No, Really, I Am an American

So we ended up leaving Wizard World at like 4 PM. We didn’t know if our services would be needed at Grant and Al’s, though (that and we didn’t know where the place was) so we thought we would call ahead.

I kinda figured that Grant and Al wouldn’t necessarily be able to reach their phones (I envisioned them delegating duties or holding boxes or something of that nature) so I gave Chris O’s phone a ring instead.

At first, things were kind of vague; there was talk of errands or some such, but no one really knew exactly what errands we would be sent on. Eventually, it was determined that we would be more a hindrance than anything else at that particular moment, so we ended up going back to the Settlement first.

Bert was conquering things when we arrived. We put on the Cubs/Sox game to have something on, and for the most part we just chillaxed. There was talk of food, and for whatever reason I really had a taste for mac ‘n’ cheese, like the Kraft blue box kind. We ended up settling on Wendy’s though, which was just as five-by-five.

We got a phone call from Chris around 6 or so, letting us know that the apartment was more or less ready for unofficial gathering (I think GrAl had designs on having a apartment warming, but I’m not really sure). I got directions from Al, and after some additional chilling, we were on our merry way.

Yoss Mike was still tired from wandering around the convention and having had only four-ish hours of sleep the night before (he and VoW went to a wedding), so Toni drove Bug-Bug (I don’t know if he gets a hyphen, but it seemed right). I’ve never ridden in Bug-Bug before, so I was pretty excited.

It seemed to me that we were on the road forever, but I think maybe that was just because I’d never been to their place before and usually for me, the first time visiting a place is always forever long. I was trying to figure out if it was farther than Downers Grove or not ‘cuz I used to drive there all the time to visit Scott. In my head, it was closer than Scott’s place, but I could very well be making that up.

We had a minor mishap involving a mostly covered street sign, but after we realized we missed the street, we turned around and found the apartment building right quick.

Grant and Al’s place was in the back corner of the courtyard. I thought it was cool that they got a courtyard out of the deal. It was a nice brick building, and it made me think of university. You know, ‘cuz we all lived in apartments and stuffs eventually. We were fortunate enough to have Rich spot us from the window, so the door was already buzzing when we got into the entrance.

The apartment itself has hardwood floors and such. The little entryway had its own closet and opened up into the front room. I think there might be like a super technical name for it, but in apartments, I always think of it as a front room for whatever reason. There was a bit of a hallway that had the bedroom to the right and then if you turn left it brings you to the dining room. I so rarely think of apartments having dining rooms, but I’m pretty sure that’s what the room is called ‘cuz the kitchen was a place of its very own.

I hung out in that room initially, telling folk about the convention and how much it sucked that Michael Turner died, and also about the lack of autographs thing. Mr. and Mrs. Price were there too. I dunno if they cared much about comics, but Mrs. Price seemed to feign interest in it.

I kinda missed out on the Al-tour thing ‘cuz I was too busy talking about comics, so I made me Da do it. So very straight forward. I mean, walking through the place to start out with kinda gave me an idea of the layout of the apartment, but it’s always nice to get an official tour. For whatever reason, I really liked the closet with the pipes. They’re not like for water or anything, they just seem to be there for hanging stuff.

To me, the apartment is ginormous. But then again, my perception of apartments has changed greatly in the last two years. I still think it’s incredibly suitable for hosting gatherings and whatnot.

For whatever reason, I found myself in the dining room again. I think it’s ‘cuz it has a table and I seem to like tables. Mr. Price came out of the kitchen and said something to me about taking care of Lucy. I’d been mishearing people all day so at first, I had no idea what he was talking about. Yoss Mike had to interpret for me. He said something about paying me, which sent me into a panic. I liked hanging out with Lucy, it gave me something to do, and I got to watch TV, so it wasn’t really a chore at all. That and Lucy is pretty easy-going and not at all demandy. Since I’m a spaz, I ended up fleeing the room.

I wandered into the front room where most everyone else seemed to be. I found myself a spot on the floor and just sat down. There were these sheets that needed to be laundered, though, so I decided to tag along with Logan and Al to the laundry room. It also gave me an opportunity to use the kitchen entrance. I thought that was cool.

Logan took us around the building. He said there were two ways to get into the laundry room, but he wanted to take us the creepy way first. He wasn’t kidding when he said it was creepy. The hallway to the entrance was kinda scary. When we paused at the door to use the key, I couldn’t help but notice there was a little space between beside the door. It was something like a gap between the side of the building and wherever we were. I looked up to see sky and pipes and I totally thought about Fray’s shower. I kinda laughed to myself envisioning Grant and Al trying to use that space as a shower (and because I have the feeling y’all are jerks, I mean the part where they balance between the bricks on the side of each wall, not the naked part — jerks!).

Walking through the storage area was like a scene out of a horror movie. I could totally see that place as a set for one. There were creepy lights, and shadowy corners and a cement floor. (Hmmm. I wonder if Weise needs to film a creepy horror movie murder scene…) I for one wouldn’t ever want to do laundry there, especially at night! It didn’t seem too bad during the day once you actually got to the laundry area, but it certainly seemed like the creepy kind of place where people could totally jump out at you from one of the corners and drag you off in a burlap sack. (I hope Grant and Al carry a weapon of some kind when they go to do laundry.)

When we got to the machines, Al realized she didn’t bring any detergent. It didn’t seem to matter, though ‘cuz it turns out everyone just leaves theirs in the laundry room, marked with their apartment numbers.

We ended up “borrowing” a cap full.

The way out was far less scary, just a little blue hallway with a precariously hanging ceiling light.

I wish I could remember what we did thereafter, but I really cant. I remember going back into the front room and hanging out on the floor. I also remember hanging out at the dining room table. While I was sitting there, I came to the sad realization that I can always find neat reading spots in other people’s places, but not mine own. ‘Tis most frustrating.

Evan came by at some point during the night. I thought it was really great to see him ‘cuz I think it’s been like three years since I’d seen him last. Weise also put in an appearance.

Everyone ended up leaving the apartment at 11.

I’m really glad that Grant and Al have their own place. It’s doubly awesome that it’s such a nice place. Grant was saying there are a few things that he wishes they would have noticed more before, like the fact that the dumpster is right under their bedroom window, but the most part he’s satisfied with the find.

I hope to be able to visit the apartment again some time.