A Modern Love
Page 2
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Well I guess they say what goes up must come down, every coin has a heads and a tales, or even yin and yang. Because if for every good there is an evil, then I guess Miss Donna would be the good of The Villa and Frank would have to be the polar opposite.
Let me tell you a bit about Frank Whitney. Not one of our happiest apartment dwellers to say the least. Frank is a sixty-something widower and our resident busy body, troublemaker and on his best day, jokester.
Frank always has a word for someone, or actually a piece of his mind. Some of Frank's catch phrases are: Can I be Frank with you? To hell with the pleasantries; You'll never make the big-time if you waste your time on small-talk; Sonny (or Girly) let's git down ta buidness; Oh don't make me get in the red now, don't make me go to a dark place witcha (followed with an evil grin); I despise happy people; Well what goes up must go down ? to hell; Well fella, this is as cheerful as me gets. And my all time favorite Frank catch phrase: Rock on ? you horse's ass (pronounced ars).
No, Frank is not what one would call a cheerful fellow, but he does have some endearing qualities and I will list those just as soon as I can remember any of them.
Frank was born and raised in Frankfort, Kentucky, the capital city. This has given Frank an air of big city, I'm better than these small town hicks, attitude. I actually think Frank might believe Frankfort was somehow named after him.
Frank moved to Owensboro about 10 years ago, just after his wife Wendy past away, because he thought it would be "nice" to live in a small town near the river.
Frank calls himself an agnostic but behaves and talks far more like an atheist. He is this way due to his high intelligence and Ph.D. status; history was, and often still is it seems, his field of teaching. He believes only dumb people have "blind faith". But I think he's also a bit tainted on such matters due to his wife Wendy's passing.
Frank absolutely adored his late wife Wendy and has become bitter in her absence. They never had any children as Wendy could not, and Frank never really thought about kids beyond that.
Frank doesn't drink because he believes himself so smart that he has better things to do with his brain cells. Parties are not on the menu either as he believes it is a waste of time when there is much thought to be done, why waste time with idle chit chat at parties. He is not a small talker; that is for sure.
In social situations, Frank has a tendency to say something (half way) intelligent and then under his breath with his head turned, or slowly walking away, he says the most God awful stuff. He can be, on the surface anyway, very; very negative. But deep down he loves people; though he would never let them know this. This has to be because Frank is bitter at God and everyone around him for taking his beloved Wendy so soon.
Frank was brought up in a two parent non-divorce family. Both of his parents were Ph.D.'s (Mother's in History, Father's in Mathematics). By all accounts, he was a spoiled only child with an easy life and had most things simply handed to him. Frank grew up with no real sense of the average persons struggles just to get by. It goes without saying that Frank is smart, but book smarts and total smarts can differ by many points, I'd say.
Frank's childhood was so uneventful that it really doesn't merit mentioning too many details. It was just too easy for Frank as virtually all things were given to him. He was a brain, not a jock, and didn't mind not being too popular as people were dumb anyway, so he never cared what they thought.
Later on in life Frank married Wendy. She was the absolute love of his life and soul mate; Wendy also was a fine balance to Frank's course personality, keeping him in check so to speak. Frank not only loved Wendy, he truly liked her as well.
Frank's a bitter old man with nothing better to do than make everyone else's life difficult. He nearly always seems to find the time and energy to say mean things to folks on a daily basis. However, it's pretty darn obvious he wants to be around people; whey else live in an apartment building when he could live in a house away from folks. I think really deep down he's a good guy that cares. I also think he has a crush on Miss Donna, that he envies her positive caring nature. But he can't let folks know this because he's still so bitter at the Lord and folks in general about Wendy's passing.
My true thoughts about Frank can be summed up simply as: Frank is an ASS to others, but deep down inside he really loves them and wants to be loved.
With all Franks negativity you may find it hard to believe that he really loves others, so let me give you a short example of where I'm coming from.
Being a busy college Professor at Kentucky State University, Frank never really had time for friends. His wife Wendy did though and had many friends, of which several of them were near and dear to Wendy's heart.
One particular friend, Gladys Hargrave I believe Frank called her, lost her husband in a car accident on the way home from work one Tuesday evening. Gladys's husband, Joe, was a hard working gentleman. He never made much money, being a locksmith, but Gladys never cared as she believed the low stress job helped him be a better husband and father to their five year old and eighteen month old children.
It was a rainy evening that Tuesday and Joe was on his way home from a key changing job at a residence on the outskirts of Frankfort. Taking his time, as Joe always did, he was a model driver obeying most, if not all, the traffic laws. Joe knew the dangers of travel and would never even risk a yellow light, especially after having children.
As he approached the intersection of Broadway and Lewis Streets he made sure his light was well in the green before he drove on through. Unfortunately, a drunk driver running in the cross traffic was neither as careful nor as sober as Joe on this day.
It always made Gladys feel better to know the police told her Joe didn't suffer; it was what they call a T-bone accident and Joe was gone quickly. Frank often mentioned this story as yet another reason not to drink; kills your brain cells and can kill others too, he would say.
While Frank never really cared for Gladys much, always thought of her as a chatter box, and never even met Joe; Frank showed great compassion for Gladys and her kids. Frank would take the time to stop by Gladys's at least three times a week to see if she needed any help around the house. In fact up until Frank moved to Owensboro, every time he would mow his yard he would load up the lawnmower and go over and mow Gladys's yard as well; even after her children were old enough to mow it for her.
In fact, Gladys's children are where Frank really showed his love for others. At the start it was mainly Bobby that Frank showed attention to, because as a five year old he could somewhat understand the difficulty of losing a father, while the eighteen month old Laura couldn't. But sure as Laura grew up Frank was there for her as well.
Why Frank would spend at least one evening a week and sometimes half a Saturday taking those kids to the park or carnival, state fair, ball games and such. He would always tell Wendy that those kids need to have a man around to understand how to behave. See Frank thought a bit old fashion about the man's role. However, Wendy knew that Frank got more out of those children than he would ever admit. Wendy knew that of course the kids needed a manly figure around on occasion, and they gained a great deal from it; but she also knew that Frank loved those kids and in fact adored them. Frank was in fact getting as much or more from the relationship with the children, than the kids were themselves.
To this day Frank still see's them on occasion and always sends them fifty dollars on their birthdays. He sees them as his own children, though he never impresses that upon them. He actually doesn't feel like he has lived a life without kids. He feels he has contributed to Bobby and Laura's lives in the best way he knows how, by freedom of choice. He chose to help them and be a part of their lives, and that brings him joy; though he would never tell anyone in those words.
Yah, from my perspective Frank may have a coarse way about him but underneath he's just an old softy.