Randy #8

Randy ate a bowl of cereal standing against the kitchen sink an hour before work when Brian came out of Erin’s bedroom. “Oh, good. That’s started up again,” Randy said.

“I did not know you’d be here,” Brian said.

“I live here.”

“I mean, I thought you’d be at work. Wait, why am I acting ashamed? I’m an adult, what we did was consensual, and I happen to like having sex with your sister,” Brian said.

“Hmm, more’s going to come up than down,” Randy looked at his cereal. He rinsed out the bowl and dried his hands on a dish towel. “What are you up to today?”

“Going to be driving around with Kate taking her to job interviews and apartment complexes. It’s going to be fun.”

“Sounds like it. So are you going to be seeing Erin regularly again?” Randy asked.

“No, I’m pretty it was just a one-time thing. Because we were both kind of drunk. It was just for fun,” Brian explained.

“Too bad. I’m trying to get us to a point where we are all dating someone at the same time. We’ve never had that before.”

“Last I knew, none of us are anywhere near dating anyone,” Brian said.

“Sure we are. I met Jackson, Jess has that coworker guy.”

“Oh, yeah. A guy you literally met yesterday and a guy whose name you don’t remember,” Brian laughed. “Perfect dating material.”

“Let’s not forget that Kate and Chrissy don’t have anyone hovering around them at the moment.”

“Maybe you could hover around them.”

“Both of them? I’m not saying that I haven’t thought about it but the odds of it happening is literally every single number to one.”

“Well, at least you get to hover around Kate today.”

Randy #7

Kate Wilson got along with everybody when they were in high school. Probably because Kate loved getting intoxicated on whatever was available and then doing things that required as little clothing as possible. During her four years of high school, there was a joke that if you hadn’t slept with Kate Wilson by the time you graduated, they held you back until you did. While Kate did get around, she wasn’t as promiscuous as her reputation led you to believe. Part way through her senior year, at a party, she had passed out. She was dead to the world but not to some of the party-goers. They positioned her bent over a bed sans pants and used her repeatedly. No one knows how many guys had used her but as she groggily woke up and realized what had happened, she knew things had to change.

The parties slowed down, as did the drinking, and most of her nights and weekends were relegated to just staying home, usually with Chrissy, who was her best friend. After graduation, Kate disappeared and hadn’t been seen by any of her classmates since.

“So how are you doing?” Kate asked, breathing heavily, as she sat on Chrissy’s couch.

“I’m doing good. How are you? What happened after graduation? What have you been doing?”

“Oh, just living life. I moved out east and have just been enjoying my time out there,” Kate said.

“Then why are you back here. Looking upset or worried?” Chrissy asked.

“I had to leave. There was this guy causing trouble for me so I had to get out of there.”

“Are you in danger? If you’re being hurt, you need to call the police. Like you should’ve done our senior year when you passed out and were gangbanged,” Chrissy reminded.

“We don’t know what really happened and we all know nothing would’ve been done. Besides, it’s kind of a fantasy I go back to once in awhile,” Kate smiled.

Chrissy rolled her eyes. “You should get some sleep. You can take my bed and I can sleep on the couch…”

“No, please. I’ll sleep on the couch. I don’t want to put you out. Besides, you getting a good night sleep is more important than me getting one. You have a job after all,” Kate said. “Are you still in touch with Jess, Randy, and Brian?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Can we get together with them tomorrow? For dinner?”

“I’ll call and ask them tomorrow but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Great. It’ll be nice to see them all.”




“It is amazing to see you,” Brian said as he hugged Kate. “What have you been doing over the last 14 years?”

“This and that,” she smiled. “Mostly working to be honest. I worked at an oxygen supply place, a nursing home, customer service, of course. What do you do?”

“I’m a mortician. I get dead bodies ready for burial,” Brian said. “I took my love of the macabre to its natural conclusion.”

“Weird,” Kate said. “At least you’re doing something you love. I wish I could find a job like that. Honestly, I would like to find anything that I love.”

“Now that you’re back maybe you can work on that. You’re staying with Chrissy?”

“Yeah, at least until I get a job and can move into my own place.” Randy came into the bar with Jackson following behind. They joined the group of friends. Kate hugged Randy around his neck with her free arm. “Randy, you gay bastard. How are you?”

“I’m good. How are you?”

“Getting better,” Kate smiled. “Hey, I read your book. It was very good. I loved it. Are you working on another?”

“No. I’m taking a break from writing for awhile. I’m working at a grocery store right now. This is Jackson, I work with him,” Randy introduced.

“Hi, Jackson. I’m Kate,” she shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Jackson said. Kate walked away and Jackson turned to Randy. “You wrote a book?”

Randy sighed. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”

“Jackson, huh?” Jess came up to them. “Are you two together?”

“No, we’re just friends,” Randy corrected. “We became fast friends and I wanted to introduce him to my other friends.”

“Good, now maybe you can bother him instead of gloming onto us all the time,” Brian joked.

“I will gladly take Randy off your hands as long as he tells me about his book,” Jackson said. “In excruciating detail.”

“Yeah,” Chrissy smiled. “Leave no detail untold, Randy.”

Randy blushed and Brian called for a couple of drinks to be brought over. “Okay, fine. The entire story of the rise and fall of Randy Brubaker’s writing career,” Randy began.

Tauy Creek Digest #14: Wednesday, Part 2

Randy woke up the next morning, ate a breakfast of eggs, sausage links, and toast on homemade bread with Rosie, and then left to get a better look at the town. Wednesday only had a population in the double digits, around 70, Randy thought. Most of the businesses were made of brick and was tucked in a valley but with a slight view of mountains in the distance. Randy had to admit that it was very beautiful and very peaceful.

As Randy walked down the street, he glanced into the radio station window where someone was broadcasting. He was good-looking, long-haired Native with bright brown eyes. Randy had never seen eyes like that before. Randy stood and watched for awhile and finally, the guy waved him in.

Randy went into the building and into the studio. "...We'll be back in a moment after a two-fer from Huey Lewis and the News," he hit a couple buttons and took off his headphones. "Hello, I'm William Peters, you can call me Billy. Are you Randy Brubaker? The author?"

Randy blushed. "Yeah, I'm staying here for a few days."

"Great. Would you mind doing an interview?"

Billy had a cute smile. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

"We'll go back on the air after these songs and I'll just ask you a few questions. I'm not prepared so they should be fairly easy questions."

Randy laughed. "That's good. I am not good at interviews."

"You'll do fine. We still have a couple minutes until we go back on the air. Are you staying at Rosie's?"

"Yeah."

"Rosie's a good woman. Her, Holton, and Phyllis practically keep Wednesday alive all on their own."

"I'm sure you help. Your voice going out all over central Alaska," this was Randy's version of flirting.

"They bring in the money, I don't do anything but talk and play music. Is there anything that I should steer clear of? Any topic that you are not comfortable talking about?"

"I don't think so. If there is, I'll just go silent, take off my headphones, storm out of the studio, and sue you and the station."

Billy laughed, though it was clearly slightly fake, "Well, I'll try to be neutral. We're back with a special guest in the studio, Randy Brubaker. You may know that name from the best-selling novel 'Stroke Girl' about a high school girl who suffers a stroke and how she coped with it. He's staying in Wednesday for a little bit and he has been gracious enough to grant your simple radio deejay an interview. Randy, how did it feel when your book became a best seller?"

"It was amazing. I honestly didn't think it would go anywhere but the publisher seemed to have faith. There's a small part of me that wishes it didn't but it has actually brought attention to young stroke victims so that's a good thing."

"Awesome. Where are you from? I detect some sort of accent."

"I live in California so I'm from there but I was born in Kansas. Overland Park."

"Kansas. So Wednesday may kind of look like home," Billy laughed.

Randy chuckled. "No, I'm from Overland Park, the second largest city. The city also only goes back as far as the 1950s so it has nothing this old there. For that you have to go to Olathe or Lawrence. Shawnee Mission."

"You heard it here, Wednesdians, if you want a Kansas vacation head to Olathe, Lawrence, or Shawnee Mission."

"There are other places to go. My old high school friend, Brian, would know more about where to go."

"And look up Randy's old high school friend, Brian, while you're at it. Last question, would you be willing to come back tomorrow or just before you leave to give us your impression of Wednesday?"

"Uh, sure, I guess. So far it's been pretty good. One of the main reasons I'm here is to rest and get my brain juices flowing again. Maybe Wednesday will inspire me."

"Well, I hope it does. It inspires me everyday. Just let it envelope you and take you away."

"Sounds like a drug."

"Only legal," Billy said. "What song would you like me to play?"

"Got something by Billy Joel?"

"Sure do," Billy grabbed a record, replaced the Huey Lewis one, and moved the needle to a groove. A piano started playing and Billy dimmed the music and took off his headphones. "See? That was easy."

"It was. Wish all interviews were like that."

"Give me a day or two and I can come up with some hard questions. Really make you squirm."

"No, I think I'm good," Randy said. "I'll see you around town?"

"Always. I'm usually on the radio. I'm the only deejay and I get pretty much the run of the studio."

"That's cool. I'm going to explore the town more. I'll see you around."

"See you, Randy."

"See you, Billy." Randy left the studio and went back outside. "Maybe this jerkwater, backwoods Alaskan solitary confinement berg will provide some inspiration after all."

To be continued in Randy Annual #1 COMING SOON!!!

Tauy Creek Digest #13: Wednesday, Part 1

Randy Brubaker got off the plane at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and looked around. He was sent to a resort city in Alaska by his publisher to get a break from being a sudden celebrity for his novel "Stroke Girl" and he chose to go to remote Wednesday, Alaska. We went to the area where cars were waiting to pick people up but no one was waiting for him. After waiting, for several minutes, he went up to a information desk.

"I'm waiting to be picked up and my car's not here."

"Where are you heading, sir?" the woman working the desk asked.

"Wednesday, Alaska."

"You need to go out to runway 17," she pointed to the northeast.

"Runway? Am I going on another plane?"

"Yeah, that's the quickest way to get to Wednesday. By car, it's a nearly three day drive. By plane, only a couple of hours."

Randy's shoulders slumped and he began walking in the direction that the woman pointed. "I should've gone to Bermuda."




It was a small bush plane that flew Randy from Anchorage to Wednesday. It was piloted by Tracey Votaw who had lived in Wednesday for the last eight years. "Why is it called Wednesday?" Randy asked, feeling more at ease in the tiny plane.

"It was founded on a Wednesday," Tracey answered.

"Ah. Well, ask a silly question..." Randy chuckled to himself. "So you do this everyday? Travel four hours both ways from Wednesday to Anchorage?"

"It's not everyday. It's only when people need to get in or out of Wednesday. And it's not always Anchorage. Sometimes it's to Fairbanks, or Nome, or Sitka, or Juneau. Sitka and Juneau are all day flights. I take a day to fly out there, you have to spend the night, and we leave the next day."

"That sounds terrible," Randy said.

"So you wrote a book?" Tracey asked.

"Yeah. 'Stroke Girl'. My publisher wanted me to get away for a bit. I'm also hoping that this vacation inspires me to get some writing done."

"Well, it's very quiet in Wednesday so you should be able to get something done."




"Welcome to Wednesday," Holton Crenshaw spread his arms wide as he walked to Tracey's plane that had just landed. Randy was deboarding and was ready to get to a hotel and lay down.

"Hi. Hey. You must be Mr. Crenshaw," Randy said.

"Please, call me Holton. My car is waiting, come with me and I'll show you around Wednesday."

"I'd rather just go to the hotel and get into bed. Watch some TV, you know."

"Nonsense, it will be a quick tour then I'll drop you off at Rosie's," Holton said. The small, one-strip airport was two miles from Wednesday but downtown was even smaller. Holton pulled into the intersection of 3rd and Main and began pointing. "We have your typical small town amenities like a grocery store, bar, bookstore, doctor's office. There's the courthouse and our radio station."

"This is Wednesday?" Randy shrieked. "I thought I was going to a resort town on the edge of the Alaskan frontier."

"You are. It's not your typical resort but you still get the laid back atmosphere without the heat or the crowds."

Randy pinched his eyes shut and shook his head. "I'll deal with this in the morning. Just take me to the hotel."

"We don't have a hotel. You'll be staying at Rosie's."

"What's Rosie's?" Randy asked, nervous about what it might be.

"It's a boarding house."

"Of course it is," Randy slouched into the car seat.

Rosie's was a large house south of downtown on Main Street. It was a huge blue frame house, probably one of the first houses built in the town. Randy and Holton went up to the door and Holton rang the bell. A sturdy older woman opened the door and smiled at Holton.

"How you doing, Holt?" she asked.

"I'm doing great. I've got your border here. The author," Holton said. "Rosie McAtee, this is Randy Brubaker. Randy, you are in good hands."

"That's great," Randy said, walking into the house. "I just want to get to my room and lie down. You know?"

"Well, let me show you to your room," as they walked through the house, Rosie told about the history of the house. "This house was possibly the first house built in Wednesday and was initially used to house miners that were brought up here before World War II, which is why it is so big. After the war, mining was banned and it looked as if Wednesday wasn't going to stay on the map. After the Korean War, Holton Crenshaw came up here and has spent every day promoting and modernizing Wednesday but still keeping it's small town charm. Here's your room, if you need anything just push this button. I'll be open for another two hours. Please help yourself to whatever is in the fridge."

"Thank you," Randy said, now excited to see a bed. The bedroom door closed and Randy flopped down on the bed wondering what else would surprise him on this vacation.

Randy #6

“Sorry that it’s not much,” Erin said as she opened the bedroom door to what was now Randy’s new room. “You should be lucky that I even have an extra room.”

“I really appreciate it. I just can’t live with Dad anymore after what happened earlier this week,” Randy shook his head.

Several days ago, Randy was digging through a hall closet and found an odd-looking device buried under clothes that went out of style before he was born. It was heavy with an electric cord that was only two-pronged and looked rusted. It looked a little like a belt sander without a belt and a metal rod protruding from it. Randy took it and headed toward his father’s bedroom. He knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Randall answered.

Randy opened the door and saw his father, naked, bent over, with his backside pointed to the door. “Oh my God! What are you doing?”

“Trying to pick up these coins I dropped on the floor,” Randall grunted.

“Why are you naked?”

“This is America. A man can be nude in his own house if he wants.”

“Why did you say ‘come in?’”

“You’ve seen me naked before,” Randall stood up and turned toward Randy.

Randy’s eyes immediately moved to where his father’s genitals were. “Aah! Yeah but you were in your thirties and I was, like, four.”

“Oh, hey. Your mother loved it when I would use that on her,” Randall pointed to the machine in his son’s hand. “I think I still have the attachment in the bottom drawer here.” Randall bent back down to open and look in the bottom dresser drawer.

“Use it on her? Oh, God!” Randy screamed and dropped the machine on the floor and ran back to his room. “Anyway, thank you for letting me move in,” Randy said to Erin.

“Again, not a problem,” Erin shrugged.

“I have to get to work. Don’t want to be late on my first day,” Randy said, glancing at a clock on Erin’s wall. “Thanks for me helping me move my stuff, Brian,” he waved and headed toward the door.

“What?” Brian breathed. “You said you’d by me lunch if I helped you move.”

“Yeah, I didn’t say it’d be today. I’ll catch you both later.”

Randy left, closing the door behind him. Brian and Erin looked at each other. “I’ll fix you some lunch,” Erin motioned to the kitchen with her head.

“I don’t mean to impose,” Brian said.

“Nonsense. It’s just lunch. Come on, let’s see what we have.”




“Right now, we’ll just have you bag and act as a floater. Just do whatever someone tells you for now and we’ll get you trained on doing stock and cashiering later this week,” the shift manager said to Randy as they walked to the front of the store after spending almost an hour filling out paperwork. “We would have a place to put you but since you haven’t had a job in almost six years it’s kind of hard to know what you can do.”

“Yeah, that’s what I get for living off the grid like an idiot,” Randy lied. “But thanks for giving me this chance. “

“I know your dad,” the shift manager said. “If you’re half the man he is.”

“Well, I’m not,” Randy said in a joking tone but was being serious.

“Ha!” the manager laughed. “This is Amanda, one of our best checkers. You’ll be working with her bagging groceries and just doing whatever else someone may have for you over the intercom.”

“Great. Thanks,” Randy said. “Hi, I’m Randy Brubaker.”

“Amanda Windom. Your name sounds familiar,” Amanda squinted her eyes.

“I may have wrote a kind of successful book,” Randy revealed in a quiet voice.

“No, it’s not that. I saw the name on a truck or something.”

“Oh, that was probably my Dad. He’s an electrician and just came out of retirement.”

“Yeah, that’s probably it,” Amanda said. “What book did you write?”

“‘Stroke Girl’,” he answered. “You ever hear of it?”

“Possibly? What was it about?”

“I found out about this girl who had a stroke in high school so I followed her around for several months hearing about her life, her stroke, her successes and failures and wrote a book about it.”

“That’s cool. Why are you here then?”

“I made it a young adult fictional story, changed the names, disavowed ever talking to her, and said it was a story that I came up with.”

“That’s bad.”

“Yeah, it was. It’s in the process of going through chances. It will say ‘based on a true story’ and all my proceeds will go to her medical fund for the next four years and a charity for young stroke victims until I die.”

“That’s cool. Glad to see you are making it right.”

“I’d rather have the money but going to Heaven is good, too, I guess,” he shrugged.

Customers began coming through the line, Amanda checked them out while Randy bagged their stuff. Occasionally Randy would look up at Amanda, long brown hair, thick, nerdy glasses, no chin, cute but not in a pretty way. “Separate the meats,” she said.

“What?”

“When you bag meats, separate the meats from the other food.”

“Okay. Why?”

“Cross contamination. Don’t want to get salmonella on your chips.”

“But the chips are in a bag. So is the meat,” Randy looked down at the groceries he was bagging.

“I don’t make the rules. Just separate the meat.”

Randy shrugged. “Are you good at bagging?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe you can show me what to do. Clearly, I have no idea.”

“Just a second,” Amanda scanned a few more items then called for someone named Jackson over the intercom. “He’s the best sacker in the store. He’ll give you some tips.”

Within a few seconds, a guy with brown hair, a cute nose, and thick lips came over. “What’s up?” he asked.

“Jackson, this is Randy. He’s starting today,” Amanda introduced. “He wants some tips on bagging.”

“She said you were the best sacker in the store,” Randy said, trying to flirt but just being dumb.

“Are you coming on to me?” Jackson asked.

“Jackson likes to make guys uncomfortable with his sexuality,” Amanda said.

“It’s not my fault if I make them uncomfortable. I’m just being friendly,” Jackson said and stepped close to Randy.

“No, it’s fine. I’m gay, too,” Randy revealed.

“Really? Well, that makes this more interesting,” Jackson said. “It’s nice to meet you. We should hang out sometime.”

“Yeah, I’d like that. I need more friends,” Randy said.

“Don’t we all. Now, onto the bagging,” Jackson refocused and began explaining how to correctly bag groceries which was more complicated than Randy could’ve thought.




“We’re so lucky to have found you,” Leah Tilghman said to Jess as they went into what was now her classroom. “This will be your room. If I remember the schedule correctly, you have four study halls, two English classes, and a Resource English class so you should have it pretty easy. We wanted whoever took over to have it easy for their time here.”

“Thanks,” Jess chuckled. “I should be fine no matter what the schedule. I’m just glad to find something so soon.”

School started at eight and Jess prepared for her first class, a study hall with only eight students and a para. The para was Frank Campo, who had been doing this for three years. While most of the students in the study hall were quiet and at least faked working, two students were very talkative with each other. Lexi Golden was a blond-haired girl in glasses. Haley Barnett was another blond girl with wide green eyes. Haley was flipping through her phone and showing Lexi what was on it. Both laughed at what was on the screen.

“Hey, girls, what’s up?” Jess asked as she sat down in a desk in front of them.

“We’re messing around with SnapChat,” Haley said. Lexi had backed away, not wanting to get into trouble.

“I know you should have something to do. It may be my first day here but I’m not stupid,” Jess smiled at Haley. “Mr. Campo, you may know. Do Haley and Lexi have anything to do for a class?”

“Haley has a worksheet for chapter seven in science and Lexi could be working on her math,” Frank said as he was working with Travis, a mostly quiet boy who had been held back twice and was still a sophomore.

“There you go,” Jess smiled bigger. “Put the phone away and get to work.”

“Blah,” Haley commented, sticking her tongue out but relented and pulled out her science book.

“Thank you, Haley. Thank you, Lexi,” Jess said and walked away.

“Thank you, Mr. Campo,” Jess said to Frank.

“I know everything about Haley. I’m in just about every one of her classes. We get along well,” he said. “Lexi will always have math homework. She will not do it in class. Leah’s been trying though.”

“Still, thank you,” Jess smiled at him and he smiled back.




It was almost two in the morning when the pounding woke up Chrissy. Just in her shirt and panties, she angrily got out of bed and stormed toward the front door, throwing it open. “What?” she shouted and saw someone from her past. “Kate?”

“Hey,” she breathed heavily. “I know it’s been about ten years since we’ve seen each other but can I stay with you?”

Randy #5

RANDY

“You were the only guy there?” Nathan asked Brian before taking a drink of his beer.

“Yeah, but it was fun. I’m going back next month,” Brian said.

“You also get to spend time with Chrissy,” Randy said. “You should ask her out. It’s clear she likes you.” Randy’s name was announced from the man at the karaoke stage. “Already?”

“We put our names in right when they got here,” Nathan said as Randy went up to the stage. “Why haven’t you dated anyone seriously since Becky?”

“I don’t know. I just never found anyone,” Brian shrugged.

“Bull. You haven’t even tried,” Nathan took another drink. Randy began ‘The Joker’. “I agree with Randy. You should ask out Chrissy and see what happens.”

“And ruin our friendship? No thanks,” Brian scoffed and took a drink of his own beverage. His phone suddenly chirped. “Speak of the devil. Text from Chrissy.”

“Text her back using the eggplant emoji and see what happens,” Nathan suggested.

“I’m not gonna do that,” Brian texted back to Chrissy and sat his phone back down. “How are things between you and Jess? I heard that you two have started dating again.”

“Yeah. I don’t know where it’s leading but we’re having fun. I’m having fun. I think she’s having fun,” Nathan said. Brian’s phone chirped again. “What’s Chrissy texting you about?”

“She’s just asking me about my night. She must be bored.”

“That is a much harder song to sing along to than I imagined,” Randy said as he sat back down at the booth. “Brian, I think you’re up next.”

“I didn’t even want to do this,” Brian grumbled as he slid out of the booth just a second before his name was called.




“Give her your number,” Nathan said.

“She’s a waitress in a bar. She probably gets hit on all the time,” Brian said.

“Just give her your number when you pay for your tab,” Randy said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I guess,” Brian wrote his phone number on a slip of paper and stuck it in with the dollar bills. The waitress came by and took the money along with Randy and Nathan’s and went back to the bar. Brian, Nathan and Randy watched discreetly as she went through the money, found the slip of paper, rolled her eyes and threw it away. “Hmm. That kind of hurts more than I expected it to but I get it.”

“Come on, let’s go. It’s time for part two of tonight,” Randy said.

They all got into Brian’s car and drove away. “So where am I driving to?”

“Head down the highway, past 151st,” Randy directed. “There’s a good place near there on a hill where we should be able to find some.”

Brian began driving, music playing softly from the radio. “Why do you want to do this? You do realize that we are in our late 20s, right?”

“I know but it’s one night of reliving our youth. We can go back to being our boring old selves tomorrow,” Randy said.

“I like my boring old self,” Brian muttered. “What if we get caught? It’s not when we’re sixteen or seventeen anymore.”

“When have we ever gotten caught?”

“Remember when we were stealing that street sign and a cop car flashed their lights at us from a parking lot on the next block then started driving toward us?” Nathan reminded.

“But we didn’t get caught. We quickly drove away and was able to outrun the cop,” Randy corrected.

“I still have that street sign,” Brian smiled. “It’s in my storage closet but I still have it.”

They continued driving, reminiscing occasionally, until they arrived at their destination. Clarion Woods Park was a new subdivision being built off of 175th and Pflumm. Right now, it was just an area of dirt with flattened areas where the roads would be placed. “Look at all these hills,” Randy said. “I think there are some up there on that ridge,” he pointed.

“This is stupid,” Brian complained but walked with Randy and Nathan up the ridge to the row of four port-o-potties at the top. “All right, now what?”

“Now we each do our thing,” Randy said deviously. He went into one of the port-o-potties. Nathan went into another one. Brian went into another but didn’t know what to do. He started to pee on the seat but it back splashed onto him so he just peed in the toilet.

Brian was out of the port-o-potty first with Randy a minute or so later. Nathan came out several minutes later. “Okay, that was stupid. Let’s get this over with.”

They each went behind their portable bathroom and began pushing. Soon, all three tipped over and began sliding down the hill, the sloshing of the toilet water barely audible over the loud thud of the plastic walls.

Randy and Nathan were giddy with excitement as they all ran back to the car. Brian started the car and pulled away, shaking his head. “What was wrong with us back then? You would think that with all the stupid, moronic things we did that we were high all the time.”

“I sometimes was,” Nathan admitted.

Brian’s phone chirped and he noticed that he had five messages from Chrissy that came in while he was out playing with the portable bathrooms. “What does Chrissy want?” Randy asked.

“We’ve just been talking all night. Not much else,” Brian said. He looked at the latest message that came in: I guess you’re in bed. Maybe you can come over some other night. G’Night. Brian typed in ‘good night’ but then deleted it and sat the phone back down.




When Brian got home to his apartment, he grabbed another key off of the key hook and went back downstairs to his storage closet. Behind some boxes, a green street sign leaned against the back wall. Printed on the metal sign were the words ‘Lone Elm.’ He took the sign, closed the door, and got out his phone.

Are you up for a road trip some time? he texted to Randy. He went back to his apartment and his phone bleeped.

Sure, just let me know when.

Randy #4

RANDY

“You’ve been retired for six years though,” Randy said to Randall as he poured himself a big cup of coffee into an insulated cup. “Are people even going to hire you?”

“I’ve kept up on my licensing and I still do work around the house here. And why not come out of retirement now? Your mom isn’t here and my two kids have their own lives,” Randall said. “Kinda.”

“I’m just concerned about you, Dad. You’re too old to be climbing around wiring houses,” Randy said.

“I’m just going to do houses and commercial buildings. I’m not going to wire new houses or buildings or anything,” Randall said.

“Just be careful out there. If you need help, let me know,” Randy said as Randall walked out of the house. The door clicked shut and Randy stood for a second. “Maybe now I can get some writing done. But first, I’m going to masturbate.”





“I’m so glad that we are able to have lunch today,” Nathan said as he and Jess walked into the deli. “This makes our relationship seem more legitimate.”

“Really? Legitimate? You’re telling me that if we had lunch more during our marriage then we wouldn’t have gotten divorced?” Jess asked.

“Yes. I’m going to say ‘yes’,” Nathan chuckled. He pulled a chair out for Jess and she sat down. “We just got married too young. We should’ve just dated after high school instead of getting married four months after graduation.”

“I’ve thought that, too,” Jess agreed. “We were young and stupid. But considering that I then got married again seems to lean toward that I am just stupid.”

“No, you’re not. You’re the smartest person I know.”

“Thanks, Nathan, I…”

“After Chrissy and Brian, of course.”

“Ass,” Jess croaked.

“Hi, I’m Ashbury and I will be your server,” said a small, perky blonde, setting two glasses of water on the table in front of Nathan and Jess. “Our special today is the BLT and it comes with a half-size of chicken noodle soup. Would you like more than water to drink?”

“I’ll have a Coke,” Nathan said.

“Raspberry iced tea for me,” Jess said.

“I will go get those,” Ashbury smiled and walked away.

“What are you thinking of having?” Nathan asked.

“Just a salad, I think. I may do a sandwich.”

“I’m getting the special. How’s work going?”

“It’s going good, can’t wait until I graduate and can move into being a teacher. I have to student teach first but it’s only a year.”

Ashbury dropped off the drinks. “Are you ready to order?” she asked.

“Yes, she will have the Ceaser salad and I will have the special,” Nathan ordered.

“All right. I’ll get those orders placed.”

“I never knew you wanted to be a teacher. But I guess, honestly, I never really cared what you wanted after we were married. Or before we were married.”

“You were slightly better than my second husband though,” Jess chuckled and began drinking her tea.

“Really?”

“Nick was way too into sports. Football, basketball, soccer. A baseball team started doing well and went to the playoffs so he started watching that. Nick’s idea of a romantic date was dinner at a “sit-down place” which could range from Steak N Shake to Longhorn Steakhouse and then to someplace where we could have sex.”

“That reminds me of a few dates we’ve had,” Nathan joked.

“A few. I originally just wanted to go to school for child care but I found out that I really liked it so I decided to go further and get a teaching degree.”

“What age are you planning on teaching?”

“Middle or high school. Whichever I can find a job.”

“Why not elementary? I mean, you’re working with those kids now at the day care center.”

“I feel that I can be a better teacher to teenagers. They are the ones that need encouragement to stay and work hard in school.”

“I know I would’ve probably tried harder in school if you were my teacher.”

“In this scenario where I’m your teacher, we’ve still had sex, right?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Of course,” Jess nodded.

Ashbury brought out their salad and sandwich and they began eating but still talked to each other. Jess was halfway through her salad and Nathan was shoving the last of his sandwich in his mouth when someone walked up to them.

“Jess?” the man asked.

“Oh my God, Nick?” Jess covered her mouth as she spoke. “Nathan, this is Nick, my ex-husband. Nick, this is Nathan, my other ex-husband. What is wrong with me?” she asked herself softly.

“Oh, nice to meet you,” Nathan extended his hand.

“Nice to meet the one who broke Jess in,” Nick laughed as he shook Nathan’s hand. “How are you doing, Jess?”

“I’m good. About to graduate from school. I’m going to become a teacher. How are you?”

“Good, good. Got married again--that’s her over there,” he pointed to beautiful redhead by the door. “I’ve also started my own business, it’s that new record store on Antioch.”

“Really? That doesn’t sound like you. You told me that you were never going to quit your job at the sunglass kiosk at the mall.”

“But then I met Mary and things started to change. She wanted to bring out the best in me and she suceeded. It was nice to see you again.”

Nick walked away. Jess turned and watched him and the redhead leave the restaurant together. “Well, this day just got significantly worse,” Jess said.




“Never thought I’d have to Ayn Rand,” Brian said as he and Chrissy walked to the bookstore for book club.

“Don’t be fooled by the choice of book, this is a pretty liberal book club,” Chrissy reassured.

“Why’d you join a book club?” Brian asked.

“To make new friends. Thanks for coming with me, I’m hoping that with someone here I know, I won’t be so quiet.”

“So you need an old friend to help you around your new friends?”

“Shut up, it’s complicated.”

They went into the bookstore where a couple book club members were already there and another woman was getting out chairs. “Hi, Chrissy, right?” asked an older woman with brunette hair.

“Yes, I’m glad you remembered. Elaine, right?” Chrissy laughed. “This is Brian, he tagged along with me tonight.”

“Nice to meet you, Brian,” Elaine said.

“Nice to meet you, too.”

“It’ll be interesting to have a little testosterone injected into this club,” she continued.

“What?” Brian asked Chrissy.

“You’re the only guy here. Let’s help Kath set up chairs,” Chrissy changed the subject.

Randy #3

RANDY


Eleven years ago, Randy and Jess were in the second year of their relationship. They were in his bedroom, Jess on top of Randy, kissed and preparing to lose their virginity. Jess was clearly more into it than Randy and finally, Randy stopped her. “Look, we need to talk, I’m just not feeling this right now. I…”

Randy’s mom, Sally, then came into the bedroom carrying a laundry basket. “Oh, I didn’t know you had Jess over,” Sally apologized. “I was just going to bring you your clean laundry. Don’t mind me, I was never here.” Sally put the laundry basket in the bedroom and then closed the door behind her.

“Your Mom still does your laundry?” Jess asked.

“Yeah. She’s my Mom. That’s what they do,” Randy said. “Look, Jess, I wanted to tell you something. I really like you and I care for you but do you feel that the spark has gone out of our relationship?”

“We’ve been together for two years, that’s bound to happen. That’s why I wanted to make love,” Jess smiled and kissed him again.

“I think it’s more than that,” Randy said quietly. “I’m gay.”

Jess sat up quickly and looked at Randy, raising her eyebrow. “Gay? Really? For how long?”

“I’ve been considering myself gay for the last five months or so but I’ve had a crush on Christian Valentine since seventh grade.”

“I can’t say I’m not surprised. You were never overtly sexual with me and it explains why nothing is going on down there,” Jess pointed. “You didn’t date me because I kind of look like a guy, right?” she asked.

“What? No. You don’t look like a man at all. I asked you out because we’re friends. I figured if I liked it great, if we fell in love, a plus but if it was not meant to be, it would easy to break this off.”

“Aw,” Jess smiled. “I’m gonna go. You have laundry to put away and parents to come out to.”

“Are you kidding? You’ve met my Dad.”

“I’ll see you at school,” Jess smiled.

As she headed out of the house, she passed by Sally in the kitchen. “You don’t have to leave on my account,” she said.

“I’m not. Randy just...Randy and I broke up,” Jess said to her.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. You two were very good together considering that Junior wasn’t really interested in dating you,” Sally said.

“What do you mean?”

“Junior’s gay, right? I’m not sure but I can hear things and I see stuff in his room.”

“It should be him that tells you,” Jess said. “I’ll see you, Mrs. Brubaker.”




Jess was the last of Randy’s friends to arrive at the funeral but she wasn’t missed or noticed as she entered the funeral home. She went over to Sally, lying in a coffin. Randall was standing close, talking to one of his friends. “Mr. Brubaker, I am sorry for your loss,” Jess said softly.

“You dated my son back in high school, didn’t you?” Randall asked. “Before he was queer.”

“He was always queer...gay. It’s not like dating me made him gay,” Jess said. “I had nothing to do with him being gay and vice versa. Randy was just the first in a long line of guys that I dated who broke my heart and I now realize that I am talking very loud and fast and that you don’t care anyway.” Jess exhaled and walked away.

“Don’t you want to talk to anyone out there?” Brian asked Randy, who was camped out in another room away from the funeral.

Randy raspberried. “No. Besides, all those people are just blurs in my life. I don’t know them and a lot of them are former clients of my Dad’s.”

“You can at least mingle with Chrissy or Nathan or me. Jess just got here so you can talk to her.”

“I’d rather just stay here. You guys can come in here with me though,” Randy said.

“Aren’t people supposed to talk at these things?” Nathan asked as he stepped toward Jess. “Like, speeches or something?”

“They’re called eulogies. They should be starting in a few minutes. Mourners have to get in a good mood first before being made depressed,” Jess explained.

“Are you okay?” Nathan asked.

“You always know,” she smiled at him. “It’s Randy being back. It’s making feel inadequate.”

“Why?”

“Uh, because he started the pattern of bad relationships that I’ve had. I can’t even really blame him so it is clearly my fault. Something is wrong with me.”

“Are you sure this is the correct place to start having a nervous breakdown?”

“Randy, they’re going to start the eulogies soon. You should probably go out there,” Chrissy said, coming into the room where Randy and Brian were. “What are you doing in here anyway?”

“I don’t know anybody here and I’m not exactly a fan of my extended family,” he replied. “You should hang out with us.”

“I guess I can stay for a couple of minutes,” Chrissy said and sat next to Brian. “Do you know who is going to speak?”

Randy shrugged. “Erin and Dad did most of the work on the funeral.”

Chrissy chuckled. “She always wanted ice.”

“What?” Randy asked.

“Remember when we would hang out over at your house and she would always ask you to drive and get her another bag of ice?” Chrissy reminded.

“Oh, God, yes. She always wanted ice. You guys would be over for ten minutes and then it was ‘Randy, can you go get me some ice?’ I hated that. It was so embarrassing,” Randy smiled. “That’s one of the reasons I moved so far away--so I wouldn’t have to get her any more damn ice. I did notice that they invested in a refrigerator that makes its own ice.”

“Well, she needed ice and she had no more children,” Brian said. “I think everyone is starting to sit. We should get out there.”




After the funeral and after the graveside service, everyone started to disperse to Randall’s house for a food-laden get-together. Jess and Nathan walked together through the cemetery as everyone left. “Are you going over to Randy’s?” Nathan asked.

“In a bit,” Jess answered.

“Do you want to go grab some coffee with me?”

“Now?”

“Yes, now.”

“I guess I could choke down some coffee with you then we can head over to Randy’s,” Jess smiled and she took Nathan’s hand as they continued walking through the cemetery.

Randy #2

RANDY


Randy walked into the Strang Line Funeral Home, it always weirded him out how homey funeral homes were. Strang Line was actually in a home, an old Victorian built in the early 1900s saved from demolition in 1985 when the funeral home bought it. Randy stood in the foyer for a couple minutes then noticed a sign above a button that read “Press button for service.” He pressed the button and waited a couple more seconds.

“I will be right up,” a voice answered.

From the basement, Brian emerged, in a suit and tie. “Brian?” Randy asked. “You work here?”

“I thought you knew. I went to school to be a mortician and funeral director,” Brian explained. “I’m the only one here right now. How can I help you?”

“Dad and Erin sent me here to see if I wanted to add to anything to Mom’s service. Do you know what they requested for her?” Randy asked.

“Come into the office and we can look that up,” Brian motioned for Randy to follow him and they went into an office. Brian flipped through some files on the desk and found the paperwork for Sally Brubaker. “Ooh, good choices. The gold-trimmed walnut-mahogany casket, It’s in our showroom if you’d want to see it. She will be buried with this jewelry,” he held up a baggie with her wedding ring, pinky ring, a cross necklace and earrings that Randy had given her after selling his book. “The clothes she will be put in are downstairs.”

“Were you working on her?” Randy asked.

“Yes.”

“Can I see her?”

“No. You’ll see her tomorrow.”

“Why can’t I see her?”

“It’s illegal and only authorized people can be downstairs and that’s limited to the five people who work here.”

“How come I didn’t know you were a mortician? Actually, how come I didn’t know you wanted to be a mortician?”

“I’ve always had respect for the dead and I wanted to help people,” Brian shrugged. “It was a good career move because people like me will always be needed.”

“So everyday you work on dead bodies, cutting them open, removing organs, embalming?”

“So what are you working on?”

“Absolutely nothing. Well, I have 1,600 pages of complete bullshit on a flash drive right now and a publisher breathing down my neck threatening to revoke my advance,” Randy said.

“Who would’ve thought that writing would be hard when you aren’t stealing a life,” Brian said.

“I know,” Randy jokingly agreed. “How is Becky?”

“Becky? I haven’t seen Becky in years. We broke up after college.”

“What? But you were high school sweethearts, you got engaged senior year. What happened?”

“I don’t know. She said that the reason was that she had thought that she would never do better than dating me. Her words,” Brian said.

“I can’t believe you broke up. Do you know what she’s doing now?”

“Eh, she’s been dating around, I can see some of her profile online since she and Jess and Chrissy are friends. I miss her art.”

“Her art sucked, Brian. Everything looked like something out of a Tim Burton movie,” Randy said. “Are you seeing anyone? Been sowing your oats?”

“What about you? You seeing anyone?”

“No, he broke up with me the day my Mom died. He didn’t know that she was dead so it’s okay. We’d been together for three years and I guess he...we...weren’t feeling it anymore.”

“I’m not seeing anyone,” Brian answered. “I haven’t seen anyone since Becky so I’ve been focusing on my work.”

“You’ve been single for six years? You haven’t had sex in six years?”

“That’s kind of personal, Randy,” Brian said.

“We were best friends, Brian. We used to tell each other everything. It was your description of going down on Becky that I’m pretty sure turned me gay.”

“I’ve only been with one girl since Becky and me broke up. It wasn’t serious, we just both needed something a bit different,” Brian explained.

“Who was it with? Do I know her?”

“It was with Erin.”

“My sister?”

Brian nodded.

“Why my sister?”

“It was shortly after Aiden was born and Jeff had abandoned her. She had been working twelve hour shifts and then caring for Aiden the other twelve hours. She needed something to calm her down,” Brian said.

Randy sighed. “I didn’t think it was possible to become even more gay,” he said. “Erin never told me. Did you guys date or what?”

“No, we just slept together. We had sex three times over the course of two months. Had we had sex a fourth time, I would’ve asked her out but she started seeing someone else so she didn’t need me anymore.”

“Remember what we used to do back in high school?”

“Oh, God, why? We can’t do that, Randy. We’re in our late-20s.”

“After the funeral, we’re going to do it,” Randy said.

“It’s so juvenile, I’m not going to do it.”

“You will and you will love it.”




“Nathan? What are you doing here?” Jess asked as Nathan approached the playground at the daycare center where she worked.

“Picking up my niece, Sammy,” Nathan said as he pointed to a little girl. “Heather has to stay late at work so she asked me if I could pick her up.”

“I didn’t know Sammy was your niece,” Jess said. “Are you close with her?”

“I see her a couple times a month.”

“Hi, Uncle Nathan,” Sammy said, coming over to Jess and Nathan.

“Hey, Sammy,” Nathan kneeled down and rubbed her hair. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sammy,” Jess said.

“See you tomorrow, Miss Jess,” Sammy smiled and waved.

“Hey, Jess?” Nathan stopped and turned to Jess.

“What is it, Nathan?”

He was silent for a few seconds. She was starting to get confused so he had to say something. “You’ll be at the funeral, right?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then,” he said. He sighed as he helped Sammy into a car seat. “That is not what I wanted to ask her.”

Randy #1

RANDY


“Yes, I know I was supposed to give you a manuscript a month ago but it’s been hard coming up with anything good, let alone cohesive,” Randy Brubaker said into the phone, a cigarette between this forefinger and middle finger of his right hand. His publisher had been after him to at least send them to look over. What he currently had written was more than nothing but not something they wanted to see. “I do have something written and I could send it to you if you want to read 1,600 pages of rambling bullshit. Okay. That’d be great. Three more months and you want at least 100 pages by then. I can do that. Thank you. Bye-bye.” Randy hung up and slumped to the desk. He took one last drag on his cigarette and put it out. He turned around to see his boyfriend of three years standing in the doorway with two suitcases. “This can’t be good.”

“You know we can’t do this anymore, Randy,” he said. “It hasn’t been good in almost a year and I just can’t take it anymore.”

Randy nodded. “No, I get it, Mose. Maybe I’ll see you around or we can keep in touch.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Mose said.

“That’s true. You don’t want to do to Aaron what you have done to me,” Randy said. Mose was taken aback. “Yeah, I know.”

“I’m going to go now.”

“Yeah, you better go,” Randy snapped. Mose left the apartment, the door closing behind him. Randy sat alone, motionless for a couple of minutes breathing very rhythmically. Finally, he took a deep breath and exhaled. “I think I handled that pretty well.” The phone rang and Randy grumbled and cursed. “Hello?” he answered.

“Randy? This is Erin.”

“Oh, hey, Erin. How is everything?”

“Could be better. Mom passed away,” Erin could be heard tearing up.

“Fuck,” Randy said softly. “This is turning into a very shitty day.”

“Why?” Erin sniffled.

“I’ll tell you when I get back to Kansas. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he sighed.




After high school, Randy moved to Los Angeles to study writing at UCLA. After he graduated, he began trying to find something to write about. He discovered a high school girl who had had a stroke during her sophomore year. For a year, he talked to her and her family, taking notes and becoming close with her and learning about every aspect of her life before the stroke, during her countless surgeries and readjusting to teenage life. Randy then changed the names of the people involved, sold the book as fiction, cut ties with the family and rocked to the top of the bestseller list for his book detailing a realistic portrayal of a teenage stroke victim. He had survived the subsequent lawsuit brought on by the
girl’s parents and signed a deal with the publisher for another book which he was having trouble coming up with.

Erin picked him up from the Kansas City Airport and drove him back to Overland Park, a suburb in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. Randy hadn't been back to Overland Park since he left for California. Being a city founded in the mid 20th Century and having most of its boom in the 1990s and 2000s, not much had changed. Big commercial retailers, franchise restaurants and houses all similar to the ones next to it lined the streets.

Not that parts of Los Angeles were any different.

"So what happened?" Randy asked when they exited into 119th Street from Interstate 35.

"It was her heart. She'd always had heart issues, you know, and she was a good sized woman," Erin said.

Randy chuckled. "Yeah, it runs in the family," he took note of his and Erin's more ample frames and their dad's. "Where did it happen?"

"She had been in the hospital for a couple of days. She went to take a nap and never woke up. Dad was with her so she wasn't alone."

"That's nice," Randy returned to looking out the window. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm good. I got promoted to liaison director at work."

"What the hell is that?"

"A liaison is an intermediary between a client and the employee. I oversee all of the liaisons and assign them to cases."

"That sounds...what's a nice word for awful?"

Erin laughed. "I know it's no bestselling author but it puts a roof over mine and Aiden's head and food on our table," she explained.

"Aiden. That's his name. I wanted to ask about him but I forgot his name. I was hoping you'd bring it up. How's Aiden?"

"He's fine, you ass."

Erin pulled into the driveway of their childhood home, a modest 1970s ranch house in a slightly older neighborhood, of which there were few and getting fewer.

Randy and Erin walked in, their dad, Randall Senior, wa sitting, where he always did, at the small dining room table in a chair right next to the kitchen. A traveler's mug of probably cold coffee sat in front of him.

"Well look who it is," he snorted. "How you doing, Junior?"

"Please call me 'Randy', Dad," Randy corrected.

"I'm your father and I will call you whatever I want," Randall said. "Bastard."

"Aw, there's the love," Randy smiled at Erin. "How are you holding up, Dad?"

"Your Mom's the one who's dead," Randall began. "I'm doing great. How's the weather out in L.A.?" his Dad used a snarky tone for L.A., like most people from more conservative areas.

"It's good. It's weird not having a winter but after nearly ten years, I'm used to it. How's it been here?"

"Can't complain," he snorted again. "Where you staying?"

Randy quickly glanced at Erin and then back at his Dad. "Can I stay here? I didn't get a hotel, assuming I could just stay with you or Erin."

"That'd be fine," Randall said. "There's still a bed in your bedroom. You can sleep there."

"Great. We can get caught up on what's been happening."

"Funeral's in three days. Can we really catch up on ten years in three or four days? I doubt you'll stay much past the funeral."

"Hadn't planned on it but maybe I can stay a week. I do have to get a manuscript written and sent into my publisher soon though."

“You can’t write right here?” Randall questioned. “Your Mother would sit right there--” he pointed at the chair next to the large bay window “--
and do all her writing. Grocery lists, Christmas cards, get-well cards, thank-you letters…”

“Okay, I get it. I’ll stick around for awhile…”

“...Checks, she wrote a letter to the editor one time.”

“It’s not like I have anything waiting for me back in California,” he shrugged. “I guess I will go see my new room.”





Randy looked at the list he made as he pushed the shopping cart through the grocery store. The cart was already half full as during the last week, Randall hadn’t bought any groceries since he was at the hospital so the kitchen was pretty bare. He got to the meat section and began looking at and pricing the meat, trying to figure out how much he and his Dad would need.

“Randy?” a woman walked up to him with her own shopping cart. “Oh my God, what are you doing back in Overland Park?”

“Jess, right?” Randy was unsure.

“Yeah, it’s Jess. Jess Westgate,” she said.

“Okay, I knew that was right. Sorry, it’s been so long. How are you doing?”

She made an odd noise and exhaled loudly, her lips vibrated. “It’s been better but I’m back in school getting my degree in special education. I should be done next year.”

“Didn’t you marry Nathan?”

“I did. It was terrible and the marriage ended after three years. I still see him around. He lives with Brian,” Jess said.

“Brian? How’s he doing?” Randy asked. Brian was Randy’s best friend in high school. Randy always felt bad that he didn’t keep in contact with him but all ties had to be cut, not just 99 percent of them.

“Why I don’t I get ahold of everyone and we meet to get a drink? Can you come out tonight?” Jess asked.

Randy thought for second. “Who’s everyone?”

“You, me, Brian, Nathan and Chrissy.”

“Let’s do it. Two hours from now. I’ll meet the four of you at the Ace of Clubs.”

“Great. We’ll all see you then.”





“So what are you doing back in Overland Park?” Chrissy asked.

“My Mom passed away,” Randy said. “The funeral is in a couple of days. I said I would stay a week or so.”

“I’m so sorry, Randy,” Jess said. “How’s your Dad holding up?”

“Same ol’ Dad,” Randy chuckled. “He seems kind of lost though. Like he doesn’t know how to handle himself now.”

“As long as your parents were married, it’s probably like losing an appendage,” Chrissy said. She finished her drink and then looked at her cell phone. “Oh, it’s past eleven, I need to get home.”

“I should probably head out, too,” Jess said.

The girls cleared out leaving Randy, Brian and Nathan at the bar. “I’ve missed you,” Brian said.

“Oh, you’re going to get mushy aren’t you?” Randy whined.

“No, just letting you know,” Brian took a sip of his drink. “We were best friends and you decide to move to California and then you cut off contact with everyone. You only call your parents on birthdays and Christmas. How come you became such an ass?”

“I was always kind of an ass. It’s nothing new.”

“But it seems like after high school you reached a whole new level of ass. Tell me, how many friends do you have in California?”

Randy thought but then faked a laugh. “I don’t really have any but that doesn’t…” he looked at Brian and Nathan. “You’re right. Look, I’m here for a week and I would like to keep in touch after all this is over. We can hang out together, the three of us and the girls, when I’m not helping my Dad with funeral stuff.”

“It’ll be nice to have the gang back together,” Nathan said.

“It will,” Randy smiled.




When Randy returned to his Dad’s house, he grabbed his laptop and created a new document. He began typing and when he was done, he had ten pages of everything that had happened to him over the last three days.