Chapter 2

The Has Been

They’d been the perfect couple, both in and out of bed. They’d made friends easily and often would entertain at their small apartment. But as fate would have it their relationship had begun to go downhill, Sid’s grades had been slipping and he’d fallen in with some unsavory guys at school. He’d pretty much given up on going to classes and just hung around the apartment getting high.

One night as they’d been having a few drinks and a few joints with their friends, Sid had gotten a bit too high and started telling everyone his life story.

“Well ya see this is how it was when I was younger,” he’d told them. “I was a jock in high school, in fact I’d made the All State Football squad and was highly recruited by some of the best schools in the country. Even had some coaches come to visit me and the folks at home. I was Mr. Popularity in high school, and sorry to say babe, but I got laid as often as I liked.”

This had brought a frown to LoyAnn’s lovely face. ‘It’s only the drugs talking,’ she’d thought. But she’d smiled at Sid and thrown him a big kiss. “Luv you too,” she’d said in a sarcastic manner.

“Well on with the story. I’d just been visited by the coach from the University of Michigan and I really liked the program that they offered. As you know I’m not the brightest star in the universe and they offered some very easy courses for those known as scholar athletes. I’d spoken to a few other schools and had it narrowed down to the U of M and Texas Tech. That night I was going to make my choice and tell my folks in the morning. I was about to hit the hay when one of my buddies called me, he’d just gotten a used car for his birthday and he wanted me to go out with him to cruise the neighborhood. At first I was a bit reluctant to go with him. My parents always had been a bit strict with me, but it was a Friday night and my dad was real proud of me so I didn’t think that he would mind if I went out with my best friend.”

“‘I’ll be waiting for you in front of the house. See ya.’ I threw on some old rags and went downstairs to meet him. His car was kind of a beater. It was a late 70’s Chevy Camero convert. Red. Bright red with some very cool Crager mags. It needed some body work, but it was still pretty cool. I hopped in. The top was down, he cranked up the radio and we were off. We headed for the outskirts of town cuz my buddy wanted to see what the Camero would do on the open highway. As we hit the on ramp, my buddy jumped on the accelerator. That old pony still had some guts. Downshifting to 2nd gear he jumped on it again and we laid a little rubber as he shifted into 3rd. Yeah that old pony still had some power under its dented hood. We could hear the engine giving off a low rumble.”

“As we raced down the almost deserted highway a light rain began to fall. ‘ Fuck it, leave the top down,’ I'd said. All my buddy did was laugh and try to get a few more miles per hour out of the big V8 that lay under the hood. The engine was screaming as we flew down the highway, we must have been doing over a 120! It was great! The rain pounding our faces. The wind blowing our hair. ‘God what a night,’ I ‘d thought. ‘This is the best night of my life.’ But soon that was going to change.”

Sid had chugged down another beer and after having taken a deep drag on the joint that had been lying in the ashtray in front of him, coughed a bit and then continued his story.

“We were flying down the highway, not a care in the world. Then there was a bang in the front of the car. It sounded like a small explosion. We’d blown the left front tire! The car started to weave and my buddy desperately tried to get the old horse back on track, but that wasn’t in the cards for us that night. The police said we must have hit the guardrail when we were going over a 100. There wasn’t much left of the right side of the car. In the crash the front fender had been ripped off and the hood had folded under the extreme pressure of hitting the railing. The cops said they couldn’t believe that anyone could’ve survived that crash. But that night the gods were with us, I suffered only some minor injuries, but my buddy wasn’t so fortunate, he lost his left foot and some fingers on his right hand. As I said my injuries weren’t too bad, BUT they were enough to keep me from getting a ride, even at a shitty school. So here I am, just another bum at this shit hole of a school.”

“Poor Sid,” LoyAnn had said. “I didn’t know this was going to turn into a pity party. We ALL feel badly for you darling, but you should be happy you weren’t injured more seriously or even killed.”

“Ya, you’re right,” he’d replied gulping down another beer. “If I hadn’t been in that accident, I wouldn’t have met you my love and as you ALL know sweet LoyAnn is the love of my life and I don’t know how I could ever live without her.”

He’d gotten up from the sofa, walked over to LoyAnn and had given her a long and passionate kiss. She of course had returned the favor and sticking her tongue into his open mouth, grabbed his crotch. ‘Well at least she is good for something,’ he’d thought, as his penis had begun to become semi hard.

“Well since we are all telling our life’s story, how about telling us a bit about your life LoyAnn,” Sid had said with a smile. He’d known the story well, but wanted her to bare her soul to all that had been present that night.

‘Sid, you bastard,’ she’d thought as she smiled at him.

“All right honey if you insist,” she’d replied.

If looks could have killed, Sid would have been a dead duck.