Friday May 25, 2007
	Pre-Memorial day party.
	It's a long weekend and it's Friday morning but already there's maybe 50 people at the house party in Hyde Park (Tampa).  A woman wearing a dress like you'd see Marlo Thomas wearing from the TV series That Girl hands me a beer and kisses me on the lips. "Enjoy," she says then walking away and while she's walking away she turns once to see if I'm still looking at her. It's an enormous house and there's a built-in pool and it's enclosed entirely in glass and when I open the door (that I'm told to open) I hear Marilyn Manson coming from the speakers (The Love Song). "Hello," I say.  There's a large man wearing a matching two-piece suit standing only a few feet from me. He says: "Good morning." On the wall In front of me is a ceiling mounted camera and it moves toward where I am standing and I can hear the motor as the camera moves and when it stops the lens spins left and then right and when it stops I hear the voice of a woman:  "Hi baby, I'll need your name." "It's coming from the intercom," says the large man wearing the matching two-piece suit. I say: "Norm Augustinus." After a couple of seconds the woman in the speaker says: "Could you be an angel and show your license to Jake?" I hand my drivers license to Jake and when he's satisfied he says: "He's okay." Jake slides a glass door and gestures for me to enter and as I walk past him he says: "Enjoy." When I enter the pool area a woman walks past me and she's not wearing any clothes and while I'm watching her another walks past me only she's walking with a man (with a shaved head) and he's not wearing any clothes either. "We have bathing suits if you're not comfortable swimming nude," says a woman holding a tray.  She's dressed like a cigarette girl you'd see in a club in the 40's. I say: "I can smoke?" "Absolutely," says the cigarette girl.  "I have cigarettes and I also have matches, mints, Fig Newtons, condoms and Life Savers all at no cost." I say: "Condoms?" She says: "Durex, Trojan, Crown." I say: "Where are the bathing suits?" "Tell me your size and I'll bring one to you," she says. I say: "When does the party end?" She says: "Monday." PREVIOUS   HOME   NEXT