Monday, April 27, 2026

The conspiracy theorist talks love and death


The conspiracy theorist sounded bored. "I haven't looked at the video yet," he said. "The first one was botched so badly, was so clearly fake . . ." We walked away from the guard shack to talk. J is doing better, except when he isn't. Goes to the bar across the street; helps him feel better at first. S's father was an alcoholic, and his sister died of it. He offered a litany of the guys in the cemetery who've been in rehab. One had resembled "those guys you see beside the road, so thin, looking 100 years old." But he met a woman--she saved his life--and he's been clean ever since.
 
S mentioned his late wife, "the nicest woman you could ever meet. I miss her every day." I asked if he'd gotten remarried, as he wears a ring. "Oh no, I knew I'd never get married again, so I kept it on, plus it protects me from the Filipina aunties and their nieces. One of the maintenance guys, 15 years ago or so, offered me $20K to marry his sister in the Philippines. 10K up front; another 10K when the deed was done." He wanted none of that. The one guy he knew who'd married a Filipina woman was crazy about her. But they still got interrogated."
 
I asked S how long ago his wife died. Twenty one years ago Thursday, he said.
 

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