| Posted by Block Denizen , Mon, Mar 26, 2012, 19:11:04 | Post Reply | Reviews by Block Denizen | Washington, DC Escort Board | BigDoggie.net |
The address I had been given in Santa Monica was a stucco bungalow. I got lost three times on the way bit I finally found it by heading down 7th street and then bearing left in the canyon. It did not have a lawn as I was used to in the east. It was instead surrounded by plants some of which wee in bloom. The street was lined with fruit trees and I could smell what seemed like olives mixed in with the hint of the sea in the wind. I was not certain of it from the front of the house but it seemed like the back of the house would have a distant but nevertheless real view of the sea. The sun was out and the temperature felt as if it was about 60 degrees. It was cloudy gray and 40 degrees when I left DC six days before. Maybe I had sold the west coast short all these years.
I started up the walk towards the door but decided to nose around the property a bit before announcing myself. In the back I saw another garden with a path leading toward the center. There hidden from the view of the neighbors was a barbecue pit. My suspicions about a distant and oblique ocean view were confirmed and I stood there for a moment imagining what the gatherings my cousin Al Jr. had told me about the day before might have been like.
I walked back to the front of the house and knocked on the door. A blonde woman with her hair in braids answered the door. She was wearing a light blue peasant blouse and white shorts and had on a stylish pair of sandals. Her hair was in long braids. I have never seen a Rhine maiden but nevertheless this was how I imagined that they looked.
Hi, I said. My name is Block Denizen. Block Aloysius Denizen to be exact. I am here to see my uncle Al. He does not expect me. I have not seen him since he left the east the day after my ninth birthday.
The Rhine maiden gave me a puzzled look and then said, I dont know what to say. Al Jr. told me that he tried to find the family back east but I did not know that he reached anyone. Come on in would you like some coffee.
Id love some. Black no sugar. I said as I entered. And if you dont mind my asking who might you be? I am sorry to ask. I know that no matter who you are you probably have more right to be here than I do.
I am sorry. She said. But I am Margaret Osborne. Well I guess I should tell you that I am Margaret Denizen but I use my maiden name. I am Al Juniors stepmother . I guess that I am your aunt. But until this moment I did not know that I was anyones aunt. I mean Al and Al Jr. never told me. So much for my Rhine maiden theory.
Well I never knew that I had an aunt either. I said as I watched her head into the kitchen. I guess we are even. Actually it might run in the family she said as she headed back into the living room. Just like that chin, and the nose, and those eyes. You are a Denizen arent you? Listen I brought some things with me old pictures of uncle Al if you need proof that I an who I say I am.
Honey dont take this the wrong way or nothin. But you look way too much like Aloysius Denizen to not be related. I mean the nose, the chin, the head of hair. You are a Denizen."
Guilty as charged. I said as I accepted the cup of coffee. So where is my good looking uncle,. I asked.
He is out with Abbott and Costello.
Excuse me? I asked.
The dogs. Abbott is a golden lab and Costello is black one, That reassured me.
But honey again take no offense here. I am glad that you are here to see your uncle but please tell me that you arent suing this as away to get close to the business or to get close to the girls."
That one did not reassure me. When I was nine Uncle Al was a carpenter. I have nothing against women with tool belts but was unaware that there were guys heading to California to meet them.
What business is Uncle Al in?
You dont know do you? She said.
That would explain me asking, Aunt Margaret, I said. I came here because I was contacted by Al unior claiming to be my cousin and to have news about the whereabouts of a man who I idolized when I was a child. I came to reestablish contact with that man if he is as ill as my cousin said, to find out why he left and to ask for a favor. OK maybe two favors . But neither favor has anything to do with any women.
Well he should be home any moment, Aunt Margaret said. But I have a feeling that I am going to see two stubborn Denizens butt heads.
Its a good thing that you are family, I told her. Otherwise I would have to be offended.
I expect to finish this one next week sometime. So see ya next week.
End of Part I
I am not sure how long I waited for Uncle Al. I know only that my newfound Aunt Margaret was cursing herself for saying too much while I was cursing her for not saying enough. I tried to make small talk. I even tried to tell her about her husbands life back east. But it was as if as far as Aunt Margaret was concerned my uncle had washed ashore after a shipwreck with no memory of what had come before.
The wait ended when I saw what looked like an older version of myself bounded into the house attached to a pair of Labrador retrievers. As I saw him enter I stood up and held my hand out to shake his.
Honey, this is . Margaret said.
It s me Uncle Al, I interrupted. Your nephew Block. Ill bet youre surprised.
That would be an understatement nephew, he said as he stared at my outstretched hand. I considered withdrawing it but decided to leave it extended until he either accepted the offer or made a clear gesture that he was rejecting it and me.
I need to put the dog leashes away, he said. They get lost too easily around here. Have a seat and well talk about what brings you here. He left the room which I took as the sign to withdraw my outstretched hand.
Sorry to interrupt Margaret, I said while he was gone. I just thought that might actually be easier for you. I wasnt offended dear, she said. But if you dont mind I will leave you two alone.
Getting out while you can? I asked. She smiled as she left the room. I took that as a yes.
Well what brings you here nephew, my uncle said as he entered the room.
The dogs followed him in. The darker lab came up to me, sniffed my hand and then used his snout to force that hand into petting his head. He was clearly more happy to see me than his owner was.
Well, I said as I sat down. The first thing would be a call from someone claiming to be Aloysius Denizen Jr. asking me questions about where I grew up and with whom. The second thing would be the news that the Uncle I have not seen since I was nine was alive here in California. Alive but perhaps not in the best of health.
You cant believe everything you hear from that kid, he said. Maybe not, I replied. But he showed me enough to convince me that he was telling the truth in this case. Besides he had no real reason to lie to me. No reason to reach out across a continent and several decades. And if he was not who he said no way of knowing that what you have is the same thing that killed our grandfather, your father.
So why are you here now, after all this time."
I am here to see you again. See you for the first time in decades. See you maybe for the last time. That and to find out why you left and well ask for a favor or two. A favor or two? he asked.
Lets save that part, I said. Lets start with why you left. What difference does it make? he said You wouldnt understand anyway. Not you and not that hardheaded father of yours. Hardheadedness is pretty clearly a family trait, I said. But my father said he never knew why you left. As for me I might understand. I am not nine anymore. But I still remember my Uncle Al. My fathers youngest brother and a man I looked up to as a child.
I thought that Willie Mays was the only one you looked up to, he said.
Well him too, I said. But you were right up there.
Before or after Willie? he asked.
Im not answering that, I said. at least not until after I hear some answers about this long separation.
Sounds like I might have come down a few pegs, he said.
Uncle Al. I said, Just tell me why. Dont worry about what I will think of it. You are the uncle I am the nephew. You dont need my approval, you dont need my fathers approval, and you sure as heck shouldnt put yourself in the same class as Willie Mays.
He smiled just a bit. It was not an ear to ear grin. It was barely perceptible at all. But he was my uncle and I knew how he smiled.
OK , Block, he said as he fell into a big leather armchair. You came a long way. You deserve some answers. What did Al junior tell you?
Pretty much what I told you already, I said. That and that you were still hardheaded. Not as hardheaded as the rest of the family mind you. Youre a p---ycat compared to my dad and I but hardheaded nevertheless.
Is your Dad OK? he asked.
Well you can figure out his age, I said. OK is relative term. But one ailing stubborn old man at a time please. look Block I loved you and your brothers, he said But I had a life when I was not at your place. I had needs.
Were not talking about women are we?
Well yes we are, he said.
Oh for crying out loud. I said. you thought that we couldnt handle that you had a girlfriend? Think we could have handled that.
Well I suspected that the lot of you would never have understood that I was dating a stripper. I thought it was even less likely that you would understand that she was pregnant. Or that she found me a job doing what I really wanted to do."
Carpentry? Cooking? I asked. What are we talking about here?
Carpentry was my job, he said. cooking was what I did. Growing up in a big family without a mother someone had to. And I passed that on to you as best I could. But I loved photography.
So you did what?I asked. You became a photographer of ladies. Maybe worked for a mens magazine?
Better than that and at the same time worse, he said. She got me a job working for a studio that made what they called nudie flicks at the time. I use the term studio rather loosely by the way. Even use the term cameraman loosely. It was really just the director, the cast and me. We didnt even have a soundman. Everybody just did what they had to do to get the shot as quickly as possible.
So all that happened here in California.
Oh god no. he said. Not in those days. We shot wherever we could. Mostly in Florida. Not in Miami or even Orlando or Tampa. But smaller towns sometimes in the panhandle. Our maybe once in awhile in some remote area We rented out a whole motel and shot the film in a few days. Sometimes there ere other guests and they got a good show. One time we shot a lesbian western in like three days at some claptrap motel in Georgia I have to admit that this was not what I expected. Especially not the part about lesbian westerns , I said. Did you and this girlfriend stay together?
He made a dismissive gesture and paused for a moment before he said She left before I shot the first reel. Although she was nice enough to leave the kid with me---and yes that would be Al junior. And mean enough to contact him when he was in high school and tell the kid that he was not mine. I had no real reason to stay with it at that point but I was hooked. I mean I knew that it wasnt Hollywood but before that I had only been around still cameras. Here I was working in the movies.
And you figured that the family back home would not understand? I asked.
Oh hell I knew that your father would never understand. I pretty much just floated around from director to director in the early days. No steady job. Involved in porn and with an illegitimate kid in tow-----one that was not even mime as it turned out.
My dad might not have understood the rest but he might have understood why you took care of a handicapped child. Whether he was yours or not.
Well I would hope so, Al said. Even with all of his problems that boy is the best thing that ever happened to me. I dont regret raising him for one minute. Have you seen his art? I cant imagine that most artists could do anywhere near as well and they dont have everything to contend with that Al Junior does. I saw it Uncle Al, I said. I spent most of the day with him yesterday. I can see why you are so proud of him and I have to believe that the rest of the Denizen family would be proud of him too.
They would never understand this stuff Block, he said.
Most of the generation you knew is gone, I said. In fact there is not much of it left beyond you and my father. And well, believe it or not I have kind of blazed trail for you. I cant say that I ever spent three days filming lesbian western in Georgia but my life and my wifes life have not exactly been typical. Her family knows it all and after the initial shock they got over it. As for my familyOUR Family---well we could start slow just tell them you worked in independent films and leave out the stuff about the lesbians.
You really like that lesbian western story dont you Block? he said.
Well if you got any prints laying around let me know, I said. But that brings me to why I came here Uncle Al, I said. Al Junior has already agreed to come east in a few months for a birthday party for my father. Come with him. Bring Margaret. You are ill and my father does not have that many years left. Dont hide in shame over what you did or worry what others will think. Just come and let the whole family meet them.
You are one crazy Denizen, Block. he said.
Could be, I said. But lets just do it. Besides I have a bone to pick with you and I need you to come home and admit to the whole family what you did to me.
What the heck are you talking about Block, he said. I treated you like my own son. Who do you think took all the time to teach you to cook?
Funny you should mention that, I said. But you playeda few tricks on me there. You doctored some of those recipes you left me or something just admit it.
Admit whathe said. That my nephew cant follow a recipe properly? I tried boy. I really tried with you. But maybe I just picked the wrong one to carry on the family traditions> Or maybe you never gave me a chance. I mean look at this recipe for Lamb Marquez. It took me years t figure out that you left out the cumin in this.
CUMIN, he bellowed. You put cumin in a Lamb Marquez. I hope you dont tell anybody that Aloysius Denizen taught you THAT. What are you serving as side dishes with that pile of crap? Navy beans usually. Sometimes I steam some asparagus or maybe some summer squash.
Well if I do go back there the first thing I will have to do is disabuse you of some bad habis you have fallen into.
Is that a yes Uncle I asked.
Its a maybe, he said. I have to get over the shock of the idea of a cumin drenched Lamb Marquez sitting next to a pile of navy beans and summer squash.
Its an improvement over that mess of a recipe you left me with old man. I told him.
He left the room to tell Margaret and the labs that his boorish nephew was butchering his Lamb Marquez. But I got a maybe from him and I knew that I could trust Cousin All to work on him too.
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