A New Chapter Starts Part 13

Living with Bill M. gets strange fast. At first I think it’s just the usual getting used to living with someone but in short time I notice a lot of things that I have to take note of. These are things that should have rung warning bells very loudly to me. 

The problem is that I tend to like to see where something is headed before I react or speak. I have heard that I am over dramatic and tend to speak too quickly.

Bill M. calls in his newscasts to the various radio stations that he works at. Watching how this works is so fascinating to me. Bill M. speaks into the phone, attached a recording device attached to the back of the earphone and then looped it into a mini tape recorder.  The station adds there on air logo and he records the whole thing. Bill M. then runs around putting all the radios on to the station that he just called, so he can hear how it turns out.

It starts to get weird at these moments. Wherever I am he will walk in, place one finger to his mouth, shush me and start talking. Places I can be found when he does this are 1. Sitting on the toilet. 2.While I am in the tub. 3. Sleeping, and my favorite # 4. While I am dancing in my speedo, in front of a tanning lamp, that I bought at a garage sale, while locked in my bedroom.  

Bill will knock and knock and knock and knock and knock, until I open my door. The tanning lamp has one timer switch and I have to wear goggles. I give myself a zap 15 minutes a day. Bill M. won’t let me turn it off but will stand in my room and talk into the phone.

One of the first things I notice in the house are his Bottles of pills. These pills line the counter in the kitchen, the bathroom, and from what I can see from the doorway of his room, all over his dresser.

The bottles have various medical prescriptions written on them. I write them down and I go to the library to do a little research. He is doped up so bad. Most of the medications point towards schizophrenia. What I also notice are that his behavior leans the same way.

Bill looks completely normal, almost scarily so, but Once in the middle of the night I turn on the bathroom light and find him standing in the dark, staring into the mirror. While he mumbles, I walk him and his matching pajamas, back to his room.

I am not allowed to “ever” enter his room and I need to rap loudly 3 times, stand in the doorway and speak in a loud voice before he will talk to me. I can hear him talking to people that don’t exist and some weeks he doesn’t bathe.

The rules quickly become crazier and I turn to David.

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.   

A New Chapter Starts Part 12

David tells me to have a seat in the kitchen, we are going to talk with Billy and have a seat. Billy eyes me, watching me walk into the kitchen. David slowly releases Billy after he gets Billy’s promise that this scene is over. Billy rubs his throat with his free hand, clean this up David tells Billy pointing to the debris. “I am putting clothes on and I will be right back in.”

Billy is on his hands and knees slowly picking up broken plates, dishes and everything else that got swept onto the floor during the argument. I look around the kitchen and find a box of plastic garbage bags. I pull a couple of them out and walk towards Billy.

“I am so sorry,” I say as Billy tries hard not to meet my eyes but takes the bag I hand him. “I don’t know what to say,” Billy says dropping broken plates into the garbage bag. “I thought you were my friend.” “Do you want me to leave? I ask. Billy shrugs. “I’m sorry,” I say opening a new bag. Billy shrugs.

Ten minutes later David is dressed and we are sitting around the kitchen table. The whole story begins to unwind directly from Bill’s lips. David and Billy are not dating, nor have they slept together. 

Billy has issues about letting anyone get close to him. He is still mad at me and feels as if I cheated on him. I am wrong and ready to take the blame. David tells Billy that he has feelings for me and that he wants to date me.

I tell David that I need to return to Madison Place to get ready for work. Billy asks if he can have time alone with David. I leave the house with my head hanging down. How do I even begin to repair this? This is another time that I will shut off and run from the situation. After telling Adam the whole story when I get back I decide that I need to find a new place to live. It would just be too uncomfortable for me around here.

I quickly get ready for work and head out the door.

I don’t see Billy for about two weeks. It is clear that he is staying out of my way on purpose. Our paths cross briefly as I run into the bathroom as he heads out. He refuses to even look at me. On the other hand I have been seeing David every free minute that I have. David told me that Billy was fine at that he wants to date me. I have no problem with that. David has asked me to move into his house, it was three days after the Billy episode and I am still not ready for that commitment.

I have a meeting with a potential roommate named Bill M. at a potential apartment located on Jay Street. I have spoken to him on the phone and we meet at the State Street Pub. Bill M. is a button down, tie wearing reporter who works for several news stations and does his news over the phone. It is the broadcast on the radio. There is nothing special about him and he seems like a really nice person.

We meet at the apartment that night and once again hit it off. The apartment is on the corner of Jay Street and Dove. It is located in the basement and the landlords Tommy and Roy will live in the building above us.

Tommy and Roy seem very happy with us and wave the security deposit. It’s all set with a handshake that we will be moving in. Bill M. and I go over all the particulars. He will move in one day before me because I will have to work and can’t get there on the first. I turn over my month’s rent to him to pay Roy and Tommy. Adam is sad to see me go but we know that we will see each other a lot.

I move into the apartment on the 2^nd of the month. My key isn’t working in the door and I am forced to pound. After about 10 minutes Bill M. answers the door. He is dressed in pajamas, bedroom slippers and a bathrobe. It’s clear that he was asleep. I tell him my key doesn’t work in the door. He mumbles something about changing the locks and walks back in the apartment. I drop my suitcase and follow him towards the kitchen. He stops, looks at me and asks me where I put the toilet paper. 

My Spidey sense begins to tingle.

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.    

A New Chapter Starts Part 11

I quickly wrap the towel around my waist and take a step back into the bathroom.  “I see you Geoff, you fucking Fucker!” Billy screams. He begins to pound and kick the door harder. “What is that?” David asks grabbing my arm.  My eyes are huge and I can feel the color draining out of my face. “It’s Billy,” I whisper.“Open this door, you fucking fuck!” Billy screams.

David wraps a towel around his waist and steps into the hallway. “Stay here!” he says putting up his hand and then closing the bathroom door behind him. “Where am I going to go?” I ask myself out loud. I quickly look around the room for a window. No such luck, there is only a shower and toilet in the room with me.

I reach over and turn the skeleton key in the door until I hear a click then I palm the key. I press my ear to the door. The key clatters to the floor and I scramble to catch it. My heart is beating quicker than a jackrabbit’s heart. I grab the key as it bounces off the tile and put it on the sink. I can hear Billy screaming louder and then I can hear David screaming back at him. It is hard to make out one word of what is being said.

The fight continues to escalate and now I can hear things being thrown, breakable things. “Mumble, mumble, mumble” and then smash, something hits the wall. It sounds as if the house is being destroyed as the mumbling, screaming and smashing continue.

I slide to my knees and press my eye to the keyhole. I can only see shadows moving in the kitchen but I can’t tell what’s going on. Then I can hear Billy screaming again. “I’ll kill you Geoff, you fucker!” Billy screams as something crashes against the bathroom door. I jump back and Billy yells “Come on you chicken fucker!” at me. I am not about to correct him from inside the bathroom but I suddenly realized that this wasn’t me, I don’t hide from problems and I can’t  lie, I have been caught. Time for this to end as I make sure that the towel is tight around my waist I grab the key off the sink and stick it in the door. The lock clicks to open and I step into the hallway.

David’s wet towel is lying in the middle of the floor. I step over it as I look up and down the hallway. I creep towards the kitchen. There are broken plates, glasses and anything else that seemed to be in Billys immediate reach.

David is standing naked with one hand around Billy’s throat and the other one around his wrist. Every time Billy starts to talk; David presses his hand tighter on Billy’s throat. The only sounds leaving Billy’s mouth now are dry grunts. I slide quickly into the room and the look of hate on Billy’s face when he sees me enter the kitchen says everything that he is not able to say at the moment.

“I,I,I, I’m going to leave now,” I say trying not to look at Billy. Billy struggles against David’s hand.

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.    

A New Chapter Starts Part 10

I arrive at David’s house later than I thought I would. David answers the door and immediately tells me that Billy has already left. 

David holds the door open and asks me to come in. David’s house is a tiny two story residence that sits right on Washington Avenue before it splits into Western Avenue.

The house is decorated in floor to ceiling Art Deco. Statues and cherubs line the walls. There is a bar that sits on a push cart just ready for entertaining. An antique decanter filled with scotch sits center surrounded by several glasses with designs cut into the crystal. David pauses briefly on our tour and introduces me to a woman who is sitting on the couch knitting.

David lives on the first floor with his best friend Anne. Anne is a 65 year old woman, who briefly pauses her television watching, to sneer in my direction and then goes right back to knitting. We immediately dislike each other.

David goes on to tell me that his Mother died when he was very young. His father remarried a woman that he never connected with. It quickly becomes very clear what Anne represents to David and the apartment.

He takes me on a tour of the rest of the house. It’s a cute two bedroom apartment with a living room, dining room, music room, back porch and fairly large back yard. The appliances in the kitchen are all from 1920-1940’s and the stove has to be lit with a match that he keeps in a tin on a shelf. Every room has glasses that hold several cigarettes which he buys by the caseload.

There is a screen door that creaks when opened and slams shut behind you. I’m reminded of camping. From his backyard and by standing on the stoop you can look directly into the back entrance of the Waterworks Pub. Over the fence he points out his car a 1935 Packard that sits in the shared parking lot. He tells me that he owns a 1965 Pontiac that he keeps in a garage several blocks away.

He has a hammock in the backyard and several folding chairs that sit around an open fire pit. He excuses himself for a minute as he runs back into the house. Moments later the sounds of The Policemen’s Other Ball and Sting singing Roxanne can be heard in the backyard.

David returns carrying drinks and several cigarettes. An hour later I am sitting in the hammock with him. My defenses are no longer up and thoughts of Billy are in the front of my mind and I stop David as he leans in for a kiss.

“I can’t do this,” I say “Billy is my best friend”. “Do what?” David asks. “Cheat on Billy with you.” I respond coming to standing. “Billy and I aren’t together,” David says standing next to me. David goes on to explain that Billy and him are not sleeping together because Billy doesn’t want to. Something about Billy having issues with letting someone in.

Several hours later I realize that I am not going home.

In the morning I step from the shower leaving David there, Anne has already left for work and we are completely alone. I am standing in the hallway completely naked drying myself off when I hear a pounding on the back door. I look up to see Billy pounding on the glass, he jumped the fence and climbed in through the porch.

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.    

A New Chapter Starts. Part 9

The rest of the day I am sent to the phone room. The phone room has 4 chairs and 4 phones and stacks of old member’s files. 

They want us to call to renew past memberships. Rachel sits next to me, one stack of files in front of her and a discard “ already called” pile on the floor. 

The first call I make is to a woman in her 70’s. After of 10 minutes me yelling into the phone, she understands that I am calling from Dora Dee Figure Salon and that I want her to renew.

After realizing that I am male and that the club is not going co-ed just the staff is, she hangs up on me. I write “ Doesn't want men in the club,” under her reason to not return. Her file gets tossed into the discard pile.

Rachel seems just as enthused as I am to be making these phone calls. She constantly holds her middle finger up to the phone when she talks and writes “Die” on a piece of paper that she holds up for me to read. After an hour of rejection on the phone, I begin making calls using a feminine voice and saying that my name is Genevieve. Rachel has to mute her phone after spitting water out her nose.

Thirty files get thrown into the discard pile. Rachel writes “Dead” under reason to not return on 50% of her files and then launches them Frisbee style across the room. She tells me that she does this so she doesn’t have to call them back. It is our jobs to take the discard files of someone else and call them. Past members will be called at least 7 times before they are completely removed from our paper system.

Isabelle peek’s her head into the phone room to make sure we are working. Dora told her that someday she could be second in command under Sharon. This way she is guaranteed that Isabelle will spy for her and report back.

The day is finally over for me and I have to punch out on the way out. Sharon waves to me from the front office. Rachel punches out moments after I do, waving to Sharon and then rolling her eyes when she looks away.

Half way down the stairs Rachel bums a cigarette from me. “Oh my lord, I need to graduate and get out of here.” “How long have you worked here?” I ask. “Not much longer than you,” she says taking a deep draw of the cigarette.” “I didn't know you smoked,” I say as she heads into the parking lot. “I don’t,” she says and flicks the cigarette onto the pavement.

I stand around the corner and wait for the bus to bring me back to Albany. The sign that reads Dora Dee Figure Salon gets turned off. I wait for the bus for about 45 minutes to arrive. The trip home is slow and we stop at every bus stop on the way home. No one is on the bus except for 3 people and no one is at the stops.

I am supposed to stop over and pick Billy up from David’s on the way home.

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.