Fugue 22 - Fall 2001 (No. 22)

Page 89

David Cur!J'

Let Some Time Go By The basic problem witl1 my cousin Leon is tl1c S<UllC as 路with lots of men. Back when he was growing up, he had to face the fact tl1at up wasn't exactly the way he was growing. By the time Leon was in high school, any fool could tell he wasn't ever going to get taJI or come anywhere ncar it Didn't get much in the way of looks eiilier, which might have helped. Anyway, Leon ended up turning into one of the worst types there is, what I call tl1e Loud I ntroverL I'm on the L-1.il side mysell: for a woman, and even if I was a guy, which I'm glad I'm not, nobody would call me short. \~hen I was a ~;,rirl, my dad used to call me a long drink of water. I played basketball back then with some of ilie boys in our neighborhood, and most of the time I just hung around tl1e basket, waiting for somebody to pass so I could chuck it on in. I don't deny being tall has given me a problem or two, especially when it comes to men. vVhen I hear people carrying on about whether or uot a man can look up to a woman, I have to laugh. But I don't think the distance from d1e top of my head to ilic bottom of my feet has affected d1e kind of person I tumed out to be, tl1e way it has witJ1 Leon. Leon's single, san1e as me, so whenever ou r fanuly has a big gettogether, with everybody in sight married and more kids nmning around tl1<m you can shake a stick at or even stand, the two of us pretty much stick out. Mutt and Jeff, you know. The old maid and the little loudn10utl1. And, of course, if we're nmning tme to fom1, we always manage to stick out even more by getting into a fight with each other. At our fan1i ly picnic this year, we got into it over The Sound of Music. I couldn't help it. Leon was going o n and on about what a wonderl\1! movie it is aud how he'd jtmlp at ilie chance to see it again any time. And I have to tell you, the first time I saw The FALL 2001

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