The Roy’s:Episode Twenty-One
May 19th, 2008
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Episode Twenty-One
(My deepest thanks to the Gordon’s and Donnie … amazing and self-less individuals)
…ultimately direct me to ‘the one’.
We will talk more about ‘the one’ later in this story. But, for now, we will focus on Merrill and two different yet very special people. It was now the early winter of nineteen-ninety-five, and it had been nearly six months since I had any contact with ‘the girl’. In fact, it had been nearly as long since I had any contact with a girl period. This all would change on roughly my second night back in town as I found myself with a dying need to get out and socialize. I strolled down to a little corner bar and chatted up the locals while downing chiggers of blackberry brandy like there was no tomorrow. About three hours later I found myself back home, in bed…
… with the bartender.
Amy.
It was the most liberating thing. I had almost given up hope. I had felt so unloved for so long that I had forgotten how good it felt to be close to someone. Feeling like I was a hundred pounds lighter couldn’t begin to describe the emotion. Throw in the fact the Amy was a gorgeously tall brunette, (with or without the beer goggles), and most would call it a pretty successful night. Unfortunately, for me, this would be the last time I would see the lass bare bottomed. But, we ended up having a long a heartfelt relationship as …
… just friends.
Believe me, I kept trying, I would have been a fool not to. But, when everything was said and done, Amy and I would spend more hours straight talking then we would ever spend straight shagging. Ironically enough, a terrorist probably blew up the one chance I did have to seriously date Amy. I was sitting at her house and we had spent hours talking about life and the parts we wanted to play in each others. It was an emotional conversation that was quickly turning into less talking and more, well, not talking. We were in the middle of a very passionate embrace when the television started screeching an alarm. The local station had broken the news announcing the Oklahoma City bombing. The conversation was obviously forgotten.
The rest of the day was spent glued, in silence.
Strangely, when everything was said and done I was okay with it. During the course of that winter Amy became one of the only true female friends I have ever had. I don’t remember a day that wasn’t spent together, a phone call that wasn’t filled with laughter, or a moment that passed in which we weren’t connected in some fashion. It was a fabulous time in my life, one that went a long way in renewing my faith in woman kind.
Thank you.
I would eventually lose touch with Amy. Not for any reason in particular, we just started to slowly drift away into our own lives and the demands that they required. Amy would leave me with one final parting gift when she took me to a party supposedly hosted by some of the better connected lads in the Merrill area. It is at this party where I would meet the most obnoxiously endearing person one will ever run into. He is also the first person in this entire story, in which I still speak with today. Up until this point, every friend that I ever had was now gone. This is the moment in which I start to accumulate some new ones again. If you have read the previous twenty chapters you know I always latch on to the most inimitable characters I can find. This kid with the GQ looks, the silky gift of gab, and a million or so totally unbelievable stories would be the most unique of them all.
He also is now my oldest and dearest friend.
Emmy.
That’s just a nickname of course, but real names aside, there was no argument that the kid was captivating. He was like the energizer bunny on steroids, and where Emmy went people followed. He knew all the people, he was at all the parties, and he had the uncanny knack of being able able to talk you into whatever he was selling. He had such a magnetic presence that at one point he even incited an actual riot. Need I mention he could also drink more booze than any human being I have ever met? I think that is the magical middle ground in which Emmy and I connected. Somewhere between chemicals and under achievement we formed a belief that life was all about having a good time. That summer of nineteen-ninety-five was a non-stop lesson in debauchery.
At summer’s end, Emmy was due to leave for school in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I visited him back and forth from time to time, including one visit which involved an unplanned meeting with an F.B.I. agent.
That’s a whole different book.
But, truth be told I missed hanging out with the guy. I went to visit him and his roommate Troy one weekend, fully packed for three days of house parties and blunts the size of a small tree trunks. Cruising around with Emmy was similar to cruising around with a rock star, at least in the relative sense anyway. Due to this fact, what started out as a weekend trip eventually turned into a lifestyle. I basically just kept staying over. Nineteen-ninety-five soon turned into ninety-six and I wouldn’t look back. I left all my personal belongings in Merrill, and I completely disappeared from everyone … ‘the girl’ included. It’s not something I’m proud of; it’s just the way it was. I would go on to skip my court dates, blow off my probation, and hide in hopes that no one really cared.
What I found while hiding in the shadows where droves and droves of drunken …
(Stay tuned for Episode Twenty-Two)
bozz2006 said:
blackberry brandy, huh? ugh.
Tell “the one” I’d hoped I’d learn a little more about her today, but i guess that will have to wait.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:24 am #
pack93z said:
Ya know.. a couple of years either way.. we probably would have crossed paths in Merrill.. I used to hang out there in 1999 and beyond when I moved back to the area.. I ran the Hurd glass plant for about 3 years beginning in 2000.. anyway.. dude you did alot of running in your day.. Forrest Gump related? LOL.
May 20th, 2008 at 11:03 am #
Insert Name said:
Good things come to those who wait, bozz. Pack, probably best you didn’t. Thanks boys.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:18 pm #
BC said:
Good read, looking forward to the coming episodes.
May 21st, 2008 at 6:13 pm #
Zombieslayer said:
My personal thought about Amy, well, I guess it never happened, but I’ve always felt this.
When you and a member of the opposite sex are young and lonely (and at least decent looking), you’ll have a fling. It might not work out, but it’s inevitable. The window may not have opened.
But alas, it was all for the best. Just sayin’ though.
May 22nd, 2008 at 6:16 pm #
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May 24th, 2008 at 3:12 am #