The doorbell chimed. Eric turned off the electric razor, splashed on some Old Spice and hurried to answer the door and greet his high school friend.
“Ricky! Wow! Look at you!” Eric gave his old buddy a high five and a hard hug. “Come in. Please come in.”
Ricky stepped in and surveyed Eric’s place. “Nice digs.”
“Thanks.”
Ricky gave Eric a playful punch on the arm. “Bet you never thought your old friend Ricky would end up on a Harley. Did ya?”
Eric shook his head, “Not really. You were always the goodie-two-shoes in high school. Weren’t you an Eagle Scout or something?”
A big smile broke out on Ricky’s face. “Sure enough was.” He lifted his blue denim vest and showed Eric his Eagle Scout patch, sewed neatly on the left front of his vest, just below the gang symbol for the Devil’s Disciples. “I’m still proud of that,” he said.
Eric glanced out the front window at Ricky’s low-rider motorcycle. “Nice bike.”
“Yea, I just got it a few months ago. This is my first real trip on it. Rides down the road real good.”
“Have a seat so we can get caught up on things a little. It’s been a long time, my friend.” Eric pointed at a large, leather recliner. Ricky looked different as he strolled over to the chair. The clean cut kid he knew as a teenager was now sporting gray, shoulder length hair, pulled back in a ponytail and surrounded by a red bandanna. The wide bandanna also covered much of his tanned, unshaven face. He wore faded blue jeans, checkered with holes of varying sizes and a white tee shirt underneath the aforementioned blue denim vest. His black biker boots were scuffed and faded.
Ricky fell into the large chair. “How long do ya have to be here to get a beer?”
“Coming right up.” Eric hurried to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and retrieved a couple of Bud Lights. “Do you want a mug?” he shouted.
“Are you kidding?” came the reply.
Eric popped open a couple of cold ones and hurried back to the living room.
Ricky grinned at the sight of the beer. “Thank ya, buddy.”
Eric eased down on the sofa across from Ricky and took a swig.
“This Villages thing is pretty cool,” Ricky mused. “Looks like life’s been pretty good for you since you left Texas.” Ricky held his eyes on Eric longer than expected.
Eric squirmed in his seat, he knew what Ricky’s gaze meant. He was curious as to how an ex-con like Eric ended up living high in Florida. He resented the inquisitive gaze, but because Ricky was an old friend, he gave him a quick explanation. “After my problems over in Texas I decided to go on with my life and make the best of things. So I kept my nose clean, worked hard and now here I am living the good life.”
Ricky looked away from Eric. “Good for you,” he said.
“How about you, Ricky, what have you been doing with yourself? Obviously, you like motorcycles.”
Ricky chuckled nervously, “I guess my life has been kind of the reverse of yours. After graduating from high school with honors, I enrolled in the University of Texas with a major in pre-med. I appeared to have a bright future ahead of me, but when I got to college all I wanted to do was smoke weed and party. I flunked out after first semester of my freshman year and joined the Army. My parents were crushed. They had high hopes for me.”
“How did your time in the military go?”
“Not worth a damn, I was thrown out of the Army for assaulting a superior officer. The SOB was bossing me around one day, so I punched him.”
“I think it’s fair to say that the Army frowns on stuff like that.”
“Think so?” Ricky smiled meekly and went on. “After my dishonorable discharge, I bought me a Harley and joined a local motorcycle gang in Amarillo. I painted houses all day and rode my Harley at night. I’ve been busted twice for possession of dope and served three months in the county jail for the second offense. My father hasn’t spoken to me in over twenty years. Mom still loves me, but she starts crying every time we get together. She still can’t believe that HER Ricky turned out to be such a loser.”
Eric’s brow furrowed. “How do you feel about your life, are you happy?”
A small grin appeared on Ricky’s wrinkly, stubble covered face. “I’m as happy as the next guy I guess.” Somewhat agitated by reliving his troubled past, Ricky lifted his beer, tossed his head back and inhaled the entire can. He banged the empty can on the table and groused, “How long do…”
Eric interrupted. “I know, I know. I’m on my way. Eric set his beer down and hurried to the kitchen. He returned a short time later and handed Ricky a fresh one. The two old friends continued drinking and reminiscing. The beer flowed freely with the conversation being broken from time to time by serious bouts of laughter as they thought back to those magic childhood days of so many years ago. After an especially loud outburst, Eric fell back against the soft cushion of the sofa, paused and wrapped both hands around his beer. “You never told me what brought you all the way to The Villages from Texas Ricky. That’s a long trip.”
Ricky coughed up a guttural laugh, “Long trip my ass! I’ve ridden clear around this country three times. The trip here was a piece of cake.”
Eric smiled, “You told me on the phone that you have another friend around here?”
“Yeah, I do, a good buddy of mine from Amarillo came here years ago to work at his old friend’s bar. He’s been bugging me to come visit him ever since he left Texas. I was getting bored with the same old, same old, back home and decided to take him up on his offer. I worked overtime on my painting for a couple of weeks and saved up some cash and here I am. I ran into Julie Chambers at the CVS just before I left and she told me that you were living here also.”
Eric lifted his beer and pointed it at his friend, “Glad you found me, my friend. By the way, how is Julie looking these days? We still talk on the phone every once in a while, but I haven’t seen her for over twenty years.
Ricky shook his head, “She a real fox, you ought to have her over for a visit. She’d like The Villages.”
“Good idea, maybe I will.”
“You dating anybody down here?”
Eric paused briefly, “I’m seeing an older lady, but it’s nothing serious.”
“Older lady, huh?” Ricky had a twinkle in his eye. “Is she rich?”
Amber spread over Eric’s face, “Kind of.”
“You dog you. You always were the ladies man!” Ricky gave him the thumbs up. “Go for it. I’ll take money over love anytime.”
Uncomfortable, Eric quickly changed the subject. “Where does your buddy live?”
“Dunno, but the restaurant he works at is called Cody’s. Know where it is?”
“Yeah, sure do. Everybody knows where Cody’s is. It’s just a stone’s throw from here.”
“Why don’t we take this party over there. I’d like for you to meet him.” Ricky looked at Eric, eyes wide with anticipation.
The events of the day were still weighing heavily on Eric, the thought of going to a bar and getting wasted kind of appealed to him. He answered quickly, “Let’s do it!”