The ISCREAMAN Is History.

* This memory is a continuation of the 'You Had Me With Your English Accent' memory.

After our first date, Janine and I started to hit it off pretty nicely. For the first few weeks we saw each other on more evenings than we didn't. I had actually gained a few extra pounds due to our regular visits to both Alice Fazooli’s and Demetres. Most of our evenings together included going for late night coffee and dessert while we were out and about.

Within the first week Janine called me on the phone. She told me that she really liked me and thought our new friendship had the potential to develop into something more serious. She was calling because she wanted to be upfront and honest with me. I had told her on our first date that after my divorce the most important thing in any future relationship for me going forward was honesty. Janine confessed she was not forty-two years old like her Quest profile stated, but she was actually forty-five years old. I told her she could be fifty years old for all I cared and I enjoyed being with her.

I was not surprised by Janine’s confession since I had read that most women on dating sites fudged their age by two to five years. Within a couple weeks, I sent Janine flowers to her work on her 45th birthday.

No harm no foul.

Like me Janine was divorced. She had been previously married and lived in England where she was born up until 1982. She came to Canada with her husband and a new baby boy to start a new life. Once she arrived, her marriage lasted a dozen or so years thereafter. After her divorce, Janine raised her two boys on her own and both were still living at home. She had been in a couple other failed relationships and was now spending most of her Friday nights with her girlfriend Irene at a local bar On The Curve. Janine seemed quite happy that she would now no longer be wasting her Friday nights at a bar searching for her Mr. Right. I was hoping that I could be her Mr. Right and I happily deleted my online Quest profile.

The ISCREAMAN was now history.

It was not too long after that on one evening while we were walking along the waterfront at Snug Harbour, I told Janine I loved her. I told her that she was all I ever thought about since we first met and I wanted to be with her all the time. Being with Janine sans the ritual head tap made me realize just how vanilla my eighteen year marriage to Bonnie had become.

There was nothing remotely vanilla about Janine.

Naturally I had told Janine all about my daughter Stephanie, but I was in no hurry for them to be introduced. I wanted to take my time since Stephanie was already being constantly subjected to Bonnie’s new Afro American boyfriend. Stephanie could not stand him, but she tolerated him because she had to. I simply wanted to give Stephanie the solace of spending time with one of her parents without any other distractions. Although, I did tell Stephanie I was seeing Janine and I told her that when she was ready I would introduce them. I think Janine was a bit miffed at first, but within the first month or so I eventually introduced Stephanie to Janine.

Stephanie right away liked Janine and was already looking forward to little shopping excursions at the mall with her.

Also within the first month I met Janine’s two sons and her parents. Her parents also had moved to Canada a couple years earlier and lived on the same street as Janine. Her parents were very nice and they both seemed to like having me in their daughter’s life. Janine had also been recently reunited with her step-sister who her mother had given up for adoption years before Janine was born. It was ironic how they first met each other after Janine's friend told her he had seen a post on the internet from a woman in England searching for her.

As well I also met Janine’s two papillon dogs, Jasper and Papi along with a large orange cat named Felix.

With all the happy family introductions out of the way, it was just a matter of time before Bonnie would start sticking her nose into my new relationship. With the exception of me voicing my parental right concerning my daughter potentially having a black man as her step-father, I had not and nor did I have any reason to even speak with my ex-wife. With Janine now sleeping over at my condo on a regular basis, Bonnie thought it was inappropriate that I subject Stephanie to our fornicating ways. I was living in a one bedroom condo and I had bought a bed sofa for Stephanie to sleep on. Although it technically was not in a bedroom, it was still in a different room outside from where Janine and I slept.

I asked Bonnie how it was any different than when her boyfriend stayed at her house on his monthly visits while Stephanie slept in her bedroom. She told me it was different because she and her boyfriend loved each other and they were now talking about getting married.

Getting married?

Already?

Really?

I sure as hell hope not.

I just told my twisted and demented ex-wife to shut the fuck up and stay out of my life. Something she would have a lot trouble doing going forward. Janine too would also have issues with her own father who also had trouble minding his own business.

On weeknights when Janine slept over at my condo she would get up early with me. I was up every morning at 5 am to head off to work. Janine would head on back to her house and get ready to go to her job. She would arrive home within a half-hour and park her car on her driveway. After feeding her dogs she would try to get a couple more hours of sleep since she didn’t have to be at work until nine.

Her nosey father would be out walking his dog Tags around the block every morning at 6 am. He would always stop and feel the hood of Janine’s car. If it was warm he knew she had spent the night at my place and had just gotten back home. He would always have a little snide remark later on that day about her sleeping over at my place. Janine was forty-five years old yet her father treated her like a teenager with a curfew. It always pissed Janine off, but her father just could not help himself. He was always sticking his nose into his daughter's business.

Janine owned a nice semi-detached house in a relatively new subdivision in the northwest area of Mississauga. Once Janine knew about my passion for hockey and the Toronto Maple Leafs she told me that there was some 'old hockey bower guy' who lived in her neighborhood. I had no idea what she was talking about, but sure enough Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Johnny Bower lived at the end of her street. I chatted with Johnny a few times that summer as he would always be outside doing his gardening. I absolutely thought it was so cool that my new girlfriend lived a stone’s throw away from such a hockey legend. Coincidentally, another Leaf goalie Felix Potvin also lived in my neighborhood while I was married to Bonnie.

During that first summer and even before I had met Janine, I had already bought concert tickets to see both Bon Jovi and Aerosmith. I had originally planned on taking Stephanie, but I never told her. I wanted to have the option of taking a date should I find one, so naturally I took Janine. I did however still take my daughter to see the Backstreet Boys. There was absolutely no way Stephanie would be letting me take anyone but her to that show.

Janine and I had also sprinkled in a couple Blue Jay games during that first summer, but for the most part we both loved going to movies. It seemed like we were always going to the movies and I remember there were some weeks when we went to three movies together. It was always amusing for me to watch Janine have the kid at the snack bar top up our large bag of popcorn after she would give the bag a shake and it would always settle down a good three inches. I had never seen anyone do that before.

I really enjoyed spending time with Janine and had absolutely no interest in being with anyone else. I also introduced Janine to my mother. My mother also liked Janine and was happy I had found someone in my life that made me happy. I was still maintaining regular monthly visits with my mother on the weekends Stephanie was staying with me.

My mother’s Parkinson’s was slowly progressing, but she was still able to function for the most part independently. It was probably the only time in my life I was happy that she had the Jehovah’s Witnesses in her life. Being a JW kept her busy and she had so many friends who were always visiting and taking her out places. Just like it had been when I went to the Kingdom Hall during my teenage years, there was always something for her to look forward to. My mother was busier than ever in her faith and I was grateful she still had the Witnesses in her life.

Seriously, did I just write that?