Love Story, Part II

As I was walking towards him, he raised his head and glanced at me. It was a sideways look and I guess it was just a trick of the lights, but it was almost like a look of pure evil! There was a slight falter in my steps but I went right up to him and introduced myself. He seemed pleasant enough, so we decided to bowl a few games. I remember that he was wearing plaid shorts and a Jeff Gordon t-shirt. I was wearing a skort and platform sneakers. Yes. Platform sneakers! Go ahead. Laugh. But it was a fashionable thing at the time.

We decided to bowl a few games. I cannot remember who won or what the scores were, but I did have a fun time. At that point, I thought that he was a pretty nice guy, but I didn't really know if I wanted to go out with him again. I wanted to leave the bowling alley while it was still daylight outside, so we wrapped the bowling up, walked outside and stood around talking for a bit. During our conversation outside, I learned that we both grew up in the country and our families raised most of the food that we ate. We started talking about all different kinds of foods that we had eaten. Part of that conversation covered normal things such as chicken & dumplings, biscuits & gravy, and cobblers. Then it moved on to eating wild game such as deer, squirrel, groundhog, frog legs, rattlesnake, and possum! Hey, I realized that we had quite a bit in common!

After I got home that day, I immediately logged on to AOL to see if VaMan101 was online. He was, so we chatted for awhile and then wound up talking on the phone even longer.  He explained that he had to do inventory the following weekend at his job and that he would be at work from something like 7:00 AM until the wee hours of the next morning.  The problem was that he had a dog and he did not have anyone to take care of him while he was working such long hours. He asked me if I would go to his house and let the dog out.  Hmmm . . . I have just met this person and he is asking me to come to his house when he is not going to be there? That freaked me out a bit, so I figured out where he lived and drove by to see what the area and his home looked like. It looked pretty normal. Against my better judgement, I agreed to do it.

Once again, I told one of my good friends all of the details and the address of his house so that if things didn't go well and he turned out to be an ax murderer, at least someone might find my dismembered body! After I got off work that day, I went to his house. The key was in the mailbox just as he had said. I started to slip the key in the door and I heard voices in the house! He had told me that he would be at work and that no one else lived there. Instant panic!! The other thing that I could hear was the sound of a dog snuffling around just inside the door.

I looked around and saw one of his neighbors sitting on the porch watching me like a hawk . . . they looked a bit creepy and so did their house! I didn't know what to do, so I stood there very quietly and listened. The voices inside continued, so I just decided to be bold and I knocked loudly on the door. The conversation continued inside with no pause. That seemed strange because if someone knocks on the door, you would usually stop talking. I waited but no one came to the door. So, I went ahead and unlocked the door and was greeted with a happy, dancing Cocker Spaniel. That is when I realized that the voices were coming from the television!  Hee!

I went ahead and let the dog, Rascal, loose in the backyard so that he could go to the bathroom and I also fed the two cats, Phantom and Simba. As I was leaving the house, I noticed this creepy trapdoor in the floor of the hallway. That was a bit weird and unsettling! Later that night while VaMan101 was on break, he called me to see if I had any problems at his house. I asked him about the television and he explained that he left it on to keep the dog company. I told him that it scared me to death. He found that to be hilarious!

A few nights later, he invited me to his house for dinner and it it was an excellent! I cannot remember everything, but I do remember some fabulous mashed potatoes, beef roast, green beans, and yeast rolls. I finally invited him to my house for dinner too. I recall that I made some homemade Anadama yeast bread and I think that I also made some barbeque chicken. Over the following weeks, we spent almost every free minute together.

A couple of months after I first met VaMan101, something happened.

Stay tuned for part III

Copyright 2013--All Rights Reserved--The Wheel & Distaff by Kimberly Burnette-Dean