Bohemian Avenue #2
John walked up one flight of stairs in his brother’s apartment building. The floor was clear, but it wasn’t even dark outside yet.
He thought of the day he moved into the apartment with Stephen and his roommate.
---
The master bedroom was for them to share along with the bathroom in the corner. Instead of setting up a bed, John had just taken the extra mattress and thrown it on the floor and threw some blankets on it. “That’s good enough for me,” he’d said.
There hadn’t been much for John to unpack, so John was ready to do something fun in the city. As they were leaving the apartment, they saw a man lying on the floor not too far from their door.
Stephen being a security guard had put on his work persona. “Hey, get up! Get up!” He nudged him with his foot hard enough to begin to roll him over.
The man mumbled and began to get up.
“You get out right now!” commanded Stephen. He proceeded to haul him downstairs and out the front door in the typical “bum’s rush” style.
John hadn’t seen his brother in that light before. It had left an impression.
---
Now, he entered the apartment to find he was the only one there. He turned on the television in the master bedroom and changed his clothes.
It wasn’t long before George; Stephen’s roommate came home from school. Since it was Friday, John knew his brother would be home pretty soon.
Next to come into the apartment were Susan and her sister Jeanie. They took over the living room while George was changing in his room.
Susan, it seemed was George’s regular visitor. Though George called her his girlfriend, she seemed to try to dodge that moniker. She was practically an apartment fixture in John’s eyes.
Jeanie was brunette where Susan was blond, and a Grunger unlike Susan. She sported a fresh hairstyle that seemed to John a form of bowl haircut. Everything below the top of the ear was clipped or shaved to the skin leaving the rest to hang almost like a Beatle haircut. He had no idea what that was called, but it had to do with the Grunge look he guessed. He appreciated the gloss of her dark brunette hair that was long enough to see and how it outlined her pale delicate face with the scant and naturally shaped eyebrows over brown eyes.
Her lips were generous without being pouty or overlarge. They called John’s attention to her words whenever she spoke in a slightly ethereal voice.
Jeanie seemed more aware of her surroundings than Susan and easily dominated a room with conversation. It was hard to know anything at all about Susan as Jeanie effortlessly eclipsed her by merely being there.
John had heard from other friends that Jeanie and Stephen had been an item at one time. That seemed to pique his interest in her even more. He wanted to know what had attracted his brother to her.
When Stephen came home, Jeanie suggested they all go to Loring Park and pick up two old friends from their school days and go to the bowling alley on Lake Street.
Everyone seemed in agreement and decided to use George’s car and the sisters would come in Jeanie’s car to have room for everyone.
John was happy to watch and learn more of his brother’s world. He didn’t think anything of what George had said about Loring Park being an area famous for being part of the gay community. He was enjoying the company of all these younger people and their way of talking about their lives.
When they finally found the apartment of the two they were to pick up, John saw two somewhat large girls get into the backseat with Stephen. He turned around in his seat to greet the two new passengers and saw that one of the girls wore her face as if she had a sweet disposition and the other was more Grunge with many studs in her left ear, mostly in the stiff cartilage at the top. There were fewer in the right ear. She seemed the more masculine of the two. Now, George’s remarks about Loring Park began to sink in.
The girl with all the studs in her ears had a short haircut. John’s grandmother would have called it a “boyish bob”. John asked her if getting all the piercings had hurt.
She seemed pretty casual about answering his question and claimed that none had especially hurt except maybe the ones in the cartilage at the top of her ears.
When George’s carload arrived at the bowling alley, Stephen, John, and the two girls slid into a booth near the bar while George went to watch for Susan and Jeanie at the entrance.
John bought everyone at the table a drink. He and the girls had beer while Stephen ordered a Coke. He brought the drinks back to the table where he saw that Stephen had moved over to the wall, leaving him to sit across from the more feminine of the two girls.
He had already forgotten their names and was hesitant to ask again, so he proceeded to engage the girl in front of him in conversation. He was successful in drawing her out and was pleased at his ability to get her to smile and even laugh once.
Stephen leaned into John’s ear and said, “What are you doing? You’re married.”
John frowned and mumbled, “I’m not hitting on her.”
The thought occurred to him that the girl with the studded ears might resent his attention to her friend, so he kept glancing in her direction to see if she showed any signs of jealousy. There was no reaction to confirm his suspicions of the two girls’ relationship.
When someone offered to buy the next round of drinks, George, Susan and the girl with the studded ears went to the pool table and Jeanie slid into the booth next to the other girl from Loring Park.
Jeanie saw that John had finished his second beer and said she wanted to have a rum and Coke if he would have one too. He didn’t know what to think of that, but agreed.
A man with a guitar stepped onto the small stage and the other end of the barroom, and began to play songs from the 1980s. John was pleased to hear some music he had grown up with and really began to enjoy himself.
As the four in the booth talked, he discovered that all these friends of Stephen had gone to the same Bible College with him more than a year ago. John couldn’t help but feel they had strayed quite a way from where they used to be in life, and he wasn’t such a good influence. At least Stephen hadn’t had any alcohol.
Jeanie had another drink and wanted John to match her drink for drink when Susan came to the table to express her disapproval. When Jeanie downed her drink in one swallow, the sisters began to argue.
At that point, George came over and suggested that he and Susan take the girls from Loring Park back home and that Jeanie and the brothers go back to Stephen’s apartment in her car.
As John, Stephen, and Jeanie approached her car, Jeanie began to stagger. Stephen caught her and asked John to drive them back to the apartment. When they arrived, Stephen carried her upstairs and placed her on the couch in the living room.
John sat at the kitchen table and looked at Jeanie lying on the couch. She had faded into sleep from the alcohol. He knew she’d be fine except for a slight headache in the morning. She must have been tired to fade so fast from just three drinks, but everyone’s tolerance is different.
He pondered how all these friends had been in Bible school together. The two from Loring Park had obviously dropped out and pursued a gay lifestyle. Jeanie worked at a video store and lived about block from them in “Gangland” and wasn’t currently in school. Stephen had a school bill that was too high for him to continue full time, so he had dropped out for a while. George was in vocational school, but Susan didn’t seem to have a reason for not being in school. There had been a vague reference to her having a job somewhere, but no one had said what it was.
If he wasn’t careful, he could be judgmental and say he’d fallen in with the castoffs of the Bible school. How had all these kids fallen through the cracks? Was it just lack of funds or something more?
To be continued…….eventually
He thought of the day he moved into the apartment with Stephen and his roommate.
---
The master bedroom was for them to share along with the bathroom in the corner. Instead of setting up a bed, John had just taken the extra mattress and thrown it on the floor and threw some blankets on it. “That’s good enough for me,” he’d said.
There hadn’t been much for John to unpack, so John was ready to do something fun in the city. As they were leaving the apartment, they saw a man lying on the floor not too far from their door.
Stephen being a security guard had put on his work persona. “Hey, get up! Get up!” He nudged him with his foot hard enough to begin to roll him over.
The man mumbled and began to get up.
“You get out right now!” commanded Stephen. He proceeded to haul him downstairs and out the front door in the typical “bum’s rush” style.
John hadn’t seen his brother in that light before. It had left an impression.
---
Now, he entered the apartment to find he was the only one there. He turned on the television in the master bedroom and changed his clothes.
It wasn’t long before George; Stephen’s roommate came home from school. Since it was Friday, John knew his brother would be home pretty soon.
Next to come into the apartment were Susan and her sister Jeanie. They took over the living room while George was changing in his room.
Susan, it seemed was George’s regular visitor. Though George called her his girlfriend, she seemed to try to dodge that moniker. She was practically an apartment fixture in John’s eyes.
Jeanie was brunette where Susan was blond, and a Grunger unlike Susan. She sported a fresh hairstyle that seemed to John a form of bowl haircut. Everything below the top of the ear was clipped or shaved to the skin leaving the rest to hang almost like a Beatle haircut. He had no idea what that was called, but it had to do with the Grunge look he guessed. He appreciated the gloss of her dark brunette hair that was long enough to see and how it outlined her pale delicate face with the scant and naturally shaped eyebrows over brown eyes.
Her lips were generous without being pouty or overlarge. They called John’s attention to her words whenever she spoke in a slightly ethereal voice.
Jeanie seemed more aware of her surroundings than Susan and easily dominated a room with conversation. It was hard to know anything at all about Susan as Jeanie effortlessly eclipsed her by merely being there.
John had heard from other friends that Jeanie and Stephen had been an item at one time. That seemed to pique his interest in her even more. He wanted to know what had attracted his brother to her.
When Stephen came home, Jeanie suggested they all go to Loring Park and pick up two old friends from their school days and go to the bowling alley on Lake Street.
Everyone seemed in agreement and decided to use George’s car and the sisters would come in Jeanie’s car to have room for everyone.
John was happy to watch and learn more of his brother’s world. He didn’t think anything of what George had said about Loring Park being an area famous for being part of the gay community. He was enjoying the company of all these younger people and their way of talking about their lives.
When they finally found the apartment of the two they were to pick up, John saw two somewhat large girls get into the backseat with Stephen. He turned around in his seat to greet the two new passengers and saw that one of the girls wore her face as if she had a sweet disposition and the other was more Grunge with many studs in her left ear, mostly in the stiff cartilage at the top. There were fewer in the right ear. She seemed the more masculine of the two. Now, George’s remarks about Loring Park began to sink in.
The girl with all the studs in her ears had a short haircut. John’s grandmother would have called it a “boyish bob”. John asked her if getting all the piercings had hurt.
She seemed pretty casual about answering his question and claimed that none had especially hurt except maybe the ones in the cartilage at the top of her ears.
When George’s carload arrived at the bowling alley, Stephen, John, and the two girls slid into a booth near the bar while George went to watch for Susan and Jeanie at the entrance.
John bought everyone at the table a drink. He and the girls had beer while Stephen ordered a Coke. He brought the drinks back to the table where he saw that Stephen had moved over to the wall, leaving him to sit across from the more feminine of the two girls.
He had already forgotten their names and was hesitant to ask again, so he proceeded to engage the girl in front of him in conversation. He was successful in drawing her out and was pleased at his ability to get her to smile and even laugh once.
Stephen leaned into John’s ear and said, “What are you doing? You’re married.”
John frowned and mumbled, “I’m not hitting on her.”
The thought occurred to him that the girl with the studded ears might resent his attention to her friend, so he kept glancing in her direction to see if she showed any signs of jealousy. There was no reaction to confirm his suspicions of the two girls’ relationship.
When someone offered to buy the next round of drinks, George, Susan and the girl with the studded ears went to the pool table and Jeanie slid into the booth next to the other girl from Loring Park.
Jeanie saw that John had finished his second beer and said she wanted to have a rum and Coke if he would have one too. He didn’t know what to think of that, but agreed.
A man with a guitar stepped onto the small stage and the other end of the barroom, and began to play songs from the 1980s. John was pleased to hear some music he had grown up with and really began to enjoy himself.
As the four in the booth talked, he discovered that all these friends of Stephen had gone to the same Bible College with him more than a year ago. John couldn’t help but feel they had strayed quite a way from where they used to be in life, and he wasn’t such a good influence. At least Stephen hadn’t had any alcohol.
Jeanie had another drink and wanted John to match her drink for drink when Susan came to the table to express her disapproval. When Jeanie downed her drink in one swallow, the sisters began to argue.
At that point, George came over and suggested that he and Susan take the girls from Loring Park back home and that Jeanie and the brothers go back to Stephen’s apartment in her car.
As John, Stephen, and Jeanie approached her car, Jeanie began to stagger. Stephen caught her and asked John to drive them back to the apartment. When they arrived, Stephen carried her upstairs and placed her on the couch in the living room.
John sat at the kitchen table and looked at Jeanie lying on the couch. She had faded into sleep from the alcohol. He knew she’d be fine except for a slight headache in the morning. She must have been tired to fade so fast from just three drinks, but everyone’s tolerance is different.
He pondered how all these friends had been in Bible school together. The two from Loring Park had obviously dropped out and pursued a gay lifestyle. Jeanie worked at a video store and lived about block from them in “Gangland” and wasn’t currently in school. Stephen had a school bill that was too high for him to continue full time, so he had dropped out for a while. George was in vocational school, but Susan didn’t seem to have a reason for not being in school. There had been a vague reference to her having a job somewhere, but no one had said what it was.
If he wasn’t careful, he could be judgmental and say he’d fallen in with the castoffs of the Bible school. How had all these kids fallen through the cracks? Was it just lack of funds or something more?
To be continued…….eventually
posted by praiseage at 2:37 AM
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