Forgiveness is the foundation of so much. A good relationship cannot survive without it. It's preached in churches, classrooms, and therapy sessions.
Forgiveness
is a story that touches on that very thing. The tough part is understanding when it's sincere, unequivocal, or even relevant. The story happens within a fairly tight timeline, and I jump back and forth a little. I've tried to make the changes obvious.
There is some sex in this story, but it's not the main event, although sex is always the reason for stories like this. I hope I'm improving, but expect some mistakes in both spelling and grammar. I've been known to mix names at times, usually from another story that I'm working on, and they get lost in the edit readings... sorry.
It's just a story, folks,
Cheers,
C_T
Forgiveness
"Angie... seriously. What are we? 13?" David said out loud what all of us guys were thinking, but inevitably, the girls smiled at her idea.
The six of us have been friends for a very long time. David, Frank, and I (Kris) all went to school together, from kindergarten to high school graduation. Our paths divided some, due to career choices and post-secondary education, but the bond never stretched too far.
Two of the three girls also went to the same schools as we did. Although we never really knew each other until middle school when girls were no longer yucky. Angie and Lisa's friendship took off more so during our high school years. My wife, Beth, was the only real import into our group. We met in college, fell in love, and married shortly after graduation. You'd never know that Beth wasn't part of the long-term friendship group, as she blended in so well, the others often forgot she wasn't a party to all our old jokes and hijinks.
"I must agree with your man, Angie. How about some trivia or shit, even a drinking game." My two buddies raised their beer bottles in support.
"Oh, come on, old man. What are you so worried about? We're all friends here. Hell, I've even seen your naked butt." Lisa and Beth almost spit out their drinks simultaneously, they started laughing so hard.
It's true, Angie has seen my naked butt. Everyone already knew the story. It had been a focal point of many jokes over the years. We dated for a week or two back in grade 8. One day, she came over after school, and my sister sent her straight to my room. Well, I was changing and never even thought about shutting my door. She did a little sexy whistle as I pulled my clean boxers over the crest of my ass... thankfully I was facing the other way.
That was the extent of our young dates. Basic kissing, no sex; we were both too young and nervous. We held hands in the movie theatre once, and I got a hard-on, but alas, we were destined to be friends. With my encouragement, David asked her to the senior prom, and the rest, as they say, is history.
"Angie, you know guys and feelings. They pretend not to have any!" Lisa chirped, and while the girls giggled, the men feigned being hurt.
"Not true! I feel happy when the Cowboys win, sad when old Yeller died, and horny when you wear that cute little black number." Lisa made a sweet kissy face towards her husband, her face lighting up at his compliment.
"Anyone else need a top-up?" I asked as I headed into the kitchen to grab another beer. Both guys raised their beers, and Angie gave me a nod. By the time I got back with the beers and wine for Angie, I could hear her laying out the rules of her teenage game.
"So, it's like truth or dare, except there's no dare. We each write down 3 thought-provoking questions that require the recipient of that question to give a thoughtful and truthful answer." She raised her eyebrows. "Truthful is the key. If we just blow them off, then we lose the integrity of the game."
"What if some of the questions are the same or if you just don't know the answer?" Frank spoke up.
"If two questions are the same and we've done it, we toss it, and the person picks another. And you see, that's the beauty: We could all have a different answer to the question. There's no right or wrong. Even if you pick your own question, the goal is to stimulate some adult conversation about things we'd normally not talk about." Angie was smiling as she worked hard to win the guys over.
"Like your view of things in the Middle East?" I joked, thinking it would tick her off, but Angie nodded. I pursed my lips and finally accepted that, with or without my input, we were going to play the game.
We all had three pieces of paper to write our questions. I decided to try and take Angie's idea seriously, so I took longer than the other five, trying to come up with thought-provoking questions about things we would never talk about.
Since it was Angie's idea, she picked first, and it was a doozy. "Okay, here's my question." She opened the paper. "Do you think women are better equipped to run the country?" All three women squealed at her question. It was clear that one of them had written it.
As you'd guess, things started sarcastic and gender-biased, but as we all started to offer our input, the conversation became more focused and passionate. We didn't come to a unanimous answer, but I had to admit, everyone scored some solid points. That topic alone took us over an hour and several drinks. Okay, the game wasn't so bad.
Next up was Frank. He reached in like he was waiting for a snake to bite him, then ripped his hand out quickly, causing the girls to laugh. "Okay, let's see what we got here. If you had a million dollars but had to give it away in all one sum, who would you give it to? Keep in mind it cannot be to family or anyone you know." Everyone gave a thoughtful "hmmm".
Franks's idea was to give to one of those outfits that help the homeless in Ethiopia or whatever impoverished country. While others agreed or had similar ideas, the interesting part was, why were we not helping people in our own country? This, unlike the first topic, did invoke some friendly arguments. I finally had to intervene and remind them what the game's goal was. "Guys, guys... and girls." I was clear that I was addressing everyone. "Remember, the goal of the game was to get us talking about things, not solving the world's problems. At some point, we will have to agree to disagree... right?" That silenced the room.