Shannon_(0)

Shannon,

I never liked Dave, and I don’t think that there are many people who do. I mean, he has plenty of friends, but there are only a couple that really “liked” him. In my mind he was a bully and a braggart. He was what many might call “a man’s man”, arrogant, brash and gregarious.

We were the same age and we had gone to the same high school, but I barely knew him back then. Actually, the only reason I had heard of him was because he was always getting into trouble, and his notoriety of being a “bad boy” was known throughout the school. We ran in different circles. I was a “jock”, lettered in football, basket ball, and track. I was elected to the student council and president of the photography club. I seemed to be well liked, quiet and bashful. That’s another area that Dave and I differed. He always had some giggling girl trailing in his wake, where as I was a virgin until near the end of my first year at Florida State where I majored in Photo Journalism.

As far as I know Dave never went to college. His dad owned an auto parts store and Dave went to work for him right out of high school. It seemed to work well for him because when I was home for Christmas my junior year, I read in the paper that their parts store business had grown to fifteen stores throughout the greater Atlanta area.

When I returned from FSU I was able to get a job at the local ABC affiliate TV station as a remote camera man. I also did side video photography jobs like weddings and reunions, that type of stuff. That’s how Dave and my paths crossed.

I picked up my ringing cell phone and answered “Bill’s Video.”

Hey buddy, I don’t know if you remember me or not but we went to high school together. This is Dave Bennett.”

Surprised, I answered, “Sure, I remember you, how have you been?”

“Fuckin great! Hey Bill, Tommy Denton says you do videotaping.”

“Sure do, why, are you getting married?”

Dave belched out a nasty laugh and practically yelled out “FUCK NO. I want you to film my brother’s bachelor party.”

“Well I have never done one before,” I said hesitantly, “but I guess there’s always a first time.
I took down all of the pertinent information, as I hung up I wondered if I was getting in over my head. At thirty three, I still had not married and had not yet even had a serious relationship. The longest was for about six months. I had a couple of old girl friends that were fuck buddies, but that was it.

Dave wanted two video cameras for the shoot, one for overall coverage and one for close ups. For some reason I really wanted to do a good job for Dave, so I decided to add a still camera to the mix for free. I was still in touch with my old high school camera club buddies and I used them whenever I need help on a job. So I called John Knowles and Mike Carver and booked them for Friday night.

Friday, the guys met me my home and we loaded up my van with the equipment we would need. Dave was paying a pretty penny for this event and it was a good thing too because I really needed the cash. Video equipment isn’t cheap.

We arrived early at the banquet hall that Dave had rented, I instructed Mike and John to bring in the equipment and went in search of Dave. The hall looked like it could hold about fifty to seventy people. I noticed the caterers were setting up a bar and setting out a small buffet of finger foods. Dave was going all out for his little brother. I found Dave with a couple of other guys dragging in a king size mattress in through the back door. They leaned it against the wall and covered it with a sheet. I tapped Dave on the shoulder and stuck out my hand.

“Dave, I’m Bill Evans.”

Turning, Dave looked up into my eyes and said. “The video guy right?”

I nodded, and we shook hands.

“I’ll never forget that play you made against Riverdale to win the county championship. Hella’va fuckin catch.” He said still pumping my arm.

“Thanks.” I mumbled.

Dave had definitely let himself go. In high school he had a fairly decently body, now it looked more like it belonged to Tony Soprano rather than Tony Danza. Whereas I had continued to work out and keep fit, Dave had put on some serious weight and his gut was beginning to hang over his belt. We probably both weighed the same but I was six three and he was about five ten or eleven and like Soprano, he was losing his hair.

I asked Dave, “Give me an idea what you are planning and if there is anything special that you would like me to make sure is in the video.”

“I’m sure you know how to do your job, however there is one thing I would like. I want you to make it into two parts, the bachelor party, and then the cunt. Think you can handle that buddy?” Then he turned and started to walk away, stopping he turned and looked back at me. “Before things get moving why don’t you go and interview the entertainment.”

“Where are they?” I asked.

He pointed to a door on his right that said “LADIES.” Then he was gone.

“Makes sense,” I said to myself.

Mike and John had the equipment stacked neatly over by a baby grand piano that was pushed in to the corner out of the way. We surveyed the area and I gave them their assignments. Johnny was to operate the stationary long shot video and Mike would run around getting still shots. I would take one of the portable cameras and follow the action.

I snatched up the shoulder mount video and headed for the “LADIES” room.

I knocked on the door and a squeaky female voice asked “Who is it?”

“Camera man,” I yelled. “They want me to interview the entertainment.”

I heard excited giggling and then. “Come in”.

Pushing the door open, I ducked down to make sure the camera cleared the door frame and with video running I strolled in to the bathroom. There were three women; two were standing in front of a large mirror putting on gobs of makeup.