Friday, November 29, 2013

Exam Time!

Roxy's friend kept calling and texting. Sexy lady, sexy legs, sexy blah blah blah. It got to a point where I had to ask him to stop. He wouldn't. I had to block his humber. When I talked to Rox about him, she told me he wasn't her type, he wanted her but she doesn't date black guys, 'white guys have bigger d*%ks'. She kicked him out because he was bumming around the house and eating all her food. I guess she wanted to be the only one to eat all her food. Emphasis on all.

When time came for me to move,  I called a cab, the same man who moved me from Grey's back to Laura's. He gave me a discount, which was sweet of him cos I was expecting to pay him a tip. Anyway, I think he pocketed my money because I hired him directly not through the company he worked for. New Roommate gave me keys, showed me to my room and vacuumed it for me. I was off that day, still sleep deprived from school and work. So much had been happening in my life, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I remember I had my new All Star boots on for the first time that day. I went for a walk to the thrift store down the road to look for bedroom furniture. I saw a pair of old boots, tried them on, while I walked around in them, someone took my new, expensive Converse! I tell you, I looked all over for those! I was so upset. I looked at people's shoes, their carts (trollies), everywhere. I also asked them to make an announcement. Obviously my shoes didn't have a price on. For someone to pay for them, they would have to ask for a price, get a price from something else and stick it onto them or steal them!

The store was about to close, I was freaking out, I couldn't leave without my shoes. The store manager told me he would let me have the $5 dollar shoes I was trying on in exchange for my $69 Converse. What?????? How does that make up for my loss? Might as well walk home barefoot! That was just what I needed, with everything I had going on. The lady from the shoe department found old flip flops under the shoe shelves. She showed them to me and reassured me that my shoes were stolen. Someone must have left their old, raggedy flip flops and took my boots. Awesome! I had a bunch of stuff in my cart, walking slowly, and aimlessly, just after the store closed, two of the staff came to me and asked if those were my boots. F*@king hell! I blurted out! I was so happy, I hugged them both, one almost to a miscarriage; she was pregnant. They found them in the shoe shelves, where everybody had been looking. We think someone had taken them and felt bad when they heard that we were looking for them and snuck them back. I didn't care. Glad to have found them.

No bed for me that day. I went home and slept in my sleeping bag. The floors have a nice rug, put duvet covers for cushioning, underneath. I slept like a baby! I had to write an exam at the school and then book the state exam. I booked to do that on one of my days off. I studied for an entire week and nothing was sticking. I felt very frustrated.

In the midst of it all, I got an email on the dating site from a man named Spotty. He was like, if you are looking for someone who is mature, stable, I have my own business and knows what they are doing here (er, where?), email me back. In his profile picture, he was standing next to a limo, dressed in a nice black suite. He didn't look cute AT ALL. But I was looking for someone who knows what he is doing here, wherever the heck that is, so I messaged him back.

I was on my way to taking the school exam when he emailed me back asking to meet up asap. Talk about knowing what you're doing here! I was tired, it was scorching hot, I was going to take an exam I didn't think I was quite prepared for, I was a mess. He wanted to go to the bookstore, Barnes and Nobles for coffee. I was down for it, even though I don't drink coffee. Who said coffee has to be coffee? He asked for my number, I emailed it to him and told him to call in two hours, after my exam. He wished me good luck and promised to call.

I had talked to my Somalian morning that morning, told her I would be taking my exam and stuff, she told me she wasn't ready to take hers. I arrived at the school, they gave me a book with multiple choice questions - worst exam ever! All options were possible answers and we didn't have the 'all of the above or none of the above' option. Ugh! Passmark 75%. They would mark it and grade us there and then. IN YOUR FACE! I took my time, did my thing, got 92% Whud, whud, who da man? I'm da man! #InYourFace!

On my way out, I saw the Somalian girl, she went to take her exam. I had told her I was going to take mine in the morning but so many things happened, including me arriving too early with the school still locked, and ending up on a shopping spree. She didn't expect to see me there that evening. Don't ask me why she lied about not being ready to write that day. She was like, how was it? hehe, you passed, you are so clever you!I know you passed. I was like, what are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were gonna be here? She kept asking about the paper. I was like, sorry, are you talking to me? Bye!

After the exam, I had to provide my ID to the school, they were going to send my details to the department. Nobody told us that. I didn't have my ID with me. I had to go back home, take the train and a bus, LAwdy! And do the same thing back. They told me I could do it the following day. I wasn't interested in that. I wanted to get it all over and done with. So I went home, got the ID and went back to the school. Last but not least, they asked for the previous tests that we wrote in class. I DID NOT HAVE THEM WITH ME! ...

Getting Arrested In a Foreign Country?

CNA classes were ok. They teach you a lot of common sense stuff like, always wash you hands, put gloves on. Stuff that we shouldn't have to spend so much money to be told simply because we already know it. A lot of people were sleeping in class. I worked all night long and was up all day long. I tried to stay up but there's this lady whose class was like, man! Slumberland! People were snoring in her class.

The Somalian girl and I were getting closer. We had exchanged numbers. She was my new best friend. She has a 9 year old from her ex husband who she left back home.

Classes were also intense, they would make us take random tests and stuff all day long. We had to focus. It was a very hectic time for someone as sleep deprived as me. My feet were so swollen. Every now and again, I would get a text from Laura. She was still at the condo.

Two days after MB had a meltdown, I got a text from one of our colleagues. A guy who had a love/hate relationship with MB. He told me she had been fired. I was shocked! I couldn't text or call to find out how she was doing because first I wasn't supposed to know that, second, she wasn't talking to me. That night at work, the nurse on duty pulled me aside and read me a text she had received from the head of nursing. It was about me. The Head wanted the Nurse to tell me to stop sexually harassing my colleagues. I was like The F#&k! I knew exactly where that came from. It was MB. She was bitter from being fired and wanted to take someone down with her. Also, it could be she thought I had reported her since  I had called her out on her laziness over the radio. I never did. I am not one to report people, but when I am fed up, I will confront your s myself. I won't put anybody's job in jeopardy. Not my style. But you've got to actually do your job. Don't make me do it for you.

I could have called MB to confront her but it was spilt milk at that point, so instead I texted the Heard of nursing. I asked what she was talking about, she told me it was about naked pictures I had shown at work. I showed those pictures to MB, we were friends in and out of work. We would sometimes sit in the car and talk about guys and goof around. I showed her some of the pictures guys had sent me. She never complained. Hell, she wanted to see the pictures, she would bring them up at work and ask me to show our other colleagues, but I refused. I told The head the head that. She and MB were tight, MB had been working for the company for  a year. She was probably sad to  see her friend go. I mean, it's not my fault MB was a 43 year old virgin living with a cat! She was living vicariously through me.

I was worried I would lose my job over the sexual harassment case. Nothing happened. Apparently that was just a friendly warning from the head. After classes, we did in service training at different facilities. I had to do that and then do the same thing at my job. I wasn't allowed to use the hours at my job as part  of training, alas! I finished all that. The next step was to mail a check to the Dept of Health and apply for an exam date.

Laura was still living in her closet. One afternoon, I was on my way to the dollar Tree (store). Don't judge me! :) She tagged along. She also needed some stuff from the shopping centre. We started at the dollar Tree. It was hot, she is always talking and munching on ice but it can only last you that long. She grabbed a Pepsi from the fridge, drank it while in the store. I did my thing, she did hers, we paid and walked out. Soon as we did, she went, OMG, I forgot to pay for the soda! I told her to go back and pay for it! She told me she wasn't going to embarrass herself like that. I don't know how it's an embarrassment to be honest. She didn't budge.

We went to the pharmacy. She needed to send money to her sister. We walked around the store for a bit, then she went to the counter to do the money thing. Lo and behold, the moment we walked out, deja vu! She forgot to pay for something. The thing cost $25. I was like YOU NEED TO GO BACK TO THE STORE RIGHT NOW AND PAY FOR THAT! WTF? Kleptomaniac! She was like, they know me over there, they know I would never steal from them, I will go back some other time and pay for it. In fact, I don't even need these (it was butterfly shaped decoration lights, kinda like christmas decorations?), I will return them next time I go to the pharmacy. I rest my case!

We went to the third store. I told her I was going to wait outside for her. I wasn't gonna go through another episode for her. I needed something there though, so she asked me to literally hold her hand the entire time. This is a 44 year old we're talking about! I practically held her hand, got what I needed, she got what she needed, we all paid, we left the store. No merchandise was stolen during the taping of that episode haha. Whew!

I wasn't impressed with her AT ALL!

Roxy, remember her? The girl who loves to f#@ck and all that? Not that other people don't, but you know what I mean. Well...one afternoon, I got a random text from a random number. I asked who it was, he told me Sean, Roxy's friend. She was trying to set me up with her friend. I thought she had slept with all her friends! The day she and I were out and about together, she greeted this random, short guy. Guy went blood red in the face. She told me that was one of her sugar daddies. Dude looked younger than her! Anyway, this Sean guy was trying to be all cute in his texts, I was just shutting him down. I got a call from Roxy. She asked me to be nice to her friend who she was hanging out with at the time. I tried but dude wasn't making any sense in his texts. He would send me something like, are you a company man? Like, what does that even mean?

Long story short, he wanted to meet up. He asked me to go to Roxy's. I told him I don't do peple's places when meeting someone for the first time. He must take me somewhere. Cheap Skate! Sick and tired of Utahans and their cheapness. Been on so many dates in that State and the only man who ever took me out to eat was Paul. Bless him! This guy was like well, you know what, I just got this new job, I wasn't working blah blah blah. Uhm, why are you telling me this? This is YOUR problem! Fix it!

He came buy to the centre close to my place. We went to a Japanese restaurant. He told me what his budget was, which was fair. We had a decent meal and drinks. Not to shabby for a homeless guy. Yup! Turns out he was crashing on Roxy's couch. The one where 'people have had sex on'? Yeah, The guy hadn't taken a bath the day we met, you could tell. He wasn't all fresh. I can't stand that. Hygiene is very important, what kind of first impression are you trying to make if you can't jump in the shower for ten minutes before a date?

He was hugging me and trying to kiss me, it was revolting. I told him I had to go home to catch some sleep before work that night. 'You're so sexy! Sexy legs, sexy lips, sex sex sex!' Someone give me a gun! I wanted candy afterwards, he was like, I'll walk you there. He had a stack of cash in his wallet which he made sure I saw. I told him what had happened last time I went to the dollar tree (with Laura).  Lo and behold we bumped into her there, CRAP! I introduced them to each other. HE picked up that that was the person I was talking about so when she said, come guys, what are you getting, I also need some stuff but I won't be long, we was like, yeah, we're already done! We'll wait for you outside! haha, good going, Sean!

He tried to kiss me in the mouth goodbye, I ducked. He told me he wanted to visit him at Roxy's,  obviously for sex! I was like, we'll talk! I left without Laura. I'm not trying to get arrested in a foreign country!

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Dating a Soldier in Afghanistan

After MB's melt down, and rise from the dead, we were friendly again. I moved with caution. Not knowing when she would explode again. I didn't need rides from her because I was crashing in the break room, working and attending classes. I tried not to think about Mike, it wasn't easy considering the school was around the corner from his place. I was too busy to wallow though.

Before Mike, while still at Cindy's, I talked to a few other guys online. One of them was Tom, 42, 6ft2, could have been any race from his complexion. He was bald, so I couldn't tell from the texture of his hair. He was a soldier deployed in Afghanistan. He had been in the army for ten years and was doing his final run. He was a divorced from his wife of 10 years.

We talked for quite a while. Our conversations would be cut short because he was on duty when we chatted on yahoo. He had this cute picture of himself as a profile pic on his yahoo. He would always message me during the night, my time. I would wake up to his message which was really nice and a great way to start the day. Sometimes I would catch him online, we would exchange a few words before he would have to go again, usually without a warning.

He told me he has a condo in Salt LAke City. He wanted to get married and have us live there as a couple. He had kid, 10 and 8. They live with his late ex wife's parents in the UK. Tom would send me really long messages, we like long messages!

One night, I was thinking about him and the conversations we had had. He had told me that he was going to be back in 18 days. The countdown was so on.  I asked him again, after a few days, he  told me 13 days to go. That was right. But When I asked him the third time, he was way off. He told me something like 17 days left. That raised a huge red flag to me. If you are so looking forward to going home, how do you make that kind of mistake? I didn't dwell on it though.

I went to sleep hours after the conversation. Suddenly something said to me, look this mutha f$cker up! I couldn't shake that voice so I got up, turned the pc on and went to town. I had already looked his email address up and got nothing. I looked up his IP address, which isn't reliable because he may have been using a proxy site. It picked him up both in San Fran and Los Angeles. Both in California, but miles apart (8 hours drive or so); but it wasn't Afghanistan! I tried the images he had sent me. Voila! Bob's your uncle! There were so many posts on him. He is a scammer who goes by different aliases trying to get women to send him money in Afghanistan when he is stuck blah blah blah. Apparently he also gets stuck at the airport on his way into the US. We hadn't got to that stage yet, him and I. He was still grooming me. My heart could have jumped right out of my heart!

Everything with him changed from how I knew it. He turned out not to be who he said he was. I always look up people I meet online before meeting up in person. Things were different with Tom because we didn't have to meet in person for another 13 days or 17 days? F#ck if I know! I registered on one of the sites and shared my experience with him. I posted his photo on Social Media just in case he tries to scam one of my friends. Because we had been talking so long, the following morning, I checked my phone expecting to hear from him. No word! He may have had some spy software on my PC through which he was able to see my activities. How else would you explain him no longer writing immediately after busting him?

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Melt Down

The Monday after the Non Date with Michael was going to be my first day at the new school. I didn't have time to wallow in self pity. Laura and I dissed him and called him every name in the book, that's all the therapy in got, it's all the therapy  I needed.

She had spent the weekend at her sister's after her sister was arrested for violating her probation. It was just her at her sister's and her sister's boyfriend who is also her fiance's cousin and the guy who raped her. She told me her sister's boyfriend was so nice to her that weekend. He apologised for the rape telling her it was a misunderstanding, he thought they had a deal, I will give you money if you give me a lil some some. She forgave him. He told her he had always had a crush on her. He ended up with the wrong sister, blah blah blah, she believed all that BS. Really Laura! At your age! (she's in her mid forties). Apparently he cooked her a nice dinner, they sat at the table and talked and really got to know each other. There was another guy at the house that night. Another cousin, who is not only a cousin to Laura's sister's boyfriend but to Laura's fiance. Confused yet?

Laura told me she saw her hot tub which she sold to her sister when she lost everything. She got nostalgic and got in. The other cousin, the one who is not dating either of the sisters, jumped in with her, they made out and almost had sex but cousy's member couldn't stay up. Apparently he was so under pressure. Excuses schmexcuses! She had no reason sleeping with any of those men to begin with, her man is in prison. She told me she hadn't had any since her fiance got arrested but she can't say the same for him, hahahaha!

I timed myself according to the directions on Google Maps, got up, took a quick shower and rushed for the bus stop which was turned out much farther than I anticipated. It was 30 minutes away. Yup, that far! That's Utah for you! 30 minutes to the bus stop, I missed it! I was across the street at the traffic lite, tired as heck, waiting to cross when it came by. The bus drivers there don't look around, they will pass you and not even think twice. I was so tired, having walked and ran uphill with bags, and sh*t. It was a great way to a very hectic week. I was definitely going to be late for school that day. Not the impression I was trying to make, but hey, bleep happens.

I stood there, wondering what to do with myself. I had to wait another 30 minutes for the following bus. If I had known, I would have just left the house thirty minutes late. It didn't help that as I walked out the gate from our apartments, I came across a dog. Dogs and I don't get along. The thing was gunning for me. I kept crossing the street to get away from it, it was following me like, well, a loyal dog! It was just the two of us on the street. I had to pick up rocks, my shoulders already felt like they  were about to fall off due to the heavy bags, Lawd!

I started walking towards the direction of the school. It was too far to walk though, I didn't know what I was doing. I came across a man who was driving out of a car dealership. He looked at my boobs and asked if I (or they?) needed a ride. There was no time for pride, I accepted. He asked for my number. He wanted to meet up again to talk about my boobs, I politely refused. He dropped me off right in front of the door of the school at 8am on the dot. Thank goodness! I  registered, we started class as soon as everybody was registered.

There was so much information to take in! We had an hour's lunch but it was called a working lunch, they gave us some reading material for during the break. I met a girl there from Africa, Somalia. We became friends instantly. She was cool people, she spoke some Zulu, freaked me out a little bit there! She'd go, 'asambe!' (let's go) out of the blue, I would feel like I was hearing things haha. Fun!

After school, I had work. It was going to take me an hour to get to work, meaning I would get there around 7pm, then would have 2 and a half hours to nap, but where? I could go home but it was going to take me an hour, including the 30 min walk, then another hour at night to get to work from home. Totally a waste of time. I opted to go to work. I was going to figure out what to do when I got there. Some girl who had a permanent fake smile offered me a ride. I refused, she kept insisting. She took me to the car, her husband was driving, she didn't even know which direction my work was, neither did I. Her husband seemed confused when he saw her approach with a bag lady aka me. I immediately told them both I was going to be ok, I had to go. I left! The black guy from my class, who was sitting next to me saw me walk to the train station, he game me a ride, I accepted. I say black because there were only three of us in class, the girl from  Africa, the guy and I. He was nice to give me a ride regardless of where I was going.

We set next to each other every day until the end. He's cool people, he reminded me so much of my brother, Lunga.

I arrived at work before 7pm, asked the nurse if I could crash in one of the empty rooms until before work that night. She wasn't allowed to, so she asked if I had a driver's license. I told her I did, she told me to take her car home and back that night. That was so nice of her, she hardly knew me. I couldn't do that though! I hadn't driven here long enough to be confident driving on the 'right' side of the road. She snuck me into one of the rooms. I never asked her again though, I didn't want to get her into trouble.

During break, while still at school, I had texted MB to ask her if she was going to be working that night. I thought that if she was going to work, she could give me a ride (in exchange for Mc Donald's the following morning), that way I wouldn't worry about wasting all that time on the road. It was only a ten minute drive to work from mine. She never replied, normally, she always replied to my texts, almost immediately. I didn't bother to tell her why I asked or that I was no longer going to need the ride or whatever because she didn't come back to me to begin with.

That night, I got up around 9:30pm, took a quick shower, put my scrubs (uniform) on and went to work. I had so much homework! My gosh! MB texted me while I was trying to sleep to find out if I needed a ride. I told her I no longer needed it. She asked if I was ok, I told her I was. Go figure, she probably wanted to call 911 again smdh. She arrived that night at work, walked right by me and bumped me! I thought that was not only rude but high school, especially for a 42 year old mormon. Thanks to my delayed reaction and my ability not to react when someone does something for attention, I ignored her. She was talking over me that night and acting really nasty toward me. That was new to me because even in school, i was never that kid who gets bullied.

We had three aides at night, one for each wing and one who helped out with both. I had one of the two wings, the guy who I liked, in a, you're a cool colleague type way, had the other wing and MB was floating. As a float, you have a few rooms designated to you and then you help out the other aides. MB was busy doing unnecessary paperwork on the guy's side, ignoring her rooms which were right next to my wing so I was responding to her rooms instead of studying. I know I didn't get paid to study but I could if she could do what she was getting paid for too. I was losing my patience, no pun intended. I asked her over the radio if she was going to be taking care of any of her rooms that night of was I supposed to take care of mine and hers. She went, "EXCUSE ME!' She has anger management issues, she was ready to fight. I wasn't. I was ready to study. I needed her to start working, so I could go on with my life. She came over to my table, where I was trying to study when I didn't entertain her when she tried to be dramatic over the radio. She was so angry, she was panting up and down, having trouble to breathe, a hot mess, I tell ya! I focused on the book. First thing she said was, 'you're walking home tomorrow!' B*tch, f*ck off! Why would you think that's a big problem for me? I have had bigger mountains to climb and I did just fine without you, why would you think I need your sorry *ss to take me home! Youre're not be all end all of my life! I can take public transport. Plus, I wasn't going home that entire week, so I don't know what the f*ck she was on about you're walking home tomorrow. You're buying your own Mc Donald's tomorrow! What a Jerk! Who says that to a friend? Ugh. Needless to say, I am just venting, that's how I felt but I never said any of that to her. I completely ignored her.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! YOU HAVE BEEN USING ME ALL ALONG, PRETENDING TO BE MY FRIEND! NOBODY LIKES ME! I WAS WONDERING WHY YOU LIKED ME, YOU DIDN'T, YOU WERE USING ME FOR RIDES. THAT'S IT, I'M DONE! NO MORE RIDES FOR YOU! WE WILL SEE WHO IS GOING TO TAKE YOU HOME TOMORROW! I WILL NOT BE USED. TELL ME THE TRUTH, ADMIT IT! YOU WERE USING ME, WEREN'T YOU?"

Did I even look at her? Nope! I heard her because she was right there, literally yapping into my ear, otherwise, she was the least of my concerns, drawing attention to herself in a nursing home where people had serious problems, in the middle of the night. She went on and on, panting up and down. Then she burst our crying, she was having a melt down! I thought, you know what, I'm gonna let her let it all out. She obviously needed the release. I would suggest she get laid but she was a 42 year old virgin, so... 'YOU WERE MAKING FUN OF MY RELATIONSHIP, NO FRIEND DOES THAT! YOU ARE NOT A FRIEND, MAKING FUN OF ME BECAUSE I AM STILL A VIRGIN, BLAH BLAH BLAH'. #delusional. I never made fun of her, who am I to make fun of her virginity? It's her choice! Hard as it may be to believe, I don't think about her v*gina! At all!

She went on for a good while, then came and sat at the table across from me and said, 'Shame, are you studying? Would you like me to help you? Let me Help you! Will you need a ride tomorrow?'













Michael

After my interview at Roxy's, which went very well, I was going to hear back from them in a few days. The pay was a few dollars lower per hour than at my job, difference is, Roxy's job was looking for permanent staff. I headed back to Cindy's hoping that there wouldn't be anybody home, so I could rest in peace, seeing as I hadn't slept a wink the night before. I headed straight to my bedroom and slept until around 6pm when I got ready for work. Roxy was very kind to take me out and have me over her place that night. It was nice to hang out and watch a movie with a girlfriend. I don't do that kind of stuff often here. I called her that night, to thank her and to let her know I decided to stay at Cindy's a little longer. I didn't get hold of her. She did call me back that night though. She told me her doors are open for me whenever I felt the heat in the kitchen and needed to move or whatever. That was nice but I hoped and prayed not to ever have to take her up on that offer.

Fast Forward to Laura's aka Ms Mugshots aka Ms Trapped-In-The-Closet. When I got my job, they told me I had three months to get licensed. According to the State of Utah, I had 4 months to get licensed. I was now permanent, didn't need to be Roxy's Job, which they had offered to me, just after I got permanent  at my old job. It was nice of Roxy's to hook me up though. I couldn't even do both jobs, the schedules clashed. I worked on getting licensed. I found a highly recommended school, called them u, they had a class that started the Monday after I moved back to Laura's.

Michael and I were spending every minute we had off work together. It was amaze! Laura was home alone to do her shady business. I was out of harm's way. I remember telling Michael about Laura. He was like, yeah, your roommate is definitely on Cocaine and other drugs. Laura always had hundreds of Ice Lollies in the freezer and more in the pantry as backup, God Forbid she should run out of ice! Apparently that was one of the symptoms of cocaine addiction. He was like I would like to meet your roommate but then again, if I did, I would say something to her about her drugs and would tell from seeing her dilated pupils, I would rather not meet her.

I was hoping they met, just so she could see that I had somebody on my side too, she can tell that to her KKK or whatever husband. White supremacy, I get them confused. At Mae's we lived across the street from Ku klux klan, Laura's boyfriend is White Supremacy. Only in America! Michael was sweet, and fast! He was already telling me he was in love with me. He would look me in the eye (#Melts) and say, I love you, Babalwa. It was sweet that he made the effort to call me by that name and to remember it too, can you imagine? Not only do you have to know how to say it, it's a whole another language. It was a very romantic gesture on his part.

He promised me a nice, romantic, real date. He was going to take me to his favorite Italian restaurant in his neighborhood when he got paid.  The weekend just before I moved to Grey's house, Michael went out of town. He had his son, so he decided to take him out of State for the weekend. He sent me pictures. They looked ancient, but who was I to question him? I have trust issues, and unfortunately, whenever I think something is fishy, it always turns out that way. I thought it was weird that he was going all the way to his mom's to be with his son, but was like, let's give him the benefit of the doubt. His mom wasn't even home then. She was with his sister in Washington. He went there to clean the yard. Tis is a good three hours away and he was going to drive there to clean the yard when his mom wasn't even around. What??!?!?!?!?!? He also told me that phone service is very poor over there. He might not be able to call, but will definitely text. Is Michael married? What kind of suspicious, married man behaviour is this? He promised to visit Monday before work. I waited to hear from him to tell him that I had moved back to the Drug Lordess'. I wasn't going to keep updating someone who is busy cleaning his mom's yard with his son. I left him be! I would only text back when he texted back. I am not into games but I am careful when it comes to these things, especially at the early stages of a relationship.

I wasn't going to take time off work for school, having just been made permanent. Basically, I had only just started working. I planned on going to school and working at the same time. It was going to be a rough couple of weeks. I had school from 8am until 6pm and work from 10pm until 6am. I don't have a car, contrary to my post about running over my neighbor's dog, which was a joke haha, so I had to use public transport. The school was right around the corner from Michael's place but I wasn't about to ask if I could crash at his while I attended. We had just met. I didn't want him thinking I was that girl.

Michael called that Monday night. He couldn't come see me (or send a courtesy text to say so) because he was late for work, blah blah blah, drama about his son and ex wife, blah blah blah, I still think he should have texted. Anyway. I let it go. Kinda. He was too tired that night, and his place was a mess so he didn't think I would want to be there. I wasn't going to insist. He had already made up his mind that I didn't want to be there, so.

He was already home from work when he called. I don't know why his place was so messy if he was out of town the entire weekend. Things were just not adding up. I didn't ask, I just went with it. After our phone call, we texted back and forth for an entire hour, I would keep dozing off and get back up and text. He had a problem sleeping. He tried all kinds of things, only, wait for it... Cannabis aka Marijuana helped relax him. He told me his mind was very busy, it won't shut down. He told me growing up, he suffered from depression, so did his mother. His family is a bunch of unlucky people. The worst things happen to them blah blah blah. I think his family needs attitude adjustment. I'm not saying bad things don't happen to people, heck they happen to me, and I consider myself a good enough person! But you gotta chin up and keep going.

That night, after chatting for an hour, he called and asked if I would mind keeping him company. I told him not, he came over to get me. He should have done that earlier but I guess he is a sucker for punishment or he is unlucky, so he thought he was meant to stay up all night and suffer. It was nice to see him. I couldn't get over his handsomeness! The drive from his to mine is like 6 minutes. We exchanged massages, he has the coldest bedroom ever. he has the A/C blowing and a fan, just coldness all around. He would turn one of them off when I was there. It was still cold but it wasn't like winter or anything, so with a blanket and body heat, I was comfortable.

He was lucky if he got two hours of sleep that night! I spent one more night at his before I started school. Thursday Night was my day off. I worked nights so we spent all my nights off together. He got paid the following day, Friday. He was so excited, he finally had a chance to take me out. He officially asked me on a date which I thought was cute. I agreed. We were gonna go Sunday or Monday night, on my off day. His ex wife had his son that weekend, so we were good. We were up almost all night, because he doesn't sleep. I had brought to his attention that it would be nice if he could offer me something more than a glass of water when I arrived at his place and breakfast in the morning. He felt so bad and was like, he had been out of the dating scene so long that he didn't even know how to do these things. I didn't think it had anything with the dating scene, more being hospitable, that's all.  He finishes work late, after ten pm, then goes home to shower before picking me up, by the time I get there, it's very late. But I didn't want to be that girl. I wanted him to offer me something and have me refuse it, that's all.

He told me that he was going to go grocery shopping that morning, he wanted to know what I liked to eat. He was going to stock up on some of my favorite things. He told me to tell him if he did something I didn't like, he was like, I am teachable! I thought that was nice. I wasn't going to be a pain in his neck obviously, I wasn't trying to act like his mom. He misplaced his phone that night. I called it, he found it and I subsequently saw that my number wasn't saved. Red flag! I asked him about it. He told me he was trying to get into a habit of memorising numbers to exercise his brain. I asked him to save my number and do his brain exercises with other people's number. His ex wife called the following morning. Her number was saved! Why not practice on her number!

Their son was hurt, he had fallen off the stairs and twisted his ankle. They were at the hospital. Michael had to go there. He quickly dropped me off, then rushed off to the hospital. He told me not to worry, his son is a klutz, that kind of stuff happens to him all the time, his mom was probably over reacting.

The day of the date, I got home from work and went straight to bed just in case we were still on, I didn't think we were though. It's just a feeling I had. I called him before I went to sleep to confirm times, so I could set my alarm. He didn't pick up. He texted to tell me his mom needed him to pick him up from the airport and take her to Iowa, where she lives. Where he went to clean the other weekend. He apologies but didn't postpone. I had a feeling that was it. I didn't believe that, I didn't believe any of his stories, not the cleaning, nor the ankle twisting of his son. his first night back from cleaning his mom's place, He had a ton of dishes at his place even though he was away for the weekend. His sh*t wasn't adding up. I choose my battles, so I never confronted him about any of that. I wasn't going to waste my energy on any of that, if he was lying, he is dishonest guy, who is not worthy of my time. I wasn't going to turn him into an honest person by confronting him.

I never heard from him ever again!

















Picture's of Perry's house

Posing during my break at Avon's Facility's Car show (New Jersey)

Cheap boots ($2) from Walmart. Lasted Maximum 2 weeks

Snow Storm after Hurricane Sandy Pic

The snow Storm. View From Avon's Balcony (New Jersey)

More snow

In Perry's Car (Sand Diego)

The Boots Perry bought me at Marshall's

More Sand Diego


Seafood from the Bay Area, S.Diego





If you squint real good, you can see Perry barbecue behind me.

His bedroom, don't mind the mess, the floor? They were renovating when wife left.

The living room. Very comfy couch

The canyon behind his property

Selfie next to our Christmas tree. He had already broken up with me when this was taken 


Perry's bathroom. He had his, I had mine

The third bedroom, that was going to be my office according to the original plan

The kitchen. I told you the house was brown! Cute fridge!

What used to be the game room, before wife took Perry to the cleaner's



Part of his office, where he worked as an Architect

Linen Closet

Swimming pool and view from the backyard

I Love to F*ck, Sucking's Good Too!

the following morning, getting ready for work


Just before I moved to Laura's, I went downtown Salt Lake City to hang out. I took the Train back. I got in and saw this person at the back seat of my carriage, (s)he had a huge smile and was like "HIIIIII!' I thought that was sweet. I waved back and sat in front of her. She was listening to music on her walk-man and was singing along to the top of her voice. I turned around to have another look at this person, she smiled and told me, "Brandy! Love her!" I smiled back and said, me too! She asked me for directions to a nail salon in Cindy's neighbourhood. I told her I was going that direction. We got off at the same stop and waited for a connection.

We had a nice talk while waiting for the bus. It was a good twenty minute wait. She asked me about myself. I was very stressed out about the situation at home (Cindy's). Cindy was at home that day, that made things worse, that's why I went out. I couldn't be in the same house with someone who is supposed to be my friend but won't utter one word to me. She blurted out, 'you can come live with me! Move in today!' What? Just like that? 'yeah, why not? I love helping people. You don't have to pay rent, just buy your own food'. I told her I would think about it and if I took her up on the offer, I would need to compensate her somehow. She said that I would then have to buy food for both of us.. She works in a Nursing home type place as admin. Apparently she had just finished work, she was on her way to treating herself with nails and eyelashes with money she got from her 'sugar daddies'. She told me I looked like I need a man in my life, one who will not sleep with me but spoil me rotten. She could hook me up.

While waiting at the bus stop, she kept pointing at the cars passing by, waving her wallet. This was in broad daylight! Finally the bus arrived, it was a short ride to the salon. She invited me for dinner in a Hawaiian restaurant that evening. She told me I could spend the night at hers or move in or whatever. I told her, maybe I would spend the night, check the location of the place out, see if I could be able to commute to work from there. She gave me her phone number. She also told me that they were hiring CNA's where she worked, she gave me that number too. I called them, they wanted to see me the following day for an interview. She told me we could leave her house together the following morning, she was going to take a cab. She would be looking too cute after her trip to the salon to take public transportation to work. #WORK!

I left her at the salon and rushed to Cindy's to get a change of clothes. I was scheduled to work the following night. I needed presentable clothes for the interview the following morning as well. I was excited to have somewhere else to be that night! I grabbed a few items and rushed back to the salon. I called her on my way back, to double check if she was still there. She never picked up. Great! I saw her approach the bus stop as I got to the shopping centre. I almost missed her. I was like, dude, were you leaving? She said, 'I knew you were going to catch up'. How? Where? What? It was going to be another long wait before the bus,  the stop was at a traffic light. She was pointing at the men passing by in cars, pointing at her ass and licking her fingers hehehehee, I still can't believe what I witnessed that afternoon! I was thinking to myself, Is this happening? Am I dreaming? Should I go back to the house? Screw it, anything was better than the atmosphere in that house. Plus, I could just go for dinner with her, see how that goes and then decided whether or not to go home with her. I hadn't told anybody I was not going to be home that night, and I had my own keys.

I would tell that girl to stop it, I was embarrassed, she didn't care, she was having too much fun. this chick is like, really tall, she is huge, kinda looks like a man, but is very feminine. I don't know anybody like her in real life. She knew all the bus drivers, she would chat with them while they stopped at the light. Come to think of it, I met someone like her while in high school, She tried to seduce me. Let me know if you wanna hear that story. Anyway, bus came, we headed for the restaurant. I had never been that side of town before. There were a few restaurants lined up, it was nice and very busy. Right across the street from the train station.

She recommended something for me to eat, Chicken, port, rice, salad, the whole shebang! It was a nice meal, she had a small meal, and a ton of extras which made it seem lie a meal for four. She finished that, got bored, ordered more food, and then more and more! She told me she got the money from two of her sugar daddies, she doesn't sleep with them, they like to spoil her, so they give her money. One gave her $150 (R1 500), the other gave her $200 (R2 000). Not too bad for a girl who may be mistaken for a man. Just saying!

She chatted with everybody at the restaurant. She recognised some of them, some knew her, it was interesting. Everybody knows her! We finished dinner around 7pm. I asked her how much longer we were going to stay at the restaurant. Mind you, this is someone who told me she hangs out on the trains. She told me if you ever feel bored and can't get hold of me, take the trains, you're bound to bump into me! (She doesn't have a cellphone. The number she had given me was for her house phone. Yep, she has a house phone at this day in age! She told me to hang out at the restaurant for another hour or so.

I was like, yeah, I can't do that. I was beginning to wonder if chick actually had a place to stay! Who hangs out on the train after work? Does this girl even have a job? She had worn out flip plops on. She told me it's hard for he to wear nice, girly shoes because they don't have her shoe size. I told you she is ginormous. Sad for her because she really is to girlieness, she even had glitter all over her arms, I love me some glitter. I didn't love her enough to sleep under the bridge with her though. I told her I was going to stay another half hour, then we had to leave, or I was going to go back to Cindy's. She told me I could leave there and then if I wanted. Or I could wait and go home with her, the choice was mine. I stayed the thirty minutes, I was in no rush. Plus she was shockingly entertaining.

Waiting for a cab outside her apartment. She had this skirt on the previous day and slept in it that night. Zoom in for the new nails 


Twenty  minutes or so later, she ordered more food to take home. She ordered 19 servings of some seaweed wrapped, rice and chicken fillet thing. Those things are huge! She told me she was going to take them to work the following day and treat her colleagues. I thought that was sweet and generous of her. She had three at the train station while waiting for the train. We did leave after thirty minutes as I had requested. She knew the train driver.


She told me that she was originally from Los Angeles, her whole family is still there. She was married once, her husband died ten years ago. They have three kids together, the youngest is six. Do the math or I'll help you out, Husband died ten years ago, four years after, they had another child. She was abused as a child, so she didn't have a good relationship with her family. That's why she moved to Utah. Everybody called her Roxy. That's not how she introduced herself to me but ok.

There was a lady sitting across from us on the train. She had a name tag on, Natasha or something. Roxy, was like, Natasha, are you going to the intercultural event this coming Saturday? That lady could have died! LMAO. Heck, I could have died! From Embarrassment! The poor lady was trying to read. She talked to her until we had to get off.

She knew everybody in the neighborhood! I was memorising the way to her place so that I could go back easily should the need arise. Everything was still up in the air. Finally, we arrived at her apartment block! It was nice! Even looked new! We walked up the stairs to her apartment. She actually had keys to the place. It was a huge one bedroom, H.U.G.E! Fully furnished. Living room, space for dining room set, kitchen, huge bathroom, bedroom, laundry and extra storage. I was almost jealous! She told me I could either use the couch in the living room but she wouldn't recommend it, people have had sex on there. I thought it was interesting that she said people had sex there, she didn't say she did.

We went over to her bedroom. The mattress was on the floor. Don't ask!Or do, she told me, her boyfriend broke the bed. Now, don't ask :)

She had a small TV in the bedroom. She had a movie on pause, she told me to have a seat on the bed. I didn't know where to sit the thing was filthy! She could tell I was uncomfortable, she took out fresh linen from the closet and spread over the bed and covered up the pillow next to me. That was nice of her. Don't you love it when people can read between the lines?

We watched a movie I had always wanted to see but always forgot haha, Burlesque. I enjoyed it. She did tell me what was going to happen in the movie, just before it did, that was a challenge, to ignore her when she did that, with love. You know, because she was still being nice, so you don't wanna be that mean guest! She checked her phone messages. All from men! Different men!

She opened up her take out (away) container and had more of those rice things she bought for her colleagues. She dialed some number with voice prompts, followed those and ended up somewhere where men were looking for women for various acts. One of them sounded very frustrated, His message was, "Will any woman in Salt Lake City please kick me in the balls?" They wall wanted things that were out there, these men. I know that because Roxy had the phone on speaker. She responded to a ton, if not all the messages. Some called her back. She also left her own ads where she would say something along the lines of, 'Hi, my name's Christmas (she really did say that!), it's my birthday today (it wasn't), I am looking to get spoiled. I love to fck, sucking's good, an*l's good too, I will do anything in exchange for you to pay for my hair. Call me back!' I guess that's how she got the money for nails and eyelashes. She did say she didn't have sex with them. Does kicking somebody in the nuts groin area count as sex?

She talked to those people the whole night, they even made arrangements to meet up. I was freaking out thinking what was going to happen to me when those people came over. One of her friends came by before bed. It was a female, she had a pair of shoes she didn't want in her bag. She offered me those, I was like, no thanks, I don't think they will fit. She was like go head, try them on! I did, they did! Darn it! I had to come up with another excuse. I didn't take them.

I did take this outfit that Roxy gave me. I couldn't wait to take it off, she forced me to try it on. The mattress I slept on that night. Pic taken in her bedroom

The house was filthy! The bathroom was worse than a public bathroom! I was like, no way in hell I'm gonna live here! That place was beyond! She and her friend talked about case workers. Looked like she was on some kind of social services type benefit. She told me they pay for the apartment, she only has to pay a small portion. She was up all night eating the 19 things and talking on the phone, looking for someone who could spoil her. I was up all night too. Trying not to die in my sleep from the shock of it all. And I was keeping an eye on my stuff. I had my cell and my walled under my pillow. She gave me a mattress to use in the dining room area and fresh linen. The mattress was new, it came from her closet. She told me her friends don't know about the things she was letting me use. They are for special people. That was sweet.

When it came time to leave for work, she came out of her bedroom already dressed, all done up and everything. She hadn't been to the bathroom! Go figure! I needed a thorough shower just due to all the stuff I overheard from her phone conversations that night! She told me I was welcome to use the shower.Yeah sure! i wiped my face, poured tons of cologne on me, brushed my teeth, made sure nothing touched nothing, or else it was going to be disposed of!

She called a cab driver she knows, remember she knows everybody! He came by in about ten minutes. Off we went to her work! She left for her office, told me to find her that afternoon and arrange moving. OR call her that night, she is usually home after 8pm, she finishes work around 2pm by the way! The rest of the time is spent on the trains. Whatever works for her, I guess.

I knew I was going to be back there over my dead body. I couldn't tell her that because I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I couldn't wait to go home and tell my friend Cindy what a night I had had! Then I remembered, she was no longer talking to me!






Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Brook, Do You Want Me to Call The Police?

My roommate was spending all her time in the closet, whenever she came out, her pupils were dilated as hell. She aways had her limbs covered up. and always wore her hair long. Whenever her hair would move away from her back, she would pull her top up to cover up the back of her neck. I noticed that she had fresh scars on her arms. they looked like cigarette burns. even though she says she isn't, she only does it once in a blue moon, she's a smoker. She smokes a pack a day or day and a half, that's regular smoking!

Once in a blue moon, she would go to her sister's. She went the first time since I had moved in to help her sister with a yard sale. apparently her sister was going to pay her with the money they were going to sell the bicycle with or with the bicycle itself. They sold nothing that day but the bicycle haha, and the guy paid by check! hahaha all her stories were like that, damned if you do, damned if you don't. She came back with some kind of a detector. She told me they used it at her sister's to see if there were any cameras because she believes her sister's boyfriend is no good and has put up cameras all over the house. The alarm went off all over her sister's house. She tested it at our place because Laura believed that her ex boyfriend who had come back into her life to "use" her had left cameras in there.

This man, who was apparently they love of her life, she dated 12 years ago. She told me he broke her heart, then I later found out that she got the guy hooked on cocaine. Even though she herself was never addicted. Years after, they bumped into each other, got back together but things were different, all he did was go to the house, have her do her laundry, iron her clothes and feed her, then leave. She told me she had a feeling he was homeless and may have been an informer because all of Laura's friends who were on drugs go arrested around the time the guy was back in her life. She thought he was working with the police. Don't ask!

The guy stopped taking her calls after giving her a nice gift: an animal print Guess bag. She told me she never used that bag because she believed it he was spying on her. She emptied the bag in front of me with me standing there totally out of my element, watching, there was nothing in the bag. She hid it in the linen closet in the hallway, she didn't want the guy eavesdropping on her phone calls. The detector thing went off all over the condo. I asked her to take it outside, as far away as possible from our place, to see if it was going to go off there or not. I really thought the thing's battery was dying. She did and the thing still went off. She replaced its battery, it stopped going off.

She got a notice from The town hall that they were going to disconnect our lights in a week's time. She let that slip, then tried to cover up but it was too late. Her sister violated probation, she got arrested. Laura was going to move to her sister's place. She wasn't going to bother paying her utility bills, it was better for her to move to her sister's mansion and take care of things there before the no good boyfriend of her sister's stole from her house. Er, what about me?

One other reason Laura didn't get along with her sister's boyfriend who is Laura's fiance's cousin is that he raped her. Allegedly! Laura used to clean houses and businesses, the sister's boyfriend hired her to clean for her, and then raped her. According to Laura, she never cried, said no or told anybody about it until months after. I picked up from her stories that she had asked the guy for money, he propositioned sex from her in exchanged, he agreed and then paid her as per deal. I was like, you know what, I can't even handle these stories anymore. I don't care what people do with their lives, but don't lie to me about it! Especially when I didn't even ask!

She got busy selling pills, the busier she got, the more scared I became. I started looking for another place to stay. The more of her stories I heard, the more red flags. I had to go!

One of the ads I responded to was of a guy who had three sons who lived with his ex wife but were with him every other weekend. He had two spare bedrooms, he wanted to rend one out. I told MB about it, she offered to take me to view the place. I also responded to an add about a girl who was looking for a roommate in the same suburb. This is the same area Laura and I lived, where I worked. It used to take me 15 minutes from Laura's place to the bus stop, a few minutes by bus then 20 minutes walk to work. It was a bit of a schlep for me, that's one of the reasons I couldn't live there permanently, even if the roommate situation were different.

I emailed the guy back as well as the girl. The girl never got back to me. I was more interested in hers because she was 20 mins walking distance to my job. It would've been perfect. the guy's was cheaper, and farther. After work, MB and I made our way there. The guy seemed nice, he had offered to pick me up, but we didn't want that. I wanted to have someone with me for security. He was too eager too, which can be a red flag. We spent about an hour or so at his. He made us play a game he designed with his friends. They were expecting to make a lot of money with it. It was a fun game!

He was very hyper, handsome guy with greyish eyes! He gave me the key and told me I could move in immediately, stay the last two weeks of June free and start paying in July. For a moment, I had a weird feeling in my heart when I accepted the key. MB took me to Laura's, I quickly packed while Laura was in her closet talking to herself. She told me I would get my deposit back at the end of July. Heavens knows why. If I am moving out now, please give me my f#cking deposit back now? Thanks!

We planned to meet up for her birthday, I took the keys with me on account of, no deposit, no keys.

Just after I got all my stuff in the car, I got a call from the girl! The place was still available, I could go see it if I wanted. F.*.C.K! MB was like, it's that girl, isn't it? I could tell from your responses, yeah, rocket science! Whatever! She told me I wasn't going to go to that girl's house. That man was nice to me, he even offered me to stay there free for two weeks, which meant me getting out of Laura's house, which I clearly needed. I was like yeah but I have a very good feeling about this girl's place! She was like, I am telling you this guy's is the place you wanna be. I'm taking you there. If you go to this girl's house, don't ever ask me to move you again. I won't do it!

She took me to Grey's house. I told the girl I had already found a place, I felt so bad. I was working that night, and the following few nights so no time to unpack, I just took out my scrubs (uniform) that's all. The guy was home when I got there. He helped me fix up my room, then left for work. He had his own construction business. He was nice enough to take me to work that night. I got a ride from my friend the next morning. I spent the rest of the day, just chilling at home. Roommate came home that afternoon and asked for copies of my ID for his probation officer. I told him I would give them to him as soon as I had them then ran upstairs,locked myself in my room and was like, PROBATION OFFICER????!!!?!?!? Red flag! I went to the laundry room to do some laundry, and found weed in the hamper (washing basket). I was like, this guy is supposed to be on probation and I know for a fact weed is not legal in the state of Utah! I said nothing. He came home, talked and talked, it came out that he used to be bad but he changed, after prison. He was in prison for four years, that's where the game was designed. His friends are still bad, but I should turn a blind eye. They will stay out of my way, when I see them, I should lock myself up in my room so that I don't have to answer to anybody should need be.

He took a random shower in the afternoon while I was in my room. We shared the bathroom. He called me to talk about his kids coming over that night. He had the bathroom door open the entire time he bathed, lucky  I didn't need to use the bathroom. I went down to talk to him, stood by the stairway so as not to seem him in his nakedness. He came out wiping himself with a towel, talked to me as if he wasn't completely naked with a towel only covering his crotch. He turned around, his back toward me, totally naked, and wiped his crotch, SMDH. The things I see in this world, seriously!

After our conversation, I made up my mind that I wasn't going to deal with another uncomfortable rooming situation especially with a man. I called the girl up. The place was still available. I made an appointment to view, walk thirty minutes to the nearest train station, took the metro and went and viewed the place. I loved it! I negotiated $25 off, I tried fifty but we settled on 25 haha, cheapskate! I got the place! It was only available the following month, July.

MB was working, she called to check up on me. I told her I couldn't talk over the phone but if she could come over. She did that morning after work. My place was en route her place. She called me on her way and asked if she should call the police. Go figure! I was like, no, I'm safe, Just can't talk right now. BROOK, ARE YOU SURE YOU DON'T WANT ME TO CALL THE POLICE? Yes, I am fine! She came over, her heart beating out of her chest. Her freaking out so much gave me the feeling, just like me, she didn't have a nice feeling about that guy, even though she practically forced me to move in with him. We talked in the car, while doing so, a random woman came out the house, haha! She had her own car parked in the street. Anyway, none of my business. MB told me in no uncertain terms that I was to stay with that man even if I stayed the rent free two weeks and then moved out to the girl's. I was not to move back to Laura's, that place wasn't safe for me. It wasn't but which place was?

I wasn't going to use the poor man by staying at his place and then move out when it suited me without even paying a cent. Karma is a female dog! I just went with whatever MB was saying though. She was very passionate about it, I didn't wanna ruin her vibe. After she left, I ran back to my room and packed. Laura and I had been in touch since moving in. She had hinted that she might move in with her sister that very week. Which meant I was never going to get my deposit back. Where was I going to find her?

I told her I might be moving back in, she told me she didn't think that was a good idea because she was moving out. I moved back in anyway. I had paid for all of June, wasn't going to get my deposit back, might as well stay the rest of my paid month. I never unpacked, I lived off my bags until the end of the month. What was the point?

I left a note for Grey's that I was sorry but blah blah blah, I had to put it very nicely, I didn't want to hurt his feelings, he was nothing but nice to me, albeit weird, but he was nice. I called a cab and moved back to Laura's. Good thing I still had my keys. I was only gone for two to three nights.


Sunday, November 10, 2013

I Can See Myself Falling In Love With You


I met someone else online, Michael! He is tall, 6ft5 (just under 196cm or just under a metre). Blonde, blue eyes, seemed nice enough. After he asked for my number, he actually called. He had a Las Vegas Number. Here in the  Us, it doesn’t matter who your service provider is, they allocate you a number according to where you live, or at least, where you tell them you live. He had lived in Las Vegas for a while, I thought that was cool. Listen, I was in Utah, anything was exciting to me! He worked as a printer, he told me he had been doing that all his life, he was in his early 40’s when we met. He told me he had printed everything from the Book of Mormon to Porn. Again, cool! Right?

We talked a few times over the phone and arranged to meet. We set up to meet on a Sunday. I was working the Saturday before that. I remember working so much, overtime, twelve hour shifts, (regular work was 8 hrs per shift), that I was so tired and sleep deprived. I rushed for the bus stop that Saturday and was too tired to run up the hill, I was like, I can’t, I walked as fast as I could but missed the bus. I was waiting at the traffic when it passed on the other side. That sucked! I looked up the next bus on maps, if I had waited for the following bus, I would have ended up being late. Utah, no public transport, especially weekends.  I started walking. Towards work, I ended up walking all the way there! It took me more than an hour, walking on freeways and sht, I was too pissed to call a cab. I didn’t leave the house two hours before work to take a cab. Michael texted while in the midst of my long walk to freedom. He had told me that our date wasn’t gonna be that great because he wasn’t getting paid for another week or so. But he wanted to see me. Next thing I knew, he was texting me telling me he was in my neck of the woods. What was he doing there? Test driving a truck! Oh yeah, fun! We chatted a bit, I mean I wasn’t gonna tell him I was walking to work. That’s not cute! Plus I was definitely not going to ask him for a ride! I walked more than 3.5miles (5.5 km) at night. I arrived at work just before ten pm.

After a few hours since test driving, Michael sent me a text that he bought the truck! HE BOUGHT A TRUCK. I was like wow, if he can afford to buy a truck when he is broke, I wonder what he can afford when he has money. I was excited to meet him the following day and to see the new truck.

I finished work, MB dropped me off, my payment to her was buying her breakfast every other day of giving me rides. I took a nap, Michael called around 1 that afternoon. We were both off that day. Roommate was home, in her closet. I told her I had a date that night. She was excited for me, she wanted to know all about it. There wasn’t much to be said cos Mike and I had only  just started talking. He came over to pick me up around 8 that night. We both didn’t know where we were going. I hate that. I am ok with not knowing where we are going as long as the guy knows, for them not to take the time to plan where we’re going is sloppy to me. He arrived in his huge truck, I’m talking one of those unbelievable tall and big trucks, he tried to park in our visitor’s parking but the thing didn’t fit (that’s what she said haha). Laura was like, there he is! This looks like the last truck I owned but mine was more expensive. I’m like, what? You don’t even know how much his cost! She’s like it is new? I asked her why she would automatically assume that he bought a second car when she didn’t even know him. Heck, I didn’t know him either. She said, well he’s is a Chevy, mine was a Ford. His was a Ford too! I don’t know why she was so obsessed with making a weird point that nobody cared about. The bottom line was he was driving that truck and she didn’t own nothing but a bunch of mug shots and Live Love Laugh sht, have a seat! He ended up parking elsewhere, he called to tell me he was here. I knew he was, I saw the truck, you can’t miss it! I went out and when our eyes met, his eyes popped and his jaw literally dropped. Listen, I wasn’t even dressed cute, a simple black dress and heels from Aldo. Red lipstick and that was it. I didn’t know where we were going, so I had to keep it neutral.

He got out of the truck to greet me. That man is tall! He is the tallest man I have ever dated! So much cuter in person with those blue eyes! I am such a sucker for blue eyes #AutomaticPantyDropper. Check out what he had on :- Cargo shorts, khaki, socks that came up to the calf (don’t forget he had shorts on), a sleeveless t-shirt. Not a wife-beater (aka a Chris Brown haha) , I don’t know what they are called. He seems to have a collection because he had a different one on in his picture. That’s what my date on. He was like, oh no, I am so underdressed. No you’re not, Michael, you didn’t plan where we’re going so, I didn’t know what to wear. Of course I didn’t tell him that. I was hot and thirsty, He asked me if there was anywhere in particular I wanted to go. I told him I needed some water, I didn’t care where we went thereafter. He told me as long as I knew that he was on a budget, so we were gonna go on a cheap date. Really? And you bought a car yesterday! After you told me you were broke. Guys from Utah, are the cheapest I have ever dated in my life! Paul, the old man with a runny nose and mouth and eyes, is still the most normal date I went on in Utah, only, it was too awkward to be normal.

We went to the nearest gas station, got two big waters. And asked where to next? Er, a restaurant, who doesn’t know that? You wanna take me to the park too? At 9pm? Or would you like to take me to church? Side note - He has a few tattoos, one on his arm and one on the calf, love the one on the calf. Too cool! He told me seeing as I am new in Salt Lake, he was going to show me his favourite spot. He took me to the mountain! We went freewheeling in his new truck, what! Awesomest experience! I never experienced a car driving sideways on a 90 degree rock, so thrilling! Man, it was a fun time! We found a picnic table, got off to chill and talk a bit. The truck was too high for me to get on or off by myself, he had to help me. I took a couple of pictures on the mountain top, we were literally on the peak of the mountain! Actually, we weren’t that far from Laura’s boyfriend’s prison.

The view of Salt Lake City County from the mountain top was amazing! I die for stuff like that! From there, I was famished because I hadn’t had dinner thinking I was about to go on a date. I told him I was hungry. We looked for a restaurant and of course, it being Utah, and Sunday, all places were closed. Oh Utah, WTF is wrong with Thee? Alas, we had to go to Mc Donald’s. I told him to just get us large fries, I wasn’t gonna sit at a Mc Donald’s on my date, heyl naw! He did that, we shared the fries, got some gas, drove to a mountain on the other side of town. He took me to a few Ski Resorts, we didn’t go in, just to see, we drove past a few wild animals on that route. It was pretty rad!

After that, he told me we weren’t that far from his place, we could drive past there, he could fix me something to eat, I was like, yeah sure and you won’t try to seduce me. He assured me he wouldn’t and said the most famous last lines – I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.  Yuck, men, please quit using that line! I agreed. We went over to his place. Lots of apartment blocks in one big yard. He parked his huge truck, I wonder if he is making up for anything with that huge truck? We got out and made our way to his place.

It was a one bedroom apartment, very spacious! He had his bicycle in there and a few pieces of furniture. He told me he had lost everything to drugs and was starting afresh. We sat at his dining room table and talked. He made himself something to eat. I guess I forgot I was hungry. I just had a bite off his, just to taste his pineapple favoured sausage. It tasted pretty good. He asked to kiss me. I always thought that’s a turn off. Someone wants to kiss you, they should just lean in and see if you’re going the same too, and go for it but now if you’re got blue eyes and nice hair! The kiss was ok. Ok, it was great! I hadn’t been kissed since Elvis and he was sloppy, you never knew if he had brushed his teeth, so I always made sure I kept my mouth closed, no tongue, yuck! This guy was smelling fresh, he had nice teeth too. I’m a sucker for nice teeth.

He told me more and more of his stories, asked me about Africa. While on the way to the mountain, he showed me the prison and told me last he checked his brother was there, he didn’t know if he was still alive. Apparently his brother molested him when they were young. Awkward. Please don’t tell me this on our first date! He told me a story of him trying to kill himself after his divorce from a drug overdose in a random hotel room on his way from Washington state back to Utah. That was awkward. Filter please! You don’t have to tell me all these stories today, especially the traumatic ones! I just went along though, what do you do? You’re not gonna make someone feel like sh*t when they are trying to open up to you albeit on your first date.

We stayed up until it was too late, he offered me his pyjamas. I was like or you can take me home. He told me he was enjoying my company. I enjoyed his, so we suited up in similar pyjamas and went to bed. We talked some more and made out some more, nothing further than that though. He did tell me that he could see himself falling in love with me. Nothing was gonna lead to another though, not that night! He had work the following day. He dropped me off, I was still in his pyjamas, and heels, his shoes were too big for me. When we got to my place, he parked in the driveway, told me to stand on the second step (to be on the same level as him, I guess?), kissed me, told me he wanted the world  to know that I was with him and headed for work.



The Roommate


Unlike at Cindy’s my new place bedroom curtains were dark! There were blinds and chocolate brown curtains over the blinds, it was awesome for someone who worked nights! I could sleep in the day time just like it were night time! I got up around 7pm, my new Roommate, who we’ll call Laura, made dinner. She made pork chops, mashed potatoes and veggies. It was delicious. Especially considering I hadn’t had a cooked meal in weeks. She packed me lunch. Very nice gesture but I  wasn’t quite comfortable cos  from experience that all gets tired, fast! She told me she gets food stamps and doesn’t mind sharing food. She always cooks more than she needs anyway. Mind you the closet and fridge were empty when I got there, I don’t know what it is that she cooks too much of. She had less than $20 left in her food stamps card and it was mid month, she wasn’t sure if she was still going to get money for food from the government. Just Saying! This is all stuff I put together from her stories, she talks non stop, when you do that, you’re bound to bust yourself. Okay, Millionaire. I hate to be negative Natalie, but all my experience will have been in vain if I don’t learn from them.

MB was kind enough to take me to work my first night at the new place. It was her day off, but she didn’t mind. She even took me home the following morning. I insisted on taking her to breakfast the following morning. So we went via Mc Donald’s of Some fast food restaurant on our way back to mine. My roommate was home when I got home. She was fixing up the place and cleaning up haha, just my frigging luck. I had to ask her if she were a neat freak. She told me she isn’t, just a bit OCD. I don’t know if it’s an American thing or not but a lot of people I have met here claim to be OCD. Anyway, the condor was clean though, not in a weird way, like Cindy’s. It was lived in. It didn’t look like a house for sale smdh. I was so glad I didn’t have to clean that three storey house every again! By the way when she and her husband stopped talking, she stopped cleaning! I don’t know if husband was making her clean of what! She started cleaning again when they made up. The condor was a two bedroom, Laura had the main bedroom, both rooms had walk in closets, the entire place was carpeted besides the obvious, bathroom and kitchen, one bathroom with toilet and bath in the same space, a door and a nice space with sink, and drawers, don’t know what it’s called, the entire place smelt amazingly! The moment you walk into the main door, the smells just, aaah, love it! We had a living room with a flat screen tv mounted on the wall, cable was disconnected, she was “going to pay” for it the following week when I moved in, no internet, she was about to do that to, or not, but that was the story, dining room set between kitchen and living room and a cute balcony. Laura really did the place up, it was so cute. She was obsessed with Live Love Laugh, she had those words all over the place. Not in a distasteful manner though. Even the candles she was burning in the living room had those words, the place mats, everything. Oh and there was office space near the living room with a printer, a lamp and a trash can. Whenever we wanted to work there, which wasn’t necessary because we had desks in our bedrooms, we could just put our laptops there and go to town. There was a coin Laundry downstairs for the six units.

I went straight to bed the following morning after work then got up around 3pm, Laura was home, she was unemployed hashtag former millionaire and spent a lot of time in her closet. It was a walk in but not that big. Plus she had the entire place to herself, all I did for the first week or so was work and sleep, no need to be trapped in the closet unless you insists on being weird #MissMillionaire! We hung out in the living room when I got up, she told me more of her stories, how she is a nice person and people always took advantage of her. She had been married before, has two grown up kids both homeless and heroin addict. She had recently kicked her son out of her place because she was under the impression he was clean but he started doing drugs again under her roof. She didn’t want to be involved with any of that. Her daughter was staying in motels and at friends’ houses with her boyfriend and their four year old who, apparently is Laura’s reason for living. Laura’s fiancé is in prison, he had been for almost two years and had another two-ish to go when I moved in. I found out over the course of my stay that he is a White Supremacist. Go figure, black person living in a supremacist’s place, recipe for disaster! She was not on speaking terms with her mother nor one of her sisters. She was very close to her other sister though. The sister lives with a boyfriend in a huge house the sister owns. The sister is on house arrest for drug possession. Her boyfriend supposedly snuck the drugs in the sister’s handbag when the cops stopped them one night, that’s how she ended up arrest.

Laura, after losing all her money from her business partner, he ‘framed’ her for forgery and all kinds of white collar crimes, she ended up in jail and lost everything. She lost her amazing home and cars and all her assistants. Now she’s on food stamps and lives with a roommate from Africa! Apparently her case was big time, it made news. It didn’t indeed, I googled the story and found her mugshot and a few others that had nothing to do with the case. This was all a while after I had moved in. I didn’t mention the mugshots, they did freak me out though. I don’t know anybody who has mugshots, especially that many. Put it this way, I didn’t know women with mugshots until America cos I also found one that belonged to one of the ladies I lived with. I won’t tell you who, but just saying!

Laura, she was very close to her niece who works in a nursery with her ‘abusive’ girlfriend. She can’t break up with her because they work together blah blah blah. Laura also knows a lot of people who are addicted to ‘prescription’ pills. She has friends with Health insurance who could get those drugs for her, she would in turn sell those drugs to her connections and get a cut. This is all stuff, I was picking up from putting two and two together from her stories! She was always on the phone in that closet of hers, talking to all kinds of people. They would come meet her in the parking lot, where she would spend less than two minutes and be done. She would sometimes call these people and be like, where’s my money? You know drug dealer type scenarios? I felt like I was dreaming. Really? This is the person I’m gonna room with after everything I’ve been through!

Her boyfriend called everyday around the same time from prison. He would do a collect call type thing (reverse call) but apparently before something happens, there’s a three minute gap between when those people start billing you and not or whatever, so in that three minutes, she would go, I love you babe! Just for him to know she was ok. Also, apparently she is jealous, she had to say those very lines in case she were with another man. Really, you’re gonna control me from Behind bars? He must be really powerful!