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| Un-nailing Jimmy Lee Bellflower | |
| By Emmuttmax | ||||||||||||||||
| 01 October 2008 | ||||||||||||||||
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Something I began today. Not sure if it's worth finishing.
Un-nailing Jimmy Lee Bellflower
“Wow, this is really weird,” said Anna Poultice, “how do pick your nose?”That wasn’t usually the first question people would ask Jimmy Lee Bellflower, but it was in the top five. “I don’t actually pick my nose,” he answered, “I use a Kleenex or paper towel to cleanse it.” They were sitting in Anna’s one-bedroom apartment on Fairland Road, about a mile from the Valero oil refinery where Anna worked. When their dinner at Red Lobster was finished about a half hour earlier, Anna invited Jimmy Lee to come over for a glass of wine and to listen to the new Robert Cray CD. Although he knew that getting close to Anna would trigger a flood of questions about his abnormality, he found her to be alluring and pleasant company, so he decided to risk rejection. After some small talk and into the second glass of 2003 Australian merlot, Anna took his hand in hers; that was when she noticed he was a little different from the other guys she had dated. She brought his hand up to her face and stared at it. “Jimmy Lee, you don’t have any fingernails,” she cried. “Uh, no, no I don’t,” he replied. Normally, “What happened to them?” would have been most people’s next line, but Anna had followed with the nose-picking question instead. This could be a good sign, he thought. “What happened to them?” she asked. “It’s…complicated,” said Jimmy Lee, clearly uncomfortable. Anna’s curiosity blinded her to Jimmy Lee’s unease, and she pressed on. “My friend Iris does nails over at Sartine’s Beauty Palace, and she knows all about them. Iris said that some people are born without fingernails. I think it’s called ‘anonychia.’ Is that what you have, or had?” “No Anna, I had fingernails when I was born. In fact, I had them up until I was six years old.” “Well then, I guess you must have had ‘onychomadesis,’ which Iris says is fingernail shedding caused by some disease. Did you have a disease when you were a kid?” “Just the regular kid diseases like measles, mumps, that kind of thing. Look Anna, it’s no big deal; I’m fine. Why don’t we have another glass of wine and you tell my about your job at the refinery?” Anna poured some more wine, but she would not be diverted from her line of questioning. “My job is boring Jimmy Lee. I sit around squirting chemicals into gasoline. You know, fingernails are living things. Iris says they are made up of, uh…keratin, a hardened protein that’s also found in hair and skin. Even if they are cut off or fall off, they always grow back. Here is the really cool thing; do you know what they call the hidden part of the fingernail, the part that is hidden under the cuticle, the part where the nail grows from? It’s called the matrix. The Matrix, like that Keanu Reeves movie, isn’t that wild? Maybe Keanu Reeves blew your nails up,” she giggled. Jimmy Lee looked into Anna’s smiling eyes, “Does my lack of fingernails trouble you? Do you find it…repulsive?” “Oh Jimmy, no. In fact, I find it quite the opposite. It turns me on. Your fingers feel so sensuous, like 10 little erections.” Jimmy Lee laughed. Anna poured more wine. “Anna, I’m going to tell you how I lost my fingernails, but I’ve got to warn you, you aren’t going to believe me. You are probably going to think I’m crazy.” “Why don’t you just tell me, and I’ll let you know.” “Ok, but before I do, I’d like you to read something.” Jimmy Lee retrieved his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and took out a piece of yellowed, worn paper. He unfolded it and handed it to Anna. It was an old newspaper clipping from the Corpus Christ Caller, dated September 13, 1981. Anna focused her wine-soaked eyes and read: “Two women and a small boy encountered an object hovering over the two-lane road in the southeast Texas woods. The object was huge, diamond shaped, and brilliantly lit. They stopped their car to keep from being burned by the object. The car got hot and they got out, staring at the object in awe. When the object flew away approximately 10 minutes later, it was followed by a large group of military helicopters. The witnesses suffered from many odd ailments following the incident, including fingernail shedding, eye damage, energy loss, among others.” When Anna finished reading, she lifted her eyes and looked at Jimmy. She raised her eyebrows quizzically. “Yeah,” said Jimmy, “the little boy was me. The two women were my mom and my aunt Lois.” “You’re kidding.” “No, Anna, I’m not kidding.” “So, you saw a UFO, and your fingernails fell off?” “Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that, but essentially, yeah, that’s what happened.” Anna leaned back on the couch and exhaled, “Wow, this is really wild. I think I need to open another bottle of wine. Are you ready for another glass?” Jimmy was pleased that Anna hadn’t asked him to leave. “Sure, I could go for another glass.” When Anna returned from the kitchen with a freshly uncorked bottle, she paused before re-filling the wine glasses. “You said it was ‘a bit more complicated.’ I’d think I’d like to hear about that bit.” “I’m not sure I should….” “I’m sure you should, now, get on with it,” said Anna, flushed with excitement. “Well, when we got out of the car, that’s when it really got interesting.” Before Jimmy Lee could continue with the story, Anna said, “Wait a second, I gotta pee, and I want to put on something more comfortable. Don’t you go anywhere, I’ll be right back.” When Anna disappeared into the bedroom, Jimmy Lee thought to himself, “Jesus, I can’t believe I’m telling her about this stuff. After all the bullshit I went through with the Air Force investigators, I swore I’d never tell anyone.” In reality, he knew why he was discussing his missing fingernails with Anna; he liked her, and he’d like to get closer to her. Jimmy Lee was financially secure, but he was lonely; he wanted to be able to share his secret with someone. In the past, he’d tried it a few times, but each time he was met with skepticism, wariness, and ultimately, rejection. Somehow, he thought Anna might be more accepting, more willing to suspend disbelief. He heard the sound of running water. She was probably “freshening up,” he thought, although he wasn’t sure what freshening up entailed. The flow of water ceased, and Anna reappeared. She was wearing a pair of low-rise, thin, sweatpants, a light-blue camisole, and a pair of athletic socks. He detected the light aroma of peaches and cinnamon and soap. Anna lit a fat, fragrant candle on the coffee table before curling herself on the sofa, just inches from him. Her nearness, her freshness, and the chilled wine stirred a freshness within him. “I feel much better,” said Anna, picking up her wine glass. She took a sip, and then took Jimmy Lee’s hand in hers. “Now, tell me about your…encounter.” “As I was saying before you became even more beautiful; when my mom, aunt Lois, and I got out of the car we stepped into something completely unknown to us. The newspaper report was correct about the car heating up; it felt like it would burst into flames. But, what it didn’t mention was when we exited the car, it the air was ice cold. It was September, but in that part of Texas, September is when the temperature normally drops from the high 90s to the mid 90s. After a day baking in the sun, the two-lane blacktop on which we were traveling retains most of the daytime heat well into the evening, and the still, humid air does not produce the conditions necessary to produce icy weather. It was like jumping out of a fire into a refrigerator. Very disorienting. Mom grabbed my hand, and the three of us started to run. We got about 10 meters when we ran out of the world.” Jimmy Lee turned to Anna and looked into her eyes. There was neither belief nor disbelief in them, only rapt attention. She squeezed his fingers and said “Go on.” Jimmy swallowed another sip of wine and went on. “When I say we ran out of the world, I mean we ran into a place where psychical laws as we knew them ceased to exist. Symbols were unnecessary, language was superfluous, physics was an organ grinder’s monkey, time was not even a concept; there were no external factors that influence judgment. I know this is not an elucidating explanation; I guess it’s like trying to describe ice cream to someone who has never seen or tasted ice cream.” “You’re doing fine,” said Anna, “I find it fascinating. What happened then?” “We met some people. Well, not people exactly, more like pre-people or maybe post-people.” “Do you mind if I take off my shoes?” Jimmy Lee Bellflower asked Anna. “My feet are killing me.” “Not at all; make yourself comfortable.” With the wine circulating throughout his internal system and the aromas of Anna and the scented candle wrapping his brain, Jimmy felt languid. The silken touch of Anna’s hand on his fingers drew more of the story out of him. “The appearance of the people-like creatures seemed to stir a primitive maternal instinct in my mother, and she pulled me back. Aunt Lois stepped forward, and she and mom formed a protective wall in front of me. However, there was a breach, and I could observe the creatures observing us.” “What did they look like?’” asked Anna. “Well, the description I would give is different from what my mother saw. Aunt Lois’ saw something altogether different from what my mom saw. I think we each saw what our minds—or the creatures—would allow us to see. As for me, I saw creatures similar to those in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind, sort of human-like, but devoid of features, except limbs and something like eyes. Mom said they were feminine, with long hair and bulges where human breasts would normally be. Aunt Lois recalled seeing tall, well-developed men wearing outfits resembling Roman soldiers. I guess my explanation is they projected an image each of our minds could grasp.” “Did they say anything?” “Let’s just say the communicated something; I don’t know for sure if they actually talked.” “Well, Jesus Jimmy, what did they say?” “Like I said, ‘say’ doesn’t quite describe it, but we understood there was no danger and we were something like guests. One of the people-creatures came forward and touched my mom on the shoulder. She didn’t shy away or seem frightened in any way. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is so cool.’ Of course, I was a six-year-old boy who thought anything outside our small East Texas town was cool. I got touched next, then Aunt Lois. After we had all been touched, the out-of-this-world nothingness we seemed to be in, dissipated, and we were standing in an enclosed space with four of the creatures. The space was strange but familiar at the same time. Azure blues, crimson reds, faint yellows glowed around us. It was kinda like a titty bar I went to once for a bachelor party for my cousin Robert. Anna laughed, “Did you see any space titties?” Jimmy grinned, “No, but what I did see was a hell of a lot more than I could understand.”
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