Springle... The House

Gene Dunlap...One of the nicest men on Earth. He was not really one of mom's boyfriends (she liked the married, crazy ones), though he badly wanted to be. Mom grew up with him, and according to her, he had been in love with her since childhood. Gene was educated, well-spoken, well-dressed, non-alcoholic, non-smoking, kind, and financially well-off (not really mom's type). Maybe mom felt more comfortable dating questionable men because she thought she did not deserve a nice man. She had always said that she was the black sheep of the family.

Mom went on two "pity dates" with Gene. She said he was too dark and ugly for her. She also did not like his prominent eyes. I thought he was very nice looking. But mom thought MLK was ugly because he had full lips and a broad nose. All of my Black readers will understand this frame of thought. Back in the day, in the Black culture (particularly in the US), you were considered more attractive if you were lighter skinned, and had more Eurocentric features (smaller nose, thinner lips, longer straighter hair). I think mom was a bit nuts, because her dad was very dark (maybe she thought he was ugly too). And, though my dad was not dark, he had full lips and a broad nose. Dad was considered quite handsome. Stephen used to say that "God put dad's nose on with a butter knife and that when he sneezed, he killed at least three people every time." Mom also dated Herman Blalock who was very dark, not so handsome, with full lips and a broad nose. Herman was more her type though. He was married, mean and controlling, drank, spent money, and had a big car.

But, back to Gene. I think what scared mom the most was that Gene was the marrying kind. Stephen and I wished mom would marry Gene. He was nice. He took us nice places (the two times we got to see him). He was not drunk or mean. He actually talked to us instead of treating us like we were in the way. Gene was sort of like a grownup friend. He took us fishing once (I caught a catfish.) I had never been fishing before. I was not afraid to put the worm on the hook because I liked to garden and was used to worms. When I pulled the fish out of the water and it was flapping around, mom said "put your foot on his head." I did this and was able to get the hook out of its mouth. When I reached to pick the fish up to throw it in the bucket it started flapping again. This startled me and I kicked it. The fish went flying and landed on the roof of Gene's car parked nearby. I was afraid that I would get yelled at, but Gene just laughed, showed me how to pick the fish up, and threw it in the bucket. Stephen never tried fishing that day because he was afraid of the worm. So instead, he just kind of poked around the area. He almost caught a frog, but he was afraid to touch that too. He reached to pick the frog up and it jumped. Stephen let out a high-pitched squeak/squeal (almost like a scream but not as loud) and started to cry. Gene comforted him and explained that the frog could not hurt him because it did not have teeth. Just a sticky tongue. Gene treated us like a caring father would have. While all of these shenanigans were going on, mom was sitting on a bench near the car smoking and drinking alone. I have no clue why Gene even liked her. Maybe he felt the need to "save" her.

Sigh... so that relationship never happened. It was doomed from the start. Gene never had a chance. He was too nice. One could only wish.