Chapter 2

Cheryl moved to the Richland Retirement Community four years after it opened. She lived in a small one bedroom located on Jennings Street. She's single, never married.

She's also a lesbian.

Her move was one that made sense at that time in her life. Her lover had died two years previously with breast cancer and she'd been devastated with the loss. They'd been a couple for over 25 years. The best thing for her at that particular moment was to get out of the old house, the old life and move somewhere, anywhere, so she could get control of her life once again.

For a woman her height she had a full-figure body. Her weight blossomed between 200 and 250. She'd once been closer to 300 lbs but after Melissa had died she lost a lot of weight along with the grief she felt. For the first time in ages she was fully in control of her life and she planned to make the most of this 'new life', as she liked to refer to it.

Katherine Reynolds, at 74 was at a crossroads in her life. For the first time in her life she had to do something for herself. Her husband of 49 years had died of a massive heart-attack 5 years ago. He'd been a controlling bastard and now she was finally on her own for the first time in her adult life. She was almost at a loss. Almost giddy with that freedom, but she'd been seeing a shrink for the past 2 years and had been assured that this was the best thing to do right now. So, she sold the house and used the proceeds to get the new one bedroom house at the Richland Retirement Community.

At first the loss of Marvin had devastated her. Then it gave her hope. Hope of a new life. Hope of being proud of herself for the first time in her life. Hope to be happy. That's what she looked forward to the most. Happiness. Could she really be happy? There was only one way to find out.

When the call had come of Marvin's heart attack and death, it wasn't a hospital emergency room nurse or doctor; it wasn't a friend of the family. It was his mistress who had called with the bad news. A mistress she'd never even been aware of. The bitch had to gall to call her and tell her the news.

Katherine cried for hours after the news. Then she got mad and literally trashed the house, tearing up things that had belonged to her husband. Then she cried again and, once all the tears were gone she quietly made the arrangements for cremation. She knew that Marvin would never want that done, so that's why she did it. It was her very first move towards independence that day. It was one huge giant step, but she made up her mind and took that step. She contacted the funeral home and told them of the change of plans. With no other relatives to object there was little the funeral director could do, so a call was made and the body moved to the Crematorium. Her second move of defiance was to take the urn on a cruise and shake Marvin's ashes out over the ocean. Marvin had hated the water all his life and this was the ultimate defiance for her against him. Once the urn was empty she left the lid off and threw it into the water as well, standing and watching as it disappeared beneath the gently rolling waves. When she returned to the ship she quietly got drunk and then fell onto the bed and slept for almost 13 hours. When she woke up, the next afternoon, for the first time in her life she was totally free and on her own.

Fortunately Marvin had been wealthy. As a real estate agent for some 30 years, he's acquired a good fortune and, as the only heir, she'd gotten it all. She used only a small bit of that wealth to buy the house at RRC and put the rest of it into bonds and CDs. She'd never want for anything again in her lifetime.

She suspected that Marvin had never known that his wife of so many years preferred women to men. In fact, her most recent lover, a white woman of 70, had recently decided that she wanted someone younger, leaving Katherine not only mourning the recent death of her husband, but also the loss of her long-time lover as well.

It was Monday morning, the start of a new week at RRC and Cheryl was determined to get up that morning and start her walking regiment. She'd been telling herself that she'd start walking 'tomorrow', and 'tomorrow' never seemed to get here. Well this morning was finally the 'tomorrow' she'd been looking for. She got up, showered and dressed, putting on her brand new walking shoes for the first time. She was determined to get started today and nothing was going to stop her. As she left the house and got to the sidewalk she finally realized that she could actually do 'it'. Turning to her right she started towards Wilson Boulevard, the next street down Jennings Street. It teed into Jennings and that was going to be her first turn. She made the turn and almost ran over the woman coming her way.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized to the woman. "I didn't mean to walk into you."

"No, I'm the one who should apologize. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

They looked at each other and could only laugh at the situation.

After a few minutes they introduced themselves.

"Hello," Cheryl said, "I'm Cheryl Rhodes, and she extended her hand for a handshake.

"I'm Katherine. Katherine Rhodes," the other replied.

They stood there for a few minutes and then looked at each other and started talking at the same time.

"We're never going to get anywhere talking at the same time," Katherine said.

"So true," replied Cheryl. "Did I interrupt anything? Are you going anywhere in particular?"

"No, nothing particular. I'm on my way to the stadium for my walk," Katherine answered.

"Then you're going the wrong way," Cheryl told her.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"I could have sworn this is the way I went yesterday."

"Would you like to walk with me?" Cheryl asked.

"Sure. I don't have anything else to do and wanted to start walking months ago."