Three and a Half Out of Ten

We all met up for dinner at the Hamburger Barn downtown. The food isn't near as good as I remembered it back in high school. There was a weird vibe in the air that night, at least for me, because this is where I took Grace on our first official date. I doubt that she remembered that night, but I do.

After dinner, we had a few drinks, except for SId, who vowed only to drink soda all night. Clara got a little unruly a few times. She was wearing a low-cut shirt over a particularly unflattering body, but to some of these guys, breasts are breasts. Sam kept puffing up his chest to any of these guys that got back in Clara's face.

Nicky, tried to play peacekeeper, but he looked like he was gonna come unglued at any moment. Grace looked distracted all night, frequently stepping outside for phone calls. I suspected that this all had something to do with her son, or maybe her ex-husband, or both...she was being rather quiet about it.

This really wasn't the spirit of comraderie that I was expecting after the past couple nights. It this point, it was coming closer to what I was expecting before I arrived. Out of fear of being singled out and turned on, I opted to stay quiet.

Things calmed down around ten, when we made our way to the park. The last remnants of the barbequing families were leaving the park, so we were alone, all save for a group of teenagers hanging out across the pond from us. Nicky said that we should stay out in the open, because the picnic areas in the woods is the local gay sex haven. Sid was quick to point out the level of experience in Nicky's tone when he said that.

We all talked for about an hour, sitting there on the grass. Nicky was looking for a break in the conversation so that he could break out our lists. When he started to pass them out, Grace got another phone call. She walked away from the group to have a little privacy, but we could still hear her side of the conversation as she started to argue with who was on the other line. I asked Nicky and Clara about her ex husband, and they got kinda tight-lipped. They wouldn't even say the guy's name, saying he's known simply as "the prick".

Well, "the prick" wouldn't let Grace off the phone, so she eventually hung up. When he called back, she turned off her phone and rejoined the group. She was a bit shaken up as Nicky handed out the lists. I brought up that it didn't feel right to do this right now. There had been a bit too much drama to go and relive everything we may not have accomplished over the past ten years.

At this point, Sid offered a solution that we could agree on. We don't have to read them aloud unless we wanted to. So, we all sat and read our lists to ourselves, chuckling at some, groaning at others. My list went as follows:

TEN THINGS I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE LABOR DAY WEEKEND, 2005:

1. GET OUT OF THIS TOWN. Check!
2. LEARN HOW TO PLAY THE GUITAR. It was determined in college that my fingers were far too stubby to ever play a string instrument, not to mention I can't hold rhythm for more than a minute.
3. TOUR EUROPE. The closest I came was the International House of Pancakes.
4. GET MARRIED. Why did I, at age 17, have a dream of getting married?
5. HAVE KIDS. See #4.
6. BE A SUCCESSFUL ARTIST. Well, I'm employed, so that counts as at least half.
7. BEAT MYST. That sounds more like a 17-year-old. Finished that my first week in college.
8. WRITE A BOOK. Still working on that.
9. SWIM IN BOTH ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC OCEANS. Here's another one I wonder why I had this desire at age 17. I did it, though. Florida in 1999, California in 2003.
10. SEE THE SMASHING PUMPKINS IN CONCERT. Hell, I stopped listening to them four years before they broke up. Oh, well.

No one really shared their lists out loud, we just shared a number. Nicky was at 8, Clara was 3, Sam was 7, Grace 5, Me 3 1/2, and Sid was 10. I read his list later, I must say he aimed rather low and settled for very little.

We all sat by the pond for a while after that, not saying much, just finishing off the beer we brought with us. Sid and I called out early and went back to the hotel. On our way to the car, Grace pulled me aside, asking me when I was heading back. I knew we were needing to be back before three monday afternoon, so Sid can catch his flight at five. I told her I guess we could stay past Sunday night, and she asked if I wanted to go have dinner. I didn't hear her say the word "alone", but I guessed that's what she meant. I told her to call the hotel in the morning and we'll make plans.

That 17-year old kid inside me just screamed YIPEE!