Today we celebrated the 13th birthday of my great niece/godchild, Danielle. She counted the money stuffed into her cards and has more than enough for a new ipod, her third. She asked her mom to take her to Walmart after the party. She suffered a lot of blond jokes. She is a bit of an airhead, although she gets good grades. Her mom says all her friends are the same way and figures there must have been something in the water when they all were born. Her brother, Ronnie Jr., has been spending five days a week at the gym, making himself stronger for baseball. He moves up to J.V. this year. His mom kept asking him to flex and finally broke him down. Making an impressive muscle, he said: "Got any tape? I'm ripped." We all laughed. I was reminded of the way my friends teased each other as teens, especially when we were caught admiring a tricep in the reflection of a car window. "You got some complex," we'd say. "I don't wanna hear it."
We started the feast with a tomato, provolone and prosciutto concoction dipped in olive oil, then went on to barbecued shishkebab: chicken, steak, onions and peppers, which was out of this world. We also had grilled veggies. I must be the only goombah who doesn't like eggplant. It went fast despite me. Then we had Italian cookies and, finally, a Carvel ice cream cake. I had two slices.
With the sky darkening, my brother in law started to panic, and suggested we try to beat the rain. We didn't. The trip back was an hour longer, 2:30. Neither music nor the lightning show helped pass the time. Traffic would move so much more smoothly if the rude wouldn't jump the line at merging ramps and bridges. Like a fool, I stay in the same lane, as if civility counted.
I'd left the laundry on the line in the basement. It was still damp, so I had to hang it around the apartment. It had taken me ten minutes to find parking. I was a block and a half from the building, so I got soaked. But I'm now at the computer and all is well again.
Happy Birthday Dani. We love you.
Read Vic's stories: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
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