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Well that was intelligent, Joy. I gave myself a mental head-slap as I watched the two of them walk in the house. Shaking my head sadly, I pick up the half empty beer and empty the can in one long gulp.
Joy’s viewpoint
Well that was intelligent, Joy. I gave myself a mental head-slap as I watched the two of them walk in the house. Shaking my head sadly, I pick up the half empty beer and empty the can in one long gulp.
Hell, I figured he was over that. It was over eight years ago. It’s not like he’s still around the area. Yeah, that’s right. You’re some friend, my girl, some damn friend to bring up something that’s not all that nice of a memory for your lifelong friend.
“THE HELL YOU WILL,” screamed Abby.
I turned and saw Joey’s t-shirt as he flashed by the sliding glass door, apparently with his car keys in hand. Seconds later a door slammed, followed by the rumble of a car starting, then squealing out of the driveway.
“Shit”
“I would definitely agree with that, Joy,” came the clipped reply from Abby. “Since Joey doesn’t want to talk about things, how about you?”
I stand and look sadly into Abby’s eyes as a tear rolls down my cheek.
“It’s not something that I should tell you about,” I sniffle. “I’ve always teased Joey, about everything in fact, but I really thought he was all over that. And no, I’m not going to discuss it with you, Abby. I’ve blundered enough right now and don’t want to make the situation even worse with him.”
“But…”
“No buts, Abby,” I reply as I grab a pen and a business card from my purse, scribbling my hotel and room number on the back before handing it to her. “Please have Joey call me. My flight back home is tomorrow evening, so I’ll probably be at the hotel until I have to check out at eleven tomorrow morning. Please let him know that I’m really sorry.”
I can see that Abby’s unsure but with the way I made a main course out of my foot, it’s probably best that I leave as well. Glancing around one last time, I give Abby a sad smile and wish her the best.
As I’m leaving, I can just make out a phrase from Abby before I close the sliding glass door.
“What the hell is going on?”
To be continued....
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Comments
Confused
From Chapter 2:
. . . before turning to Joy. “We’ll go get a refill on the drinks and let him think about what he’s going to say for a second. Will you excuse us for a moment."
I took this to mean that Abby and Joy left Joey to think things over. Which made sense to me, the two women leave him to calm down. But in this chapter we see Abby and Joey in the house and Joy outside. Which doesn't make sense to me. If Abby wanted Joey to think things through and reconsider his actions, then she appears to have gone about it in the wrong way. It seems that she reopened the subject as soon as they got inside. Just a bit confused. Wondering what happened in the in between and what upset Abby so much she yelled at Joey. So I have continuity issues and plot holes. Hope we learn more soon.
Add: Now Joey has left the house with the clothes still stashed in the hamper in the bathroom. I suspect Abbey is going to start picking up around the house and find them. It looks as if Joey has been screwed, the story is gonna come out whether he wants to tell or not.
2nd Add: It seems that Joy has, and apparently always had, a nasty streak she disguises as her sense of humour. Her idea of funny is to humiliate or embarrass people, that certainly is mean. She needs to reconsider how she socializes with others.
They know they can survive
Points of View
It appears that we're getting point of view snippets rather than a continuous narrative (but with time moving forward all the time); so, that we just have to pick up what we can. It's possible that we'll get a bit more insight into what happened when the point of view switches back to Joey or Abby.
Edit/Add 06/24/09 - Looks like a change has been made to the beginning of this chapter and possibly the end of chapter 2 making things very clear and progressive. I'm not sure about chapter 2 being revised, as I may not have read it carefully enough the first time. Thanks to Marlisa for the changes. I'm enjoying the story so far.
My intention was that Joey
My intention was that Joey and Abby were going inside. Made perfect sense to me at the time I wrote it, however, going back and re-reading I can see how you could come to the conclusion that Abby and Joy went inside. My apologies for the confusion on that point.
Marlisa
No one else can tell you best how to be yourself
No one else can tell you best how to be yourself
Restated
"Plot holes" wasn't the best way to phrase that, information gaps might work better as they are spots the writer has not yet chosen to reveal. Our writer is dangling these in front of us, tidbits to be revealed in subsequent chapters.
They know they can survive
clear enough
Abbie pulled Joey into the kitchen to cool off... well that was the theory. I don't think Joy is malicious or vindictive either. Just one of those assertive life of the party types that have a tendency to joke and tease perhaps beyond any comfort zone of the teasie... if there was one. Joey's feelings are way deeper than Joy ever understood and any of us on the end of hurtful teasing, bullying or practical jokes know his position too well.
It's obvious she has suddenly realised just how hurtful that past 'joke' was to him when all she saw was harmless fun. We'll have to wait and see how this plays out. Nicely done so far, if a little brief on the pieces, but... fair enough.
Kristina
HARMLESS FUN!!!!
Joy admitted to herself after her disastrous attempt at *teasing* him that the incident 8 years before was not harmless and that it ruined his life where they went to school and would still hurt him if he moved back there. Also explains why Joy had to board a plane to see them, he made sure they moved that far. I'm surprised the wife didn't know but maybe she went to college in a different state and never witnessed the hell Joy's stupid prank put him through.
And if anyone else comes to town who remembers the aftermath of Joy's HARMLESS prank ...
Joy is an ass, notice she is not married or a least there is no mention of it. Is she still pine-ing for the man she just upset or is she so obnoxious she eventually drives away any suitors?
Nice start so far. a few minor fixes and good to go.
John in Wauwatosa.
P.S. but he has serious issues the wife and he must work on. Joy reminds me a little of dad. Sometimes they push the joke too far, overly completive or something, They don't mean harm but people can get hurt.
John in Wauwatosa
No
She 'said' not all that nice a memory. The area thing could simply be others that knew what went on. She may well have pushed and teased as she admits, but how much hurt is involved is relative to your perspective. I think we are perhaps putting things in from other stories and a not uncommon theme of the humiliation/maid/sissy type, but we don't know...yet.
Whatever the case Joy now knows that Joey was hurt more than she realised and still holds the pain. Slightly thoughtless and maybe clueless, at least in the past, but now? We shall see.
Kristina
I Can Guess At What Happened
A school prank gone horribly wrong that left him the recipient of physical violence, perhaps even sexual assault.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
I'm thinking
Joy is a militant Lesbian. However she disguises her sexuality by 'pranking' men, ergo the incident at college. To me that would explain how and why Joy and Joey fell back into a their previous syncopated interaction. Role reversal?
Looking for more information in the next installment.
BTW maybe their relationshop is like the shark and the remora. If so, who is who?