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TAGS for this story; first love, Colorado, 1970’s, handicap, Polio, outdoors, hippies, Hispanic female main character, Caucasian male main character, fond memories, strong female, emotional, old age.
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Scene One: Durango Colorado 1973 – The Sting of Rejection – The Hope of Our Beginning
There’s not a parking space open on Main Street that I can see as I walk toward the club — hope Shelia can find a place to park close by. The crowd at Farquahrts is buzzing when I walk in.That couple abandoning their table look to be leaving — I quickly take it while I can, but now I’m kinda stuck here guarding our table until she shows up. Oh well, the band is pretty good, might as well relax and wait. That guy just gave his girl a Valentine card, nice to know I won’t be the only one relying on a fun night here to help win her over. Looking the crowd over again — I see Shelia at the bar waiting for me, duh — hope she hasn’t been waiting long. My … our table is gone after only a couple of steps toward her — oh well.
“Hey Shelia, I didn’t see you until just now — you been here long?”
“Oh, not long … maybe thirty minutes. What’cha you up to?”
“Don’t you remember we had a date to meet here tonight?”
“Oh, we did, didn’t we. Sorry, sorta slipped my mind.”
“No biggie, we’re here now. I also have something for you.” I take the card from my jacket pocket and put it on the bar. “I guess I’m supposed to ask; will you be my Valentine? There’s a surprise inside.” The look on her face isn’t the smile I expected.
“Sorry Jason, I’m actually waiting for someone else. In fact, he just walked in. See ya around, okay?”
I take her seat before anyone else can grab it and sit somewhat dumbfounded wondering what just happened. She acted like she barely knew me ….
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Bummer, when I saw Jason earlier I thought about going to say hello — now suddenly I’m watching the whole train wreck happen in front of my eyes. Poor Jason, now I wish I’d said something about Shelia. He’s too nice a guy to get mixed up with someone like that — should have told him about her. Feeling guilty now … I should go talk to him … but he probably doesn’t want to see anyone right now … he doesn’t even know me that well. But, we’re like two of a kind in here — two alone in a crowd of dozens and dozens of seemingly happy people. Dozens all laughing and dancing and getting drunker by the minute. Whoa now, replacing his Coors with a shot of liquor — I grab my cane and walk over to say hello. The crowd and noise is getting on my nerves anyway — I’ll just say hi and get out’a here.
“Hey there, it’s nice to see at least one person I know. But you look a little sad Jason.”
“Hi Michelle. Yeh, the night isn’t going the way I planned. How’s your night going?”
“Pretty much like usual, just thought I’d get out rather than sit in the dorms all night. I saw what happened with Shelia, sorry. Didn’t look like it went well — wanna talk about it?”
“Not much to say really. We had a plan to meet here tonight and I had a big surprise for her — guess she had a bigger surprise for me. She was here waiting for someone else — gave me my card back without even looking at it.”
“I feel like I should have said something sooner — she’s been messing around with him … Brad something — can’t remember if she even mentioned a last name. She’s been seeing him for awhile now. I don’t know why she didn’t tell you sooner — but I’m not all that surprised either. She’s got the goods and she knows it — and she knows how to get what she wants. I’m obviously not one of her friends — too poor, too brown and I imagine too crippled for her. I’d like to say more, but better not.”
“I had no idea there was another guy … she sure hid it from me.”
“Guys don’t always see the underbelly of the beast ’till it’s too late.”
“Well, I made a fool out’a myself — have a return to sender gift in my hand to prove it. Tell ya what …”
He takes a pen from inside his coat and scratches out the name on the card. I can tell he’s both hurt and angry and it seems the angry part is beginning to be the greater of the two — if the number of ink marks over her name means anything.
“Michele, I don’t ….” She cuts me off before I can get a word out?
“I know you’re mad. Now’s not the time to do or say anything. And you know, you should call me Micky — that’s what my close friends call me.”
“Am I a close friend now?”
“Sure, you can be if you wanna.”
“Thanks — and I do want to. And since I’m now a close friend, I want you to have this.”
The envelope is now marred with angry ink slashes and I can’t really blame him. I want to be his friend in this but it — fuck-it. “Okay, but just friends right?”
“Of course, just friends Micky. I just want to forget her and if you don’t like what’s inside you don’t have to keep it.”
I can’t imagine what that bitch couldn’t see in him — kinda glad he got free before really getting hurt. Glancing down, the card is now addressed to ‘My Friend Micky’ — I look up at him and return his smile, then open his card. It is a pretty card with two cupids sitting on two entwined hearts, ‘Sometimes Love Hurts Until It’s Found’ is the declaration below in flourishing script. I look up to him and smile again, hoping to ease his pain. “Thank you Jason.”
“You know, I’ll call you Micky if you’ll call me Jase — but you didn’t open it.”
When I open the card there is a reservation confirmation from Purgatory Ski Resort. I don’t want to hurt him again … “Jason, I don’t see how I could use this. I can’t ski — I can’t share a bed with you, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Stupid me! I didn’t mean it that way Micky. I didn’t mean to imply … I just thought about the fun we could have … you know, just as friends? And we don’t have to ski. There’s sleigh rides, sledding, hot-tubs, snowmobile trails, there’ll be live music and nice dinning. The rooms have two beds and we can each have our own. Anyway, if you can”t go with me I still want you to have it. It’s all paid for so it’ll just go to waist if you and a friend don’t use it. It’d just be too big of a bummer for me to go up alone — even if it were just to ski, I’m not up for it now. But really, I’ll even promise to sleep in my clothes if that makes it work — there really are two separate beds, that’s the way the rooms are. We could also drive up to Silverton and look around. There’s lots to do besides skiing. It’s just two friends — forget all the stupid Valentine’s stuff.”
I know him well enough to believe him — I trust him. Mama’s familiar calm small voice whispers words spoken so long ago: ‘Micky, honey the doctor said that you shouldn’t use your illness as an excuse to be a recluse. You’re one of the lucky ones and you can have a full and happy life…’.