Interviews with No Sensible People Characters (Stuart Cartwright)

Trisha: Hi Stuart, it's good to meet you. Thanks for seeing me today.

Stuart: I love coffee shops. So eclectic, and the coffee's good too.

Trisha: I hear Lucy Cartwright is your best friend, and she's married to your brother. Does that ever get awkward for any of you?

Stuart: How do you mean?

Trisha: I hear she's quite attractive....

Stuart: No, no. I love Lucykins to death. But she's not my type. Besides, Frank is my brother. There's a code of ethics there. Did anyone tell you I set them up?

Trisha: Really? How did that happen?

Stuart: She was teaching Jazzercize at a healthclub, and she walked into one of my classes at a little academy I was working out of at the time. She hadn't had lessons in years, but she picked it up right away. I got her a beginners class to teach. Lucy's the kind of girl you want to look out for, and teaching was a lot more stable than just auditioning all over the city. But it went both ways. Lucy can seem self absorbed, but she's an excellent listener when it really matters. I told her about how good Frank had been to me when my parents were less than supportive, and she had to meet him. Frank thought I sent him an angel. I never thought it would stick. Frank was nothing like the guys Lucy was used to dating.

Trisha: How is Frank different?

Stuart: He's older, serious about his work, his art. Even after being married a few years, he still seems amazed that she chose him.

Trisha: So there's no tension there?

Stuart: I didn't say that. There's seventeen years there between them and as much as I want to say love is blind it does make an impact. Lucy is always worried that Frank doesn't take her seriously enough. Frank sees her beauty as some kind of sign. Like the other shoe might drop at any moment-- especially since her ex popped back into her life.

Trisha: Could Lucy just stay away from her ex?

Stuart: Well, it's a bit complicated. Supposedly, Denny Ferguson is the last good thing in Leifton, the town where Lucy grew up in and Jennie lived before she had to come to Minneapolis. Lucy's keeping in touch with Denny for Jennie's sake, so she says.

Trisha: And you don't believe her?

Stuart: Frank doesn't believe her. That's the problem.

Trisha: Well, at any rate, Lucy seems pretty dedicated to Jennie from what I hear. Have you met her yet?

Stuart: Oh, Jennie, yes. She's an interesting girl to put it mildly. We got off on the wrong foot initially, but things are getting better.

Trisha: What do you mean by "the wrong foot?"

Stuart: Lucy had already mentioned that I was gay before Jennie met me. I met her for the first time when I came into Lucy's "Late Bloomers" dance class to help out for a few minutes before it was time for me to teach my own class. I do that sometimes. People tell me I have a knack with kids. Most of the time, the kids agree. But here I was trying to help Jennie out with something. I barely touched her and she lets out this high piercing scream. It nearly knocked me out of my tutu.

Trisha: But you worked it out? Did you get mad at her?

Stuart: Lucy made it pretty clear I wasn't going anywhere. She did the mad part. She's the guardian, that's her job. Maybe that's why most kids like me. I never have to be the bad guy.

Trisha: Or maybe it's because you know how to cut them some slack.

Stuart: Yeah, I guess. I figure the kid is nine and had been growing up in a pretty conservative place. Her mom, especially, was a pretty strong homophobe. She's an orphan, and she's gotta take whatever scraps she can.

I decided to just take the whole issue off the table. Even if being gay is "wrong" it doesn't mean I'm not a good guy in a lot of other ways. I don't want to tell her what to think. She and Lucy are alike in that way. There's no sense telling either of them what to think or who to like. I figure Jennie will form her own opinion when she's ready.

Trisha: It's good of you to be so understanding.

Stuart: Well, that's my function in the book, I guess. I'm really there for support. We all need a little of that from time to time, don't we?

Trisha: Yes, Stuart. We certainly do.