Six Word Stories

She steals my time not caring.

She stole his time not caring.

He took his time not caring.

The second installment of Toxic

Toxic II

My grandmother always told me, "smoking can you".  Uncle Buddy didn't seem worried about it very much.   That is until that day he took me hunting.

I loved to follow him on those cold evenings.  He loved to get a few squirrels for dinner.  It was going to the grocery store, except the meat was extremely fresh.  And Grandma would make the best biscuits and gravy.

For as long as I could remember I'd been with grandma and uncle Buddy.  Uncle Buddy had never married and didn't seem worried about it very much.  

It just a few days after Christmas and instead of snowed we'd had rain.  Rain for days and that is why we had not been hunting.  I got a Daisy BB rifle for Christmas.  Uncle Buddy had taught me to shot years ago.   I could shoot, but Grandma said that at 12 I was too young for a real gun and besides I'd have to get a job and buy it myself.  She also said she would never buy me cigarettes or liquor. 

Uncle Buddy worked and he bought his own cigarettes and his liquor.  He kept his cigarettes in the top left pocket of his bib overalls and his liquor he kept in the _____.  Grandma knew he drank, but she did not want it in the house.  If he was ever drunk you would not know it.

Chain Saw and Liza the couple down the road near the sanctified church got drunk every weekend and tthey'd fight every weekend too.  Uncle had to take to Liza to the hospital in the middle of the night not long ago.  The not long ago either.  Chain Saw and Liza got drunk, got to fighting.  Chain Saw broke liza's arm.  When they came and to taken to the hospital that night, Uncle Buddy just rolled over and went back to sleep.  Uncle Buddy felt bad about it later cause he did not know her arm broken and it healed a little crooked from not having medical treatment.

Chain Saw and Liza didn't seem to worry about it very much,  They got drunk and fought every weekend, just not as hard.

Outside my Window

For most of the day, I noticed the cleaners.  The guys that clean crime scene or deathbeds.  The beds that family can’t handle, if there is family, relations.   I’ve not died alone.  So I can’t comment from that side, but I noticed the cleaners more than I’d ever paid much attention to the old women that lived there. 

(Move)

She always had a bag, a shopping bag in her hand and her purse locked by her arm over her shoulder. The only time I talked to her she explain ed her bag.  She laughed when called herself the bag lady.

I did call the police though.  But Sarah made me.  Sarah was visiting.  She’s back in hot ass Tampa and I’m in DC.  We were a commuting couple and it was not broken so why we try to fix it.  I don’t like Tampa or Florida for that matter.

It was all that mail overflowing the mailbox.

“Do you see that,” She asked.  I said see what.  The mail.  Sarah was like that, seeing and feeling reacting.  She had my attention.   And I processed the thought of the mail and realizing I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen the bag lady.

We saw this sitting in the bay window enjoying our coffee and each other.  Sarah is a waif and love that little nook.  This is the evening of our last day together the light was gold as is late afternoon in the fall, not too long before the drive to the airport early in the morning in time for her to make it work.

Without any discussion we got, went downstairs and across the street.  On the an’s porch, we found more mail under the overflowing mailbox.. I picked up a few pieces.   Junk mail, water bill__I recognized the logos.  I left my glasses.  I wanted to see the postmarks, but the type was just a blur.

Typical Sarah.  Mot caring about postal regulations she went straight for the mailbox.  As she sorted a hand full of mail we both recognized the manila envelope.

It was the bag lady’s Social Security check.  Sarah looked up at me with those eyes of her and said, Charles, we need to call the police.

That was yesterday. 

Your Call Has Been Forwarded to an Automatic Phone System

(What is an automatic phone system)

I have a hole is my heart. 

Toxic

Toxic

as in the things we do to sabotage our relationships.

I’m a man so this is my POV.  The girls have their side too I know.  And yes we guys have our toxic chemistry too.

I’m not picking on women but.

You’re bedding down for the night.  It could have been a great day or it could have been so-so.  But everything is pretty cool up to this point.

There are the good nights.   The lights are off.   Wmj

You might snuggle.  We did and then says hear, “honey...,” oh shit.

We’ll get back to this later.  This is something I do not understand.  The good night dear ambush.

Here are some other examples.  This example doesn’t go toxic.  But.

My sister, newly married to this really great guy.  Certainly one of my very closest and the most influential friends in my life.  They had not even gone on their honeymoon yet.  Yes, newly married and my sister Susie says to him,  “honey my little brother is coming to live with us.”  Frank’s a better man than me.  Much better.  And he loves Susie very much.  They did not go toxic

It worked out.  In fact, when they met me at the airport, my first time flying, meeting Frank for the first time and he’s got this big smile.   It worked out.

I asked a woman once why women do this.  And she laughed and said, we know we’ve your attention or something like that.  The end of the day and bam.

It usually really important and not pillow talk.  We had all day to talk about.  Importance is the issue getting back to my first example.  And time.

In my first example, her name is Sandra.  She is still the love of my life even though she is no longer in my life.  She was Hally Barry before anyone had ever heard of Halley.  Albeit a tinier version.  She is very pretty, but it was her size that first attracted me.  I true living doll and one of the smartest people I’ve ever known.

She was a college student from Providence, Rhode Island.  She worked in HR at Coast Guard headquarters where I was stationed.

I was a photojournalist and had been shipped out Governors Island after having the nerve to get myself promoted over that brown nose base paper editor Shane.  And that is another story.  Shane the brown nose Gazette editor.  In fact former Gazette editor.  

But that is another story.  The Coast Guard had sent this 20 something chocolate sailor to Chocolate City.

I was on a roll at headquarter and the time I saw Sandra I knew she was the one.  I’d find excuses to have business in HR.  It was easy.

I was also a very precious and confident Coastie.  After all, as a photographer, I was all over shooting awards ceremonies. writing for the Commandant’s Bulletin and sometimes flying with the Commandant to Coast Guard station all over the country.

The day we met, and from that day on we were a couple.  Sandra had a big Rolodex on her desk and when the phone rang, she looks up numbers for people and transfers the calls.  She was the station's directory service.  We had never met.  I had just seen her and I was on the hunt.  That day it was a little before noon.  The was another suitor in her office and I walked in and asked her out to lunch.  She said yes and that was it.

We had a great love affair.  We even traveled.  I could never get her to move in.  Because the Guard did not have housing in the DC I had an apartment in NW.  I very nice place.  Sandra had rented a room from a very nice lady.  Her school was actually in Michigan and DC was temporary.  I wanted to marry her.  We were engaged.

Sandra is Catholic.  Not usual for a New Girl of Cape Verde dissent.  More on that later.  Back to the ambush.  

Actually, it was not Honey,  it was Charles.   She was spending the night as she did a lot.  Actually, it was, “Charles I’m having my procedure tomorrow.”   A pretty young Catholic girl say at around midnight.  I asked her to do it for me.  I loved her very much, but I already had children and I did not want another out of wedlock.  It was after midnight and I had not been forewarned.  She had scheduled her procedure for the next morning but she did not tell me.

I had a helicopter picking me up at the then National airport that morning for a flight to photograph the Coast Guard new HH blah, blah helicopter.  It caught me completely off guard.  Had I had a little time to think, I could have had someone else take the shoot.  If I had more time to think I might have said don’t

The beautiful young Catholic girl from Providence had scheduled her procedure and I did not know.  The procedure was an abortion.  That’s when the pillow talk becomes toxic.

AS a sailor you can’t miss movement.  That is not being on the ship when it leaves port.  In this case the ship was a helicopter.  I took the photos and left work early, but not early enough.  We weren’t married so I could not take emergency sick leave.