Thursday, May 19, 2016

Real Life Roommate #3: Hudd

I first met Hudd after I had responded to his ad for a roommate. We set up a time for me to come over, meet him and see the apartment. He said he was about 21 years old. When I first got to the apartment, I saw him through the screen door. He actually appeared to be around 40 with some gray in his hair. However, when he stood up and answered the door, I saw that it was an optical illusion created by the screen door. He had blond hair He was much younger than me, but he was also a lot taller.

Hudd did not have an actual job. His father sent him money to exist on. He worked, but it was always part time and I never really knew what he did. (Or I did know and I forgot after 23 years.) The two activities he concentrated most on were bodybuilding and drumming.

He seemed like a nice enough guy, so I was able to pay the deposit and made plans to move in at the beginning of October 1993. He helped me move some of the larger items, like the dresser. But when we went back to the old apartment, I realized I had left my keys locked inside and the light on. Fortunately, I was able to rattle the sliding glass door open (because it never locked properly). We went inside and got the remainder of the items I wanted to take and left the sleeper sofa behind for Goodwill to have to worry about.

Hudd and I got along okay. We were probably a little more friendlier with each other than I was with Jadd. We still didn't really chum around outside the apartment. We'd occasionally watch TV together. He had his TV in the living room. I had mine in my bedroom.

With his bodybuilding, he was adamant about not using steroids. However, he was disturbed seeing other people use steroids and get the results he wanted much faster. But he still wanted to achieve those results naturally. He worked out at Gold's Gym in Pacific Beach every night around 10pm. This was the best time for him as there weren't many people that late at night. He also ate plenty of meat and carbs throughout the day. He really stuck to that diet. When I moved in, he weighed 237 pounds, but looked much lighter because it was all muscle. (The bad thing is that I now weigh about 225 pounds and I just look FAT!)

As for the drumming, he rehearsed regularly with a band. They had a couple of performances at this coffee shop in Lemon Grove. The first time they played, I brought Baz. The second time, I brought Abed. I later felt bad because I didn't have any money to buy anything at the coffee bar. The band played okay, but they clearly did not know how set up their sound system. You could tell the lead vocalist was singing, but he was completely lost in the mix. The good thing about them was that they only played original material. Personally, I can't stand bands who can expertly play covers, but are unable to play their own songs as competently.

My brother Loyd came and stayed with us for about three weeks. (That's a story for another post.) He noticed in our medicine cabinet that Hudd took Prozac. I didn't know what Prozac was at the time. Loyd had to educate me that it was a treatment for people with depression. I didn't really see Hudd as having depression. Later, I would hear him get mad about stuff and he would pound his dresser. One time, he pounded it so hard it broke.

He never expressed any anger toward me. But once, his clothes were stolen from the laundromat. It was ALL of his clothes. (I had some t-shirts Loyd had given me that I hadn't worn yet. I didn't know how they would fit him, but he accepted him and actually wore them. They surprisingly fit him well.) I heard him talking to the laundromat owner on the phone and he got to the point where he was threatening to kill him! I yelled from my room, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Don't do that!" I don't know if he heard me. He didn't make the threat again during that conversation.

During the time that I lived there, I'd met his father, mother and younger sister. They all lived in Los Angeles and seemed nice. His sister was rather attractive, but she was six feet tall and WAY out of my league. I never tried to get Hudd to hook me up with her. She never had any interest in me beyond saying hi when she saw me. He also had an older brother, but I never met him.

Sometimes, his mother and his sister would call him to discuss his behavioral issues. He didn't like them getting on his case and he was often angrier after talking to them.

In the end, he decided to move back in with his parents in LA. I was making enough money at the time to live on my own so I didn't go looking for another roommate.

After we moved out, he called me once because a certain celebrity I had a crush on got into some major legal trouble. He said he was watching the news and thought that person's name sounded familiar. I confirmed that it was indeed her. I got his address at the time so I could send him my cassette release that was coming out. I also sent him my CD release when it came out, but I never heard from him again.

On the Internet, he appears to currently live in Santa Clarita, CA. I found a phone number, but it's disconnected. I was able to locate his sister, brother and mother on Facebook. His brother is an attorney in Foster City. His sister works at the Colorado Athletic Club in Boulder. However, Hudd doesn't seem to have a Facebook account because he isn't friends with any of them. I honestly don't know if he is still alive. It wouldn't surprise me to find out something happened some time ago. But I don't know his family well enough to try to contact them after more than 20 years.

Some things just have to remain a mystery.

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