Six years ago tonight I shared a cab home with Kent from an Austin Powers-themed party on 109th street and decided somewhere along the FDR that he would be my new boyfriend.
I just came across what I believe to be the first picture ever taken of us. It was taken at my friend Suzanne's old apartment, on 14th Street and 9th Avenue, before that address had anything to offer other than trannies and potholes. What makes me laugh about the photo is knowing that Suzanne's friend J.P. was supposed to bring his friend Tim to the party, which was a RUM, RUM, ALL DRINKS HAVE RUM IN THEM NO MATTER WHAT-themed party, but Tim didn't show up that night. He did eventually show up, however, and he and Suzanne are expecting their first baby in September. (What also makes me laugh about the photo is that in the backgroud you can see pages ripped from a magazine and taped to the wall, and those pages have Blink-182 and Ben Affleck on them.)
I met Suzanne when I was eight years old, at a swimming pool in the East Bay. In two weeks I am throwing her a baby shower, and our friend Lee is leaving her two little kids for the weekend to drive up from Virginia and join us. I met Lee when I was 11, and before we were friends we were enemies because at a swim meet, I let Jason Walker look at the bra and underwear she had in her duffle bag while she wasn't around. She ripped up my invitation to her 13th birthday party. We made up, she sent me a hand-written invitation on binder paper, and two years ago she signed my marriage license.
At that Austin Powers party, I wore a tank top with the Union Jack on it. I still have it and I wore it this weekend when I went running, before heading to Brit's apartment for a party. On Thursday, she was the first person I thought of.
This time, Kent and I walked home from the party, three blocks to our apartment.
You get in a cab, you don't always know where you're going to end up. That's all I'm saying.
