Part LIX

It was less than a month later when Paul and Allan offered me a place as they were looking to rent an apartment near our new church and in January of 1990, we moved into the only low-income housing in the area. We affectionately called this area, the crime zone. It was only a couple of square blocks in the middle of an upscale neighborhood, but it seemed to be the only place police would visit in the area. Paul was in film school and cast me in a couple of his student films and we had a great time making them. I was always more of a dialogue guy, but Paul understood the value of a visual effect and a sight gag. Physical comedy was his forte and honestly, I was not all that physical. But, Paul cast me and I enjoyed the films, my particular favorite was "Love Dweeb." During the shooting of Love Dweeb, I began dating a girl from church named April. She was an actress and a dancer and we actually both got a talking to from the College pastor about whether or not it was wise for two actors to date....ahh Christians and their prejudice, good times.

As it turned out, it was an unnecessary warning. April was driven, I was not. April was wealthy, I was not. April's parents did not like me, I felt the same toward them. The only thing we had in common was mutual attraction and the stage. In May, I ended it with April and felt I was pretty clear about it. One night about a week later, we had a drama ministry meeting at April's house. Afterward, as was our habit, a bunch of us guys went to Denny's for late night fun. On the way out, April begged me to stay so we could talk and I was talked out, we had discussed and discussed and she could not understand that it was just over. So, the guys and I went out and a couple of the girls from the group (or maybe only one, I am not sure) remained behind to help April through her emotions. Soon thereafter, I noticed that one of the girls in the group, Cathy Thompson, seemed to have a pretty strong dislike for me. Since it wasn't that unusual for someone to take a disliking to me, I didn't think that much of it ... but when the time arrived, I was prepared to confront her about it.

The time arrived in early July of 1990. I had already started dating another girl from the group, but she had taken a vacation in France and was not around when it came time for the College group camping trip. because she was not around, I ended up with a lot of time on my hands for the trip. One night, because I saw her sitting there, I went up to Cathy and asked her what her problem was. We talked for three hours. In this talk, she explained to me that she was very upset about how I had treated her friend, April. I explained to her that I did not break up with April that night, but a week before and that I had talked at length, on multiple occasions with April, and I just didn't feel like ruining another night with pointless discussion. At the end of our long talk, Cathy and I decided to be good friends and I made efforts to call her and check up on her as often as I could.