#56, Jesse G.

Jesse was another of my mom's friends when i was in high school, although he was more like a friend-of-a-friend. Thank god, too, because i don't think i would have been able to stand it if he had been around any more than he was.
Easily 6 and a half feet tall, and with a springy mop of curly brown hair, Jesse was one cocky mutha. He always wore jeans and some kind of gutsy jacket, to go with his rockstar persona. Problem was, Jesse was a drunk. A mean one. And a frequent one, unfortunately. He would often be the person passed out on the couch in the morning, and i know that some of you know what i mean. He was loud and obnoxious and arrogant. Once, i was in the bath, and suddenly the bathroom door comes flying open (it didn't have a lock) and in swaggers Jesse, drunk out of his mind. I freaked out, grabbed the shower curtain and tried to cover myself up, screaming at him to get out, get out. But he didn't. "Relax...." he said, "it's nothing i haven't seen before." and proceeded to empty his bladder while i cowered behind the shower curtain. Good times.

#55, The Other Ananda.

The other Ananda was actually the first Ananda. He was a friend of my mom's when i was in high school; during the days when she still drank and stayed up all night with all sorts of interesting characters. He had dark brown skin, and was from Canada, but i think his ancestry was Japanese, somewhere. He mumbled erratically when he spoke, and always had a mess of black, tousled hair flying around his face, which made him difficult to understand most times. But he was damned entertaining. Always drinking whiskey and beer, playing cards or talking about literature or movies or records. He was a smart (but decidedly goofy) guy, and eventually moved back to Canada to work in the film industry. Sometimes he wrote my mom (and us) snail mail letters, which were always greatly appreciated. i loved him for that. Hope all is well with you, Ananda.