Philip Johnson
Prologue
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I mention that right off; that and the fact that it's January, so you can get a mental picture of a cold, brown and depressing place and time of year. Once spring arrived I'd brag about being from Harrisburg, but right then I'd have given anything to be someplace warm and green. Let's narrow it down a little now. I live on Fortuna Lane on the north side of one of the loops of Yellow Breeches. That could be river or creek depending on what you read and where you read it. It is a premier trout fishing stream I'm told, but since I don't fish I'll have to take their word for it. Oh, and I'm just west of the Susquehanna River in case you care.
Okay, first of all we all grew up in Harrisburg and thanks to PTA moms us kids knew each other from early child hood on. Some moved away, but that still left the four of us in our little group.
I'm Jay Kenton, one of four in that tight little group. There's Tony Manchester, the second male in our mix. Tony is sandy haired bordering on red and his hair is always a mess. Not because he doesn't care, but rather his hair doesn't care, so it goes in all directions. His most recent solution is to keep it cut very short. He's pretty laid back outwardly but his mind never stops working.
Nikki Orson is...well how can I describe her? She's vivacious is what comes to mind. Full of energy and about one step outside of mischief much of the time. She can be impulsive, but not out of control and that just adds to her charm as far as I'm concerned. Small framed with beautiful brown hair in a bouncy ponytail that I would frequently find excuses to touch.
The fourth member of our little pack is Margo Fields. Margo is a little taller than Nikki and a little like Tony in that she's on the quieter side. But her gray blue eyes always seem to be dancing and her dirty blond hair is usually about shoulder length and I love to watch it shift and shimmer when she moves.
Our group of four is important to us for many reasons, but almost certainly the main reason is we never judge each other and we never hit on or try to date each other. Yes we're all single. Either always have been or have been for some time. When we're together we can all really relax and be ourselves. We've all seen each other in bad moods or sad moods, but mostly in good spirits. We've seen each other sick and hung over or drunk, but we never fail to be there if one of us needs our support.
Chapter One
Jay was in his combination guest room and office and was installing a new router in his computer system. He had his ear pressed against his phone as he leaned over to reach a dropped data line. Of course it chose right then to ring right into his left ear. He jumped back and grabbed his ear as he tossed out a few choice expletives before grabbing the phone and answered. "What?"
"Okay then, maybe I'll just call back another time or another day."
"Oh...sorry Nikki I...well I'll explain later. What's up?"
"I just wanted to tell you that I'll be a little late tonight. Say about fifteen minutes."
"Oh, okay."
"Just don't let anybody say or do anything important until I get there."
"Right, like we have so many important things going on in our lives. Okay then no problem. You are okay aren't you?"
"I'm fine, I just have to stop off at the courthouse and pay a fine."
"Oops."
"Yeah, thirty five in a twenty five. See you tonight love, bye." After he hung up he smiled and thought that between the two women in their little group she was his favorite. Of course it was just last week when he had the same thoughts about Margo. He could understand why bigamy still existed.
For the upcoming gathering, Jay made a bowl of bacon wrapped sausages and floated them in a light barbeque sauce, put some diet Cokes and a dozen Miller Lites in the fridge and called it good. The others would bring more food so they wouldn't starve as they sat around wasting their Saturday night.
He unlocked his front door about five thirty, and not much later Tony came in calling out, "I'm here so bring out the naked women."
"Wrong night and wrong house I'm afraid," He called from the kitchen. "If you know where we should be you better be telling me all about it."
He found Jay putting out the paper plates and glasses and said, "I was just fantasizing. You gotta admit it is a good thought."
"Top shelf in fact."
"Need any help?"
"Nah, I'm about set. This group is pretty low maintenance."
"I think it's cool how we all just make ourselves at home no matter whose house we use."
"We could almost all live in the same one in fact."
"I don't think I'd go quite that far."
"Nikki will be a few minutes late by the way."
It was only minutes later when Margo came in saying, "Damn I hate the winter time. It's so utterly depressing."
"The wintertime blues," Tony offered.
"You can call it anything you want, but it's still depressing and seems to go on forever."
"At least it isn't snowing."
"I'd welcome snow right now just for a change of scenery."
"You gonna be cranky tonight?"
"Of course not. In fact I feel better just from bitching about it. Hey, where's Nikki, she's always here ahead of me."
Jay told her, "She had to stop and pay a fine before she could go home and change."
"Fine? Fine for what?"
"I'll let her tell you the story."
"Oh, did you get your new bedspread and curtains and stuff?"
"I did, go check it out and see what you think."
She came back a minute later and told him, "Nice. You did good in fact...it's just too bad it's so masculine."
"You mean you've never noticed I'm a guy?"
"Well of course but...I just thought you'd go a little more neutral you know? Kind of in between."
"Sorry. Guess that means you can't sleep with me now."
"Like that was ever in the cards."
"Hey you almost did that night after Gil and Wendy's reception."
"I sure was drunk that night. I still don't know how you got me home."
"I don't either because I don't remember much about any of that."
Nikki finally arrived saying, "I need a cold beer to drown my sorrows." As she joined the group, Jay handed her a cold beer and waited for her to take a long taste. "Just for the record, the basic speeding ticket will set you back a hundred and twenty bucks. More if you're ticket is for exceeding the ten miles over the posted limit. I won't be eating out or anything else for a month now."
The four of them filled their plates and made their way to the living room, and chose places to sit where there was an end table for their drinks. Tony looked around and smiled before he said, "It looks like we're all mad at each other. Jay, you and Nikki are at opposite ends of the couch and Margo and I are the same way on this love seat." They talked as they ate and Nikki explained about where and how she got her ticket and she and Margo talked about being stopped by good looking officers...while Tony and Jay stayed out of it.
With their plates empty, Jay put a bowl of salty snacks on the coffee table and they all got a beer before returning to the living room. The next half an hour or so was spent on reviewing their lives since their last gathering a couple of weeks ago, but then Jay said, "I have an idea. Something to get our minds off of work and the lousy weather or whatever."
"What's that," Nikki asked him.
"One of us picks a time in their past that, for whatever reason, was very important to them or was a pivotal point in their lives. Then share that with the rest of us."
Tony asked, "Any time in our lives?"
