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Character sketch continued 8/14/2009 9:40:02 AM
More about Arnie Vogel, the lead character in
STRANGERS ARE FROM ZEUS.
Character sketch continued - Arnie Vogel
Then she told him she never wanted to get married, that her father hit her mother, and she’d kill any man that ever did that to her. “He probably would, too, since I’m so willful. My mother says I’m a little hellion.”
They’d finally had sex anyway when she was sixteen and he was fifteen up in her bedroom when the rest of the family was away at a reunion or something. He’d been born on November 22, Kennedy’s assassination and was a lot younger than the other kids his age in the neighborhood. “It was an omen,” his father always said. She’d made him wear two rubbers in case one of them broke and that put a bit of a crimp in his style. She smelled like Charmin tissue and her skin was as smooth as a baby’s, not that he’d had that much to do with babies. He couldn’t believe how built she was. How could it be he’d never noticed she had breasts before. “Don’t you go thinking this makes any difference,” she said. “I meant what I said when we were lost in the woods.” So he knew better than to ask her to marry him when he graduated.
After his graduation ceremony, his father handed him a fifty dollar bill and said, “You’re on your own boy. I want you out of the house by the end of the week.” Hadn’t even had a chance to hang up his cap and gown and the old man had to ruin it for him.
Later on in front of their house, the old man had tried to explain himself. He lit a Lucky and offered him one.
Arnie took it and held his face toward the old man’s lighter when he offered to light it, although he’d never smoked a cigarette in his life. “I suppose I owe you an explanation,” he said. “You see, when I graduated high school I wanted to go to the University to study mechanical engineering. You know what my dad said? Said he couldn’t afford to send me. He was the richest man in St. Louis County, and he couldn’t afford to send me? The old f*** owned a thousand acres of prime timberland. Then he said, ‘even if I could afford to send you, I wouldn’t do it. A man’s got to work for what he gets in life. I’d be doing you a disservice by pampering you.’ That’s how I wound up working at the goddamn paper mill.”
Arnie took a drag on the cigarette, which led to a coughing jag that wouldn’t quit. He felt dizzy and not just because of the smoke. “Just because your father was cheap doesn’t mean…”
His old man gave him one of those homicidal killer glares, looking more like Clint Eastwood than Clint himself, but he didn’t reach over and slap Arnie alongside the head like he usually did when he wasn’t happy with him. “That’s what I always told myself,” he said. “I’d never do to my son what he did to me. But then you went and flunked Trigonometry. If I were to send you off to college, it would be like flushing that money down the crapper. But, to show you what a prince I am, I’m gonna let you enjoy your grandmother’s cooking for another week. Think of it as a graduation present. At least you got that far. I was kind of surprised you made it actually.”
“What about Bernie? Her and me were talking about getting married.”
His face changed from stern to almost angelic and he ran his hand through his thinning hair. “That girl is like the son I never had. I’ve always had my suspicions about her, if you know what I mean. She dresses like a lumberjack for Christ’s sake. Never seen her in a dress. But if you’re serious, the paper mill needs a sweeper.”
That did it. He’ rather starve than work a the f***ing paper mill. He left two days early, hitching a ride to Duluth with a buddy who worked on the boats.
Your next step is to dress your character, look inside his closet or wherever he keeps what's near and dear to him.
Arnie is coming into focus now. We know that he's a hairy guy with a weird sense of humor (candles in his beard) with a grudge against his father who still carries a torch for his old girlfriend. We know he's a wanderer who may not want to settle down in small town Minnesota and run a local newspaper.
Dave Schwinghammer's published novel, SOLDIER'S GAP, is available at a discount on Amazon.com. Used copies available also.
