I was in my office late one night, tidying things up and marking some tests when someone knocked on my door. I have been teaching CNC Programming at our local Tech College now for four years. Naturally, I have met an awful lot of people. Some wonderful and some, well, not so wonderful. Many fascinating individuals, more than enough to have collected some weird and wonderful stories.
One of the more interesting students was a young man called Manny DaSousa. Dark complexion and swarthy, of European descent. He had a ready wit, and a keen sense of humour. He was a fairly nice looking average guy that could be relied on for just about anything.
He had done well for a young man just turning twenty-five. He owned his own machine shop and he had a few contracts. Enough work to warrant buying some CNC machine tools and taking the programming course.
It was Manny who entered my office now. Obviously agitated, "Hey man, do you mind if I talk to you for a few minutes?"
"No, not at all, what's up?" I replied. "Shit man I gotta talk to somebody, and you're an OK guy so I didn't think you'd mind!" said Manny. I felt a little uncomfortable, but I allowed him to continue. What follows (while it may not be verbatim) is as close as I can recall to what he related to me.
When Manny was a child he learned at an early age that girls seemed to be a little more considerate of him than they were with other little boys. Always a fast learner he very soon discovered how to use this shy smile to his best advantage. He had always, even as a child, been able to treat members of the opposite sex with equality and been able to respect their dignity. By accident of "Blind friggin' luck" (Manny's words) the girls seemed to want to take him under their wings. "Holy shit man, I never wanted for anything, they were always giving me candy, I was always invited to their birthday party's!"
The DaSousa's were an average family. Manny only had one sibling; a sister (Susan) two years older than him but Joe (Manny's father) had two brothers Leo and Mike. Not long after the brothers married, they decided that the only way they could give their prospective families any vacations was to collectively buy a cottage. They spent a lot of time researching locations, and eventually bought a spacious five-bedroom lakefront cottage on Lake Erie. Mike and Fatima were childless, and eventually moved to Florida. The remaining two brothers bought Mike's interest in the cottage. Over the years the whole family spent many, many happy times at the cottage.
Manny and Susan always seemed to gravitate towards Maria, Leo and Jean's daughter. Indeed the two girls had been born within months of each other, and were so much alike that everyone called them the twins. They both had coal black eyes and long black tresses and beautiful olive skin. While Nadine (Manny's mother) liked to make sure that Susan dressed in girls clothes, Maria wore anything she wanted (within reason) you would more likely find her wearing baggy tee-shirts, jeans and a baseball hat than anything else. She used to tease Manny mercilessly. . Eventually, the two girls went off to University. It was to no-ones great surprise that they ended up at the same school, and indeed became roommates, having found a little apartment that suited their budgets. Manny didn't see the girls for a long time after they went to school. Most holidays they seemed to prefer going home with the various friends they had made. It seems the crowd they hung around with liked to go away for 'girls weeks'.
As time wore on he became quite used to being the only 'kid' still at home. He had the occasional girl friend, but nothing special. Always there seemed to be something missing with the girlfriends that he had. "It was like there was this empty spot inside man!"
"I felt a bit hollow, know what I mean?" Sadly I had to acknowledge that I know only too well what he meant. As I sat there listening to Manny I was beginning to feel a little like a voyeur watching someone's most private moments. A silent witness to his most secret thoughts.
When Manny was nineteen he went to Community College to upgrade his Math skills. On the last day of school he was just arriving home when the phone rang. "Hi Manny?" It was Susan. "Well, hello stranger, you sound like some babe that used to live here". "Now let me see what the hell was her name again?" Susan chuckled. "Y 'know bro, you're one of the few constants in life, you never change!"
"To what do we owe the pleasure of this call?" asked Manny. "Anyone using the cottage this summer?"
"Just me, I thought I'd take a trip up for a few weeks…why?"
"You want some company?"
"Sure!"
"Maria is coming too, it's gonna be just like old times, is Mom around?"
"No, I don't see anyone, you know Mum though, probably found a sale!"
"When are you going up to the cottage?" Susan asked. "Tomorrow morning first thing, why?"
"Oh we'll be there tomorrow evening, gotta go things to do you know"
"Bye"! Said Susan. Manny opened his mouth to speak, when the phone went dead. Oh, Well he thought.
The next day turned out to be extremely hot and humid. Loading the car was turned into an ordeal by Nadine. Who, having found out the girls were going to be at the cottage insisted that he take along extra food. "Holy shit man, she made me take enough to feed an army"!
The drive was uneventful and upon arrival he busied himself unloading the car and airing the cottage out. The heat and humidity made the cottage feel like an oven, it was stifling. After turning on the electricity, making sure the fridge and everything worked, he was ready to drive into town. The weather called for beer, cold beer, so he bought a twenty-four pack, and headed back to the cottage. It's going to be a bitch sleeping tonight, he thought. Then he had an idea.
