As with part one, this story is based on some actual events that have been brought in to the story to make it seem more realistic. Names have been changed to protect those involved.
THREE GENERATIONS
LONG LOST COUSINS
As I was driving home from Sharon's camp, something inside of me kept telling me that there was something familiar about her, Kristin and Nicki. I just couldn't figure out what.
About an hour into my three-hour drive home, I stopped at a convenience store for gas and coffee. Upon entering the store, I saw a teenage girl that I could have sworn was Nicki. The resemblance was remarkable. She disappeared into the lady's room as I was purchasing my cup of coffee.
When went back out to the pumps to fuel up my truck, there was a woman at the pumps next to me fueling up her car. When she saw me, she said, "Hi Johnny. How have you been?"
"Patty?" I asked. "How are you? I haven't seen you since....you're mom..."
We hugged and made some small talk.
Patty is my younger cousin. She was my Aunt Lisa's daughter. Aunt Lisa, my mother's younger sister, passed away from cancer about five years prior to that night.
The red-haired girl came out and started to get into Patty's car.
"That's your
little girl
? My, how time has flown by!" I said.
"Maxine, do you remember my cousin Johnny?" asked Patty.
"Not really. Hi," Maxine said.
"Last time I saw you, you were about this big," I said, holding my hand at the level of my waist.
She rolled her eyes and got in to the car.
Patty said, "Teenagers."
She may have looked like Nicki, but she sure didn't have her pleasant personality.
"I had heard that you had moved after your mom passed, but I didn't know where to. Are you in this area now?" I asked.
"We moved up here to be closer to Mike's (her husband) parents," she replied. "What are you doing in this area?"
"I was at a friend's camp for the weekend," I said.
"The nudie camp?" she asked jokingly.
"His hunting camp. Is there nudie camp around here somewhere?" I lied.
"I hear there is, never been there though," she laughingly said.
We chatted awhile longer and ended with the typical, "we have to get together sometime" empty promise, and went our separate ways.
I thought back to when Patty was eighteen, and I could recall the same resemblance she also had to Nicki.
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I made it home safely and unloaded the truck and went into the house. My wife asked me how the weekend went. I told her it went pretty well. She wanted to know how much I drank and how drunk I got. I told her that she would be proud of me, I only drank about six beers and one mixed drink spread out over the entire weekend. She wasn't nagging me, it was because she always worried about me when I would consume alcohol because it brought out a mean and violent side of me.
The next day I returned to work. Upon arriving, I looked for Sharon but didn't see her anywhere. I found out later that she extended her holiday break by an extra day.
When I saw her the following day, at work, we took breaks together. I asked her how Nicki and Kristin were doing. They were doing ok. Sharon said that I must have made a big impression on Nicki, because I was all that she talked about after I had left.
Sharon then told me that the reason she wasn't at work the day before was because she had a job interview. She was hired at a grocery store close to her camp. She wanted to stay at the camp over the summer to be with Nicki. She would finish out her week working for the temporary agency and then begin working at the grocery store the following week. She said the only thing that sucked was that she had to work 6:00pm to 2:00am, Tuesday through Saturday. She didn't mind the shift hours, just the days. She hoped to eventually get Monday through Friday.
I told her that I was going to miss seeing her at my work place, but I understood her reasons for leaving. I asked her about her house, that was near my work place, if it would be ok being unoccupied. She said that the neighbors would keep an eye on it and their son would cut the grass for her. She would probably drive down one day a week to check on things. Kristin lived about thirty minutes from it, so she would check on it now and then also.
I asked her when Nicki's high school commencement was, she said that it was to be held on the following Sunday. Nicki was going to graduate with high honors. Her and Kristin were so proud of her.
"What do you think Nicki will major in when she gets in to college?" I asked Sharon.
"She's not sure yet. I hope she chooses something in the medical field. She's smart enough," Sharon said. "Did I ever tell you about my real dad and my brother?"
"No," I replied.
"My real dad was a Medic in the Pacific Theater during WWII, and my brother was a Medic in the Vietnam War. My brother, Hal, was killed while trying to save the lives of his wounded comrades." she cleared a lump out of her throat as she continued. "My real dad could never get the war out of his mind. He became an alcoholic trying to drink away the memories that haunted him. I was about six years old when he committed suicide."