Destiny

I guess I'm old enough to know that one cannot escape one's destiny but hope springs eternal. My band played at the Cotton Club in Long Beach CA both last Friday and Saturday. I've been trying to get my neighbor (one of the most beautiful women I know), to come to one of my performances for the past 2 years. I went down on Friday, handed her a flyer and asked that she come one of the nights.

Friday night was really slow. There was maybe about 10 people in the entire club. But Saturday night was unbelieveably great! The club was packed. We were a quarter of the way through our first set and guess who walks through the door looking as stunning as ever? My neighbor. I nod acknowledging her entrance and we finish our first set. I walk over to she and her date and thank her for coming. She stands and gives me this big hug which I'll never forget because we've never had physical contact before. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those hopeless romantics that gawk over a woman from a distance hoping that one day we'll be together. But If you saw this woman, you'd understand.

After our second set, she and I met at the bar and began small talk. She began to talk about my wife's rude behavior, and then she brought up my stepson. Apparently he'd entered her apartment without permission one day while she was asleep and was caught leaving with a skateboard that belonged to my neighbor's son. When I heard this I was shocked and I explained to her that when she has problems, to talk to me-my wife isn't the best disciplinarian.

This evening I decided to talk to my stepson (age 9) about his behavior. Part of the way through the conversation, his mother pipes in and begins to mitigate his behavior with excuses. This enraged me. I've told her on several occasions that she enables him by doing this but she continues to do it anyway. It went from a disciplinary session between me and her son, to an all out argument between she and I. She told me that he wasn't the only one in the house. I told her that the neighbor told me that it was her son, no one else. And even if there was someone else, he has no business going inside someone else's house without permission. My wife began blaming the other kids and saying that her son was following other people. I asked her who was he following we he was alone in his bathroom and lit the trash can on fire? She said that we weren't talking about that-of course we weren't but as I pointed out to her, it was the same damn child.

We argued a bit more and I went to the laundry room to put my clothes in the dryer. On my way it hit me. Why am I trying to save this child from his destiny. Who am I to believe that I can change the course of his future? Especially when his mother interferes. Sadly, she is condemning her son to a life of crime I believe. But what can I expect? She's from a line of them herself. And though she isn't technically a criminal, she's definitely done her share of under the table shit.

I know it appeared that this was going to be an entry about my neighbor and I getting together for wild passionate sex, but sadly it's about a child who is heading down a path that neither I nor anyone can save him from. He is almost illiterate and has severe behavior problems. I've managed to get him to a point where he is in control of himself, but that only lasts when I'm in his presence. When I'm away, he does what he wants. He consistently hits neighborhood children but always insists it's an accident. And his mother always blames the other kid for being a sissy. My sister saw him hit his sister on Labor Day and he lied and said it was an accident. She stood there and watched him walk up to her and hit her. His mother just lets him get away with it. One day I came home from work and he was outside playing but his homework wasn't done. Now mind you, this is a boy that can barely read or write. I asked her what he was doing outside if his homework wasn't done and she said that she didn't know. NO EXCUSE IN MY BOOK!

I had decided long ago that this blog wasn't going to be about my wife and her nonsense anymore, but this one just set me off today. When I told her I was done she said it wasn't fair-HUH? What do you mean it's not fair? I don't get that logic. I guess if you understood insanity, it wouldn't be insanity.

The Prince