Sometimes I think
I’m the only one to see things clearly. Yeah, me. Just ‘cause I always seem to
have my face in a racin’ form, don’t mean I’m not pretty damn observant.
It all started the
other day. Itey, he wakes up with Snitch all wrapped around him. Not just a
foot in the kisser, like lots of other days-- that happens to anyone who ain’t
lucky enough to grab a bunk early. Nah, I mean he was wrapped around
Itey, like a … like another blanket or somethin’. And what did Itey say?
"Mornin’
Snitch."
Like it was
nothin’! Me, if I woke up with another boy’s face that close to mine, I’d sock
him one. I guess it was after that I realized that Snitch and Itey, they’d been
sharin’ a bunk for a long time, even after there was open ones. And Itey never
once said anything about having smelly feet in his face every morning.
Now that’s
devotion.
After that, I
started noticing things. Small things, nothin’ bigger than smiles at each other
or little meaningful glances, but enough for me to finally get it through my
thick, Italian skull that they were in love.
Hell, not just in
love. If one of ‘em was a girl, they’d have been hitched and on their honeymoon
by now. Thing is, I’m the only one who seems to notice. Safer for them, I
s’pose, but maybe it wouldn’t be so bad for them, after all, if the rest of the
boys found out.
‘Cause, you see, I
didn’t stop noticin’ things there.
Take Mush an’
Blink. If Itey and Snitch are a couple of newlyweds, then Blink and Mush are married,
settled, and have three kids. Boy, I don’t know how I missed seeing them
all this time. The two of them seem so comfortable with each other they don’t
even have to talk. ‘Course, they do talk-- couldn’t stop those two if
you tried-- but that afternoon I saw a whole conversation take place through
touch.
Pat on the back,
shrug, quick arm around the shoulders, and, bam, it was over. Not a
single word, I swear to God. I wonder what they’re sayin’ because they touch a lot.
Almost as much as
Jack and Dave. Gotta admit that one surprised me at first-- I mean, Jack was
seeing Dave’s sister for a while there. Huh, I always wondered why Jack
broke it off.
Once I saw them
together it made sense. Just like the other couples, they’re buddies. Real
close and personal. Cowboy and Mouth, brains and streetsmarts. Seems like
they’d be opposites, but they belong together. The way they act is like my
cousin Nico when he was courting his future wife.
I think I’m takin’
this comparison thing too far.
That’s what it reminds
me of, though. Enthusiastic, and fumbling, and so goddamn sweet it’d
make any sane guy wanna hurl. Can’t keep their hands off each other, either.
None of them can, really. They touch so often that I just wanna say "Can
you stop bein’ so damn obvious? Someone’s gonna find out."
Except, like I said
before, it seems no one but me notices. And it took me long enough to get it. They
don’t even notice that there’s other guys goin’ through the same thing right
next to them. Someday soon, they’ve got to figure it out.
But before they do,
I’m takin’ bets on who wises up first. Should be interestin’.