December 24, 2005
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I need a break. My article is due by midnight and my brain has turned to mush. So let me tell you about Raymond. I know I’m doing a lot of character sketches lately but I’m creating a file for future reference and every day it seems like I have great material. I want to get it down while it’s fresh. And believe me, Raymond is good stuff.
I first met Raymond when I had just purchased this house. I forget what the problem was but it was Friday night, after 6:00pm, and my boyfriend couldn’t fix it. It had to have been electrical or plumbing because that’s Raymond’s specialty. He does both if you can believe it.
I was leery about calling a stranger over here. The person on the other end of the phone, who I’d gotten out of the yellow pages, said he had a guy he could send over who did odd jobs for him. But as soon as I saw his earnest, little-boy face and the honest set of his jaw I took him down to the basement.
He looked a little sickly then, and I remember his story (quite lengthy) about how he left his business and drove to Portland, looking for a little peace and quiet. He was diabetic I think it was and he had been doing all the electrical and plumbing for his entire town and the next town over. The stress was gonna kill him he said, especially since, in addition to that business, he did all the weddings in both towns; that was his first love, photography.
What I remember most about our extensive visit in my basement — My boyfriend left because he couldn’t stand it a second longer — was his attire. He had freshly laundered and ironed overhauls on but they weren’t like the kind I wear or any kind I’d seen. And he had a khaki, buttoned-down, starched shirt on. His glasses were expensive and he looked like an engineer. The guy exuded intelligence with a South Dakota mentality. I think that’s where he was from, maybe it was more rural.
He fixed the problem and charged me next to nothing. I got his card and have called him over the months if I had a problem. The last time he talked me through it. Then he sold me a reverse osmosis filtration system. Which he maintains.
So today he called to see if he could drop by and change the carbons. I’m doing Christmas on Sunday and my downstairs toilet was plugged up plus I’d purchased a new toilet seat for the upstairs bathroom and was afraid to put it on. I said, “Come on over.”
Raymond looks a lot better these days. I always forget how tall the guy is; he’s gotta be 6’4. He’s my age but in perfect physical condition. He has the body of a swimmer with long, lean muscles. He didn’t mean to but he had a very trendy hairdo. His hair is gray and he has a healthy head of it. When he came through the door I immediately noticed the way it spiked out here and there, like he’d just been electrocuted. He probably just didn’t remember to comb it this morning. No, it probably got rained on and he ran his hands through it while he was figuring out something and the stray pieces stayed up there. He had some new kind of glasses on which were clear plastic and industrial looking, like a welder would wear.
He has eyes that sparkle and a beautiful smile but he’s missing some teeth in the back. Raymond is always a little timid and all about business at first but by the time he has come back from the inevitable trip to the hardware store he is lingering in the kitchen, standing like a model. And that’s when I realize I could imagine having sex with him. I shudder and put the thought out of my mind but the way he extends one leg and leans back with with an authoritative air, as he tells yet another story, makes me realize he probably had his share of attention from those gals in South Dakota.
When he was done I made him a sandwich and gave him a glass of our freshly filtered water. He told me more stories about the jobs he’s been doing and that’s when I remembered why I like him so much. He’s a smart-ass for one thing and once he’s settled in with you he starts to cuss a bit. He’s also a meticulous observer so his stories are peppered with description and humor. But oh, they do go on. So I pulled out my checkbook and asked, “How much?” Knowing he was torn I let him spell out his last name, buying him time. “Make it eighty.”
Comments (17)
Raymond is the kind of person I have a natural affininty for. You never know when a person who seems routine ( although no one really is routine )has all manner of quirks and gifts.I have a hunch that there are plenty of “gifted” people who choose to avoid ,or just don’t fit the traditional career paths for the brightest among us. RYC I think I was adding the disclaimer because The new mouse pad and mouse are somehow different,and while the pic was fun it was just notwhat I wanted to do with line tonight, In a few days I’ll get better command of the mouse,,,in the meantime it is fun to see what is lurking in my brain. I have done one third and final version ,but I think I may rotate it…. peace and good luck geting thatt article done! Mia Lucia
Raymond seems like a nice kind of guy!
ooohhh, he reminds me of my friend Bill who I wrote a story of. He died in prison but I cannot remember him in that light as he never allowed it. I remember his stories and his lean legs and yes, he had teeth missing! More than anything I remember his youth and his strength and how we thought so much of his philosophies which mirrored his wise father’s. He told me later in life how really frightened he was early on. What a great, great story.
BTW…my sis always told me she learns lots from her service people! Clam Bake from one in Rhode Island! LOL!
Prudy, hugs and hope your Christmas is wonderful! Thanks for the encouragement and comment!
Lana
Okay, so what do you know of South Dakota mentality? . . . or sex appeal? or rural? Hey, I am South Dakota, and he seems sooooo Dakota. How did you know?? Cheers
Happy Holidays to you, Prudy.
I have faith you will fiusnish this article in time.
Peace and Love:)
What in the heck did you do with all your brilliance for all the years you weren’t writing?! You got some catching up to do, girl! Get that file of character sketches good and stuffed, but get them into short stories and novels too. It would be a shame not to- letting all that natural talent go to waste.
Have a GREAT Christmas, honey!
Here’s to lots of writing!
*hugs Brenda xo
Reads to me as if Raymond knew exactly what he was doing.
Prudy, you make Raymond sound (?) so hot, that women who are out as gay here on Xanga (of whom there are many) would probably want to test-drive him, or at least the thought would cross their minds???
I don’t know why it seems to me like there are many more lesbians than gay men on Xanga. Maybe it is because there are more women than men on Xanga. My wife has a totally different take on this, she thinks there are more gay men than lesbians in the population in general, or at least in New York City in general, and I think that there are more lesbians and it’s an increasing phenomena kind of like the Kurt Vonnegut character Amanita Buntline, who is dating Fred Rosewater’s wife in “God Bless You, Mister Rosewater”. The amanitas are growing. Favorite all time line from a Kurt Vonnegut novel: “The dossier was fat, as was Fred.” I’m silly.
I drove through a part of South Dakota once, when I was on vacation, and they seemed to have more college radio stations and more Melissa Etheridge playing on them, than some of the neighboring states. George McGovern was their senator for a long time, and a long time before most of the Xanga site owners were even born, Richard Nixon totally creamed him in a race for the White House. Nixon was the incumbant. Then Watergate broke, Spiro Agnew got in trouble and resigned, then Nixon was out…I wonder how many people regret their votes for Nixon in that election.
North Dakota is a lot more conservative. That’s the only state where I’ve ever gotten a ticket for a moving violation in my life! Doing 70 in a construction zone or something. The state trooper was chortling. He looked mean, authoritarian, like he’d be totally comfortable with Hitler in the White House or something. North Dakota did not report points to New Jersey which is where I still have my driver’s licence. Good.
Merry Xmas! Randy
Man, the way you describe him, I’d have sex with him
extends one leg and leans back with the authoratative air,,,,this really hit me in the pit of my stomach, jez Prudy take him for a test drive would ya..sorta taking one for the Xanga team of readers so to speak. Love your descriptions beyond my capability of descriptions..marilyn
Your description of Raymond, and Mia’s comment, make me think of a guy I used to work with named Ed. Ed was tall and gangly, with protruding eyes and shaggy hair. He too was missing a number of teeth and those he still had were crooked. He worked at a nearby wildlife preserve, and sometimes when doing trail patrol he frightened people inadvertently; his appearance, combined with his friendly greeting, made them think he was some homeless lunatic living among the trees.
The surprise came at a work retreat when Ed sat down at the piano and played from memory a wonderful set of boogie-woogie blues. Those long, gangly fingers had a great span on the keyboard.
I love meeting people who don’t match their cover images.
The character sketches are wonderful. And what a great way to keep them stored. To write them with context so that you don’t forget is genius. And Raymond is just mysterious enough to make me believe he could do almost anything. He could be a mystic, a regualr Joe, a charismatic crazy, an old fashioned workhorse, anything. Your comfort with and amusement in him made me comfortable with him. As always a pleasure to read.
RYC which ,when they were little ,she did ,(have four kids )and it felt just like that !…I love what people see,,,Thanks..and
Merry Christmas !
love it, I can imagine having sex with him too.
Sometimes I think you’d make a great romance novelist, like I feel the depth and complexity of the characters as I do in some of my favorite Nora Robert’s books.
keep the sketches flowing!
wonderful, pru.
tenks for what you had to say about the big marsh; much appreciated, and i agree about the first stanza, but the right revision hasn’t arrived yet… thre is another little poem just before it – i’m thinking you would like it too…..
here’s wishing you a terrific new year.