Toxic?

As we all stood there in silence watching Patsy make a complete fool of herself, I couldn’t help but utter, Is anyone going to say it?

This was the tenth time! No to be exact, this was the thirteenth time that Patsy, the hopeless romantic told us that she was leaving Massachusetts because she finally found her Mr. Right!

Patsy, a 20 year old, tall and lanky woman with short mousy brown hair and dark brown eyes had told us this before. Patsy wasn’t unattractive and we felt that she could get any man if she didn’t appear so desperate.

We all grew up in a small town called New Ashford, MA. In fact, New Ashford is one of the tiniest towns in Massachusetts. So, finding a proper suitor is not promising but close by there is highly populated towns available. Also, there has always been a good amount of activities to get involved in. For instance, on weekends, we would hang out at the nearby skating rink or bowling alley. We all dated guys from our town at some point in time but we never got that attached to them like Patsy. Throughout school, it was Patsy, Ruth and me (Darlene). We stuck together and were like sisters to each other. It seemed that Ruth and I had other goals in mind that kept our focus. For example, Ruth was attending Massachusetts Community College of Medicine and I was attending Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts for Art Design.

Don’t get me wrong, Patsy was very talented. She always had a knack for the theatre. She performed at different plays in high school such as Lady MacBeth and Othello. On occasion, she would perform in by plays at our local church or sing in the choir. In fact, before she became head over heels for this new guy, she had received an offer to appear as an actress in a television series called Virtual Reality. It was a story about a town of people where nothing is as it seems and the people think that they are being controlled by robots. This was a dream come true for her! And she would tell us all the details including her trip to New York City for the taping sessions. She seemed very excited and then all of a sudden, she stopped discussing it at all. I will have to ask her about the show the next time we meet, I thought.

Of course, we all wanted to get married and raise a family someday. In fact, for fun, Ruth, Patsy and I would talk about possible names for our children someday. But what’s the rush, we all had just recently graduated from high school. Patsy would indicate that, “it just feels right to her inner soul to get married.” Whatever that means!

For Patsy she felt like she wasn’t complete unless she was married. Patsy’s parents were high school sweethearts and they were married shortly after they graduated from high school. Her dad later joined the Army and he recently passed of a heart attack. Of course, it was devastating for her mom and Patsy. Ruth and I along with our families stood by and provided whatever assistance we could. Patsy and her mom later moved in with a relative who lives nearby to cut down on expenses.

I know that Patsy wanted to be happy like her mom once was or maybe she is just tired of the new living arrangements. But we just don’t want her to be hurt. We all even discussed us all getting an apartment together but nothing ever transpired iof that.

Now, with one week left until the 4th of July, she wanted us to meet her new boyfriend, Danny Duncan. She did indicate that she met him on her travels to New York City for the taping of the Virtual Reality Show and they hit it off right away. Danny Duncan was from New York City and he wanted her to live with him, she stated. They planned to start shopping for furniture and also get matching tattoos for she was in love.

Ruth and I pleaded with her to take her time and get to know the guy first before moving in. But once Patsy’s mind was made up, there was no turning her back.

I remember another time when she had felt like she found the man of her dreams. Eric Davison was his name. He played football for the local high school. He was masculine built with a rugged physique. He was a very good player and he was promised a scholarship when he graduated from high school.

Patsy was so thrilled for us to meet him and she indicated that this is true love and they were going to move in together as soon as they graduated from high school!

Well, we were all to meet up at Bob’s Bowling Arena in New Ashford. Eric arrived late and he was with a few of his football buddies. They wreaked of alcohol when they got there and constantly were making jokes about one another. Now when it was time for Ruth to bowl, Eric and his friends started cheering her on and stating that she had really nice badongas! And Eric slapped her on the buttocks!

Well Patsy was furious! She slapped Eric, stormed out of the bowling alley and jumped in her car and left!

Ruth and I was in shock! Eric kept trying to apologize stating that it was the alcohol that made him do it. And Ruth finally said well, the person that you should be apologizing to is Patsy!

Shortly after that, they broke up. Patsy indicated that she found out Eric was also dating another girl at their high school. So, this new boyfriend that she has jumped head over heels for does create some skepticism!

We all met up at the East Greenbush Town Park. There were bands performing, food trucks and art and craft stands. A little before dusk, the fireworks were to begin. It was all planned to be a very exciting and fun experience! Ruth and I met up with Danny and Patsy. Danny was a tall drink of water with green piercing eyes. Ruth and I agreed he was handsome. As we all grabbed some food from the venues, we sat at a nearby picnic bench. Ruth asked Dan, now tell us your story of how you two met? Dan looked us in the eye with a serious look on his face and said that he used to be a drug dealer and he got caught. He was incarcerated and he killed a man in prison. He felt that Patsy was an angel from heaven to heal him of his past! Ruth and I were speechless!

Then all of a sudden, Patsy and Dan started laughing hysterically! And Dan said, you should see the look on your faces! That was certainly a Kodak moment! Then Dan said in all seriousness