I met him for the first time in 1998, Thanksgiving weekend. He immediately caught my eye from across the way. Our eyes locked, and that was it. I walked over to greet him. He cautiously trotted in my direction. Unsure what to make of me, he stopped a few yards away and just stared. Fascinated, I could watch him stare at me for hours—and I often did—until he would turn and head off in the opposite direction. “He’s playing it safe or being coy,” I thought—maybe a little bit of both. After all, I was the new stranger in town, and I had to earn his trust.
Over the years, he slowly let his guard down and became more comfortable, getting closer and closer to me with each visit. I spoke gently to him. He’d respond with nonchalant indifference, as English wasn’t his first, second, or last language. Sometimes I tried speaking his language, but he just looked at me like I was crazy.
His strong-but-silent nature drew me in, and my fascination turned to infatuation. I couldn’t get enough of him, and he knew it. In later years, I tried playing hard to get, and it worked. He’d sense my distance and would yell for me first thing in the morning, screaming “WAKE UP, PETE!”
“Your boyfriend is calling for you,” Danny would say while pulling a pillow over his ears. You might ass-ume Danny, my lawfully wedded husband, would be jealous. Far from it. While Danny stayed above the bray, he helped foster a bond between us, often encouraging my buddy to say “hi” to me.
Underneath it all, I believe a shallow-seated insecurity motivated Danny. You see, he’s flat-butted—pancaked, steamrolled from thigh to back. Meanwhile, my “boyfriend” is all ass. And Danny just wanted me to have something he couldn’t give me.
Our friendship went on like this for over 25 years. It wasn’t love per se; it was mutual recognition and adoration. We came to respect each other for who we were—different creatures on different journeys who shared a little time together on this earth.
I recently learned my friend died earlier this year. I will miss him. Long live Hotshot!
He was a friend of mine. RIP Hotshot.
