Barnacle Bob

Sunday afternoon , hanging out with Dad , maybe catch a movie later, no problems, life seems pretty good right now. Things at home have finally calmed down, Mom and Dad were getting along,( they had both Divorced years earlier), I was actually talking with my older brothers Marcus and Steve again as we always were fighting about something and so you see, life is going very well at the moment, if only I had known what tonight and the next year would be like. A Sunday night coming to an end, weekend visit with Dad was better than I could ever imagine and I was on top of the world. Usually weekends were full of fighting and arguing about some of the dumbest things, but this on was perfect , no problems, until I seen a strange Station Wagon outside my home. My Brother and I exited Dad's car and were about to say goodbye, but Dad said he wanted to com in for awhile. That is great, but who does that car belong to, well we were about to find out. I opened the front door and Mom was right there to greet us with a huge smile. " Well, did you all have a good time ? " she said. She had not waited for an answer as she immediately followed with " I want you to meet someone, his name is Bob ". I got to the top of the stairs into my Living Room and there he sat, BOB, he was older than my Dad and his face seemed very bloated and red. Bob had never got up from his chair, if I were to shake his hand I would have to walk over to him, which I did, reluctantly of course. " Hey there, how the Hell are you doing ". He had put his hand out to me to shake and I did as an act of kindness, I had no idea who this person was at the moment. As I shook his hand I felt his hand squeezing very tight , almost like a vice grip. I said "It is nice to meet you". I then seen him take my brothers hand and shake his followed by Dad. It was a very uncomfortable moment for me, I couldn't even imagine how it was for my Dad. The night had just taken a sudden turn and from all
sunshine and happiness to all darkness and dread, as I realized that my Mom, who had not been alone since Dad left, had now gotten herself a Boyfriend, and by the looks of him and the smell of booze on his breath, was a big drunk !

Dad finally had gone home and I needed to go to school in the morning. Maybe this guy wouldn't stay long , just a short love affair.
I was wrong. It was 3 am and I heard the t.v on , it was playing Bonanza, the old western t.v. show, and the volume was getting louder and louder, my brother yelled out," turn it down !" to no avail. It just got louder. Then I heard it, the sound of " dum dee dee dum dee dee dum dum", as Bob lumbered down the hallway to the bathroom. It was the theme song to Bonanza being sung at 3am , and it was sung by an inebriated and obnoxious boyfriend ! Life is great.

The next day was not much better, I arrived home from school to see the Bob, awake, and perched in my chair in the center of my living room. His cigarette smoke mixed with his melding of alcohol, body odor, and his bad odor of arrogance as it permeated the space around him. I have taken an instant dislike for this boyfriend, and I wanted him to leave my home.