Post by ghost6871 on Aug 3, 2009 20:25:35 GMT -5
He had gone to the mall with one of his assistants. She needed an outfit for her sister’s bridal shower and had coaxed Jerry along to get him out of the house. He had put up a fight but he decided her company was better than watching the sci-fi channel all day again. After the fifth women’s dress store, he decided he had enough.
“I’ll sit this one out if you don’t mind Jen.”
“alright. I’ll be quick, I promise.”
He heard that phrase the last four times they went into a store. He watched as she strode across the mall into Contempo and disappeared into a sea of aqua, bright red, and green spring sales racks. Jerry parked his chair right next to a bench in the center of the aisle so he could people watch, one of his favorite hobbies. He wondered if all these people walking around, skipping, holding hands, standing on their tiptoes to see a price tag, knew how precious these little things were. What he wouldn’t give if he could…
“Hey, What’s a good looking guy like you doing sitting all by himself?”
Jerry almost jumped right out of his chair. The voice came from less than two feet away.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. You looked a little lonely so I though I’d sit for a minute and chat with you.”
Uh-oh, another holy roller, born again Christian about to get compassionate with me, Jerry thought. No matter where he went there was always that one person telling him god still loved him and had a special plan for him. Jerry got so mad at the last person who started about God’s love for him, he told the poor little old lady he would have nailed Christ to the cross himself if he could move his fingers enough to pick up a hammer. Jerry felt bad after he said it but could feel the laughter building up inside him as he watched the color drain away from her wrinkled old face. She simply walked away without uttering another word. “Well that’s one way to get rid of them”, he had thought at the time.
As Jerry looked at the guy sitting on the bench next to him, religion didn’t come to mind. His new found friend was probably in his mid twenties and was very fashionably dressed, messy and preppy at the same time. Jerry thought he looked similar to the models he saw earlier in an Old Navy commercial.
‘My name’s Chris” he said as he extended his hand to shake Jerry’s hand.
“I’m Jerry but I can’t move my hand enough to shake yours, sorry.”
“Oh, not a problem.” And with that Chris took Jerry’s hand, opened the lifeless fingers up and slid his hand in to Jerry’s motionless fist and shook. Fury welled up for a quick second that someone had violated his personal space. He used to try to shake other men’s hands after the injury, but when they realized they were shaking just a paw, like an ape’s hand or something, they would usually pull away quickly saying they were sorry or he would see their eyes bug out. Jerry got tired of that quickly. This guy he just met on the bench approximately twenty seconds ago quickly made him feel like he was a real person again and his anger went as quickly as it had come.
“You must be a c6 or a c7 quadriplegic” Chris said with confidence.
Jerry thought it was a little weird how he had said it so bluntly but figured he might be a physical therapist or a nurse and was used to using medical terms.
“Ya, c6. Good guess. Are you a PT or something?”
“No, I Just have an interest in spinal cord injury. Did anyone ever tell you that you look like Kyle Mcgovern from that soap opera on tv?”
Jerry did hear that before. Some guy with an injury just like his had made it big in Hollywood. He had watched “Atlantis Drive”, the popular noon time soap opera, a couple of times to see if the actor had any talent. He wanted to see if they were just using the handicapped image because it was becoming cool in pop culture to have people with disabilities in the media since Christopher Reeve’s injury. The story line was of course cheesey, but the guy in the chair had some talent. Jerry was similar in age as the television actor and had the same features, hair color and cut, and was of course paralyzed.
“I’ve heard it a few times, but I don’t see the similarity.
“He’s my favorite actor. I might even be his biggest fan.”
Jerry had noticed a slight change in the man’s personality. He had become more serious in his tone. Just as quickly as he had changed the subject from spinal cord injury to television actors, Chris switched topics again.
“Do you have to catheterize yourself, or can you urinate on your own?”
Jerry, again, thought it was a weird question and was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable when he noticed that Chris had a huge erection bulging in his baggy cargo pants.
“Fuck!” Jerry thought. What’s worse than a holy roller, but a fucking fag!
‘Hey Man, it was nice to meet you but I have to catch up with my girlfriend in the store. She’ll be pissed if I don’t help her pick out new bras, you know.” With that, Jerry started to leave. Chris grabbed his hand again and proceeded to shake it. It no longer made Jerry feel good, it actually made his skin crawl.
“Maybe we’ll see each other again.” As Chris said it, he stared at Jerry for what seemed like minutes. Jerry pulled his arm away and Chris smiled at him, turned and left just as Jen was coming out of the store.
“Friend of yours?” asked Jen as she walked over with her new dress in hand.
“Not exactly. “ Jerry felt real uneasy about the whole situation, He felt there was something definitely wrong with the guy he had just encountered.
“Let’s get out of here, your shopping spree has tired me out.”
They cut through the food court to get to the handicapped spots where Jerry had parked. Jen was droning on about how good she was going to look compared to her fat cousin Frannie as she loaded her shopping bags into the back of Jerry’s vehicle. Jerry was about to comment on how snotty she sounded when the white van pulled out of a spot close to his van and drove by him slowly. Chris waved to him as he rode by and suddenly Jerry felt as though he might be physically sick. He realized that this guy had been watching him for weeks and it scared him.
“I’ll sit this one out if you don’t mind Jen.”
“alright. I’ll be quick, I promise.”
He heard that phrase the last four times they went into a store. He watched as she strode across the mall into Contempo and disappeared into a sea of aqua, bright red, and green spring sales racks. Jerry parked his chair right next to a bench in the center of the aisle so he could people watch, one of his favorite hobbies. He wondered if all these people walking around, skipping, holding hands, standing on their tiptoes to see a price tag, knew how precious these little things were. What he wouldn’t give if he could…
“Hey, What’s a good looking guy like you doing sitting all by himself?”
Jerry almost jumped right out of his chair. The voice came from less than two feet away.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. You looked a little lonely so I though I’d sit for a minute and chat with you.”
Uh-oh, another holy roller, born again Christian about to get compassionate with me, Jerry thought. No matter where he went there was always that one person telling him god still loved him and had a special plan for him. Jerry got so mad at the last person who started about God’s love for him, he told the poor little old lady he would have nailed Christ to the cross himself if he could move his fingers enough to pick up a hammer. Jerry felt bad after he said it but could feel the laughter building up inside him as he watched the color drain away from her wrinkled old face. She simply walked away without uttering another word. “Well that’s one way to get rid of them”, he had thought at the time.
As Jerry looked at the guy sitting on the bench next to him, religion didn’t come to mind. His new found friend was probably in his mid twenties and was very fashionably dressed, messy and preppy at the same time. Jerry thought he looked similar to the models he saw earlier in an Old Navy commercial.
‘My name’s Chris” he said as he extended his hand to shake Jerry’s hand.
“I’m Jerry but I can’t move my hand enough to shake yours, sorry.”
“Oh, not a problem.” And with that Chris took Jerry’s hand, opened the lifeless fingers up and slid his hand in to Jerry’s motionless fist and shook. Fury welled up for a quick second that someone had violated his personal space. He used to try to shake other men’s hands after the injury, but when they realized they were shaking just a paw, like an ape’s hand or something, they would usually pull away quickly saying they were sorry or he would see their eyes bug out. Jerry got tired of that quickly. This guy he just met on the bench approximately twenty seconds ago quickly made him feel like he was a real person again and his anger went as quickly as it had come.
“You must be a c6 or a c7 quadriplegic” Chris said with confidence.
Jerry thought it was a little weird how he had said it so bluntly but figured he might be a physical therapist or a nurse and was used to using medical terms.
“Ya, c6. Good guess. Are you a PT or something?”
“No, I Just have an interest in spinal cord injury. Did anyone ever tell you that you look like Kyle Mcgovern from that soap opera on tv?”
Jerry did hear that before. Some guy with an injury just like his had made it big in Hollywood. He had watched “Atlantis Drive”, the popular noon time soap opera, a couple of times to see if the actor had any talent. He wanted to see if they were just using the handicapped image because it was becoming cool in pop culture to have people with disabilities in the media since Christopher Reeve’s injury. The story line was of course cheesey, but the guy in the chair had some talent. Jerry was similar in age as the television actor and had the same features, hair color and cut, and was of course paralyzed.
“I’ve heard it a few times, but I don’t see the similarity.
“He’s my favorite actor. I might even be his biggest fan.”
Jerry had noticed a slight change in the man’s personality. He had become more serious in his tone. Just as quickly as he had changed the subject from spinal cord injury to television actors, Chris switched topics again.
“Do you have to catheterize yourself, or can you urinate on your own?”
Jerry, again, thought it was a weird question and was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable when he noticed that Chris had a huge erection bulging in his baggy cargo pants.
“Fuck!” Jerry thought. What’s worse than a holy roller, but a fucking fag!
‘Hey Man, it was nice to meet you but I have to catch up with my girlfriend in the store. She’ll be pissed if I don’t help her pick out new bras, you know.” With that, Jerry started to leave. Chris grabbed his hand again and proceeded to shake it. It no longer made Jerry feel good, it actually made his skin crawl.
“Maybe we’ll see each other again.” As Chris said it, he stared at Jerry for what seemed like minutes. Jerry pulled his arm away and Chris smiled at him, turned and left just as Jen was coming out of the store.
“Friend of yours?” asked Jen as she walked over with her new dress in hand.
“Not exactly. “ Jerry felt real uneasy about the whole situation, He felt there was something definitely wrong with the guy he had just encountered.
“Let’s get out of here, your shopping spree has tired me out.”
They cut through the food court to get to the handicapped spots where Jerry had parked. Jen was droning on about how good she was going to look compared to her fat cousin Frannie as she loaded her shopping bags into the back of Jerry’s vehicle. Jerry was about to comment on how snotty she sounded when the white van pulled out of a spot close to his van and drove by him slowly. Chris waved to him as he rode by and suddenly Jerry felt as though he might be physically sick. He realized that this guy had been watching him for weeks and it scared him.
