Chapter 1

I might say I was excited. Starting school was, well, not really my ‘cuppa’ (of tea). Mom and Dad met in England where he was in a special research facility. Mom was too, but that’s about all I knew then. I did know it was my birthday tomorrow and that did excite me.

We lived in a small house just outside Philadelphia now. I think It was about two weeks before my fifth birthday, 16 September. I think ‘The Rents’ were a bit concerned school would become a challenge for me, actually not that it was too difficult, rather that it would be boring. Remember two research PhD’s do not a dumb kid make.

So, I was to have a Birthday Party, joy upon joy. Since they had such a wide selection of friends, (Not) I already had 14 pre-made ones in school they could invite. So, they did, wasn’t that just grand?

You have all heard of Jekyll and Hyde, right? Well I don’t know what you call it, fate, reverse osmosis, bad luck, good luck or what but who should be invited but, Melisa B Silver.

I would later take a guess at what the B stood for, but that is jumping ahead a bit. She was already five, in my class at school, a neighbor and 170 degrees my opposite. We actually like a few of the same things though. One thing that was in-conflict was, ‘She liked me’, on sight, the very first thing she gave me a hug followed by a kiss and wished me a Happy Birthday.

The ‘Rents’ thought it was ‘cute’, me? Well being a typical five year-old male, I wanted to hide and die when she did that. Worse she held on to me, sat next to me, and otherwise staked her claim to me in whatever I would do. The ‘rents’ thought it was cute. She was the last one there, of the kids that is. Her “I have another gift for you Johnny James, some day” set some changing expectations of what that was as we got older.

In third grade (US gang, no Forms) ‘we’, (meaning me) had ‘our’ (Meaning Me) first ‘Damsel in Distress’ incident where ‘we’ (MEANING ME) had to slay the big, bad, dragon. (a 6th grader) That a girl might be actually ‘Pretty’ never entered my head at eight, but it certainly did his, maybe hers too.

I guess I owed her after that. ‘We’ beat the living shit out of that boy. Yeah, we, I sprained an ankle, a wrist and had a busted knuckle on both hands. His face was not the worst thing though. Mel came to my aid, rescue, whatever. One swift kick by her in his ‘family jewels’ and it was over. Any family in his future was doubtful too. That sort of created a ‘greater friendship than we had’ at least on my part she was now my best friend.

We never knew things in ‘real life’ were often complicated until high school. Even her sister then going into Grade 7 was a De Facto supporter of us. Actually growing up at 11 (for me), and 10 (for Her) was, shall we say interesting. We had each other and the ‘Rents’ both sets of ‘Rents’ thought our closeness was, you guessed it, ‘CUTE’! Like I said reality started to hit both of us hard in High School.

Religion, Politics, Social Circles and ‘Friends’ (I use the term loosely, very loosely) added a new and sometimes unwelcome dimension to any relationship we might have had, more so for me than her. On some of these things the ‘Rents’ no longer thought everything was cute. We were getting older. Why that should make a difference neither of us knew the answer.

As it turned out, 11th grade gave us much of the answer when we had to select a college to attend. In Grade 12, it became abundantly clear why. Religion, Politics, Social Circles and those ‘Friends’ were most important to the ‘rents’, much more than to us.

We both had the grades, the test scores and some ‘pull’ at the schools of our choice. I went to The University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school at not an inexpensive $79,000 a year with financial aid but her stint at Bryn Mawr topped mine at over $100,000 a year, which Daddy just paid for in cash. Her school also had some connotations of a life style that had never come up between us before.

High School ceremony was the last time I saw her for a few years. Her parents moved away, got a divorce, I don’t know but she was so near yet so far away. Those damn things (Religion, Politics, Social Circles and ‘Friends’) would brook no interference and provide no relief to the separation.

Her junior year abroad should have been fun for her. Mine, well mine never quite came to be. Divorce is like a disease, it infects and spreads. I dropped out of school during my second year and joined the Navy with the full intention of having Uncle Sam pay for most of what I could not get to on the Net. Funny how things interfere with a plan. Remember, What’s his name, about no plan surviving the initial engagement?