K - I have a disclaimer...this chapter contains some...religious humor...and it's actually true - cause it happened to my friend. I in no way, shape, or form am trying to offend anyone, and I really don't think it's like BAD poking (heh) fun at anything, just a few comments. So, don't think I'm like the anti-Christ or anything, and I'm not bashing anyone...so, ok...I think that covers me...


Chapter 160: College Cronies

"I hope you have not been leading a double life, pretending to be wicked and being really good all the time. That would be hypocrisy." – Oscar Wilde

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception." – Groucho Marx

"As a man can drink water from any side of a full tank, so the skilled theologian can wrest from any scripture that which will serve his purpose." – Bhagavad-Gita

"There will be a time when loud-mouthed, incompetent people seem to be getting the best of you. When that happens, you only have to be patient and wait for them to self-destruct. It never fails." – Richard Rybolt

"Laughter is brightest, in the place where the food is." – Irish proverb


"NO WAY!" Vaughn exclaimed.

"Yes way…Bob Buckley…I ran the other way, but it was him."

Vaughn laughed, "You ran?"

"You bet your ass I ran! I don't carry a gun like you…I ran!"

"He look the same?"

"Crazy as ever."

"Aww man…that guy was a complete psycho…"

"Who is this?" Sydney finally asked to everyone's delight.

Vaughn and Tom instantly burst into laughter. By the time they were stopping, Vaughn had launched into a coughing fit.

"Are you ok?" Sydney asked concerned as he tried to calm down.

He nodded, "I…" HEE "Tom…" COUGH "You tell…" Vaughn said shaking the cough off.

Tom giggled, "He was my roommate, freshmen year in college, first semester. Bob Buckley…aww man…" he looked to Vaughn, "What did he say…when he introduced himself…" Tom thought a moment.

Both he and Vaughn pointed to each other as they exclaimed, "Robert F. Buckley! The 'F' stands for Francis!"

They broke out into a fit of laughter again.

They started again, "And I'm from Babylon, Texas. I'm a paper science major…" they laughed, "And an organic chemistry minor!"

"God what a psycho…" Tom said.

"Don't use 'God' and 'Bob' in the same sentence," Vaughn said.

"Oh man! That's right!"

"Jesus in the dust!" They both exclaimed and dissolved into giggles. Everyone else was compelled to giggle along, the image of these two men giggling contagious.

"What?!" Syd asked.

Once they could breathe again, Tom started, "He seemed so normal when I met him. The first few days were ok. He was a little odd, a little eccentric…but…'bout day four, yeah, he started getting really weird. That was the first day he wrote 'Jesus' in the dust on top of our TV…and left it there. It's kinda strange to happen upon that…so I'm like 'Bob, what's up with Jesus in the dust?' and he's like 'Are you going to join me at Bible study?' I'm like 'Bob, I don't go to Bible study.' That's when he launched into the 'accept Jesus as your personal lord and savior speech,' which I would hear almost daily. And I shoulda known – BABYLON, Texas…but yeah, I tried to be nice, be all, 'I believe in God, but not into Bible study…"

Vaughn was coughing again as he tried to regain his composure thinking about times past.

Tom giggled and shook his head, "I moved in with Mike after that first semester…"

Sydney looked down at Vaughn, "Did you have a single room?"

"No, my roommate transferred to a different school. Tom was in my history class…you remember that guy? I never wrote so many notes in my life…he was so short! So much information."

"Aww yeah…the whole chalkboard – spanned the whole length of the classroom," Tom said making the appropriate gesture, "the whole thing, just covered with words."

"I got a B…and we studied SO hard."

"Yeah, well I got like a C- so shut up. God, I hated that class. If it weren't for you though, I probably woulda flunked."

Vaughn smiled.

"You helped Tom?" Sydney asked.

"Yeah, he couldn't study in that class for shit!"

Tom laughed, " I really couldn't…it was pathetic."

"Is that where you guys met?" Kaia asked.

Tom smiled, "Yes it is. I sat next to him one day and we got paired together inadvertently for a project, started talking…the rest is history."

"What did Buckley do that time in his environmental class – lodge some protest?"

"Oh man, yeah…to save the beavers cause the prof. was discriminating against them or some shit."

"Beavers?" Will asked.

"Yeah, beavers…they made these dams that like made the river STOP flowing…so the DNR went out there and destroyed the dams. Buckley lodged this protest because the beavers had rights and no legal representation."

"Oh my God!" Francie and Will exclaimed.

"Yeah, he was an idiot…then…" Tom giggled, "Remember when I came to class that one day convinced Buckley was a Russian spy?"

Vaughn chuckled, "You're like 'Dude! He's a spy!'" Vaughn giggled, "Seriously, he was so delusional…"

"Why did you think he was a spy?" Sydney asked.

"He had this laptop, and he would type away all the time. When I came in the room, he'd like jump and yell and close it really fast. Then he would ask if I saw anything and like drill me on it…he'd be on it all night, talking to himself, sending all these encrypted messages…"

"Creepy," Francie said.

"Yeah, he'd like lock it in the drawer when he wasn't using it. He'd tell me, 'Don't touch it! I'm taking the key! Stay out!' It was so funny…"

"He had a new story like every class," Vaughn said.

"Really…he was just bizarre…"

"Man, what a psycho – seriously – we had Nate analyze him that one day – Nate said he was like completely psychotic."

"It's a good thing I moved in with you, cause he probably coulda killed me…ya know – If I touched the laptop…erased Jesus…ya know."

Vaughn was giggling again, the laugher completely infectious. Soon, the whole room was in a laughing fit.

"Mike was a much more agreeable roomie…"

"Thank you," Vaughn said smiling at Tom.

"We had a blast."

"No Jesus in the dust from me…"

"Thank you!"

"No problem."

"Good times Mikey."

Vaughn smiled, "Yeah, they were."

Sydney smiled down at him, "You're not going to go into details of your college drinking and sex career are you?"

"No honey, I'll spare you."

"We weren't that bad…" Tom said in their defense.

Vaughn smiled devilishly at Tom, "Nope."

Tom returned the smile. He looked to Kaia; "I suppose we should probably get going…I've got an early shift tomorrow…"

"Me too," Kaia said nodding.

"This was a lot of fun guys. Kaia, really…thank you so much for dinner," Sydney said.

"It was my pleasure."

Francie piped up, "Now that I know you are such an accomplished culinary artist, you'll have to stop by more often…I'm thinking Tuesdays and Thursdays work well for me."

Kaia chuckled, "I'll see if I can work that in…"

Tom and Kaia got up, Francie and Will did likewise to see them out. Tom went over and gave Vaughn a short hug, "We'll see ya Mike, call as always."

Sydney and Vaughn both smiled, "Thanks Tom."

Tom and Kaia said their goodbyes and left the house hand in hand.

"They're really nice," Francie said after they sat down again.

"They really are," Will agreed.

Sydney and Vaughn smiled.

They chatted for a few minutes about day occurrences until Sydney said to Vaughn, "You know, you're got therapy tomorrow mister, we should be getting to bed."

"Mmm…yeah, ok."

Sydney smiled and helped him sit up on the couch before helping him stand.

"You guys need any help?" Will asked as he and Francie stood up as well.

"Nah, I think we're good…Vaughn and I have been doing really well…"

"That's great," Francie said.

Will nodded, "Really, it's easy to tell…"

Vaughn smiled and Sydney beamed proudly, her dimples shone brightly, "I'm so proud of him."