Sunday, January 27, 2013

Joyride to Hell


August 2012
Brad; One of the guys that responded to my 24 Hours on Craigslist Post  He was younger, Caucasian (white) with green eyes and a nice body. He was in IT, my kind of guy; I love me some geeks. I am a closeted geek myself. (oops, did I just come out?) He had recently moved to Connecticut from Florida and like me, was looking to make new friendships. We first emailed, then texted, which to me was exactly the same. I asked him to call, he said he was going to but had to warn me that he sounds lame on the phone. Ok, sure! We talked on the phone for about an hour then he had to go. He had to visit his grandparents.  Not random at all.

We texted every day. Every now and again he would call. It was a mission to get him to call though. I think he genuinely believed he sounded lame on the phone. While texting with Brad, Sam was calling daily. He wanted to meet again. He called me day after our first date. I was at home, feeling lazy, enjoying getting to know Brad, I didn’t really enjoy Sam’s company, so I asked to see him the next day rather. It was Saturday, our first date was Friday night. He was going to hang out with his friends and wanted me to meet everybody. ALREADY! It was a nice gesture. Soon after I turned Sam down, Brad needed to do his thing with the grandparents and I was bored again. Darn it! I tell you weekends were the worst for me in Connecticut!

A few hours later, Sam called again and told me he was going to be at my place in 20 minutes. Great, looks like I have no say in this! I got ready, he was there in time. He had Michael Jackson Sunglasses on. And the same outfit as the night before. He seemed off-ish. I couldn’t put my finger on it. It got late and dark and he still had the glasses on, I was like dude, are you gonna take those off? He did and his eyes were blood red. He was laughing the entire time. Just giggling and nothing and everything. I asked him if he was high. He said Yeah, well hehehe I smoked about two hours ago, I’m ok now, I’m sober. It takes me about 3 hours to sober up. I was like, well then you’re not yet. ‘yes, I am , I smoked at 2, it’s 6 now’. Uhm, didn’t this guy just say he smoked 2 hours ago,not AT TWO? Oh well. Lord, my life is in your hands amen.

He wanted to show me where he grew up, where he went to school, the little bit of schooling he had. His family moved a bunch, so he showed me all the places they lived, at least those that were in Connecticut. He told me stories about him driving and getting involved in accidents as an underage kid that had no right to be driving. His parents let him drive. It was his parents’ car. He giggled his way through the drive. I was holding on for dear life. We were driving way past the speed limit, he was all over the high way, from this lane to that to the other. I was worried for my life. Every now and then he would doze off and snore. I’m not lying to you! You may be asking yourself why I didn’t ask him to take me home. Well, I DID! He didn’t understand why I felt unsafe. He was a good driver who had been driving for more than twenty years. (he’s 32).

At some point, we were in a secluded road. There were no other cars but us, and just trees. Trees on either side of the road. Don’t get me wrong, they were beautiful, Green. But it was scary over there! It was dark, I was in a car with a stranger who had been smoking. Two hours prior. Or Four, who knows? Who cares? I felt unsafe! I texted T and told her where I was, just in case something were to happen to me. He got thirsty some more! He ran out of his soda. He had been drinking the entire time, who knows what was in that Coke? We stopped at a gas station (garage). He asked if I wanted anything. I didn’t think I did. He got himself a can of coke and a chunky bar of chocolate. I changed my mind when I saw Cheetos. I love Niknaks/Cheesenaks so Cheetos are a very close second. I told him I wanted some. He said, “Oh no, I feel so bad, I got no money, hehehe hehe, I’m sorry, he he he. Plus they’re expensive here, they’re probably a Dollar, I really haven’t got any more money on me. I’ll have money next Friday. Can I buy them for you then?”
So you’re telling me you don’t have a dollar on you? (I mean that’s less than R10 in South African money). Is this guy kidding me? How much did he have with him? $4.50? I went in and got them myself and made sure I got the bigger bag just to prove a point. He told me he used all his money when he took me out the night before. Well guy, you should have thought of that when you spent money on a movie nobody was going to watch! I didn’t tell him that but I thought it, still do! He drove further. Like I said dude and his family moved around a lot, there were lots of places to see. I just wanted to go home. Finally, we approached a nice big town, just as we did, he saw cops at the traffic light. He turned toward oncoming traffic. Great! Just the perfect time to do that! In front of the pow lees! They didn’t catch him. He was following GPS directions, don’t know what happened there, but that was enough to freak him out, he turned around.

South African drivers, motorists are allowed to make a u-turn at the traffic light (robot) here. I still cringe every time someone does it with me in the car. I wonder if there are no cops around or a camera. Anyway, on our way back, we stumbled upon a traffic jam. Sam tried to overtake until he got to the very beginning of it. There had been a car crash. There were bodies on the road. It was a mess. He didn’t care, he asked the police if he, just him, could drive through. They ignored him This is the same guy who was so shy just 24 hours ago, sweating bullets and opening doors! He wasn’t about to wait there for the Emergency people to clear the road, he reversed all the way back to the onramp. In a very straight line. I was impressed, I have to say. WE took a different route home. When He dropped me off, he pulled that stunt again of trying to reach out for a kiss, I ducked it and went in for a hug.

I vowed there and then I would never go anywhere with that man every again.

Backtrack to Thursday, at T’s She cooked for us as usual. I always enjoyed her home cooked meals. I got a call from THE PERSON! We just pulled in from the store. He asked me a few question about myself and work experience when.... my cellphone battery died! NOOOOOO!!!! I have been waiting for this call for EVER! I asked T If I could use her phone. She didn’t mind, only I didn’t have the person’s number. I had to wait until mine charged and turned on, which as we all know was going to take no less than five minutes. That’s a lifetime to someone who is looking for a job. If you’ve looked for a job before, I know you know! I called him back, we talked some more. He seemed like an ok guy. He was a lawyer looking for a private nursing aide for his client who was as he put it going to die any minute, she had less than a month to live. All they wanted from me was patients. Lots of it because apparently she was very feisty. She was still on hospital, he was going to call me as soon as he knew when she was going to be discharged. I GOT THE JOB!





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