This might be a story I've told before. I warn you, it has some hateful language in it. I apologize but it's kinda the punchline. So. It's necessary I think.
This happened to me in 1987. I was 19 years old. I came back to Garland on Spring Break, which would have been mid-March. I was in my second semester of college at the University Of Texas At Austin. Most of my family lived in Garland, Texas.
Having nothing to do one day I wandered over to where my sister Pat & my brother-in-law Dan lived. That's the very house up there, as it looked a few years before Pat died. They mostly thought me unusual but my sister in particular felt family should look out for family. My brother-in-law did not like me, thought me arrogant & thought my dislike for manly endeavors like working on cars made me soft. He was always trying to get me to do things like chop wood, things I wasn't very good at, which then left me open for humiliation & mockery. To his credit, my brother-in-law didn't seem to enjoy making fun of me as much as my brothers did. My little brother lived with Pat & Dan at the time.
We hadn't had a good relationship for most of our teens, my little brother & me. Around the time I began to be obsessed with music & comics, he took a different route & found people to play basketball with. He felt like he was in a competition with me & I didn't really feel that way at all.
Anyway, as I stepped into Pat & Dan's house that March day in 1987, there was some commotion. I was told to go up to the crawlspace at the top of the house - it wasn't an attic, I mean, you can see in the picture above. I was instructed by my brother-in-law to hold a pipe. There had been a freeze which had damaged a pipe & someone needed to prevent the pipe from leaking while repairs were being made. I had the proper skill set for such a task & Dan knew it.
How long I lay up there I don't know. I am afraid of bugs so I worried a spider or something might crawl on me. Occasionally Dan would say "You okay up there?" so I knew I wasn't being forgotten. I let my mind drift, played some songs in my head, & began to notice the temperature rising.
This happened to me in 1987. I was 19 years old. I came back to Garland on Spring Break, which would have been mid-March. I was in my second semester of college at the University Of Texas At Austin. Most of my family lived in Garland, Texas.
Having nothing to do one day I wandered over to where my sister Pat & my brother-in-law Dan lived. That's the very house up there, as it looked a few years before Pat died. They mostly thought me unusual but my sister in particular felt family should look out for family. My brother-in-law did not like me, thought me arrogant & thought my dislike for manly endeavors like working on cars made me soft. He was always trying to get me to do things like chop wood, things I wasn't very good at, which then left me open for humiliation & mockery. To his credit, my brother-in-law didn't seem to enjoy making fun of me as much as my brothers did. My little brother lived with Pat & Dan at the time.
We hadn't had a good relationship for most of our teens, my little brother & me. Around the time I began to be obsessed with music & comics, he took a different route & found people to play basketball with. He felt like he was in a competition with me & I didn't really feel that way at all.
Anyway, as I stepped into Pat & Dan's house that March day in 1987, there was some commotion. I was told to go up to the crawlspace at the top of the house - it wasn't an attic, I mean, you can see in the picture above. I was instructed by my brother-in-law to hold a pipe. There had been a freeze which had damaged a pipe & someone needed to prevent the pipe from leaking while repairs were being made. I had the proper skill set for such a task & Dan knew it.
How long I lay up there I don't know. I am afraid of bugs so I worried a spider or something might crawl on me. Occasionally Dan would say "You okay up there?" so I knew I wasn't being forgotten. I let my mind drift, played some songs in my head, & began to notice the temperature rising.
At some point, my little brother poked his head into the crawlspace. "Hey," he said.
"Hey," I said.
Without any real preface, he blurted out, "I bet I've fucked more girls than you have."
I started laughing. He said, "What? What?" - thinking I was somehow putting him down.
"If you have fucked one girl," I told him, "you've fucked more girls than I have."
His face, from what I could see looking down the narrow crawlspace, had a confused look. I wasn't playing the game correctly, you see. I was supposed to say "Nuh-uh!" & counter with some bullshit or other. But I hadn't played that game with him or anyone in a long time.
He didn't quite know how to respond. So he just said, "Faggot," & disappeared.
Without any real preface, he blurted out, "I bet I've fucked more girls than you have."
I started laughing. He said, "What? What?" - thinking I was somehow putting him down.
"If you have fucked one girl," I told him, "you've fucked more girls than I have."
His face, from what I could see looking down the narrow crawlspace, had a confused look. I wasn't playing the game correctly, you see. I was supposed to say "Nuh-uh!" & counter with some bullshit or other. But I hadn't played that game with him or anyone in a long time.
He didn't quite know how to respond. So he just said, "Faggot," & disappeared.
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