Blow Out, Part 1

 

“Hey, what’s up,” he asked while he yawned at the mouthpiece.

--“I couldn’t sleep,” she whispered.

“Well, now that you got me up, I couldn’t go back to sleep even if I wanted to!”

--“Sorry, I had to wake you…there was just no one else to call.”

“What about your best friend?”

--“You damn well know no such thing exists!”

 

He contemplated the last sentence. He could never grasp the concept of a “best friend”. Of course, he had friends but to find the best-est was something that always puzzled him.

 

“Yes, I remember telling you that because I can never understand how—among all the people you know on this earth, you could find one that “out-friends” them all?”

--“And I told you, I agreed, didn’t I?”

“Quite right, dear…quite!”

 

He reached for the pack of Marlboros he had lying next to the ashtray on the telephone stand and fumbled for his Zippo. The silence was broken by a loud “clink” and a spark momentarily turned pitch darkness into daylight. He always lit up when speaking to anyone on the phone—especially, with her!

 

“So, what is it that’s keeping you up at this hour?”

--“He’s been acting up again!”

“Why bother me? That dick should be the one with his sleep fucked up, not me!”

--“I’m sorry!”

“Yeah, yeah…that’s the nth time you apologized. I’m getting kind of sick of it already!”

--“I know, I know…bear with me, will you?”

“Geez, if I had a dollar for every time you said that…fuck it!”

 

She was hung up on a guy who was younger than she was. This was a time when people got hitched and broke up in person. The pair has been going out a few months and she was feeling a strain on the relationship.

 

There was no Facebook to post an event and unless you went to a friend’s house to look at a physical photo album. You would never see photos that at least one person took with an all-mechanical, analog camera. Most break ups were done face to face and sometimes, via the telephone which was a two-piece apparatus—handset and body with a rotary dial and a cable that tethers the machine to the wall.

 

In those days, dates were set by phone call and since there were no such things as mobile phones or pagers or androids or the internet, once a date or appointment has been set, there is really no way to cancel it unless you knew the landline of the restaurant or the movie house you were spending the date in and have someone page your guy or girl to pick up the “house phone”. People were rarely late or no-shows for a meet. There was really no excuse to get stood up. But the guy stood her up and did so, often. That made her furious but there was really nothing she could do.

 

He takes another long drag on the half-smoked cigarette, “I guess you know what my next words are.”

--“Please, spare me the I-told-you-so speech!”

“But that’s the only thing you’re gonna get out of me right now!”

--“NO! Please, hear me out one more time!”

“That’s exactly what you said the last time you called!”

 

She fell silent. It got very uncomfortable.

 

It was he who broke the silence. “So, are you leaving him or not?”

--“I don’t know.”

“I knew you’d say that!”

--“But…”

“Yeah, there you go with the butts!”

He lights up another smoke with the ember on the previous stub. He stayed quiet and waited for her to say something else. There was only heavy breathing on the other end of the line.

 

“Look, if you keep up with this, you won’t have anyone to talk to in the middle of the night!”

--“What time is it?”

He wanted to say, “2:30AM!” but instead he quipped, “Time for you to leave him!”

--“Don’t be so harsh!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, do something about it, will ya?”

 

She was still speechless. Everything they talked about the last few years they’ve known each other all came back. He had a huge crush on her but she kept going for other guys. He loved her! He did everything for her—covered up for the times she got drunk, skipped class, dated boys and whenever she’d come home high as a kite. He would give her everything and she would take it all without giving anything back but he stayed. He listened to all the bullshit she dished out. He endured late nights listening to nothing but sobs and her nostrils being cleared. He took it all and he was perfectly okay with it!

 

He finally broke the silence after stubbing out his last stick. “Hey, I gotta get up early to catch a sunrise for this magazine layout I’m doing. Let me sleep now and let’s meet up after work.’

--“Sure, I’d like that, please!”

“Fine, go get some rest!”

She hung up without a word.

 

He stumbled in the dark while walking back to his room. Once he was roused, there was really no going back to bed. He turns on a flashlight and checks the pockets of his Domke for that spare pack of smokes he always had just in case he needed a smoke anywhere while on-assignment. He finds a fresh pack and cuts a slit at the top with his favorite folding knife that he kept razor sharp, flicks his Zippo and lights up.

“Fuck, I need coffee!”

 

II.

 

He was sitting in his favorite spot at the Dunkin Donuts shop in Park Square. With a cigarette going, he was busy putting labels on the rolls of 35mm color film he used up during the day. He wraps the last roll with masking tape and writes a number and the date and puts the roll back into the plastic canister. He finished his third cup of coffee when she came through the door in a lovely, translucent, long-sleeved blouse and pencil-cut skirt and low pumps. “Damn, she is so lovely!” He said to no one in particular.

 

Most of the guys craned their necks and stared at her as she walked in, their mouths agape and almost salivating at the sight, wondering who the lucky dude was that this lady was going to join.

 

“Hey,” she said.

--“Hey, stranger!”

“You wanna buy me a coffee?”

--“Yeah, sure.” He gets up and goes to the counter then comes back with two more cups and honey-dipped doughnuts.

 

He couldn’t help being mesmerized at how pretty she was that day. “You look fantastic!”

--“Thank you, just doing my best not to look heartbroken.”

“Uh, yeah but the dark circles under your eyes betray you, sweetheart!”

--“I know.”

“So, who’d you dress up for? I’ve never seen you this foxy!”

--“No one in particular…Well, maybe I dressed up for you? Hahaha!”

He gagged while sipping his coffee when she said that.

 

“…the fuck?”

--“Hahahaha, gotcha!”

“Yeah, you got me good!”