CHAPTER 1

Rayna stood at the stove and checked the macaroni to make sure it was not getting over cooked, she liked it al dente, and wanted it to be perfect. The salad was chilling, and everything would be ready for her to take to her neighbor. It was a good thing that Rayna had something to do because she needed a distraction to take her mind off the gruesome scene she had experienced in the park. Seeing the dead man had scared her to death.

Rayna was making macaroni and cheese for her neighbor Mrs. Pritchard, who came home from the hospital two days ago. Mrs. P was able to get around though she didn’t have the strength to cook yet. Rayna wasn’t exactly a great cook, but she could find her way around the kitchen. Her job kept her on the road a lot, but she was glad she was here now to be able to do this for Mrs. P, who lived a few doors over. When Rayna and her brother Bryan were away, Mrs. Prichard checked their townhouse and took in their mail. A call to Mrs. P from either one of them, letting her know when they would be coming home, was all she needed. Arriving home, they would find groceries and a clean house waiting for them. Mrs. P refused to take any money, in gratitude Rayna made sure that she had a front row seat at every new play that opened in the city because she loved the theater.

As she stirred the macaroni, Rayna’s mind began to drift. For whatever reason she started to think of Becky. She decided it must have been the mac and cheese that made her think of Becky, because it brought back memories of the tons of mac and cheese she and Becky had consumed in college. It was strange that they had become friends at all since their first encounter had not been very pleasant.

Becky and Rayna were both freshman in college and had been randomly assigned to be roommates in the dorm. Arriving at the room simultaneously, each of them wanted the bed near the window. They began to argue and after a few minutes of calm exchanges of reasons why each should have the bed by the window, their exchanges turned into a shouting match. Hearing the arguing one of the counselors came to see what the trouble was. The counselor settled them down and coolly convinced them that a coin toss would be the best way to solve the problem. Rayna won the bet and got the bed by the window. After that, although they lived in the same room, they hardly spoke to each other and never socialized with the same groups.

One afternoon when Rayna’s class was cancelled, she went back to the dorm earlier than usual and found Becky laying on her bed sobbing her heart out.

Rayna had never seen Becky upset like that before and asked, “What’s wrong, Becky,” as she sat on the side of Becky’s bed.

Becky whimpered out that her mother was seriously ill, and she had to leave school to go home to help her father take care of mother. Rayna didn’t know what to say.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry Becky. What a terrible thing to happen. Is there anything I can do for you?” asked Rayna.

In a hesitant voice Becky said between sobs, “I have to get home, and I don’t have a way to the airport.”

“No worries about that,” replied Rayna, “I will be glad to drive you to the airport.”

On the ride to the airport Rayna began trying to talk to Becky attempting to get her mind off her trouble. Becky began talking about where she lived, which was a small town in Illinois called Centerville. Rayna didn’t know why but the name Centerville rang a bell, but she didn’t have a clear picture of why.

“Did you live there all your life? Asked Rayna. Trying to keep Becky’s mind occupied.

“Yeah, since I was about four years old,” Becky told her, my mother and father run the only grocery store in town, I didn’t like it there and I couldn’t wait to get away. I was lucky because I got a full scholarship to go to college, that’s the only way I could have gotten there, because my parents that aren’t well off.”

They arrived at the airport and Rayna pulled over to help Becky get her bags out of the car. Rayna hugged Becky and told her if she needed anything to call and she would do what she could to help her. That was the start of their friendship.

Aside: Driving back to the dorm, the thought hit me like a bolt, suddenly I understood why I recognized the name Centerville. My mother told me that was where the orphanage was that I was adopted from. I’m so glad I didn’t mention anything to Becky about that. If I did Becky would have known that I’m aware of the surroundings she grew up in and it might be embarrassing to her. It is not a nice place. She might be afraid that I would think less of her.

Rayna finished fixing the mac and cheese and took it over to Mrs. Pritchard’s. She visited with Mrs. Pritchard for about an hour wanting to be sure the woman was ok. Mrs. Pritchard assured Rayna that she would be able to heat up the mac and cheese in the microwave and have it for dinner. Happy that Mrs. Pritchard was recovering so well Rayna decided to work in her home studio for the rest of the day.

When the phone rang, Rayna looked at the clock, she didn’t know where the day had flown, it was already 5:00 PM.

“Hello,” Rayna said into the phone. Then she heard the familiar voice at the other end of the call, and it surprised her.

“Hi, it’s Becky,” the voice said.

“Becky, what a coincidence I was just thinking about you this morning and remembering that it has been sometime since I saw you. How are you? And what’s going on in your life?”

“I think that’s called synchronicity, isn’t it?” Laughed Becky. “I was thinking about you too. It’s good to hear your voice, Rayna,” Becky replied. “I’m in town for a few weeks and I thought we could get together and catch up.”

“That sounds like a plan I have been working all day and I just realized how hungry I am. Let’s meet at Joe’s Cafe at 7:00,” Rayna said.

“Ok see you there.” Becky agreed.

As Rayna took a shower and got ready, she reminded herself to tread lightly when talking about the theater when she and Becky met for dinner. Rayna knew that Becky was not exactly thrilled with what she was doing now, and it was still a sore spot for her.

Aside: Deep down I know that Becky is sorely disappointed that she has not become a big star. I feel sorry for her. When I often take Becky with me to cast parties when she’s in town, she is always anxious to meet the players. Becky got to know many of the people in the theater that way. As I watch Becky interact with the actors, I can see from some of her facial expressions that she believes that most of them are not as talented as she is and that they probably got lucky breaks that made them famous. Breaks Becky should have had. Funny, in some ways Becky looks down on them. Becky has hinted several times feeling me out to see if I would sort of, put in a good word for her with the cast directors. I let her know that I don’t do that sort of thing. She kept away from me for a while after that but then it passed, and we seem to be OK again.

Becky had always wanted to become an actress. When she was a little girl, she and her friends would dress up and put on plays. Becky would insist that she was the star of the play and the other kids had to do what she wanted, she was successful at making them do that most of the time. As Becky grew up, she had been gifted with a good body, she was tall and slim and had long dark hair. Becky was an only child and though they were not well off financially both her parents doted on her, and she almost always got everything she wanted. Her mother made all her clothes and to some that might sound tacky, but Becky’s mother was a gifted seamstress. Becky would show her pictures of the clothes she wanted in magazines, and her mother was able to come up with an outfit that was almost exactly the same. Becky was by far the best dressed kid in school.

As a teenager Becky wanted to take drama lessons but there was nowhere locally to take them and running a 7 day a week business, her parents didn’t have the time to take her to the next town for lessons. Becky watched a lot of television and would then act out the stories she watched, mostly by herself in front of the mirror.

Becky had not been able to get into acting and she didn’t have the face recognition famous stars got though she was well known in the entertainment industry. Becky had steady work in TV commercials and was in some group parts in a few plays. Becky often did ads for home exercise equipment and work-out videos. Rayna wished she had a body like that. They had become good friends over the years mostly because they had a great mutual interest in the arts and although Becky’s career on stage had not taken off as well as she would have liked; she was still a part of the entertainment industry.

Becky really felt she might become a star one day and loved rubbing shoulders with the players though she thought that most of them were pretty snotty. She would ask the players about their careers looking for clues on how they got started. Sometimes the answer was someone noticed them and thought they were perfect for a certain acting role, but mostly getting into acting required hard work, a lot of bit parts and a lot of determination and luck. The saying, “Don’t quit you day job,” really fits fledgling actors and actresses.

When Rayna introduced Becky to people at the cast parties she called Becky her friend, and never said anything about her work on TV. Becky wished Rayna would not call her,...