Rhonda

Steve hooking up with Rhonda was the beginning of the end. He met her through mutual friends at a party down around Martin. I knew right away she was bad news.

Rhonda was a 22 year-old high school drop-out with four kids and dreams of a better life. She was tiny--no more than 5 foot tall--with short blond hair, huge blue eyes, and a boy-ish figure. Any redeeming qualities she may have possessed were very well-hidden.

Rhonda liked to park her car along the road circling the lake at Jenny Wiley State Park. When a man drove by, she'd follow, flashing her lights and honking until he pulled over. What came next depended on her mood, her needs, and to some extent, the victim.

The lucky ones enjoyed wild sex in or on the back of her car or his. Some paid cash for the experience, some didn't. Whether they paid her outright or not, most lost their wallets in the process.

Some walked over to her car to find Rhonda in the back seat aiming a double-barrel shot-gun right square at his chest. They lost their wallets, too, and anything else of value on them or in their car. Like I said, she was bad. I never liked Rhonda.

Steve called to tell me he could make it to Lexington for my birthday, but only if Rhonda came with him because she had money for gas. At the time I lived in a tiny, one-room apartment in one of those huge green houses on High Street between Clay and Ashland Avenues. I told him to just stay home if he had to come with that tramp.

Since it was my birthday I went out anyway. Truth be told I went out most nights. Isn't that what you do when you are 23, all grown up and on your own?

About an hour before closing time, I see Steve and Rhonda on the dance floor. WTF? Steve came up to me like nothing was wrong. He just shrugged, pointed at Rhonda and acted like he didn't have a choice. I left them at the bar, went home and went to bed.

The next morning there was a note from Steve taped to my door. He said he'd never been so embarrassed and it was over between us. Whatever.

A month or so later, Steve's mother called me. She was a VP at the one bank in Martin. She hated Rhonda as much as I did and wanted to know if I'd heard about her getting arrested for robbing her bank.

The robbery and Rhonda's arrest were news to me. I asked for details. Steve's Mom explained Rhonda had walked into the lobby of the bank wearing a ski mask, toting her double-barrel and demanding cash--on my birthday. I nearly fainted.

But that wasn't the end of me and Steve after all. Some people are slow learners. We continued to see each other off and on for at least another year. We even had more adventures together but it was never quite the same...