Still Frames In My Mind
"Chump" by Green Day
I remember the first time I met him clearly. It was around May or June 2005. I was sitting in my room, much like tonight, just goofing around since I was unable to sleep. All of a sudden some one was bombarding my window with mulch from our garden. Suspecting intruders (because, you know… they generally like to let you know before they come in) I grabbed my baseball bat and courageously approached the front door.
Just as I was about to hit the switch to turn on the porch light, a smiling skeletal face smashed itself again the window. Screaming bloody murder, I high tailed it into my parents room. I’m sure one of the many joys of parenting is waking up to your daughter yelling, “Some one’s trying to kill us,” over and over again.
My father didn’t even bother to get dressed. He just grabbed the bat and off he went in his underwear.
From where I cowered in their room I could hear my father fling open the door and then silence….
I waited thinking surely my father was engaged in a battle of wills with the intruder. I could just picture Dad with a knife against his chest, bat raised, poised to strike. Panicking, I looked around the corner just as Dad turned it.
“Its for you,” he grumbled, thrusting the bat back into my hand.
At the door was Anne, doubled over in laughter and a tall, skinny boy with ear length wavy auburn hair behind her looking in with an eyebrow raised as if expecting a three legged, juggling dog to come out next at any moment.
Anne introduced us and informed me he had just moved in with their family because “his home life like fucking sucks, Dude.” At the time I thought this was a blessing because Anne and I were basically joined at the hip back then and to be honest Tyler’s pretty hot. But, sadly, my dreams of a summer fling quickly melted away and I grew to hate this new comer. I blamed him, not Anne’s hormones, for the fact that instead of a summer filled with becoming a real band and causing hell in our small town, I was stuck at home eating burritos and sleeping on my front porch while Anne enjoyed life with a dude who had a car.
Just as I was about to hit the switch to turn on the porch light, a smiling skeletal face smashed itself again the window. Screaming bloody murder, I high tailed it into my parents room. I’m sure one of the many joys of parenting is waking up to your daughter yelling, “Some one’s trying to kill us,” over and over again.
My father didn’t even bother to get dressed. He just grabbed the bat and off he went in his underwear.
From where I cowered in their room I could hear my father fling open the door and then silence….
I waited thinking surely my father was engaged in a battle of wills with the intruder. I could just picture Dad with a knife against his chest, bat raised, poised to strike. Panicking, I looked around the corner just as Dad turned it.
“Its for you,” he grumbled, thrusting the bat back into my hand.
At the door was Anne, doubled over in laughter and a tall, skinny boy with ear length wavy auburn hair behind her looking in with an eyebrow raised as if expecting a three legged, juggling dog to come out next at any moment.
Anne introduced us and informed me he had just moved in with their family because “his home life like fucking sucks, Dude.” At the time I thought this was a blessing because Anne and I were basically joined at the hip back then and to be honest Tyler’s pretty hot. But, sadly, my dreams of a summer fling quickly melted away and I grew to hate this new comer. I blamed him, not Anne’s hormones, for the fact that instead of a summer filled with becoming a real band and causing hell in our small town, I was stuck at home eating burritos and sleeping on my front porch while Anne enjoyed life with a dude who had a car.