💥 LIVE From Ground Zero!
📖NEW CHAPTER: Velveteen's Return!
“Velveteen, what do you mean, ‘twitchy things?’” asked Mamma Gattina.
SFX: Cue “Running up That Hill" by Kate Bush
Mamma Gattina was Velveteen's therapist. One of Velveteen's therapists.
Velveteen answered, “I don't know, it’s weird, I get like these twitchy things, where it's like, you know how when you’re just starting to fall asleep, you get like this twitch? It’s like that, only i literally get like these fits. And it's like I just literally have one after another. And it's like I actually really don't mind it, because it's like that's how I know at least I'm falling asleep. But then it was like I started getting them really bad, like I was literally thrashing around, because it's literally like apnea or something, and I'm like gasping and making these sounds -- “
Mamma Gattina: What kind of sounds?
Velveteen (rubbing her forehead): Like can't breathe sounds.
Mamma Gattina and Velveteen were sharing a bottle of Oyster River Winegrowers 2017 “Morphos” Cayuga & Seyval Blanc, "full of life and with a natural effervescence,” much like Velveteen herself.
The appetizer course arrived:
A mix & match half dozen oysters (Peter's Point, Moon Shoal, Glidden Point and Belon) with lemon, cocktail sauce & mignonette, and
Two fried fish head “small plates,” with fish sauce vin & scallions)
Mamma Gattina suggested that Velveteen should see a neurologist, because she didn't want Velveteen to stroke out.
Velveteen said, “I tried making an appointment with one after I was hit by that 2017 Ford Expedition SUV, and they wouldn't take my insurance."
Velveteen wondered if anybody else had uncontrollable muscle twitches as a result of PTSD.
That, however, was just more of Velveteen's “crazy nonsense,” as Velveteen’s mother (who was dead) constantly reminded her at such moments.
And if you had asked Saran about Velveteen's “twitchy things,” Saran would not have answered you, because Saran does not know you.
And if, truly, Saran were to comfort Velveteen, all she would need to do would be to slip her right foot out of her sandal and ever-so-gently brush her toes against Velveteen's.
As Velveteen, or Vel (as her friends called her), felt Saran’s toes lovingly caress the top of her foot, she experienced a rush of pure joy. All ten of her toes dug firmly into the floor of her favorite booth, Booth 36, at her favorite restaurant, Fine Dining Establishment. Like a bird freed from her cage, she impaled another wedge of lemon on her oyster fork, splattering more juice across the (by now) not-so-giant-anymore dollop of horseradish and the okra garnish.
And at that moment, all ten of Velveteen's LumiDecoNails toe nail stickers lit up. “Code red!” she cried, locking eyes with Saran. “We’re going on a mission!”
Next: Meet Jack!
mean, ‘twitchy things?’” asked Mamma Gattina.
SFX: Cue “Running up That Hill" by Kate Bush
https://open.spotify.com/track/29d0nY7TzCoi22XBqDQkiP?si=-kPnOakdSu2ldABDOmoFGw
Mamma Gattina was Velveteen's therapist. One of Velveteen's therapists.
Velveteen answered, “I don't know, it’s weird, I get like these twitchy things, where it's like, you know how when you’re just starting to fall asleep, you get like this twitch? It’s like that, only i literally get like these fits. And it's like I just literally have one after another. And it's like I actually really don't mind it, because it's like that's how I know at least I'm falling asleep. But then it was like I started getting them really bad, like I was literally thrashing around, because it's literally like apnea or something, and I'm like gasping and making these sounds -- “
Mamma Gattina: What kind of sounds?
Velveteen (rubbing her forehead): Like can't breathe sounds.
Mamma Gattina and Velveteen were sharing a bottle of Oyster River Winegrowers 2017 “Morphos” Cayuga & Seyval Blanc, "full of life and with a natural effervescence,” much like Velveteen herself.
The appetizer course arrived:
A mix & match half dozen oysters (Peter's Point, Moon Shoal, Glidden Point and Belon) with lemon, cocktail sauce & mignonette, and
Two fried fish head “small plates,” with fish sauce vin & scallions)
Mamma Gattina suggested that Velveteen should see a neurologist, because she didn't want Velveteen to stroke out.
Velveteen said, “I tried making an appointment with one after I was hit by that 2017 Ford Expedition SUV, and they wouldn't take my insurance."
Velveteen wondered if anybody else had uncontrollable muscle twitches as a result of PTSD.
That, however, was just more of Velveteen's “crazy nonsense.”
Velveteen’s dead mother constantly reminded Velveteen of this caveat at such moments.
Next- Part Two: Saran Comforts Vel!
"What?!"
"I didn't say anything."
"How can you say such a thing?"
"I'm not going through this again."
"What do you mean?"
"All this -- denial. I'm done. I'm just going to say exactly what happened as I remember it."
"It never happened!"
"The reason I know it happened is that I renember it. I was eight years old. My brother was twelve years old. I was able to recover the date because I remember at some point in the week preceding the event, our father for some reason had told us, I'm going to be speaking at the Unitarian Church this Sunday at 11:00. It did not seem weird to me at the time, because he was always out of the house anyway. Plus all he used to when he was home was harangue me, so good."
"You lie."
"In fact, I remember thinking, it made sense that he would get something going on Sundays, because that was the only time he was ever even around anymore. Weekdays he was working, of course, and weeknights he was always at one of his many, many important community activities."
"You are delusional."
"Then, I found this article, and it all ...
"I have a thesis. My thesis is: In any woman's life, having children would have to be the most significant event. So, in my mother's story -- "
"Her family wasn't really any different from any of the other families."
"Yes."
"In what way?"
"She and her husband were both very active in community affairs. Both her children went to school."
"What else?"
"They were both boys?"
"Anything else?"
"No. That's it."
"So you said, that one way in which your mother's family wasn't really any different from any of the other families, was that she and her husband were both very active in community affairs. Can you tell me a little more about that?"
"Oh, sure. There was always something going on. Cub Scouts, she was like Den Mother of her older son's Cub Scout Pack. Pack 54. Plus the Comedy Club. Plus I'm pretty sure, she was involved in the kindergarten. She and her husband both. And politics. It was the Sixties."
"Just normal 60's Mom stuff."
"In any case, it's time to forget the past."
A Gift-Wrapped Copy of Penthouse Magazine
"My mother was not happy when family friends gave this to her husband as a birthday gift."
"In what way?"
"She walked out."
"Out of the party?"
"Yes."
"Where did she go?"
"She and her son walked down to the harbor to watch the fireworks. As they walked, her son said to her: I don't watch pornography. I don't even have a pornograph."
"Which . . . "
"Which is a totally normal thing to say."
"In a totally normal situation."
"Yes. She then said, Yes, that's old hat to you."
"Meaning . . . "
"Meaning nothing. It was just a random comment, that just happened to come up all by itself during the course of a totally normal conversation. For no reason. No reason at all."
"Good. Then what happened?"
"Nothing. Just normal stuff."
"So there were no consequences for anyone involved."
"Nobody was affected in any way. Ever."
"Well, It never happened. You're deluded. You lie."
"Yes. And in any case, it's time to forget the past and move on."
