doig-Marx holds all written and electronic rights to his writing "A Day in the Life". It can not be reprinted in part or whole without his written consent.

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