have to take a break while i decide whether or not to kill a character.

so the guy who blushes when i smile at him...we actually have mutual friends on facebook. i looked at his page and saw his birthday and realized that his birthday is 3 days after michael's. i've mentioned before that i'm always interested in people whose birthdays are close to michael's. it helps me with insight into michael.

i added him as a friend, and he sent me a message saying:

I didn't know you're a Sh-h! I've been Michael's brother for years!

this message made me laugh for two reasons. one is that my family is well-known at this gym. there are so many of us, and we play basketball. on any given night, you meet someone related to me on the courts. or one of our womenfolk in the dance classes. our name is known.

the other is that michael in particular is quite infamous at this gym. there have been many meetings about him, i'm sure. i believe he once called a woman a bitch and her husband tried to beat him up. and then they had a swim coach who harassed michael, cussing him out whenever they were alone and telling him to act his age (i was the one who wrote the certified letter wanting the guy's head). but the gym overall has been very understanding, and it's been a positive place for him. this gym basicallly raised both michael and i. so when i went out of state for college,michael went through this stage where he wanted to be everyone's friend, and i remember my parents were concerned because he was going to the gym and hugging everyone. we had to teach him the circles of friendship, with there being an inner circle (immediate family, close friends known for many years), an acquaintance circle, and a stranger circle. hugs were designated for the inner circle, occasional handshakes for the outers, etc. there were some gray areas, sure, but we stressed that under no circumstances should he be hugging complete strangers.

right around the same time, he was asking everyone to be his brother. i remember a 1 hour plane ride with him from la to san jose. by the end of the flight, he'd already asked the nice guy from nebraska sitting next to us to be his brother and told him he loved him. the flight ended mercifully as michael was asking him if he wanted to date me.

so michael basically asked lots of people to be his brother. over the years, michael had talked a lot about a curtis who worked at the gym (along with michael's life love, tracy). i didn't know who he was, but then again, i don't know half of michael's friends, he's so popular.

so when i came home for thanksgiving, i was leaving the gym one night when i saw a manager who looked vaguely familiar so i smiled at him. i seemed to think his name was adam. he had a big smile back and i remember thinking, wow that guy's cute. then one friday night, i went to the gym to shoot around. the place was near empty except for this dad coaching his son, so i went over and shot with them, chatting. the guy whose name i think is adam kept coming in and watching. he finally comes over and talks to the dad, and we all end up in a 4-way game of horse. i won both games...it was probably my hottest shooting night in recent memory, like 80% including 3 pt attempts. the dad kept asking questions about me, and i knew this guy was listening, too. i hate being presumptuous, but a part of me wondered if he was moth-ing me. when he left, the dad said, "later, curtis" and that's when i put it together that i'd finally met michael's brother, curtis.

and now he's found out that i'm michael's big sister. funny. no wonder we were drawn towards each other. we're basically family.