Queen of Tease

As Patricia and I were getting ready to go out, maybe a walk down the Strip, Patricia's sister Pudgy called. She wanted to know how we were enjoying ourselves in "Sin City." Oh, we assured her that we were having a great time, didn't tell her though that we hadn't slept in 48 hours and that we'd been drinking around the clock, well, two clocks to be more precise.

Pudgy, the "Queen of Tease," yes, surely she is I thought as I fell victim to her quick jibes that very first day I met her. It was first at the Church, then at her house. It was her second son Anthony's Christening. After me and Patricia drank all night the night before, there we were, the spectacle. Oh, how I remember Pudgy saying: "So Trish, I see you and your new boyfriend here thought that you were going to a Polish wedding instead of my son's Christening." Though she may have been trying to be a bit comical, you could see that she wasn't too happy that we'd shown up at the church still drunk. After surviving the church, and then at Pudgy's house, me and Patricia still managed a few more good drinks, compliments of Mike Cardella, Pudgy's husband. He was pretty cool I thought. With his long hair and marijuana-scented disposition I figured he, too, enjoyed partying.

As the afternoon furthered into the evening, Pudgy let it out. A rat-a-tat barrage of insults hurled at me, though she was being her comedienne self, she let me know that she still wasn't too happy with me making my first impression a rather clouded one, suffused with alcohol and possibly a "who cares" kind of attitude.

It would take a few more meetings before Pudgy resigned to liking me. She realized I, too, was a bit quick with the wit and that I really had some intelligence. And it wouldn't be long before I looked up to her as I would a sister. I felt we really had a lot in common; she was the third child, I was the third child; her birthday was March 19, mine September 13. If you put 319 in the mirror, you'd see that it reflected back to you 913.

Me and Pudgy had a special connection, this I realized and after watching her perform on stage a few times I knew that she was the inspiration I surely needed. I was then, still quite the introvert and by watching her so comfortably, easily working the crowd, I figured I could someday do the same....