When recalling my first visits to Dan's house, his older brother Kenny comes more vividly than Dan himself.
The first thing I thought about Ken was that he seemed so big. He looked so strong, walked around like he owned the place, and swore basically every sentence. On our bus rides back to Dan's house Ken would loudly say lewd things loudly that you'd only expect to come from the bad boys Hollywood crafted but who didn't actually exist in the real world. Ken said these things loudly for everyone around to hear.
He was two years older than me and Dan but looked like an adult. A cool adult. All the actual adults I knew were lame. They worked boring jobs and always sat around talking and not doing anything cool. Plus they didn't look like they could bench press a lot. But Kenny was cool. He watched wrestling, listened to uncensored rap music, was good at football, already was having sex and smoking weed. Or at least he talked a lot about these last two. I actually never saw him do either. But in my head he was this cool, strong, stoner, stud -- I also thought he was really good looking -- who would one day play in the NFL and also be in the WWE.
One of the first things Ken said to me was, "Dan tells me you're a really good punter."
"Yeah. I can punt pretty far."
"Good. First thing we're doing when we get home is we're going to play football. And you're punting."
I couldn't wait to show off far I could punt a football. The entire bus ride I visualized the football soaring through the air above Kenny and Dan's head, Kenny turning around and aweing in disbelief with Dan with a big smile, "I told you."
The first thing I thought about Ken was that he seemed so big. He looked so strong, walked around like he owned the place, and swore basically every sentence. On our bus rides back to Dan's house Ken would loudly say lewd things loudly that you'd only expect to come from the bad boys Hollywood crafted but who didn't actually exist in the real world. Ken said these things loudly for everyone around to hear.
He was two years older than me and Dan but looked like an adult. A cool adult. All the actual adults I knew were lame. They worked boring jobs and always sat around talking and not doing anything cool. Plus they didn't look like they could bench press a lot. But Kenny was cool. He watched wrestling, listened to uncensored rap music, was good at football, already was having sex and smoking weed. Or at least he talked a lot about these last two. I actually never saw him do either. But in my head he was this cool, strong, stoner, stud -- I also thought he was really good looking -- who would one day play in the NFL and also be in the WWE.
One of the first things Ken said to me was, "Dan tells me you're a really good punter."
"Yeah. I can punt pretty far."
"Good. First thing we're doing when we get home is we're going to play football. And you're punting."
I couldn't wait to show off far I could punt a football. The entire bus ride I visualized the football soaring through the air above Kenny and Dan's head, Kenny turning around and aweing in disbelief with Dan with a big smile, "I told you."