The Vicious Cycle of Life or How I Became a Man
The unsettling sound of a board against flesh resounded in the garage, followed by a very loud obscenity. The dust that had been living comfortably on the shelf made itself into a gray snowstorm. Ted stood in the midst of chaos. He removed his dust-covered ball cap and glasses. Left behind was a bizarre version of a mask. One hand ran over his face in disgust.
He moved the shelf that had assaulted him to discover a photo album. Its cover opened when he picked it up; the pictures of his youth were displayed before him. Sitting down on a nearby box, he flipped through page after page. He stopped when he came a crossed one picture in particular.
“Well, would you look at that. Ah, I remember that day as if it was just five minutes ago.”
In this photo was a seventeen year old Ted. Closing his eyes, he was drawn back to that day.
Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Ted smoothed out his shirt. He paid close attention to tucking it in properly. His hair was combed to look more adult, his tie straight. Every detail had to be in check for today, too much depended on it. Ted glanced over at the picture of Lori Lou, and giggled. It was all for her he did this.
Ah, Lori. The finest of ladies he ever knew. So classy, not like those other girls. Her chestnut hair, her caramel eyes. Those lips sweeter than honey. Her cute accent, and the way her nose scrunched when she smiled. The first time he saw her shaking her pompoms at the home game, he had felt his heart fly out of his chest, and landed safely in her delicate hands. His dream girl. Well, besides Barbara Eden, but that was not the same thing. A puff of air escaped past his lips, and he began to recite his speech.
“Father, there comes a time in every man’s life where he must weigh the pros and cons and set his goals. Today is that day for me Dad. I have set my goals, and one is to find myself a proper wife. In order to do that, logic tells me that I need to establish myself in society. I need a status symbol, Dad. But what better symbol than a car? So with having said that, would you help me to get a…”
“Eh-hem…”
Ted’s blood decided to let gravity take hold while it traveled straight to his feet. His brow had beads of sweat on it. His hands felt as though he had just finished with the dishes. Turning around slowly, he might as well just gone, and grabbed the shovel out of the shed. He had just dug his own grave.
In the door way was a stout man with graying hair. He gave Ted the look that the villain gives his victim before he tied him to a train track.
“Boy, do you have something you want to say? I’m listening.”
The lump in Ted’s throat was a soldier at attention. One large swallow, then Ted began. “Dad, I was thinking. Now that I’m seventeen, do you think I could get a car?”
His father puffed out his cheeks. His eyes popped nearly out of his skull, his face rapidly turned into a giant tomato. He let out the breath he held in, and opened his mouth to speak.
“Son, of course you can get a car.”
Ted’s face was brighter than a child’s on Christmas Day.
“Really Dad?”
“Yes, go get a job, then you can get a car once you make the money.”
His laughter shook his body. He slapped his knee, then turned and exited.
Ted flopped down on his bed, hands on either side of his face. He closed his eyes.
“Well, I blew that. Dumb kid move. Now what am I going to do?”
Glancing at his night stand, there was a tablet and pencil that sat on top of his mechanic and how-to magazines. He slid the pencil over his tablet for a few minutes, and when he was done he had three arrows in a circle pointing to each other with something in between each arrow. The first pointed to a figure of a girl.
“Well, point one is Ted needs a girlfriend.”
The next pointed to a car.
“Point two is, to get a girl, I need a car.”
Ted looked at the final arrow, and sighed.
“Point three is get a job to get to point two, which I can’t do unless I have point three. So without point two, I never get point one. This is a vicious circle indeed.”
Ted looked at the paper, and tapped his pencil to his lips.
“Now what? If I can’t do those three things, what’s the sense in being here? This is the American dream, boy meets girl, boy gets car, boy gets girl. But now boy needs job, and this is just not working out.”
Ted turned on the television. A war show came on. Dropping his notebook on the bed beside him, his eyes focused on the men fighting off the bad guys. Then it hit him. Grabbing up his notebook, his fingers flew over the paper, his pencil soon dull.
“That’s it. I know what I need to do. I’m going to war.”
A sharp rap at his doorway yanked Ted by his bootstraps back to reality. Standing there was his mother holding a glass of milk in one hand, a sandwich in the other. She smiled, and moved both towards Ted.
“Teddy, I brought you some lunch. Thought you might be hungry.”
“Mom, I know what I need to do.”
“What’s that Son?”
“Mom, I’m going to war?”
“What? No, you’re going to stay here safe. Hunny, don’t you know how many men have been killed in this senseless war? No, stay home, get married, raise me some grandkids.”
“Mom, there’s no sense in me staying here. Dad refused to help me with a car. I’ll never be able to get a job without that, and I’ll never get married to Lori Lou. So what’s the point?”
Ted’s mother looked at her son with sympathy. She sat his food down, then sat next to him. A hand on his shoulder, she kissed his forehead.
“Hunny, take my word for it. Just wait. I have a feeling. War is not the answer. I see you have everything figured out there on that paper of yours. You’ll figure this out too.” Getting up, she wrapped her arms around him, and smiled.
“You’ll figured it out Teddy, I know you will.”
The click of the door was the judge’s gavel coming down. Ted studied the grains in the hardwood floors, hoping to find the answer.
“I know there has to be a way. What good is it if my goals are never met? I might as well serve my country, and make a man out of myself. I’ll never do it any other way.”
Closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep.
The sun had set hours ago. The curtains blew inward. The paper that Ted has studied so hard had fallen to the ground. A snore interrupted the silence. Jerking his head up at the sound, he turned over, drifting off into a nightmare.
In the center of his bedroom, there was a brand new car. Sitting in the passengers side was none other than Miss Lori Lou. She had the windows down, and shook her pompoms at Ted.
Jumping up out of his bed, Ted attempted to move towards her. His two dreams were being kept away from him when he found he couldn’t move his feet. Beneath him was his father who had super glued the floor. He stood in his doorway holding a can of the gooey stuff that dripped down the side of the jar. His glowing red eyes pierced through Ted, while his laughter filled the room like thunder. Ted tried to move towards the car, only to have hands come through the floor, holding his feet. Looking up at Lori Lou, he reached out towards her, only to have a soldier appear in the driver’s side of the car and drive off. He was just about to pull his leg out of the muck, and away from the hands when he heard a loud dinging noise…
“Ommfph…What the Hell?”
Ted looked up at his bed that he had just fell out of. He saw his alarm clock nearing the end of his dresser, it’s warning clear to him he had fallen asleep with his worries strong on his subconscious. Pulling himself up with the aid of his bed, he began his day. Heading to the closet, then to the shower, he readied himself for Plan B. Which was not quite played out in his mind.
Ted came downstairs to see his father sitting at the kitchen table. His nose in the newspaper, he didn’t seem to notice Ted. Taking this chance to leave unscathed, Ted placed his back against the wall, and slid away to the front door. He stopped dead when his father shouted his name.
“Ted, get back here boy.”
A held in breath escaped from his lips as Ted hung his head, his death march began.
“Yes Dad?”
“Boy, I was thinking of what you said about a car.”
“Yes?”
“My answer is the same. But here’s a thought. Up the road there is an old man that needs some help. You go see him for a job. You can walk to it, then when you get your money together, you can get a car.”
“Yes Dad.”
Ted moved toward the back door, his hand on the knob.
“Oh, and Boy…”
“Yes Dad?”
“Get a move on, because when you get back, you got some work around here to do. In fact, get that trash out front now. I’m not dealing with it.”
“Yes Dad.”
Hauling the trash to the curb, the bag snagged open on the sidewalk.
“Geeze, can’t I get at least one break for the day already?”
Picking up the contents, and placing them back in the gaping wound, he didn’t pay any attention to anything going on around him. If he had been, he would have seen the young lady that stood near him.
“Eh-hem.”
Ted shot up from his bag, and dropped the leaking pop can he held. It hit the ground, splashing his shoes.
“Oh, um, hi.”
Before him stood a pretty girl with green eyes that danced to some unheard tune. Her strawberry-blonde hair looked like glitter had been sprinkled in it the way it shined. Pink lips gave a superstar smile that made butterflies dance in his stomach. Her ponytail swayed while she giggled at the mess around them.
“Hi, my name is Patty. My daddy and I just moved into the house up the road. I was wondering if you could help me. There’s this huge bug in my house, and no one is with me right now. Do you think you could come help me?”
“Well sure, let me just pick this mess up and…”
“Let me help you with that, uh, what was your name?”
“Ted. So you guys just moved here then?”
Patty was about to continue when Ted accidentally grabbed her hand. It was very soft, and she had pale pink nail polish on. She blushed, the color making her even prettier. She smiled, and giggled.
“Well, I guess that’s as good as a handshake.”
Ted finished his work, and got up.
“Yep, I would say so. So you say there’s a bug issue huh? Well, let’s see just what we can get done.”
The duo walked up the street to her house. Three stories, the gray paint was peeling off in layers. Ted looked around at the cast iron gate, the dead vines that crawled up the house, and the over grown plant life that had taken run of the place. he looked over at Patty, and sighed. She was looking around like an alien was waiting her to come close.
“So Patty, where is this bug?”
“Oh, it’s here somewhere. Just be careful because it has antennas and huge fangs. I almost fainted.”
Ted walked up on the porch, taking note that the handrail was ready to fall off. He looked about at all the things wrong, wanting badly to fix them for this sweet girl. It was of course, his favorite thing to do. Fix stuff. Something he was very good at. Take it apart, put it back together. Anything to learn a lesson from. This was just perfect. Ted went to put his foot on the first step, instead it went through the board.
“Uh, Patty, do you want me to fix this? Seems kinda dangerous. So it’s you and your Dad? How old is he?”
Patty sat on a pile of blocks that sat near the part of the wall they had fallen off of.
“Could you please? Daddy isn’t up to much of anything these days. He’s at the doctors right now. I hope he gets a decent report back.”
Almost as if on queue, a car pulled up through the rusty gates. The driver’s side door opened, and out stepped a larger man. He limped over to the passenger’s side, and opened the door. Holding out his arm, a bent hand took hold of it. A gray-haired man got out of the car. He turned his head, and Ted could see the wrinkles pile up at the sides of his eyes when he smiled.
Patty jumped up from her stone seat, and made a beeline for the car.
“Daddy, you’re home. Daddy, this is Ted and he’s come to help us.”
The man nodded to his driver, who walked back to his side of the car, and shut the door. Patty’s father took hold of her arm, and the duo walked up to Ted.
Ted felt like an ant under a magnifying glass. The father held out a that shook even before Ted could get a grip.
“So, you’re here to help us eh? The name’s Peter Williamson. Patty said your name is Ted.”
“Yes Sir. It seems as though you have some repairs that need taken care of. Seeing as how you both just moved in and all, I would be more than happy to get your home up and running.”
Ted took his hand back, then gave his best salesman smile. A storm cloud must have appeared over his head the way the words flowed from his mouth.
“Well, I was thinking Mr. Williamson, Sir.”
A clearing of the throat stopped Ted from continuing.
“There is no Mr. Nothing Ted, it’s just Peter. So what are you thinking Ted?”
“Well Mr., er, Peter, I shall be painfully free for this particular Summer unless I can find a job. You seem to be in great need of a handy type man. I could fill those shoes. In fact, I think those shoes would be just my size. I seem to be at a disadvantage over most people in the job hunting bracket at this point for the lack of a car. That is what is holding me back from my life’s dream of my three step goal.”
Peter and Patty both started to chuckle.
“Just what is it Ted, that would be your goal?”
Ted face looked as if someone plugged in his invisible cord with how bright his face was. “Oh, oh, that is…Well, Point One is get a job. Point Two is get a car. Point Three is marry, uh, marry a good woman and raise a family. But to also work very hard getting Points Two and Three.”
Peter held his stomach with the laughter he kept inside. A big breath out, and he put a hand on Ted.
“Alright Teddy. Here’s what we’re going to do. I need a handyman for certain. I can’t do this on my own. Patty is far from able to scale roofs and such. So, you will come everyday this summer from sun up to sun down and work on my house. At the end of Summer, I will pay for a car for you. How’s that sound?”
Ted felt like he was still in his dream from earlier, but it wasn’t a nightmare. In fact, it was everything he’d ever really wanted. All coming true.
“That would be great Peter. When would you like me to start and where?”
Peter’s gaze fell on his broken steps.
“Start there, then we can move onward.”
Ted smiled and jumped up.
“Okay, I’ll go get my tools and…”
Peter held up his hand, pointing to the garage.
“Over there. Tons of tools, and no one to use them. When you finish, they’re your’s if you’d like.”
Ted had the strongest urge to hug the man. Instead he grabbed his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“Peter, Sir, I will never be able to repay you.”
“All in due time Teddy, all in due time.”
Over the next few months, Ted would come, and work the agreed time. Each day, Patty would be outside with him, handing him tools, and bringing him lemonade to ease his thirst. Ted would take notice that her makeup was always done extra nice when he was there. That, and she always wore the sweetest sundresses. He had never known a girl quite so perfectly put together at such a young age. Today she wore a bright yellow sundress, her small feet covered by white sandals. A very lovely young lady, right down to her pink, painted toes.
“Teddy, is there anything I can do to help you?”
Her smile was so bright, Ted felt the sun stood in front of him.
“No Patty, but thank you. I do need in the garage though.”
Just as they both turned, the door opened, and Peter stood there with a toothy grin.
“Hello young ones. Patty, could you go get my cane, I seem to have forgotten it in the house.”
“Sure Daddy.”
Patty skipped away, and blew Ted a kiss.
“She certainly has taken a shine to you Teddy.”
“I don’t know Peter.”
“I do. My girl never dresses like that unless she’s heading to church. Her mama taught her to be a perfect young woman. Shame she didn’t get to see her grow up.”
“I never asked her, where is her mother, if I may ask?”
Peter’s head lowered, his voice was a whisper.
“She passed on ten years ago. Patty was seven. Cancer started in her, and killed her. Patty never got to grow up with a woman in the house. Just me.”
Ted felt the lump in his stomach rise into his throat. That poor girl he thought. Such a great lady, teaching herself all she knew about life. He had the strangest urge to take care of her, to give her the best life he could. Seeing her bounce back towards them, his heart was stolen by a thief in yellow.
“Before Patty gets too close, I have a favor that I need you to do for me Teddy.”
“Anything Peter. You have both given me everything I need to reach my life’s goal. What can I do?”
“I need to know my girl will be okay if anything ever happens to me. I’m not getting any younger, and I want her taken care of.”
Ted looked at the girl who had just taken the very breath right out of his lungs. He knew then and there, he would kill anyone who hurt her.
“Yes Peter, I will take care of her. I will protect her with my life. No one will ever hurt her, and I will give her everything I can to make her life fit for a queen.”
“Good Teddy. You have just made my life complete. Here comes my Lil Girl.”
Patty jumped in front of the two men, and giggled.
“Did I miss anything, or was this a man to man talk?”
“Not a thing my daughter, not a thing.”
Patty smiled at Ted, her eyes seeing only him. Peter smiled as he watched the two of them walk away, back to the hard work ahead. In his heart, he knew he had made the right choice.
Ted woke up before the sun rose. He sat up, and stretched out all the kinks. Since working for Peter, he was always sore, but very, very satisfied. His life’s missions nearly complete. Smiling, he thought about his promise, and of the lovely Patty. While she was so very different from Lori Lou, there was something so pure about this girl, well, he knew where his heart was now.
A sharp tap at the door, then it flew open. Ted’s mother stood with a plate of breakfast for him.
“Hi Hunny, can we chat?”
“Mom, I think you were right. Everything is turning out okay. In fact, I have found the perfect girl to make my wife. Mom, Patty from up the street has stolen my heart. Mom, I, I, I want to marry her.”
His mother almost dropped the plate of food.
“Well, I am surprised, but very happy. If this is what you want, then go for it Teddy. I support you, and I will talk to your father.”
“I already heard this nonsense.” In the doorway was Ted’s father. Ted felt the room spin.
“Enough Boy. I will not tolerate this nonsense any longer.”
Ted’s mother stood up, and walked over to her husband. She placed a hand lightly around his arm.
“Hunny, don’t you remember when we were young? My parents didn’t want me to marry you either. If I hadn’t, my life would never had turned out this well.”
Ted’s father looked at him. He felt the his blood meet the floor.
“Mom, Dad, there is only one thing I have to say.”
Looking a tad like a super hero that had just saved the girl, he held his head high. “
I am going to marry Patty. I love her, we are going to have a family, and a good life together. You are going to have grandchildren, and sugar them up and send them back home. That, is the proverbial that.”
Ted marched past his parents and straight out the door.
Ted stomped the whole way up to Patty’s house. Sitting outside on the porch was Peter. His head was slumped down, and loud sounds of a saw a crossed logs came from his lips. A cough, and he raised his head.
“Patty, don’t forget the…”
Back to sleep he fell as Ted made his way to the porch and sat in the rocker a crossed from Peter’s.
“The mayo is what to use in the…”
Another snore, and Ted gently touched Peter’s arm.
“Peter, it’s Ted.”
“Ah, what, er, oh. Teddy, my boy, how are you doing? I guess I dozed off again. Better not tell Patty. She worries about me and my naps. Just so tired all the time. The doctor says it’s because I don’t have a lot of time to…”
Ted’s eyes looked like a fortune teller’s crystal ball. He sat up, straight as a ruler.
“What don’t you have a lot of time to Peter?”
“Oh, it’s nothing Ted. Just some rambles from an old man. Tis nothing at all.”
The hair on Ted’s neck stood up. Goose bumps broke out on his skin. He moved forward in the rocker, his hand still on Peter’s arm.
“Peter, there is something I need to ask you, but, what is going on?”
Peter sat back, his lids down.
“Teddy, I’ve watched you since you came here to my home.”
“Yes Peter?”
“I see the way my Patty looks at you. When you go home at night, she goes on and on about how great Teddy is. I must say, I agree. You are a good boy Teddy. I wish I would have had a son like you. Well, now I do. Or at least I will when you ask my Patty to marry you.”
Ted’s mouth met with gravity. He raised his hand to defend himself, then promptly put it right back down. Well, it was now or never.
“Peter, yes, I do love your daughter. She’s everything a man could want. I made a vow to find myself a proper wife, give my mom some grandkids and I plan to do just that. If it’s with your permission, I would like her hand, and the rest of her, in marriage.”
Peter’s eyes lit up as though the sun was behind them. His mouth was a permanent grin. He reached over, taking Ted’s hand in his.
“Ted, yes, that would please me. More than you know. It does my heart good to know Patty will have someone to look after her when the time comes.”
Ted glanced, his eyes questioning every word that passed through Peter’s lips. His eyebrow arched upward.
“Peter, is there something I need to know?”
Peter smiled and patter Ted’s hand.
“No, except I do believe it is time to go help you get to the goal you set earlier this summer.”
Ted opened his mouth to speak, only to have Peter place his hand over it.
“Son, we are going car shopping. Now, where is Patty? Patty. Patty sweetie, come on down.”
Peter hollered in the door, and out stepped the most beautiful woman Ted had ever seen. Dressed in what must have been her best clothes stood Patty. A white and pink dress flowed to just below her knees. White stockings were accented by pink heels. A white sweater covered her delicate shoulders. Holding her swept up hair in place was a cute hat with a white veil. Patty batted her eyes at Ted, the eye shadow sparkling in the sun. Her lips outshined her eyes with a pink lip gloss. Ted must have died, because before him stood an angel for sure.
“Well Teddy, are you ready to go? Daddy says we’re going car shopping.”
Ted stood with his jaw meeting his feet.
“Uh, yeah, uh, Patty, you, wow, you look so, so pretty.”
Peter chuckled, bringing Ted back to Earth.
“Alright then, off to the shop we go. So Teddy, if you could have any car, what would it be?”
Ted rubbed his chin, his eyes squinted tightly. A hamster turned the wheels in his head until the smoked. Finally after a moment, his eyes opened, his mouth followed right after. “Nothing fancy Peter. I would be happy with a 1957 Ford two door sedan, black if you please. I feel like those guys on that detective show with a car like that. You know, just the facts and all.”
Peter shook as the laughter escaped though he fought it back. Ted looked so very serious, his eyebrows in a point, his mouth a death-like grimace.
“Ah, Teddy, that sounds, that sounds, uh, Patty, can you get me my medicine. Chest is bothering me a tad.”
“Daddy, maybe we should wait on the car, here’s the pills.”
One hand on his chest, the other placing the pills in his mouth, he sat back, and closed his eyes.
“I think I need…”
Peter’s head slumped forward, while he nearly fell out of his rocker.
Ted moved quickly, catching him before he fell. Patty ran into the house to call for an ambulance. Ted shook Peter’s shoulders.
“Come on Peter, come on. You have to be okay. You have to. You have to be there when I ask Patty to marry me.”
All that was heard through the silence was a sharp intake of breath. In the doorway stood Patty, her hand over her mouth, her eyes as large as the moon.
“Teddy, what did you…Daddy, oh no. Daddy.”
Peter raised his head just a tad and smiled.
“I think I need to rest kids. Oh, and Ted has something to ask you Patty.”
“Daddy, are you alright? What does Teddy need to ask me? What is going on?”
The blood in Ted met his feet. Feeling as ill as Peter, he knew this was the time. It was brought out into the open.
“Patty, while I was not prepared to ask this of you, it seems you have found me at quite the disadvantage. Patty, while I will buy you a ring later on, Patty, would you do me the prestigious honors of being my bride? Patty, will you marry me?”
“Teddy, I, uh…”
For the second time in just a few moments, Ted had proven his catching skills. Patty woke up to find Ted looking down at her.
“Uh, Teddy, I, yes, I will marry you. Wow, Daddy, did you know about this?”
Peter laughed weakly, his hopes fulfilled.
“To a degree. It seems we have some plans to make, though not this day. Kids, I need to lay down.”
Ted set Patty down gently, then took Peter by the arm.
“All in a day’s work huh Peter?”
Peter smiled. “Indeed Teddy. Indeed.”
The sun rose up bright and warmed Ted’s face through his window. A slight sigh escaped his lips, followed by a very loud snore. So loud in fact, it woke him up. Blinking a few times, he sat up and stretched his arms.
He was ready to go get his car, and his bride-to be. After they bought his brand new car, Patty and Peter came to dinner at his parent’s home.
His mother was thrilled to death to meet her future daughter-in-law. His father was actually in a good mood, and was not a ticking time bomb of norm.
All went well, and Ted took Patty and Peter home.
Ted turned to Peter, and smiled.
“Thank you so much Peter. Because of you, I have had all my dreams come true.”
Peter smiled, and touched Ted’s shoulder.
“No Teddy. Because of YOU, all your dreams came true. YOU were the one who made the plan. You continued on until you did what it took to achieve your dreams. ALL YOU.”
A huge smile, and laughter filled the car from the trio. Ted gave Patty a hug good-night, and drove home.
A month later was the wedding. A small affair for the families. They needed no big shindig to celebrate the life they were about to have. Just a chosen few.
Nine months to the day later, the twins came. Peter had passed on the following year.
A loud squeal came from the garage door.
“Pappy, Pappy, whatcha doing?”
Ted’s daughter came in right behind her son and daughter. Jumping up and down, they looked down at the picture in Ted’s hand.
“Who’s that Pappy?” said Ralphie.
“Pappy, who’s that?” said Sally.
Ted pulled both children up onto his lap. Pointing to each person in the picture, he named them off one by one. When it came to him, and his brand, new car, he stopped.
“That kids, that is Pappy. This was the day I walked through a vicious cycle, but became a man from the wear and tear.”
Hugging his grandchildren, Ted closed his eyes, and smiled. Yes, a vicious cycle indeed, but worth every minute of it.
Wedding Dress,… John French Buy This at Allposters.com
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