short and narrow

i arrive late for the governor's bbq, engulfed in soupy austin heat. my clash tee sticking. mascara threatening to run.

they all drink red bull with vodka and eat sloppy pork ribs. a spirit of bonhomie swings. but i'm alone and can't find babycakes. my head's starting to tingle. i'm hungry but even the coleslaw has bacon in it. so i settle for an overly sweet ice tea and a seat by the fountain.

then i spot them. a lanky boy with a faux hawk and red old school coca cola tee shirt and a dude in cowboy boots who looks like a johnny depp/skeet ulrich love child. they're laughing and riffing on something, oblivious to everyone else, cracking each other's shit up.

i think- 'they will be my friends. oh yes. they will." it's that spark. that 'i know you' kindredness.

i make my move later, at the driskill bar. coca cola boy is struggling with too many drinks, i offer to carry a few. from then on, he, depp/ulrich, me and babycakes are a stone cold foursome. we hang out, make mayhem, talk movies and books, and imagine writing pornos with elaborate plotlines and titles like 'love and width' and 'short and narrow.' coca cola and i make plans to hang out when we get back to l.a.

i read the following in a terrific book-

"when i run into her, i feel a great joy. we exchange witticisms, we laugh, we tell each other things, they prove interesting to us. before saying goodbye, we both insist we must meet again as soon as possible."

two years later, this is our friendship. almost all potential and very little day to day. we have a close connection but rarely hang out. although we always say we will. it never really blossoms, and so, it doesn't have the chance to fade.

i just found out he's moving back to new york and that makes me inexplicably sad.

now we'll never really know.

is that better?