Friday July 15
th
, 2016
"What is love? Baby don't hurt me...don't hurt me...no more"
Shit...not again...
I slowly opened my eyes, wondering for the thousandth time why I had picked that song as my alarm. And answering- because I thought it was funny, because I thought it would get a rise out of Julie, my wife.
...
The first morning it went off I let it play until she finally sat up and demanded to know why I wasn't silencing my alarm?
Bingo! That was my cue.
Eyes still closed, I started to slowly bob my head. Then faster. Soon I was doing the full Night at Roxbury dance (which is really just a head bob with some stank on it). That got me the reaction I was looking for. She slapped my arm and made a little snorting sound as she tried not to laugh.
But my mission wasn't over. I had to sit up a little and play goalie as Julie tried to reach over me to get to my phone. I waited till she was almost there, her chest right over my face, and then sprung my trap.
I quickly lifted up and sealed my mouth right over her nipple through the long t-shirt she was wearing. Simultaneously I wrapped both arms around her and rolled us over onto her side of the bed.
"Aaaaack!" she squealed. "Lay off the goodies! Cut it out Sam!"
She was beating my head a little, but her heart wasn't really in it as I alternated sucking, licking, light nibbling. Soon her protests turned to moans as she started getting in it.
By this time my phone had automatically gone into snooze mode, but it started up again mid-suckle.
"What is love? Baby don't hurt me...don't hurt me...no more"
"AAhhh! Turn that off!"
I slowed my breast work, like I was about to stop. Still with a mouthful of shirt and nipple, I started up my head bob again.
"You asshole!" she laughed.
That was the start of a great morning as we rolled around, tickling, grab-assing, playfully fighting over my phone. Playing turned into groping, turned into love making. It was perfect.
...
That was Monday. Today is Friday, and there is zero chance of a repeat.
By now I was thoroughly sick of that song. What is Love by Haddaway. I wished like hell I could change it. I reached over and silenced my phone, then sat up. The scenery was a little different then Monday. I was in the guest room. Julie said she had a sore throat and might be coming down with something. Funny how when I'm sick I get sent to the guest room. And when
she
gets sick...I get sent to the guest room.
I briefly debated going into work, but immediately dismissed it. It was 5 a.m. Julie would sleep till 6:30 before starting her day. I needed to be up earlier because I took the train into New York every morning. Julie worked at a local hospital here in Trenton as a clerk in the billing department.
Since I had no burning desire to do...anything really, I decided to have a little fun today. I got up and put on a pair of shorts and t-shirt, moving quietly when I went into our bedroom so as not to wake Julie. I looked at my shoes before opting for my fuzzy slippers by the bed. Comfort today.
I got in my 10 year old Ford Taurus and drove through our sleepy middle class neighborhood. I passed the train station where I would normally park and commute into the Big Apple. I had some time to kill so I went to an I-Hop.
I couldn't decide what I wanted, having ordered everything on the menu many times over. When the waitress walked up I still had no idea so I just said to hell with it.
"Are you ready to order sir? Do you need a few more minutes?" asked the slightly haggard looking middle aged woman.
"Give me one of everything."
"Sir?"
"One of everything on the breakfast menu. Entrees, sides, drinks, everything."
"Umm.."
I could see she was worried I was just messing with her, maybe working up to doing a runner. So I said, "Here's my credit card. Go ahead and ring me up. Add a fifty percent tip for yourself and send the food out as it's cooked."
Now she was all smiles. "Yes sir. Would you like to move to a bigger table? You'll need the space."
"Good thinking Flo."
Her nametag said Janet, but she didn't correct me. I thing I could have called her Fun Bags and she just would have smiled and said "yes sir." She led me to a ten person table in the middle of the restaurant, practically bowing and scraping like a feudal serf to her lord. She even moved like she was going to hold my chair for me before stopping herself with an embarrassed blush. I had to smile at how happy she looked, I'd probably made her whole week.
The restaurant was about half full, with more people coming in as the breakfast rush hit. I probably made quite a spectacle sitting by myself at a table for ten with plates covering it from end to end, some stacked partially on top of each other. I got a lot of strange looks and noticed quite a few of the younger patrons were taking pictures. I wondered how much play I was getting on social media?
Around 8:00 the place was packed and one man with a family of six was waiting for a table to open. He was looking over at me and glaring because I was taking up so much space. He kept angrily gesturing at me as he talked to the hostess.
So I slowed down.
I had hadn't really eaten much. I was surfing the web on my phone, occasionally reaching out with my fork to randomly stab something. Now I put my phone down and methodically started going from plate to plate, taking one bite from each. Sometimes I closed my eyes in exaggerated rapture, but mostly I maintained constant eye contact with Angry Dad.
His face got redder and his wife stepped up to put a restraining hand on his arm. He shook her off and made a step in my direction.
I jumped straight up. My chair flew backward with a crash. I flung my arms wide and screamed at him.
"YOU WANNA GO BIG MAN! COME AT ME BRO! THIS IS
MY
I-HOP! ALL YOUR PANCAKES BELONG TO ME!"
You could have heard a pin drop. The entire restaurant was staring wide eyed at me. Some of the younger folks were filming me with their phones. Out of the corner of my eye I scanned my tables. Without looking away from Angry Dad I reached down and grabbed a handful of blueberry and vanilla crème pancakes. I took a huge bite, getting it all over my face. I raised my hand out over the table and let the pancakes drop.
Then I walked right out the door. Angry Dad's son gave me a thumbs up when his dad wasn't looking.
Once out in parking lot I regretted not grabbing a napkin on the way out, but it would have ruined the effect. I wiped my hand on a shirt laying in the back of my car and took off. Not for the first time I thought that my particular situation could be incredibly freeing.
It wasn't lost on me that my behavior was becoming increasingly unstable. Not so long ago the very idea of yelling at a stranger in public would have been unthinkable. That's some Jerry Springer shit. But when you are completely sure that your action don't matter, that you are leaving no mark on the world, you can start to come unhinged.
More on that later.
It was only 8:30 and I still had a couple hours to kill. I thought of seeing a movie, but I had already seen them all.
There was a mall close by and I knew there would be a flash mob at 9:15. I could go watch, maybe try to join in. No. The flash mob was mostly teenagers out for the summer and I was feeling especially old today at 27.
So what did I do? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I just sat in my car, not even listening to the radio, just zoning out.
At 11:30 I snapped myself out of it and went to Home Depot. I bought the longest garden hose they had, along with a nozzle that experience had taught me put out the best spray pattern. It was basically a long cone that focused the water into a narrow beam. It had no shut off valve so I would have to crimp the hose to stop the water flow.