Family

I spent a lot of time showering when I was 13. I know my mother and sister knew. What I did there, but no one’s ever said anything to me. I was a long-built kid with high sex drive at an early age and an 8-pig I played with 5-6 times a day. My mother, younger sister, I lived in a small house in Santa Monica mountains. Dad left us right after Jan was born. My mother was only 15 when she had me and was never really a parent figure in our lives. Mom was in nature and clothes that weren’t necessary when we were the only ones.

We had a fishing trip planned and camped for the first week after school. My wife, daughter and son had invited Tammy’s girlfriend Ashley. Ashley was a neighbor who lived a few doors away. A few days we’d all be excited about the trip. The day before we left, our son Jack came with a virus and it looked like the trip had to be canceled. The girls were very disappointed and complained a terrible thing. The morning we had to leave, my wife suggested I take the girls and she’d stay home with Jack. He was better, but she thought it best he stayed close to home. Camping and fishing wasn’t exactly her favorite activity. I think she welcomed the excuse to withdraw. The girls were happy, the car was almost packed, so we went.

It was a long day, and it was only two in the afternoon. I spent the morning and early in a development meeting. A dozen people handing out ideas for a new sitcom - little of them good. I was there as a favor for an old friend. The meeting took five hours and nothing was accomplished. I had a headache.

I walked into the house without expectation. Sometimes you come home to know who’s here and what they probably do, watch TV, surf, sleep, whatever. Today I wasn’t aware of my environment. My mind tried to deal with the thought that the meeting had generated. When I came into the house, I thought of a beer first.

Jimmy still didn’t know why he did what he did. He and Karen went to dinner and dance when his younger brother came to visit.

Jimmy hadn’t seen him for three years. Ken was married for a short while, but it didn’t work out and they broke up. That after only a year. That was two years earlier.

Jimmy knew Ken wasn’t really dating anyone since he spent most of his time at work.