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Steven's Story...Life, Times, Friends and Lovers
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Life and Times
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I was born on the Island of Staten on a cold winters evening of February 15, 1968. And thats about all I can remember, until I received my first stitches performing an Evil Kenevil daredevil act on my Huffy around the tender age of 10. Little did I know I would soon be a fixture at the wonderful Hospital of St. Vincents performing more fearless acts on my new model Mongoose. I started to make a name for myself around Westerleigh Park for my death defying bicycle jumps that easily cleared two sanitation garbage containers with a living person lying between them. But the roar of the crowds and those blinding hospital lights would soon be just another memory filed away until years later when I would decide to write my first web page.In 1984 my life no longer consisted of dirt bikes and stick ball bats. The baseball cards that once got bent around the edges in my front pocket were replaced by a Marlboro red hard pack. And the Yoo Hoo's that I could suck down in 7 seconds flat were replaced by Budweiser nips. Which I had been known to down in 5. The Incognito 9 we called ourselves, even though their was 12 of us. A few of us weren't around the night we thought up the name. Skippy, Debbie, Dean, Michelle, Ray, (every crowd had a Donna in 82), Mickey, Espo, Fitz, Jose, Lynn, Louis and Me.We all grew up around The Park and that was the meeting place every night after dinner. Westerleigh Park took up a full neighborhood block and was surrounded by mostly two family houses separated by one driveway on either side. You always new what your neighbors were having for dinner that evening from the smell in the summertime air. The park had a couple of dozen really old tree's with a bandstand in the middle. My favorite tree was the giant Birch that every generation would carve up. I took a bike ride back to the niegborhood early in the summer and you can hardly make out the names now. Even the the wood railings that we spent so many labor intensive hours carving our girlfriends names into were replaced by metal now. We hung out around the bandstand and the older crowd hung at the top of the park. The top was a much cooler spot because you were able to hang out around your car. If you were lucky enough to drive legally.
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Friends and Criminal Figures
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Even though we were around 15 and 16 years old at the time we still managed to manipulate a vehicle every now and then. Skippy was always good for coming across with a dull yellow Chevy van with no muffler at least twice a week. I never found out how Skippy managed to commandeer a big yellow van at 15 years old, but then again Skippy always had this mystique about him. He had an older brother Joey who sold fireworks around the neighborhood right around the Fourth of July. And he helped Skippy take cars apart and put them back together before he even had a license. I was lucky if I could change the oil. The Repo Man had this tattoo of a parrot on his left calve. The white Caper sneakers only complimented the white sweatpants rolled to the knee and brought out in magnificent detail and color this exotic bird that he never owned. But then again maybe his Mother tattoo on the his right bicep was a little more artistic, I forgot. Skippy was only around for a summer or two so I never got a chance to really know him or his parrot. Last I heard he was well on his way to starting The Skippy Bunch.Even though we all hung out together the crowd always seemed a little cliquey. Mickey and Dean never did anything without one another. Dean was the smallest in the crowd , so therefore had the sharpest tongue. Mickey, on the other hand, who received a football scholarship to Villanova, was built like a truck. Despite his rather large physic he was a true gentleman for his age the all our parents loved him. My father stills remember when he saw Mickey carrying 3 of us on his back passed my house on our way to Fortune Cookie. That was a Chinese joint just outside the neighborhood that had the best BBQ roast pork around. Dean who had a slight reputation with the parents in the neighborhood was a different story. He was the first person to teach me how to roll a joint with those European filters in them and told me where to score the best double barrel purples. Last I heard he was on the last leg of a 5-7 rap upstate for possession.
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Lovers
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Well, let me tell you that I didn't have a clue about women until a couple of broken hearts later. One of my first broken hearts was brought upon by Debbie. She was the girl who lived next door literally, and who I spent a great deal of my childhood with. Debbie was my first wife, Doctor, mailman, and nurse all before I knew how to tie my shoes. Nothing much ever materialized between Debbie and myself even as we grew older together. I think it might have had something to do with our parents not getting along. I will never forget one Christmas morning when Debbie's mother accidentally dialed my parents number while I was opening my gifts.My mom should have won an Oscar for such a performance. Shortly after that Debbie started dating some guy Jeff from Port Richmond and they got married after a seven year courtship. We stopped speaking after I pulled a no-show at her engagement party. About 5 years passed before Debbie called me to find out how I was doing. She just wanted some gossip, I guess being married with two kids at 29 would make you yearn for it. So I told her that I just got out of a semi-serious relationship and I was living with two roommates named Tara and Lisa a block from the ferry. She later found out Tara and Lisa are Gay so she took it upon herself to assume that I was also. In less than a month rumors were flying around town that I wasn't just gay, but that I was a flaming queen bordering on drag. Now let me tell you that could not be farther from the truth. I may not be the most masculine man in town , but a drag queen? I'm actually 5'7'' shaved head with trendy facial hair and I dress very smart. Come to think of it I do fit the profile , but that is not the case as much as she wanted it to be. I hope you come back to find out how the kid and his life turned out. E - Mail [email protected] Sign My Guestbook  View My Guestbook
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