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#3
"Did you come here to wisecrack, or do you actually
need my help for something?" Rich asked.
Larry came over. "Usual?" I nodded, cringing
at the thought of more than one place that I could order
'the usual' at. This is not a good sign, from what I have
heard.
"I just wanted to ask you a few things. It's no
big deal. I don't think anyone else would remember besides
you," I said.
"You sounded like you were in some sort of trouble."
"Maybe because I was serious. That doesn't happen
too often."
'True."
Larry brought over a gin and tonic for me. I took a sip,
noticing there was plenty more gin than there was tonic
in that drink. Normally, I wouldn't mind, but this was
my first drink, and I sort of wanted to ease into it a
bit. No such luck here.
I wanted to dive right into the questions, get my answers
from Rich. This was tricky. First, I was almost afraid
to find out the answer. If Rich's reply led me to believe
I didn't go back, then I would be a little disappointed.
If his reply led me to believe I did, then that opened
up a whole new realm of thought. The other thing was,
I knew it was best not to tell anyone if it turned out
I did go back in time. I didn't want people coming after
me and I surely didn't want these people to go after my
friends or family. My mother had been in a car accident,
and my father was still sorting out the details of a B.S.
medical malpractice suit brought against him, both coming
from the Caufield case. Caufield was in prison, and one
of the other people involved in that case was dead.
"So, what are you waiting for?" Rich asked.
"Just want to take my time. You have somewhere to
go?"
"No. Just curious. That's all."
"I wanted to ask you a few things about high school,"
I said.
"High school? This about Tanya again?"
"No. Well, not really."
"Everything with you has something to do with Tanya."
"This is about something related to her, but I wasn't
really thinking about her when it came to mind. I was
actually thinking about all the fights I have been in
in my life."
"Fights? You?"
"Yeah."
"Other than the time you beat the living crap out
of Dan Havliceck, I really don't remember you fighting
much in high school."
There it was, the answer I had wanted to hear. Rich just
threw it out there as if it were second nature. As if
it had always happened. But, it hadn't. It was a new memory
for me. For him, it was nearly 20 years old. There would
be no way I could explain to him that it hadn't been that
way all along. This started to fry my brain a little bit,
so I took another tug on my drink to calm my nerves.
"You remember that?" I asked.
"How couldn't I? You flattened the toughest kid
in school in seconds. We've talked about this a dozen
times. What's the matter with you?"
"Nothing. It wasn't that I didn't remember. I just
didn't know if it was as I recall. If I really did lay
him out, or if I got lucky."
"No, you laid him out. I just couldn't believe how
you never took credit for it in public. Shit, everyone
in high school was scared shitless out of you after that.
Remember when John Mahoney thought you stole something
from his gym locker and he wouldn't even confront you
about it?"
I didn't remember that. Rich must have had a wealth of
new memories I never experienced. This was weird. I didn't
know what to think. Sitting there, focusing on the paradoxes
and other things my mind had no experience with, I had
a quick vision of a bottle of Johnnie Walker falling.
A second later, I heard a crash. I looked down and saw
Larry picking up a broken bottle of Johnnie Walker Red
off the floor. Something was going on. Something I was
not in control of. I don't like that.
Read Post #4
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