Page 28 of A Vicious Rumor

I wasn't sure what I felt about anything, lately.

"What's on your mind, dear?" Mr. Cunningham asked me. I looked up from the cards I was holding and sighed. "I've never seen you fail so miserably at a game of 'Go Fish.' I'm pretty sure you asked me if I had any fives for the second time in a row, now."

I twisted my lips and put my cards down. "I don't even know, Ronny," I admitted. I was the only person in the entire Senior Center that had been given the go-ahead by Mr. Cunningham to call him by his first name.

"Come on, tell me what's the matter. Not sure if you can tell, but I'm old as shit. I may not be that smart, but a thing or two has managed to weasel its way into my brain over all these years."

I giggled at his crassness. "There was this boy," I started to say, but Ronny cut me off.

He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Just forget about him," he said. "Boys are useless until they're at least thirty-five. And even then, I'd say they only got about five, maybe seven years, max before they become old farts. Better to skip 'em entirely," he said.

I laughed. "Are you saying this based on personal experience?"

"Absolutely," Ronny said. "I was a shithead kid and look at me now. I'm not much improved."

"Who got you for your seven good years?" I asked him.

"I only ever had five good ones, and that's being generous," he said with a wink. He got a far off look for a moment before continuing, "But I did love a girl named Wendy for a long while."

"What happened to her?"

"We went to high school together. But, she ended up marrying another fella who came back from the war quicker than I did."

"Oh," I said. "I'm sorry, Ronny." I reached a hand out and put mine atop his.

He smiled at me. "Nothing to be sorry for. Her loss!"

I laughed. "I agree!" I picked my cards back up and looked down at my hand. "Do you have any three's?"

But Ronny didn't answer. Instead, he looked just a bit past me. "You look lost, son."

I turned around and my eyes widened, because Tyson was standing right behind me.

"Actually," he said. "I've found just what I'm looking for," he replied, his eyes fixated on me.

"Too late," Ronny said, putting his cards down on the table. "The little lady and I got engaged just before you walked in the door."

I saw Tyson's eyes widen in shock, before it wore off, and he calmed his expression. "You're a little old for her, don't you think?"

Ronny shrugged. "Yeah, but I got a lot of money," he replied.

"Not sure all the money in the world makes it legal," Tyson replied with a smirk.

"You're 18, aren't you sweets?" Ronny asked me.

I shook my head and laughed. "Almost."

"Well, shit," Ronny said. "Cat's out of the bag, I guess then. Say you'll wait for me?"

I batted his hand a bit and giggled. "Behave," I scolded him.

"Never," he said back to me with a wink.

"Can we talk?" Tyson asked me.

"Whatever you gotta say you can say in front of me," Ronny said, picking his cards up again. "We're in the middle of a fearsome game of 'Go Fish' and she's losing. I'm not giving her an out."

Tyson scrunched his eyes and I could tell this was wearing on his patience a little bit, but at the same time, I didn't really care. After all, he'd ghosted me for an entire month plus. Whatever he had to say couldn't be all that important.

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