Elusive Headpin - Part VIII

We continued to chat rather inanely for some time. We covered the essentials: Career, family choices, where each of us was currently living. It seemed neither of us wanted to broach the subject of why were both compelled to attend this funeral. I’m sure once the bowling alley connection was restored to her memory she had to know the connection I had with Joe. The mystery remained as to how involved was she with Joe back in our early days and if there was any further contact or relationship with him in the ensuing years.

Our discourse was interrupted by the appearance of my former doubles partner Ron to the gathering. We both noticed him at about the same time and with relatively the same reaction.

“Isn’t that….” Yep, it was Ron.

“Well… I’ve gotta be going now…” said Lisa. “It was lovely seeing you again, we should get together sometime.” Even though I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to happen, I was only slightly taken back by this reaction to my former partner’s appearance at the funeral. This reaction was even more curious to my eyes than Lisa showing up after all these years for this particular occasion.

For me, Ron’s arrival completed the reunion picture. He was caught up in the greeting and surprise of seeing the other original gang members present and seemingly didn’t notice Lisa appearance or sudden exit. I had more questions than answers but, it seems that at least some members of our little group had made an impression or impact on Lisa’s life.

I could only wonder what prompted her reactions.

After her departure, I made my way back across the room to our little group. I slapped Ron on the back causing him to jump only slightly…

“Hey man, good to see you… Did you just get back into town?”

“I’m afraid so. We came in just to pay our respects. I’ve got to get back to Pennsylvania tonight. I have an early day ahead of me at the office.”

“Too bad. I was wondering if I could coax all of you out to a watering hole to try and catch up…”

“Gonna have to take a rain check my friend. So when did you get in?”

“We came in last night. “

“I see… “ His eyes then darted across the room and he moved off away from our group to approach the casket and pay his respects.

“I wasn’t sure he was going to make it…” Said Randy.

“I wasn’t sure either…” I replied.

“It’s not like he and Joe were very close…” Replied Raymond.

“Oh?” I said. “I wasn’t aware of any falling out with Joe…”

“Nothin’ serious. I just think Joe thought Ron was a little self-centered.” Randy went on….

“Well, that’s certainly an understatement when applied to Ron.” I contended. This commentary brought a chuckle to my former teammates faces…