Elusive Headpin - Part IV

“Well, look what managed to meander back into this neck of the woods… Good to see you Jim.” A familiar voice called out from across the room but was moving rapidly in my direction. I looked up to see the face of another former team member, Raymond Fuller. He was a fairly steady bowler but, was a bit unsteady (some would say unstable) outside of bowling alley situations. In ensuing years, I heard that he got mixed up with a bad crowd.

Last time I saw him, we had a long talk about truck driving because he had proceeded to get a job as a long haul tractor-trailer truck driver. I had also garnered some experience in that area so we shared some war stories about life on the road.

Today it looked like he had cleaned up his act some in the last twenty years but those years hadn’t been real kind to him. He had lost his hair and had some pretty severe pockmarks that peppered his complexion along with some deep lines around his eyes.

“Hey Ray, how’s it going?

“Not too bad, I heard about Joe just yesterday…I was wondering if you and Randy were going to make the trip in”

“I hadn’t seen Joe in at last twenty years. When did he get out of the Army?”

“I don’t know. I know his sister is coming in from San Diego but, won’t make it in before tomorrow though.”

“Looks like we’re getting old Ray… We only seem to get together for these kinds of events.”

“Yeah. Have you heard anything from Randy or Ron?”

“I saw Ron last year at the 30 year High School Reunion thing. I haven’t seen Ron since the early 1980’s. Last I heard, Randy was working security at some casino in Connecticut.”

“So, what have you been up to? Standard questions… Married? Kids?”

“Yes, Twice and one… you?

“No, and two”

“Oh…? Still driving for the paycheck?”

“Nah, I had to give that up…” Raymond said. He then paused but continued “Screwed up my back. I’ve been collecting disability for the last six years. Kind of sucks…”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I replied. I’m still playing with computers. Doing what I can do to avoid manual labor… I’ve played around with some management positions but, I never quite fit into that type of corporate zoo. Currently working on a couple of large construction projects as a technical lead. Keeps me off the streets.”

“So you’re married, how’d that happen?”

“I’m into my second marriage.” I replied. “The kid happened in the first one. I guess I’m just lucky. I’m one of those kind of men that needs to be married. I don’t function well alone. The times I’ve been single, I’d never buy groceries and just eat out all the time.”

“I’ve never managed to get a woman to hang around that long…” Said Raymond.

At that point, the door opened and we saw Captain Randy hobble into the funeral parlor.