I'm No Angel

The time while I was renting Bo's house was a strange little blur. I mean, I remember everything but can't remember exact months, dates or anything of that sort. DO KNOW that my motives for renting his house were not-so angelic. He and his girlfriend were moving down to the next county for some odd reason. His mother liked me, she rented the place to me for $200 a month (ok quiet everyone, yeah that's dirt cheap!). She also left most of their stuff in the house, and Bo told me that they had a special 'hook-up' with the cable, so if I just paid the bill he said I could leave it all "as is". It was my thought and desire at the time that Bo would come by the house a lot and that somehow it would bring me closer to him. But this story is not about Bo, it's more about Me, or rather a brief encounter I had with "Frankie". I'll get to that in a minute though.

Despite the fact that I had these fantasies that Bo and I would somehow get closer by my living in his family's house, it did not stop me from doing quite a bit of man-chasing while I lived there. In fact, once Bo and his brother popped in while my then-boyfriend, John were sacked out in the living room floor (John in his underwear). I'm sure he got a kick out of that one.

I had just broken up with John about a week previous (I'll tell John's story another day), and my heart was almost 100% mended. Heather and I decided to hit up the Casino one afternoon for my Birthday. We were going to do a little gambling, and hit up one of the casino buffets. I was not-too-happy to be turning 26, but looking back now I can see that I was crazy for thinking 26 was going to be a bad age... It was in fact, the best age of my life.

We get to the Casino area, and I believe it was Fitzgerald's, and head through the door. Once inside, I notice over at the "Wheel of Fortune" there is this hot guy gawking our way, he kinda 'looked Puerto Rican' maybe. We noticed him, and both turned to tell each other "hey look at that guy" and when I met her eyes, she said "I know! I was just about to say..." So we continued on to the buffet, and afterwards, I remember looking in a mirror and analyzing 'how old I looked' and how I hated the green dress I was wearing. I started my usual "OMG-I have crows feet, and do I really look 26?!? (SIGH)", all-the-while, Heather trying to reassure me.

We decided on a whim to head over to the Wheel of Fortune table, and the guy was still working. As we stand there, I'm scrambling for a dollar to play the table, because you could not use change and I only had quarters. I looked over at the only other player at the table, clearly a "high roller" with his hundred dollar bills... he was already looking somewhat agitated by the flirting that was happening between us and the employee. I asked very sweetly, "Do you have a dollar for four quarters?" The man looked at me like I was completely insane, if not totally small potatoes in his garden of life. "No!" he replied very curtly.

Oh well, I went and found some change at the cashier and came back ready to spin the wheel of fortune! I looked at the hotty's name tag. It said "Frankie". I wondered about his life briefly as I scanned over his dark hair, and his sexy eyes and his goatee. I, remembering my appearance in the mirror just earlier, didn't even entertain the hope that he would give me the time of day, still I couldn't help but smile and blush, he was just so sexy. We'd all shared lighthearted banter throughout the course of my Wheel of Fortune escapade that day.

Suddenly, Frankie looked at my friend Heather and said, "Do you think if I gave her my number she would call me??" Heather laughed her silly laugh... as she had the type of infectious giggle, and catching it was unavoidable. Meanwhile, I'm still blushing, smiling and I looked at Frankie, who made sharp eye contact with me as he played his silly game.

Heather finished giggling and said, "Uhhh Yeahhh I think so."

Frankie took a piece of paper out and scribbled his name and number, and handed it to me. I took the number. We had to excuse ourselves shortly because neither Heather nor myself are what you'd consider "High Rollers". You may have gathered that from my needing a dollar for four quarters. There's no shame in my game, I can't afford to play high stakes! Besides, you definitely need to 'Know When To Fold Em', right?

So we left the casino, I on cloud 9 since I landed a phone number and I'm sure Frankie's ears were burning the rest of the afternoon. I gave it a couple of days so as not to seem desperate and I called him up one afternoon as Heather and I were running around Memphis. He asked where we were and I told him, and he said "Oh well you should come by! You can meet my cat, Jasmine" (He has a cat? Jasmine?? Wow). "Uhhh, well... um" I looked at Heather... she was kind of apprehensive, but agreed that we could go by his apartment for a little while. He gave me directions. It turned out he lived in the middle of "the hood". For those of you who have never lived there or hung with people who lived there, it's a bad neighborhood, and usually not in the most scenic part of town.

I, being one who usually ended up in strange situations anyways, didn't let it get to me too much. But Heather was a bit nervous, looking around. I can't lie, I was wondering what we might find out about Frankie, but still too curious and enthralled with him to turn back now. He knew we were on the way, and if I remember we either honked the horn or gave him a quick call to let him know we were there. We wait a few seconds and someone appears in the doorway of the apartment building. I'm guessing it's him, but Heather is convinced it's some sort of robber. He's wearing a basketball jersey, and loose, relaxed attire. It was dark and there wasn't much lighting so we couldn't quite make out his face until he approached the car.

"Oh my God!" Heather yells, "Is it him? I hope so, cuz someone's coming towards us."

I laugh a little. "I'm not sure, I THINK it's him, but he's dressed so differently I can't tell. I'm sure it is him though."

He gets to the car. "Hey, glad you decided to stop by."

We see a 9MM gleaming from his hand, slightly hidden by his side. He pats his side, indicating it. "Don't worry, I've got ol' Rosy here to protect us. This isn't the best neighborhood. Come on up!"

Heather and I give each other an odd look, secretly saying to one another 'Is this guy for real? What's with the 9MM?' and like OMG!! So he guides us back to the door, and we have to go up a flight of stairs to reach his apartment. Frankie, being a gentleman of sorts, motioned for us to go in first (although we had no idea what we were walking into, and oddly enough, Heather was leading the way). I'm right behind Heather, and Frankie climbs the stairs right behind me, guiding me slightly with his hand. I step carefully, and can feel "Rosie" (his 9MM) brush my ass as we ascend towards his door.

Nobody was shot, and we finally walk in to his apartment. It was very small, but clean, and his black cat "Jasmine" came to greet us. Of course I made fast friends with her, being the cat lover that I am. We sat and visited with Frankie for a while, and he asked about my interests, and what I liked to do... he talked about going on a date sometime soon, and asked me to give him a call.

Heather and had to start heading back home, as she had some plans with family for later, so we excused ourselves and started the drive back to our small town. Frankie's ears were probably burning all the way.

[Tune in next time when Frankie and Jackie turn up the heat as he visits her humble abode].