Ann Arbor Part 2

I was under pressure to find my own place from Ted’s friend who’d been letting us stay at his place. Ted moved in with Sharon. Susan invited me to move in with her. Boy, that was a hard one… Hell yes, I did! She had an efficiency suite, one big room with a separate bath, and a small kitchenette at one end of the room. We shared the bed… she insisted. When Guy came up for a visit, he got the couch. He was so jealous (I know because he told me so), as he was always the one with the girlfriends when we were in high school, and he was feeling a little left out. I certainly wasn’t in the mood to share.

I did get my driver’s license back. I went home for a visit with Guy. He had his own car by then. I took care of some business and got my license reinstated. And Guy took me back to Ann Arbor. I had a job, and he was going to perform with Ted and me at the Ark that week. Then he was to return since he was working for Dad at the time. He had graduated that June. Once I had my license back, Ted found me a car that had been traded in, and I got it for $200. It was a little four door ‘60 (I think) Datson, a little 4 cylinder square box. Dad had sold my GTO by that time. He had finished paying it off as I hadn’t had a good job or made enough for the payments for several months. So, he sold it to recoup his money. The only problem with the Datson was that the heater wasn’t very good and winter in Ann Arbor was very cold. Oh, and it wasn’t American Made, as Dad loved to remind me every time he saw it, those times I’d go to Lorain for a visit…

My living situation with Susan only lasted a couple of months. She was very possessive, and when I talked to other women when playing out or at parties, she strove to get even with me, even though my conversations were pretty innocent. One night I went to a party, planning to meet her there. She came in midway through with another guy and pulled me aside and asked me to get my stuff out of her apartment as she was going to ask this new guy to move in with her. I did as she asked and stayed at Ted’s place on the floor until I found my next living space.

That took me down a peg… again. I hadn’t done anything to warrant that treatment. Susan didn’t let that guy stay with her very long. After that, she would stop by or ‘run into me’ on the street or at Marks Eatery (the Bagel Shop). One time, when I was going to work on a couple of songs with Jerianne I., a great singer I met at the Ark, She saw me walk by with my guitar and called out to me to wait up. When I explained that I was on my way to rehearse, she cajoled and insisted that she be allowed to watch and listen. That was a huge mistake, Jerianne refused to practice since Susan had tagged along. And we never did sing together. But Susan never wanted to get back together either. Unfortunately, I think she was pleased with herself for messing up my rehearsal. Susan was a recurring presence the rest of my time in Ann Arbor. We developed a quasi friendship over time and would talk for a while if we ran into each other.

The last time I saw her, she was working as a wait-person in one of the downtown eateries. We had a short chat when she went on her break. We wished each other well, and that was that.

To be Contined

–LE