Sunday Mop Up 08/03/08

Sexual Chocolate

I saw my good friend last weekend at the Big Man's event in OKC. He's really quite remarkable. He showed up on Saturday with a bag in tow- having no reservations at the hotel and had not even registered. He can't afford such luxuries. He's an artist, and somehow eeks out a living working part time jobs so that he can focus on his real work: his art.

So, while us fat guys had to arrange for rooms and register for the event months in advance, Sexual Chocolate just shows up and is taken care of by his friends. He is an amazing lover, and a good friend, to many big guys and they were more than willing to put him up in their rooms, and take care of him. When I saw him on Saturday, poolside, he had a big grin on his face as he was surrounded by big, appreciative friends who wanted his attention.

I didn't see much of him after that. Well, a few of us got together and ordered a pizza Saturday night and SC magically appeared at the door and we were happy to share our pies with him. After that sighting, though, he was nowhere to be found. Brotha was BUSY!

Now, you may recall that SC had a little accident back in April, I think it was. Remember me telling you about going to see him play in a gay volleyball tournament and how he blew out his kneecap during a game? Well, that knee was still in bad shape, although he was wearing a brace on it. Several times since the fall, he had re-injured the knee. Seems he had ripped the tendon connecting the patella to the shin, and his left knee cap was kinda floating around the front of his leg. SC has no medical insurance because he only works part-time jobs, so he had been trying to arrange some financial help in order to get the necessary surgery to stitch the patella back into place. He has a big appointment with an organization who helps people like this out on August 7th.

So, anyway, the weekend comes and goes; I see him there, we hang out a little bit, and go our separate ways. He had asked where I have been lately, and I tell him about DQ. This keeps him from even bothering with smooth-talking me, and he vanishes into the weekend to play with his friends.

On Monday, back in Austin, I get a phone call from him around noon. It was nice to see me, he tells me, and was wondering what I was doing for lunch that day. I tell him I had already eaten and he suggests that I give him a call later on that day, and maybe we could get together for dinner. I tell him that I'll call him and we hang up.

I didn't want to do dinner, so I don't call then. But later in the evening, I decide that I will call to see if he would like to take in a movie. He had mentioned in OKC that he hadn't seen "The Dark Knight" yet, and I thought it would be a nice gesture on my part to take him to see it.

I call him at 9:30PM, and tell him that there is a showing at 10:15 at a local movie house, and if he would like to go, to haul ass over to my place and we'll jump in my truck and take off from here. He says it's a great idea and that he'll be here in 15 minutes and we hang up.

The clock starts.

9:45 comes and there is no sign of him. I had jumped into the shower and was running around the place to be ready when he showed up. 10:00 comes and he still isn't here. I'm sitting in the living room, by the front door, waiting.

10:05 comes and I'm getting angry because we won't make it on time if he doesn't get here quickly. I run upstairs to grab my phone to call him to see what the hell is going on, and when I'm standing in my bedroom by the bedroom window, I hear a voice outside, calling my name. I look out the blinds and I see SC's Jeep in the driveway, but no sign of SC.

I run outside, only to find Sexual Chocolate lying in my front yard, under a tree. He had tripped over a curb, his bad knee had given out and, in an attempt at not falling, he had thrown all his weight onto his GOOD knee...

...and the good knee blew out.

He could not even stand up. The man had no knees.

I got behind him and lifted him to a standing position. He was in terrific pain. He told me that he needed to go to the Emergency Room, and I readily agreed. I grabbed an ice-pack out of my freezer, loaded him into my truck, and we drove to the hospital.

From 10:30pm until 3am we sat in the ER. It was horrific. Homeless people, crack whores, and strange, psychotic types filled the Waiting Room. It was a Monday night, and it was crazy busy.

When he was finally seen by a doctor, he was admitted into the hospital. X-rays showed that he had, indeed, ripped the tendon holding his patella on his GOOD knee as well. He had surgery on Tuesday morning, stitching both kneecaps back into place.

I've been running back and forth to the hospital all week long, checking on him. He thought he would be released in a day or two, but the doctors found he had weird liver issues and gall bladder problems that were causing some abdominal distress. They kept him until today. I spent some time this afternoon with some friends getting him transported back to the place where he lives (with a roommate), and getting him set up and comfortable. He'll be unable to use his legs for at least two weeks, and can expect to have to go through physical therapy for up to a year to get his knees fully functional.

Poor guy. This was the person who took care of me when I went to Houston for my lap-band surgery. He was there for me then. I am happy to be here for him now.

He's gonna have to wait to see "The Dark Knight" when it comes out on DVD.