Sweet Georgia
Crossing over the Chattahoochee to Columbus made me anxious as fuck.
I realized that as we got closer to their home, I would have to meet the step-siblings of Alyssa. From what she told me in Texas, I was more than a little apprehensive of how they'd react to me.
The first road we came to in Columbus was Veterans Parkway. Someone (either Alyssa or Gloria) told me that this is the major thoroughfare in the city. We continued west, and past a few parks as we turned north.
Getting closer to their home, I couldn't help but notice how nice the houses were. The lawns, in the light that was left, looked immaculate. Another turn, we drove past a huge park. At this point, Gloria turned to me and mentioned that they lived in squalor. I think she told me that the house was a box of some kind, and that I shouldn't feel bad.
Modesty? I think so.
We here. Oh Jesus.
A minute later, we drove up on a blue house. The garage, parallel to the roadway, opened, and Gloria maneuvered the Honda behemoth inside. As everyone began to get out, I put away my electronics. With my sunglasses still on my head, I got out of the car and was hit with the heat buildup in the garage. I could see bikes towards the back and office electronics on the other side of the wall.
Following Alyssa, we entered through the garage door.
The house, ladies and gentleman, was huge. The living room was the biggest place to say the least, measuring maybe 25ft. by 18 ft. with white carpeting. In the centre of the room was a sectional sofa, curved around a television set and flanked by an easy chair. The television was set on the History Channel, maybe Ice Road Truckers or Pawn Stars.
As soon as I entered, two dogs ran to me and began barking.
Why do dogs hate me? Maybe it's time to become a cat guy.
After Alyssa or Micah shooed the dogs away, Alyssa started talking down to someone lying on the sofa. The person responded, and I looked down to see a shirtless blonde kid lying there. Alyssa introduced us. The kid put his arm out.
"Tyler."
"Eddie."
*handshake*
*handshake*
Alyssa walked away, and to avoid awkward eye-contact with Tyler, I stared at the television. I think commercials were on by now.
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| My face as I stood there, trying not to be too stoic or too bored as the situation got grasp of social anxiety |
A few minutes passed, and I might have been invited to sit, but I think I turned it down. It's one thing to be awkward standing, it's another to be sitting and be scared shitless of new people.
As people moved around me, I just stood there. Too shy to say anything, too anxious to move.
While standing there, Alyssa asked if I wanted to see the backyard. We joined her mom and sister out there into the hot Georgia air. As surprised as I was to see the living room, the backyard was so much better.
The backyard was, to say the least, nicely maintained.
A pool was at level while the rest of yard sloped down, with fifty-foot pine trees penetrating into the sky.
Gloria had sat down in a fabric chair while I tried to find a seat. I finally got down in a plastic beach chair, and admired the sight.
While sitting in the chair, I asked Alyssa to use her phone to call home. Gloria and everyone else had left back inside while explained our trip and how well it went. She was glad to hear me, and I was a little glad to hear her, too.
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| Their backyard from memory (NOT TO SCALE) |
I walked back indoors and gave the phone back to Alyssa while everyone sat at the table chatting away.
Alyssa, Gloria, her sister, her brother Tyler (now with shirt) were sitting at a kitchen table. I walked over and asked if I could use their bathroom to freshen up. Gloria walked me towards the right side of the house. At the end of a dark hallway, was the bathroom. I walked down the hall, the hardwood floor creaking underneath me.
Shutting the door behind me, I fumbled with the light switch. I moved both switches, turning on the vanity lights and the exhaust fan. The lights blinded me a bit.
I stared at myself in the mirror, examining the creases in my face, the condensation on my forehead, the outline of my head in general. As I did, I accidentally knocked over a razor, one of those floss picks you use to clean braces, and a bottle of shaving cream.
Sorry.
Doing my business and washing my hands, I headed back to the kitchen.
Heading back to the civilization, still sitting at the table, Alyssa asked whether or not I'd like a tour.
"Why not?!" I replied.
Touring the Columbus Haus
She walked me around the house, first into a second family room, which had two large windows looking out into the backyard.
"Wow, I exclaimed, this would be awesome for some long-exposure photography. You can see all the dragonflies out there!"
Down the same dark hall, Alyssa opened the first door on your left. She asked her mother if her older step-brother was home, and once the coast was clear, she led me down there.
The small living space was actually well decorated. On the walls were two sports jerseys, but I can't remember the teams. A large flat screen television was on, showing sports programming.
"This is J.R.'s room" Alyssa announced.
I looked around, and then went for the leather sofa in front of me.
Looking to my right, there was a large door sort-of intergrated into the pattern of the wood.
"What's in there?"
"That's J.R.'s bedroom."
"Can we go in?"
"I don't think we can."
She grabbed the remote control and shut off the television.
Adjoining the living area was a small laundry room. That had a door that led to the backyard. The place was full of swimming toys, maybe an inflatable raft and some noodles. I stopped Alyssa and her asked her something.
"Your family doesn't know, right?"
"No, just Micah."
"Okay. I don't want them freaking out and stuff."
We headed back upstairs, turning off the lights.
Going back down the dark hallway, she led towards Tyler's room.
His room was tan-coloured with clothes strewn across the floor. There was lots of LSU stuff and the TV was on (just like in J.R.'s room). Micah's room was the same, albeit cleaner, and many more stuffed animals. I couldn't tell much more because it was too dark.
We finished the tour with Micah's art room, which consisted of few cubbies of art supplies and a bed.
Big Man Comin'
The main-man of the house, Randy, showed up half-an-hour after we had arrived. He's a tall man, maybe six-foot-one with salt and pepper hair. If I remember right, he also had a moustache, same color of his hair.
He presented Alyssa her car in the front drive. I peered out of a window to see it was a blue Volkswagen Beetle.
He climbed into the passenger's seat and they were both in there examining the car. Soon, they drove away, and I walked back to the kitchen, sitting on a stool in front of a counter.
A little after Alyssa and Randy left, an older woman walked in. She was thin, with brown hair and an accent. It turned out this was Gloria's mother, whom I learned was having an moral crises as we left Texas.
While there was activity around me, I looked through an Academy catalog. I tried not to appear as if I was ogling the models inside, but dayum son, it's never bad to be an Under Armour shirt in that catalog.
Trying to be more social, Gloria's mother began talking to me and we went on for fifteen minutes or so chatting about our origins, all happening in the same Dallas County suburb.
Tyler, sitting at the head of the table, listened to our conversation as it switched from English to Spanish. Little bugger understood us. "There goes my plan for world domination."
Alyssa soon got back and looked rather excited.
Fuck you!
She joined us people at the table, and some family chat went on. I also exchanged words with Randy, which loosened me up a little after offering me a drink. No had done that so far, just saying.
Being bothered throughout the night by Missy Elliot's "Work It", I asked Alyssa if I could use her Nook. Telling me it was in the car, I headed out to get it.
Jokingly, taking into account how nice the neighborhood looked, I said walking out, "I wonder what people are gonna think seeing me in that car?"
And as I exited the living room, I'm sure I heard Tyler, that little s***** b****** say, "Yeah, what is a fat Mexican doing in there?"
I cursed him out in the car. That little motherfucker.
***
In Georgia Part V, it's time to go out and see Columbus.
