Another player in our little twisted theater is James. James began showing up only after everybody else had moved in and got settled, and life had already been established as almost completely, but not entirely, beyond a shadow of a doubt messed up.
James was a gentleman living across the complex with his roommate, and like many of us there, wasn’t a student at the University, but merely working and trying to earn money towards the final goal of what everyone tries to achieve in my town: Leave.
He seemed pretty normal, and somewhat stable, but I quickly came to the realization that his sensitivity, love of folk and Native American music, and romantic demeanor were the key elements of his true, hidden nature. James was the Player, and he was looking for some toys.. errr, people to play with.
James wasn’t much deeper than these aspects of his persona, other than the fact that he really did seem sensitive at heart, if you got past the subtle sickly suave attitude (towards women), or the “I’ve-got-a-bigger-dick-than-you-and-a-souped-up-Ricer” (towards men). The funny thing? He was actually quite subtle about it, and if he wasn’t truly so sensitive, he might have actually stood a chance at being quite proficient at being a real asshole.
To recap, we have Kristen, who at this point is legitimately on the lease for the apartment next to mine, who’s a lesbian, living with Julia, who recently went from bi to lesbian (but they’re not together). Kristen finds herself in the unfortunate role of the “Enabler”, and she’s been suckered into helping out Julia and being drawn into the fray. Julia, on the other hand, is quickly becoming the center of the drama, and has assumed the role of “Manipulator.”
Popcorn and his girlfriend have the luck to be in the most coveted role, the “Outsiders.” They will go about their daily lives, and only occassionally interlude into our situation as passers-by. Lucky bastards.
Frank gets shoved into the role as the “Commander,” as he is more concerned about the safety, appearance, and overall well-being of the apartment complex, as well as himself. This will become evident as he is forced to contact the office on numerous occassions regarding the noise, mess, and overall low average I.Q. that’s forming into a black-hole of stupid outside his door.
Wendy was the “Runner”, in that the experiences of her life have taught her the best method for getting out of a sticky situation is to run from the problem. She was running from her parents, she was running from responsibility in her home town in Iowa, and she was running to the only person who had really shown her any kind of love or attention. In effect, she had had a “hard life”, as so many in this day and age do. This is not, however, to be used as an excuse.
John, above me, with his new, young, impressionable, and slightly unstable girlfriend, is the “Target”. Unfortunately, because of his relatively weak personality and helpful attitude, he allows himself to be drawn into a situation, only to find himself squarely in the crossfire. Fortunately for him, people rarely remain Targets forever, and he soon rise to take on my role. The Target starts out by feeling great, because he has a Runner running towards him. When the Runner decides to find a new Target to run to, that will cause some interesting situations.
Two characters who are still off-stage at this point are Lindsey, the “Director”, and Luke, the “Catcher.” We’ll meet them later on.
Finally, and without further adieu, is my role. I, Kevin, am the “Mediator,” which is usually where I find myself. As I used to be a Target, I discovered that I didn’t want to get too close to just one person, so I end up getting close, but with ample distance, to all of them. In effect, I’m the one they can go to to fix the situations. In the group setting, I’m quiet, and listening. Instead, my conversations tend to be more one-on-one, and a lot more listening from my side and venting from theirs.
We have all of our characters of our little Reality-TV show turned real, and we all know where we stand, at least for a little while.
Act 1 is over, the stage is set, and the characters are introduced. Next time, the curtain rises on Act 2.
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