That Dick

Dick was a failure. In the eyes of his family and friends, he was a failure.

Dick's siblings were professionals - doctors, lawyers, CPAs. His dad was a doctor who invested well and had a family business. The business contained the family's first name initials, except for Dick's. A constant reminder that Dick was a failure.

I don't know what Dick was supposed to become, but somewhere during his college years, he strayed from the straight and narrow and jumped on the 60s protesting bandwagon. He did some drugs and began to do poorly in school. He ended up graduating with a degree in English, much to the dismay of his family. How was an English major going to contribute to the family's net worth? Hell! I'd've been happy to graduate with any degree at all, but Dick's family had preordained the course of Dick's life and English was not predestined.

Dick and Merle met in college or shortly thereafter. I remember Merle saying that Dick was an uptight jerk, but Merle saw potential. For Merle, potential meant that he could somehow use him for his own amusement or otherwise manipulate him. Dick was just happy someone would be his friend.

I knew Dick from Downbeat. He would pace around the shop moisturizing his hands or picking at his teeth in a very constant, public, and obsessive compulsive manner. He was a freak for cleanliness. He was nice enough, but there was something untrustworthy in his eyes. Fear and anger were veiled in politeness. He wanted people to think he was smart. Merle made sure no one thought Dick was smarter than him, though.

Dick was a part time college professor. He's the professor who would pass you if you batted your eyes at him or if you made him feel smart. You validate him, he'll validate you with a passing grade. He seemed to seek validation at the shop, too. Mostly from girls. Mostly young girl. Although he thought he could fool the young girls, I think they were in it for the discount.

But Dick loved the young girls. He'd talk about how pretty they were in their outfits. He'd get close to them when he could. The staff at Downbeat would talk about it. Something's not right they'd say. We'd watch his interactions with kids to make sure it wasn't inappropriate. Even Merle would tell us in groups that he wasn't sure about that Dick.

I remember a girlfriend of Dick's. She was in her 20s, but looked like a young teen. The only photo he displayed of her was one when she was a kid in uniform. Remember I mentioned that Dick had an affair with Liam's mom? I saw Liam's mom and she looked like a mom. Her look didn't seem to fit our profile. The affair fit, though. It's something a failure would do to make himself feel better, if just for a while.