PSYCHOTIC SKANK

There she is. Jeff could not believe his eyes. It has been years since he last saw her walking away from him and there she was. It was almost as if the years had not passed and it was just yesterday when he and she had been friends. He could not believe that just seeing her lying on the bench in the gym would evoke such emotions within him. He was embarrassed as he felt himself harden and he was also a little ashamed of himself. How could he allow such feelings after all that Vicki did? How could he even look at her without disgust and humiliation? It was at that moment that she sat up from the workout bench and caught his eye. She smiled at him with that slightly whimsical smile she had when she knew the other person’s thoughts. It was as though she was saying she knew she could have him again, hurt him again. Jeff’s first impulse was to turn and leave but his self-esteem would not allow him to do so.

“Hi, Vicki. Long time no see.” He said as he approached the bench where she was sitting. “You don’t have to tell me what you’ve been doing with yourself.”

“No need to get nasty. It is none of your business what I have been doing. Just in case you fail to remember, you have no ties on me.”

“How is Joseph? He must be getting big. How old is he now?”

“Joseph is fine. In fact he is finishing high school this year and he is already taller than his father and hopefully smarter as well. What about you? Still married; kids?”

‘I’d rather not talk about me. Let’s just leave it as nice seeing you and call it a day.” Jeff said as he turned and walked away from her though he knew he would never walk away from the memories seeing her had rekindled.

Jeff left the gym and drove his car to the beach. He knew that here he could try to get his thoughts in order and try to understand how Vicki could still create havoc in his head. Jeff knew he could not go home as Stacey would definitely pick up on turmoil in his mind and he was not in the mood to have to start explaining things to her. So, he took the Wantagh Parkway south down to field seven at Jones Beach. At field seven you could sit in your car and actually see the waves hitting the beach. As Jeff sat there, he could hear the sounds of the ocean and it was as if his thoughts were coming rushing back with the same cadence as the waves crashing into the beach.

He first saw Vicki when he was hired as a new lawyer at the firm of Schwartz, Schwartz and Reed in Garden City, New York. She was the receptionist and seemed pleasant enough to the new attorney who was a little nervous presenting himself to his new employers on that first day fifteen years ago. Vicki and he would engage in the usual office small talk whenever he passed her desk on the way in or out of the office. Eventually, he learned she was married and had a young son. Her husband was not doing particularly well in his construction business, so she was forced to go to work and leave Joseph with her mother-in-law.

One day several months after they initially met, Jeff was shocked when he saw Vicki. She had been out on vacation the week before and when she returned to work she had a new nose and enlarged breasts which she was showing off in a rather tight fitting sweater. The change in her appearance was startling.

“What made you decide to do this to yourself?” Jeff could not help himself from asking.

“I’ve decided to make changes in my life. I threw out George and told him that I want a divorce as soon as possible. I see no reason to continue living with that no good bum. I’ve met someone else and so the story goes.”

“So who is this new guy in your life?”

“Actually, he is not all that new. He is my next door neighbor. His wife is as boring as George and we have a good thing going for us. “