#93.5 Below The Pavilion
An encounter with a The Gentleman from #93 Day 3 - NC Coast Bicycle Tour Part 1
Below The Pavilion is a story within a story. The full story of #93 Day 3 - NC Coast Bicycle Tour Part 1 was was nearing it’s word length limit, so I moved this it to here. This unique interaction between one man, who we’ll call The Gentleman, and those who catch his attention is set below a beachside pavilion at North Carolina’s Surf City.
While sitting beneath the pavilion digging snacks out of my pannier an The Gentleman yells out, “I just hooked up with a turtle!”
“What?”
“I like your bike”, remarked The Gentleman
“Oh, thanks,” I reply, still digging in my bag.
“I once had a bike like it. Now the government gives me a thousand dollars a month, plus I get social security,” he shares with me.
“That’s cool,” I respond.
A lady comes in with a dog.
“I like your dog.”
“Thanks,” she says, looking down at the animal. “I’m watching her while my friend takes a test in the water for her rescue class.”
“I used to have a dog like that. Now the government gives me a thousand dollars a month, plus I get social security.” he shares with her.
“That’s good,” says she.
Her friend enters the the pavilion as I finish my snack. They leave quickly.
The gentleman spots a much older couple sitting on the bench between the entrances and complements the woman on the wrap she’s wearing.
“My mom used to have one like it, and she’s still alive. Now the government gives me a thousand dollars a month, plus I get social security,” he shares with them.
The lady smiles and nods at him. She makes eye contact with him, that’s his opening.
He asks to borrow her phone. She looks at me, then at her husband, who doesn’t appear to be able to follow what was happening; dementia perhaps.
She looks back at me. I tell her I’m not going anywhere. She hands him her phone.
“Ma, can I borrow twenty dollars?
“Ma?”
“Yes, Ma.”
“I know, Ma.”
“I know, Ma.”
“Yes, Ma.”
“I’m Tryin’, Ma.”
“I know, Ma.”
“I know, Ma.”
On and on it went like that until…..
“Thank you, Ma.”
“I know, Ma.”
It looks like the conversation is never going to end. The lady is looking more anxious by the minute. Her body language suggests she needs to get her husband home. Her look to me suggests the same. I walk over to The Gentleman to let him know the couple needs to go home.
He quickly wraps things up.
“Ma, the lady who let me use the phone needs to go home now.”
“I know, Ma.”
“Thank You, Ma.”
“Goodbye, Ma.”
As he hands me the phone to hand to the lady he announces to everyone that he’ll be able to get a hotel tonight.
When the couple leaves I head back out to the cool water and warm sunshine. I return and walk to the outdoor showers to refill my water bottles. The Gentleman follows me.
He turns abruptly to one side, then back towards me, pointing behind him with his thumb over his shoulder, and yelled, “What did that b*tch just say to me?!?”
I look towards where he was pointing. There is no one there.
“I didn’t hear anything, man,” I respond, while placing my water bottles under the spigot.
He looks confused for a moment.
He then moves on to a surfer who walks by carrying his board under his arm, “Hey, I like your surfboard. I used to have one like it and…………..
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