I Looked Over and There She Was

As I mentioned earlier, I barely darkened the door of any of my classrooms after Rebecca and I moved in together in Clinton. I can't remember if she was as much of a truant as I was, but she was a truant none the less. I was still working at the grocery store and Coming Attractions and, of course, going out at least 3 nights a week. I was definitely busy, just not busy doing the right things. I NEVER skipped a class in junior high or high school! But, you know, when you are in college they don't call your mama when you do not show up for class. My grades came to my address so I rode that wave as long and far as I could!

There was a revolving door of friends at our place, too. There was a lot of drinking going on but at that point addiction to alcohol never entered my mind. I didn't wake up in the morning with the shakes having to drag myself into the kitchen to make my first cocktail of the day. Addiction can lay dormant for years before it has you in its grasp or in the case of some people who are born with the disease of addiction, who never touch alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, etc., addictive behavior may never manifest itself. At that point, I was addicted to the party not the beverages consumed there.

We made friends with another little straight girl named Roseanne. She was 2^nd generation Puerto Rican and had the most beautiful olive skin. She also could not have been any sweeter. Roseanne came over to our place several times a week and we would also go out together.

A little while after we met Roseanne another woman came into our lives, more specifically, my life. I cannot tell you about her without telling you how we met. There was a guy who you could not help but notice that was at the bar a lot. He had gorgeous shoulder length brown hair that looked quite a lot like mine, actually, but definitely not as big as mine. He wore Levis that fit perfectly and tee shirts with the sleeves cut off that exposed his well-defined arms. Think Pilates not weight lifting. I never saw him wear anything but boots. He looked very, very much like Mick Jagger only without the gross, big teeth. He was beautiful. I begged someone to introduce me to him. Can you imagine the person I just described having a handle like Bubba? But, amazingly, As I got to know him well, the name just seemed to fit him.

The same night “drunk girl” unzipped my dress on the dance floor, I had a zit on my shoulder (don't you hate those things?). Of course it was covered by my long hair otherwise I would not have been seen in public. Another factoid about some gay bars is that the guys use the ladies room as often as the mens room and, to a slightly lesser extent, vice-verse. Straight or gay it just didn't matter. I was in the mirror fooling with the volcano on my shoulder when Bubba walked in. He saw what I was doing and said “Come on, girl, I got something at my house that'll fix that right up!” and off we went to his North Congress Street Apartment. It was on the bottom floor of an old Victorian-era house that has since been completely renovated and is now somebody's law office.

Coincidentally, “Drunk Girl”, who's name I shall not reveal, lived in the same building upstairs. In fact, she and Bubba had been friends since their childhood. “Drunk Girl” was actually very sweet and had this very feminine soft voice when she was sober.

So, I'm sitting in Bubba's living room visiting with other friends who came along who were no where near ready to call it a night. Bubba walked into the living room with cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, and an X-Acto BLADE! So he did surgery on my volcano and took care of that situation quickly! He should have been a surgeon!

I was a little inebriated myself so I decided to stay at Bubba's house. He gave me his bed and I think the rest of the crew carried on until dawn. I was awakened by someone plopping down on the other side of the bed a couple of hours after I went to sleep who immediately started snoring. I peeked over to see a girl with red hair who's name I will not reveal. Early the next morning I was awakened by a woman's voice asking my unsolicited bunk buddy if she could borrow her car keys to jump off her car as her battery was dead. I looked over and saw the woman I was to spend the next 3 years of my life with.