Sunday, April 17, 2005

He Gave You A Calling Card Day

He Gave You A Calling Card Day!

And off you went back to Rutgers. The boy you met at the Theater of the Living Arts nine years ago on a weekend trip into Philadelphia gave you a calling card as a gift to remember him by. He sharpied his phone number over top the image of a globe on the front of it.

"This way you have no excuse to not call me," he said to you on the platform of the 30th Street Station.

"I guess if I don't call," you said. "You'll have to assume that I hate you."

You were joking. After the concert at the TLA he took you home to his apartment in South Philadelphia. On the following Saturday morning you tried to run off without waking him, but he managed to tell you where he'd be hanging out that night.

"There's a party for my friend's movie at the Roxy. Come find me," he muttered before falling back to sleep. And in the end, when your roommate and your friend hooked up with guys that you couldn't stand, you wandered three blocks to the Roxy, and from there the two of you wandered back to his bed.

When you woke up the next morning, you were in his arms and for the first time in six months it felt good to be in some arms (you'd been getting over a retard who cheated). You spent the day walking, knowing you'd be missing the planned-upon train your friends would be taking. And when you finally got to the platform and he gave you that card, you didn't have a doubt that you'd dial the number he sharpied across the globe.

But you never did. You can't remember why right now. You're single right now and you're staring at the card, found in the pile of college notebooks your mom kept stored for you in her attic (you're emptying out the house with your brother. Your Mom's dead). There's that number and you can't remember why you never called it but you know you never did. And you know he was already out of college when he saw you, so he might still be at that same number.

Call it.

When he answers (he will) ask him his name. He didn't write it on the card unfortunately, only the number, and you don't remember offhand. Then ask him if he remembers a girl named (YOUR NAME HERE). He will.

"I thought you'd never call," he'll say.

Say, "Sorry. I got caught up in some bullcrap." Then tell him if he's not married or fucked up in the head, you'd be cool with meeting him for some ice cream someplace.

Happy He Gave You A Calling Card Day!