A nasty little smirking goblin who ate Cheerios at 4:00 in the afternoon, watched children's cartoons even though he was over 10, hid his nasty bits under blankets, and enticed us to cheat on each other.
But after I wrote the story, I found myself wondering about Dale Schaefer-Shit. There really was something odd about him.
I never saw him anywhere but in Fred's apartment, and only between 4 and 5 pm. Did he even exist anywhere else?
Fred never talked about him, unless I specifically asked a question.
Fred and I stayed friends for the rest of his life, and got together in the Quad Cities often at Christmastime and in the summer. But he never suggested that we visit Dale Schaefer, or even mentioned him, except once to tell me that they had been having sex during those months in the spring of 1980. That's a very odd way to behave about your childhood friend.
It's as if, when he wasn't in the room, Fred forgot about him. Spooky.
I've read a lot of paranormal anecdotes about mysterious "friends" who suddenly appear out of nowhere and attach themselves to you. When they're around, they imbue you with memories of a long association. When they go away, you forget that they exist.
Demons
Aliens.
Goblins.
More evidence: Dale Schaefer was tall, broad-shouldered, with a black beard and a hairy chest, but I always got the impression of a short, leering being with very long arms, and clawed hands. Was I looking through a screen?
And the sex:
[Censored]
What kind of man, beast, or supernatural being was this Dale Schaefer?
For the last 48 hours, I've been researching him obsessively.
It's a common name. There are 8 Dale Schaefers in Iowa alone.This one probably isn't the right one.
Fred said that they grew up together, so presumably they graduated from Aledo High School the same year, 1971. I got a copy of the 1971 Aledo yearbook online. No Schaefers of any sort.
I checked the Aledo phone directory. No Schaefers.
Of course, he could have moved away long ago. Or he never actually existed.
As a human.
I emailed two guys I knew with a long association with Fred.
1. Matt, Fred's ex-lover. They were together for 10 years, and friends afterwards, for the rest of his life. Surely, if Dale Schaefer was a real person, not some supernatural entity, Fred talked about him, or even invited him out to visit.
"Mais no, mon petit etalon, I don't recall that Fred ever mentioned a Dale Schaefer."
His childhood friend. Not once, in 10 years. Curiouser and curioser.
2. Tyler, Fred's "son." A 2011 pickup turned into a Platonic soulmate in the last years of Fred's life. When you are dying, you think about the past, so surely Fred talked about his childhood friend then. Maybe Schaefer even came to his funeral.
"No, Fred never mentioned a Dale Schaefer, that I remember. I'll check the funeral memorial book, and get back to you...Nope, no Dale Schaefer."Maybe he died. Maybe he died shortly after Fred and I broke up, so Fred never mentioned him again because who wants to dwell on the past?
Or maybe he was demonic being who latched himself onto Fred just while he was living in that apartment in Davenport. Maybe he was bound to that apartment somehow, a ghost.
Then Tyler emailed me again: "I have an idea who would know. Fred's brother, Dwight. I have his email, and we're friends on Facebook."
