Story Three. Part Two.
Editor’s Note: Beth Kalet's story Appearances is our featured story. “Appearances” is one of 7 short stories included in Beth’s book Seven Stories, published in 2012. “Appearances” will be published on Hummingbird in parts, one per week over the next weeks.
Beth, a Hummingbird Guest Contributor, is an accomplished writer and editor. Her work, and her own story encouraged us to reach out to her.
In Appearances, Beth explores the notion that people and the lives they lead are not necessarily what you thought, or remembered. In fact sometimes the perception you hold is quite far from the reality.
Book Cover Photo Credit: Diane Pell
Appearances. Part Two.
We were older by then and I was beginning to guess at his parents’ double life. As the only child of such duplicitous actors, Joey felt his burden grow heavier – not lighter – as he aged. Instead of recognizing the complex choices adults make, Joe began to blame them more and more.
I could tell by the way he flinched whenever humor was the subject, the way he avoided going to the movies with friends and how awkward he was with girls. He despised people he saw as two-faced and those with a theatrical bent. He insisted on reality at all levels of interaction. I came to recognize that he equated all forms of theater with dishonesty. He had few friends; it was hard for me to keep my friendship with him going. Easier to let it slip.
When he finally did get a girlfriend, she was a quiet nondescript girl I’d never seen before, the type you might call disaffected, which matched his state of mind. It was as if he’d conjured her and she’d appeared. No one remembered having noticed her before and there she was, perfect for him. The mate he required. Soon I began picking her out in the crowd, at a table full of girls in study hall, among the desultory diners at the school cafeteria. Her eyes shone, a deep green-gray that was startling, given her pale skin and lank mustard-colored hair. Funny thing was, years back I remember my mother remarking on Joe’s eyes. She said they sparkled like firecrackers. I’d never given it any thought but when I took a look at this girl one day in the lunchroom, I saw that same fire.
I guess it was little surprise then, when they both took off, six months before graduation. By then we weren’t really friends anyway. Just people who’d once been friends.
At graduation their names were called off for diplomas, as if no one had bothered to notice that neither one of them wasn’t around anymore. I’d heard his grandparents called the police and that his mother and father had been seen patrolling the streets at night in their little car, but most of the kids at school found the situation comical, making jokes about two clowns trying to describe their missing son.
Over the years I thought of Joe, especially when the subject of clowns came up. It had been so long though that I’d forgotten he and his girlfriend ran away and I couldn’t recall her name no matter how hard I tried. That’s why it took me by surprise one Saturday morning when I found the two of them waiting for me at my apartment building, looking older, as we all were, but instantly recognizable.
“Pete!” Joe called as I pushed the key into the building door. I turned for the familiar voice and he walked right up to me and clapped me on the back. “Hey there old buddy. Bet you’re surprised to see me.”
I was.
“Where’ve you been man?” was all I could muster.
“Here and there,” Joe said. “Listen man, can we talk?”
We walked into my building’s little lobby. I’d long ago moved to the city and while he and his girlfriend closed in behind me, I wondered why he’d tracked me down. His intention was obviously more than chummy. I considered whether to keep the conversation confined to that public space. Should I invite them upstairs? I wasn’t sure how friendly I wanted to get with the two of them. It’s not like I’ve got anything to hide, but my privacy is worth a lot to me. For a moment, it felt like I’d met a stalker, and I had to remind myself that this guy was my childhood friend. Enough time had passed, though, that the memories had grown dusty. I suddenly flashed on a moment when, I think we were about 14, Joe confessed his deep hatred for his parents and he showed me two little paper voodoo-like dolls he’d made of them. They were creepy one-dimensional images of clowns with photos of his parents’ faces stuck on by Elmer’s glue. His mother’s doll had one big, square foot. The father had an exaggerated ear.
“What’s up Joe?” I looked into his face, now a manly version of that lucky kid I’d known. His eyes still sparkled, but they now shone from a face ringed with a trendy five-o’clock shadow. I turned to look at his girlfriend, trying my best to remember her name. Joe must have seen that.
“Aren’t you going to invite me and Melissa upstairs Pete?”
“Sure,” I said. What else could I do?
He took Melissa’s hand and we all squeezed into the elevator.
Joe seemed more together than I had last known him but he didn’t seem any happier. He was never a light-hearted kid; I think that was one thing that at first had attracted me to him. Later it was what made being his friend too heavy a burden.
Part Three to follow.
Prior Parts of Appearances.
Appearances. Part One.
To learn more and to purchase Beth Kalet’s book, Seven Stories, please click here. You may also contact Beth through Hummingbird by clicking here.
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