Very Odd Things. . .

Occasionally I mention a good friend of mine from the past. He's a little odd-- but who isn't?

While I am struggling to write, he is maintaining that he is getting ready to sign his second book contract, this one on the undead princess who died 11 years ago. (Undead because the world has held on to her and I will not say her name, may she rest in peace!) Supposedly this friend's late wife had a gen from his jewelry business that she hung between her t--s that was in excess of 200 carats. Wouldn't a gem of that size need to be hung between the breasts of two women because it couldn't possibly be between the breasts of a regular woman?

His first book was one on works that he did while at a federal prison in Oregon. Whenever I mention it, he blows over it now. Last time we talked, it was a done deal.

He liked me in school (mutual) and claimed that my father offered him $10,000 to leave me alone and that my mother called him white trash. It's all extremely odd-- as much as my parents had issues, I cannot fathom them speaking badly of him and me ending up with my ex husband who is a real dork. My dad spoke well of my odd friend-- he said that he was a networker and a perfectionist who'd do well for himself and my mom reserved her venom for people close to her. While he speaks of the business he had before he went to the federal pen, it sounds glamorous but unreal. He has always been savvy and able to pull things off so I know it is possible, but I find that things change as he speaks.

Last night he was telling me about three sons who I swear he spoke of coming up last Christmas along with a 4th being here-- in fact, I'd called him up when my elder daughters were out and asked if he wanted to meet us at a late night spot, but he said he had a cold and that he'd just seen them all off. Last night he said that the three didn't make it up and that his ex, a high powered woman who he calls the Baracuda _itch, decided that they need to see him since it's been a year.

I like him anyway-- he's a link to my past. We went to a private school together. We dated a bit and he was a great friend. He just got out of the fed pen less than a year ago and I think that a lot of his stories are exaggerations of truths (I hope for his sake that they are true) and that after the whole experience he is trying to convince himself that good things will happen again.

I'm posting this because I'm uncomfortable with it. I don't want to drop the friendship because I am fairly certain that he is harmless and when we just talk and he's normal, he's fine. My husband has the feeling that he is pounding his chest in a Toby Keith, "How do you like me now?" display. I hear from him every couple of months and when he quits being normal, it's all about how he has been married to two powerful, fabulous women, one who was a saint (and died in a trajic accident) and the other the Devil herself (who is probably too mean to die!) and how much money he has made and how great things were.