It was like a movie. — act two: Rita

continued from It was like a movie. — act one: prologue

We continue now into It was like a movie. with portrayals of my neighborhood dislodged from across the street, to be read as though you & I are attending a movie house, i.e. my house — specifically, my front porch facing a living cinema screen

(movie theater |ˈmo͞ovē ˈTHēədər| — also movie house — noun — actual buildings where conjectures are traditionally presented for public entertainment, or end times non-structural premises, possibly a phone or propped device, reviewed with limited capacity while in bed where the person trying to sleep next to you asks you to turn down the volume so that you can concentrate more on their snoring & other log-sleeping hubbubs).

. . . & we're back on the loge veranda! — settled in? The spectacle is perfect from here. The real nosebleed seats are actually in the orchestra pit beyond the curb — that's just the way it goes on around here. Let's begin getting acquainted with the residents from a safe distance & roll the first clip of the main four Properties of Character: Rita.

            Rita is a grandmother & retired cashier of a video rental business that went belly-up called Alice in Pornoland. She used to have a dog but returned from a trip to Florida once without it. She refinanced her reverse mortgage a few years ago to have her hot tub updated. The mini SUV in her driveway is a light shade of lustrous blue that suggests a relaxed neon afterglow.

Rita watches over the neighborhood like a preoccupied babysitter & volunteers as a sensationalist information booth. She's reported that the people who own the house directly across the street from her live most of the year in The City & have a "strange" accent she defines as "British or something . . . " Her own drawl could be from any pointless compass set loose with the smiled edge of a caramel taffy stretch followed by a slow pull from a menthol 100. Rita also told me about squirrels on my roof, collecting & throwing debris down my chimney, which she'd witnessed somehow from downhill street-level & half a block away.

There have been a few boyfriends over the years who drove similar motorcycles & looked alike, resembling Daytime Friends-era Kenny Rogers. She has a sign hung near her front door that reads Life is short but vodka helps. On the other side of her door is a No Trespassing sign placed in a hedge shared with her neighbor. Rita didn't put it there.

At the next Property of Character, we'll encounter who did — that would be Gabe.

you can read the next episode here: It was like a movie. — act three: Gabe