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 Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:42 pm
A particularly observant person might notice Richard's face give a slight twitch on his otherwise neutral expression. He was getting used to people's appearences but sight of Sid's jaw almost made him slip. Besides the twitch Richard's expression remained neutral for moment before Richard trusted himself to give a polite smile.
"Sid Easley I presume? I'm Richard. I'm from down the row abit." Richard jerked his thumb towards his own duplex.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:52 pm
The door open a little wider, but only to let Sid brace himself against the frame. Webbed, blue-tinged fingers curled around the edge. The shift in Sid's posture still barred entry, but it showed a little more of the mess scattered about inside.
"An'?" he asked.
His mouth never exactly closed, his jaw simply bobbed up enough to let his tongue make feeble attempts at forming the right sounds.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:05 pm
Richard was begining to think this might have been another bad idea. This man's jaw was going to make conversation difficult and he didn't seem like the particularly friendly type.
That said, Richard was pretty good at striking up conversations, he was here after all, might as well give it a shot. Besides Sid's grey hair was any indication, he was the oldest islander Richard had met so far, excepting himself.
"And I'm being neighborly, I've got a bottle of scotch, was hoping for conversation but I can settle for a drinking buddy if your not feeling talkitive." Richard grinned, pulling the litre bottle from his coat pocket.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:16 pm
Sid's eyes narrowed. His hand slid further down the doorjamb and for a moment it seemed he was going to slam the door right then. Instead he glared at Richard and said, "Wha d'ya reah-" he suddenly threw his head back in annoyance. The noise that followed, the sound of a mouth full of spit being sucked back, was not pleasant.
When he looked back he tried again. "Whad'ya wan', really?"
He had a right to be wary. No other stranger had just decided to stop by, not even his downstairs neighbor, and he could think of no reason why anyone would want to.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:31 pm
Richard leaned back againist railing of Sid's porch, testing it to see if it would support his weight. He chuckled at suspicious atittude, shaking his head abit. "Some sense of community around here eh? To be expected I suppose giving the nature of this place." Richard put the bottle next to him.
"Personally? I'm looking into writing an obiturary for Fiona. Give people a little closure, you know? Got your name from somebody else, who said you were there. But if your not in talkitive mood I can make do with just meeting some one new. That's all."
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 6:41 pm
Sid's head sank down from the very mention of Fiona. Of all the things...
His overgrown bangs fell in a curtain around his face, and when he looked up they promptly fell around his eyes and even in his mouth. He took his hand from the door to brush them away. The door in turn slid open further, allowing Sid to lean completely against the frame. It wasn't quite an invitation, not s long as his legs still blocked the way.
He gave Richard a hard look. It was hard to read much of his expression, with only his eyes to go by he simply looked tired. The irritation was all in his voice, but speech had just as much to do with that as the unexpected visit.
"Ah din'n know her," he said slowly. "Ah jus' saw her die. Ah'm done tahkin' 'bout it. Ah jus' wanna forgeh... forget it. Wri' wha'ever the ******** you wan'."
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:03 pm
Richard exhaled, disappointed. Knitting his brows together as he looked at Sid. This man looked old enough to know better. They all just wanted to forget. Richard knew it didn't work that way. You can't forget things like that. He had tried to forget Erica, for entire year. The more you try to forget something like that the more it festers. Erica's death, ten years later still was like an open sore, you can't forget it was there, you can only move on.
"That's what Nita said too you know. Didn't want to say anything. Just ignore it, thinking something like this will go away. It doesn't though. When bad s**t happens nobody forgets it, no matter hard you try. Tragic." Richard looked old, remembering his own emotional wounds, he didn't let them rule him anymore but they were still there.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:15 pm
"Yeh, tragic," Sid echoed. "Yuh nah helpin', an' ah'm nah gonna talk 'bout ih." He folded his arms over his chest. "Why don' yuh try an go geh an account from the ghe- ghetto tigah?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:19 pm
"Ghetto Tiger?" Richard raised one eyebrow.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:30 pm
"Had a doo rag on," Sid said, waving his hand around the top of his head just in case there was any question that was a type of head covering. "Haven' ssseen 'im ssince, though. His name wah..." He trailed off, which was getting to be a nasty habit every time he tried to remember such things.
He waved vaguely when he gave up on it. "I dunno, one'a thothe... those t... typical names." There were far too many t's in that sentence for his comfort, but he tried.
Sid was, perhaps, just a little bit racist, but he liked to think it was in a completely casual, benign way. He just thought other races and cultures were weird was all.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:43 pm
Richard sighed, "Those typical names?" Richard wasn't without his prejustices but that was exceeding unhelpful. This wasn't getting anywhere. He picked up his cane where he had leaned it againist the railing and pushed himself up. He had no limp, he was just exceedingly heavy.
"Well Sid I will be seeing you around. Maybe I'll visit again when I've got something more forgetable on my mind. Nice meeting you." The sentiment was sincere.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:46 pm
"Righ'," Sid said, tipping Richard a wry salute with two of his fishy fingers. He left his words of parting at that one, nice and terse enough to mean any number of things.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:52 pm
Richard nods, turns and heads down the stairs. The heavy thunk of his cane hitting the wooden planks as he made his way down.
The bottle was left on the porch railing.
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:59 pm
Sid waited until Richard had vanished from sight, or at least reached the bottom of the stairs, before he took the bottle and went back inside. He slammed the door behind him.
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2006 2:00 pm
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