has lived in the same house since he was born
he’s lived in that old stucco place on tortilla flats
for 41 years
and you have to climb 70 stairs of
overgrown ivy and crushed snails
to get to the front door where
he lives with his mother
alone in this place with 5 bedrooms
his sister Sally used to live there too
but she died of an aneurysm three years ago
and ever since their mother has
refused to leave the house
she hasn’t left the house at all
for any reason
she just stays on the couch watching basic cable
eating whatever Gabe the Mod brings up for her
watching videos on their old VCR
and smoking Marlboro Lights while he goes out drinking
Gabe the Mod wakes up to an 18 pack
every morning and doesn’t stop drinking til he
passes out listening to the Quadrophenia soundtrack
in his car
sometimes a cigarette in hand
we don’t know what’s going to happen to him
but it can’t be good
my dad and I talk about it more and more often now
sometimes the phone calls come in
at 4 am
Gabe the Mod blasting an old 70s theme song
or quoting 45 minutes worth of Jaws
he has this amazing fact recall and can recite
whole movies word for word
pause for pause
could have done a thousand things with
all that passion, you know
Gabe the Mod is my godfather
I used to call him my nino
everyone protested and my grandmother
in particular thought it was sacrilege for
some one like that to even be at the baptism
but that’s the way my dad was
he didn’t care what anyone said
and now my grandmother’s dead
and they’ve been friends for over 25 years
even though when I was 13 he put his
hand on my thigh and asked me if I’d ever read Lolita
Gabe the Mod collects film memorabilia
and owes over 20,000 dollars to
various credit card companies because he had to have
the official Brandon Lee Crow action figure
an exact replica of Stryder’s sword from Lord of the Rings
a James Bond Edition Rolex
he’s a man who knows what he wants
and has to have it with no concern for the cost
it’s not really his fault
I mean, it is and it isn’t
you see, his mother never made him grow up
she always coddled him, paid his way
maybe she felt guilty that his father
walked out on them
maybe a lot of things
but the fact is Gabe the Mod didn’t have
a real job until he was 32 when he applied at Costco
and they hired him as a meat cutter
he got paid decent money, was given
union representation and everything until
La Gata Negra made the scene
La Gata Negra or the Beast with No Name
was his manager and he took up with her for
a month or so of sex and drinking
according to him she was a neighborhood girl
with a slight, permanent hunch
and a questionable weight problem
they maintained relations until she found
another meat cutter and then Gabe the Mod
got furious and went on a drunk to end all drunks
driving by her house, throwing shit on her lawn
calling her cell phone at 2 in the morning
bursting into tears at supermarkets and
in the middle of the street
“I TOOK HER ASS CHERRY, MAN!”
“SHE SAID SHE LOVED ME, THAT FUCKING WHORE!”
but I guess that’s just how it goes with women
I guess that’s how it goes with Gabe the Mod and love
he’s never had much luck in that department
even when he was handsome before all that
drunk-bloat kicked in
he’s like all of my dad’s friends
like my dad
somewhere along the line they all got bitter
and gave up
they all have sad stories,
failures piled upon failures
but I think Gabe the Mod is by far the worst
maybe because he was the closest
maybe because I saw him get worse
go from a drinker to a drunk
and now that I’m older I can
see it for what it is
and he’ll never put his hand on my thigh again
because I’m grown up now and he isn’t
a few years back he spent thousands of dollars
having Ace Face of Quadrophenia’s scooter replicated
that whole year he only wore Fred Perry
and listened to skiffle
the bike got shipped all over the place,
parts were imported from all over
it passed hands, there were setbacks and
mistakes, technical issues, money issues
it took a long time and when finally
the whole business was finished
and every detail had been replicated
down to the license plate and the exact
shade of the bumper stickers
Gabe the Mod wheeled it into his garage
where it’s been ever since
sometimes when he’s drunk he puts on
a sharkskin suit, puts on Love Reign O’er Me
and passes out like that
holding the handle bars
but it hasn’t moved in so long
it doesn’t run anymore
it’s totally useless.