The Fourteen Years War - 2003 - Volume I

Honestly, this year as far as Jeff goes is just a blur. I know he was still Jeff. Still getting drunk and drugged up on occasion, and spewing his rhetorical shit. I can’t remember anything outstanding as far as Jeff goes about 2003. As far as AZ and I, our phone conversations were titillating to say the least. One day, he called me and said, “They cut down our tree.” “Our tree” referencing the tree beside of the radio station that we had our tryst under back when. By now, way back when. Every phone conversation slipped into our past, the pre-Jeff past. I’d finally had enough and sometime during late Spring, I finally told him either we needed to fish or cut bait. Either we needed to be together or we needed to stop living in the past. It was too hard on me. He came down one evening and we spent the entire night, from about 11 p.m. until 6 a.m., watching movies, talking, and his receiving an extended back rub. No. We didn’t discuss us or where we were going or where we weren’t going. That was as much my fault as his. And no, we were not chaste. As he left that morning, he stopped before getting into his car and looked back at me, like he was committing that moment to memory. Since things had calmed down, for the most part, with Jeff, I finally felt more comfortable about going out, and most of the time it was to a local bar where AZ did a live remote every Wednesday. The place was often packed by the time I got there, and as I would weave my way through the bar, I would feel eyes on me and like a tuning fork, I would turn and AZ would be smiling at me. Once, I was at Monday Night Football, eating wings, drinking beer, and trying to watch football, when this guy kept turning around to talk to me. He was. . . not so interesting. I really wasn’t in the mood since I was trying to eat and drink, follow the game, and the third eye in the center of my forehead was tracking AZ as he schmoozed. In just a few moments, two guys from the radio station I was acquainted with brought chairs over and insinuated themselves at my table which effectively cock-blocked Mr. Non-Interesting. Then AZ came over and brought a chair. Now I have four people at a two person table. When Mr. Non-Interesting got up and left, I whispered to AZ that I was glad the guys had come over since I wasn’t sure Mr. Non-Interesting was going to leave me alone. He whispered back, “I sent them over to rescue you. I told them, ‘Go save her.’” *Laugh* What a great memory that is. However, at the end of the year, it was once again AZ’s birthday and I went over the local bar and grill to help him celebrate the big 4-0. (For the record, AZ is 7 years older than I am and Jeff is 8.) I sat down and he brought Lex over to the table so we could keep each other company. I had known of Lex for a long time and we had cris-crossed numerous times in our Hair Band Days but Lex is sort of like the wind, if you hesitate he could be gone and I had hesitated a lot in my younger days. But we struck up one hell of a conversation that night. Enough that, given the fact AZ was dating Joanie or Joan or whatever the hell I call her, I decided that seeing Lex again might not be a bad thing, except, he was AZ’s friend and they worked together. Danger, Danger! Thing is, Lex walked away and said, “Call me sometime, babe. AZ has my number.” And again, he was gone like the wind. I stood there with my mouth open wanting to call him back and get his number then but he had already disappeared into the bar crowd and AZ was standing right there. Decisions, decisions. Happy Birthday to my Nate. He's 10 today!