A few a days after declining an invite to see Superman Returns I messaged Kharla on MySpace and told her I changed my mind. I told her that a new trailer had come out and the movie looks so good. This was a lie. I hadn't seen a new trailer and the movie still didn't look good to me. I just wanted to spend time with her, but couldn't tell her that. We agreed on a showtime and planned to eat after the movie as well.
We
met in the parking lot and she looked shocked. When we first met I
had a beard. Before our date that night I had shaved. She was polite
but I could tell she didn't like it. I looked like I was 17. “Did
you shave?” she asked. I told her that I did, it was a periodic
thing for me. I shaved it all off a few times a year. I made a
mental note not to shave for a while.
Kharla
enjoyed the movie. She's a sucker for a goody two-shoes in tights.
And Kevin Spacey. I was honest. The movie was bad and Richard
White (James Marsden) was the real hero in the movie. He had no
super powers but risked his life to save Superman who clearly had the
heart of his woman. After the movie we went to the casual dining
establishment On the Border for some decent Tex-Mex. We actually had
time to talk. Zombies creaped her out, but I loved zombie movies. I
had (have) this quirk though. If I'm laying down and have a blanket
on me, my feet have to be covered. This is in case an undead comes up
and spots my toes or exposed ankles. Everybody knows that zombies
have a fetish for podiatry flesh. There was no sleep for me if my
toes stuck out! We engaged in the other typical small talk stuff.
Music, work, family, what you want in life, etc...
Dinner
was over and we went out to our cars. Kharla was set to go home but I
didn't want the night to end. I asked if she wanted to go out for a
drink or two. She said she really couldn’t. “Come on! It's not
that late yet, it'll be fun!” She relented and agreed to follow me
a few miles to a bar called The Grey Snail off of Cherry Street. The
place was packed. SO many people it was annoying. Kharla secured a
table for us and I got the drinks. For myself I got a Bud Light and
Kharla drank a Tom Collins. The Tom Collins had a cherry in it and
Kharla claimed she could tie the stem in a knot in her mouth. There
was no way she could be allowed to make such a statement without
proving it. I called her bluff. After minimal struggle she pulled
from her mouth a cherry stem tied in a knot. Bravo. I was impressed.
It took me years to learn to tie my shoes with two hands!
There's
only so much productive conversation I can have in a bar filled with
loud twenty-somethings trying to impress other loud
twenty-somethings. We went to our cars and bid farewell. We promised
we'd see each other again but made no definitive plans. I had fun and
really hoped she did as well. The next week at work Ruthie, a
coworker, asked me how my “hot date went.” I asked what she was
talking about and she said she saw us at On the Border. Ruthie was
with a few friends in the bar area. She said Kharla was pretty and
could tell both of us enjoyed our late dinner. I asked Ruthie why
she didn't come up and say hi. She said she didn't want to
interrupt, we looked like we were really into our conversation. I
took that as a good sign. An outsider's perspective should never be
taken for granted.
With
nothing scheduled to be released to movie theaters for about a month
that I wanted to see I had to come up with something to see Kharla
again. Bowling or concerts didn't look like good options to me so I
took a bold step. I invited her over to my place to watch a movie and
have pizza. This was not a public place. If she said yes it would
display an obvious trust and interest in me. She said yes!
I
lived in a ghetto. 61st and Peoria. Google “61st
and Peoria + Tulsa” and it's easy to see that it's a high crime
area. More on that in a future post. Kharla works in Juvenile
Probation, so she is completely aware of the dangers of my old 'hood.
She showed up a few minutes late (this would prove to be an ongoing struggle)
and hugged me and asked what we were in store for. I told her I had
ordered a Greek pizza and we were gonna watch a movie I had seen a
few years ago called Snatch. My college friends and I loved the
movie. My apartment was basically a glorified college dorm.
No, I didn't have Bob Marley, Scarface or Animal House posters on the
wall. The movies I decorated my walls with were Army of Darkness,
Being John Malkovich, Hellraiser and Michael Kungl art deco prints.
I had a ratty dorm room type couch, my computer, a TV and an Xbox. My fridge was stocked with condiments, frozen pizza and Jagermeister I'm sure the apartment had a horrible funk going on, I didn't (don't) exactly have great cleaning habits. I at least made my bed.
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| A Michael Kungl piece I have. http://www.mkungl.com/2/index.php |
I had a ratty dorm room type couch, my computer, a TV and an Xbox. My fridge was stocked with condiments, frozen pizza and Jagermeister I'm sure the apartment had a horrible funk going on, I didn't (don't) exactly have great cleaning habits. I at least made my bed.
We
watched the movie and as expected, she liked it. I mean, what's not
to love about a bungling crime caper that jump started the career of
Jason Statham? Or Brad Pitt being incoherent throughout the whole
movie? Periwinkle blue?
And of course the Greek pizza was amazing. It's the best item on the Mazio's menu. Another successful night indeed.
And of course the Greek pizza was amazing. It's the best item on the Mazio's menu. Another successful night indeed.
We
hung out and talked for a while. Kharla is smart. She is the kindest
person you will meet. She gets my humor. She is an optimist. She's
amazing. She eventually had to go though. We said goodbye at my
door and I came in to kiss her. She grinned and said, “That was
nice,” and told me she'd see me later. She went to her car and
left. I didn't escort her! What the hell? In this neighborhood?
What was I thinking? Of course at the time I wasn't thinking about
that at all. I was just so ecstatic that our official second date
went so well. This girl was wonderful.
The
next weekend I invited her over again. This time I cooked for her. I
made German Cordon Bleu (with schnitzel instead of chicken), cucumber
salad and baked beans. It was fantastic of course. At this time I
edited crudely animated music videos as a hobby. I shared some of my
horrible work with her. She humored me and told me it was
interesting. I don't know what movie we watched. Equilibrium? Bubba
HoTep? Probably one of those two. Afterward we just made out on my
shoddy dorm couch for a long long time. She left in the middle of
the night and this time I escorted her to her car. Another successful
night in our blossoming relationship. Baby steps.
I
had been looking into getting a cell phone for a little while. I'm
not gonna say I got one just for talking to Kharla, but she did take
up like 80% of my texts and minutes (back when you had limited
minutes on a phone plan). I remember texting Kharla when I got my
new phone “Hi Kharla, this is Jeremy Jones.” She called me back
instead of texting. She said, “Jeremy! You got a celly phone!”
She was genuinely happy that she'd be able to reach me if I wasn't at
home. She took the opportunity to invite me over to her place for the
first time that weekend.
She
would cook dinner for me. It was chicken fajitas (and possibly the
last meal she has ever made me, haha). And she rented a movie from
blockbuster. She gave me a tour of the place and did the corny “This
is where the magic happens” description of her bedroom. When a guy
says that it's depressing and creepy. A girl saying it is hot. The
feature presentation was a turd. I Heart Huckabees. The fajitas were
good though. We continued where we had left off at my place and we
made out for a long long time. So long in fact that it was really
late and I stayed the night at her place. I didn't pull a rabbit out
of my hat or a quarter out from her ear, but I'd say the night was magical .
We
chatted on MySpace a lot less by now. Now we'd talk late at night on
the phone or just spend nights with each other. We became an item at
some point. We'd go out to another movie, Snakes on a Plane (an
instant classic).
That year just wasn't a great one for summer movies I wanted to see.
That year just wasn't a great one for summer movies I wanted to see.
A
medical emergency is what took us to the next level. At least in my
eyes. I had tonsillitis in August and had nobody to take me to
surgery or take me home afterward (I will write more about this in a
future post). Kharla told me she would miss work and be with me. She
drove me to the hospital. She stayed in the waiting room for a few
hours. She drove me home.
The
folks at the hospital gave me a bag to vomit it for the drive home.
We almost made it home before I threw up. So damn close. I filled
that bag with blood and joked about her bad driving. She helped me
to bed and stuck around for awhile until she knew I’d be okay.
###
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| Kharla and me wearing my beanie from Life Aquatic. January 2007. |
Next Post: Winks and Get Well Cards
If I had to pick one song to be the soundtrack to this post it would be...
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