The Story of the Vase - Part Four

For the entire story, click The Story of the Vase topic at the end of this post, in the sidebar to your right, or just click here.

People's lives change over time and mine did during the time I knew Rodney.  I quit my job as an engineer and took some time off to learn how to write.  I'd been working full-time or close to it since high school and it was scary to just drop all the security of a job regardless how ridiculous the hours and meager the pay, but I did. 

Slowly I became close friends with Jack and with both up and down Rodney.  At the same time I tolerated Bob and tried to ignore Vance, but since they were always around, they deserve mention, especially with what was to come. 

For now I'll get back to Rodney.  You know those people who are so full of outrageous stories that you know they're making them up?  Quit pointing fingers at me people, I'm asking this question for real.  Rodney was one of those people.  He'd grown up in Minneapolis, but had escaped to Paris before graduating high school and had parlayed his talent for make-up and hair styling into several different mostly incredible jobs.  He claimed to have worked in Hollywood and in Minnesota on dozens of music videos and some movies.  His stable of stars included George Michael, Apollonia, Vanity, Sheena Easton, Prince and all of the Revolution, and The Time.  He claimed to have gone on tour with Prince a couple of times and to have worked on the movie, Purple Rain.  He talked about the enormous amounts of money he earned and the equally enormous amounts of money he spent on antiques, ceramics, glass and drugs.  He told me about an antique store he supposedly co-owned with a former boyfriend and how much money it earned for him.  His stories of wealth, tales of wild sexual encounters, descriptions of virtual buffets of amphetamines and hallucinogens, and his penchant for talking about how he changed all those famous people's lives through his presence made the whole narratives something more incredible than I cared to believe. 

Bob and Vance had nothing but scorn for Rodney and would make fun of him on every occasion.  Their homophobia turned to homo-bashing at the slightest provocation.  However, like annoying juveniles threats of violence merely encouraged them, they were like a team of taunters.  It wasn't long before Rodney didn't tell his stories when those two were around, instead just to Jack and I. 

At night it was Up Rodney, in the morning it was Down Rodney.  In the beginning it was flamboyant, fashionable drag queen Rodney, but as the years went on and Down Rodney took over, he became flabby and depressed and eventually stopped caring what he wore, instead going for what still fit.  Often what fit would be on him for days at a time.  Predictably he lost his job.  His control of the booze was a lost cause, and the pills seemed to appear in his pockets at will.  He was Down Rodney even when he was high, crying nearly all the time and lamenting the loss of his life.  “What am I going to do?”  he'd ask.  “I'm broke.  I've never been broke.  They'll throw me out on the street.  What am I going to do?” 

He was in tears and I reached out to him in a way that I thought might be helpful.  “Do you have anything you want to try and sell?” 

“Sure, but the store - it isn't going well.  People have stopped buying and I just have to wait and wait, hoping that someone will come in and spend a few bucks.  I think we're going to have to close it.”

“Rodney,” I asked, “is there really a store?” 

“Yes, of course there is.  I can show you.”

“Look, I have an idea.  Why don't we take a few items that you were going to sell anyway and throw them up on eBay and see what happens.”  I had to explain eBay to him.  He'd never owned a computer, never had an email address, and had never heard of eBay.  At this time, eBay was becoming huge; it was the biggest thing going. 

We drove out to the suburbs and he showed me the store.  It was real and held as much merchandise as his apartment held.  Mostly the items were duplicates of what he owned back home, but there were also a lot of pieces I didn't recognize at all.  Thus began my education into the world of collectible porcelain.  I would've never guessed how much was involved in the hobby – from knowing the artists, the dates of design and firing, the kilns that were used and whether the pieces were from the U.S., or either of the Japan eras: Reconstruction or Industrial.  He gave me the information and through and encyclopedic kind of knowledge he'd remember exactly what he'd paid for each piece.  I wrote the descriptions, took the photos, and put up the auctions – each of which we started with the idea that he'd earn double his original investment which was far higher than what he made from the antique store. 

Ebay was like a dream for him, and me too.  We immediately scored big.  Women all over the world were swarming onto these auctions, bidding them up to astronomical levels compared with the starting prices, sometimes ending the auctions with one to two thousand percent profits.  I took a cut for my time and Rodney was suddenly out of the financial doldrums. 

We continued the streak of sales by auctioning off seven years worth of fragrances and make-up that he'd acquired gratis while working for department stores.  This stuff was unopened and women all over the world swarmed again, buying the merchandise for near and sometimes over its retail value.  Another gold mine. 

Then Rodney made another big change in his life.  He sobered up.  He stopped drinking, stopped taking drugs, and started going to addiction recovery meetings.  He realized that he had worth and that his life wasn't over.  It was getting ready to gear up for another new adventure.  I actually got excited for him, and I really don't get excited over people as a general rule. 

As part of his recovery he visited his step-father.  They'd been estranged since Rodney's mother died and I found out that his precipitous decline into addiction had come right after she'd died.  He was every bit a momma's boy and proud of it. When she passed away he'd really taken it hard.

He asked me to go with him for support and I did.  His step-father, Bruce, was a really nice man, not at all the kind of person I'd ever be estranged from.  Bruce wasn't judgmental about Rodney or his life and he offered to help with money or a place to stay or whatever Rodney needed.  Rodney assured him that things were much better but asked him if he'd thrown out all the stuff he'd left at the house. 

“No, it's in a storage room in the basement,” Bruce said.  And we all went down to look. 

I was surprised.  Remember what I said about those people who are so full of outrageous stories that you know they're making them up?  Rodney didn't make up anything.  In that storage unit was memorabilia from those movies and videos, daysheets and call notices and scripts signed by the cast, including Prince himself.  There were heartfelt thank you notes from Apollonia and Vanity as well as photos of Rodney at dozens of parties with everyone from the eighties music scene.  He had mannequins with clothes on them, including the actual one from the store window scene in Purple Rain.  As far as I could tell he'd done everything he'd ever claimed to do, probably more, with everyone he'd mentioned.

“What do you think about getting into the eBay celebrity memorabilia business?” he asked.

rick, getting greedy

 

Comments

[a rose is a rose]

oh man, edge of my seat

[hm-uk]

brilliant...bloody brilliant! I just saw Prince two nights ago here, in London. I can only imagine what it must be like to be part of that entourage!

[Cele]

Amazing. You should and Rodney should write his autobiography. Damn now the story is over. shoot.

[jane]

No way! This story isn't over, is it? More, please.

[CV Rick]

No, the story isn't over. There are at least four more parts to go. If I planned it better, then I'd actually know how many parts there are going to be, but I'm just writing it as I remember it.

[Cele]

I stand corrected, and absolutely delighted :lol:

[SML]

This story is great. I look forward to the next parts.