In 1994 Little Josh Disappeared From Forsyth, Missouri — And I Finally Know What Really Happened To Him

I had started to grow worried about the group in recent years though. It had been 22 years and the group, which once peaked at 19 ladies in 1999, had dwindled to just seven women sitting in that multi-purpose room. And it had been a couple years since anyone new had joined.

So, I felt a tingle of excitement and drank the Orange Crush and vodka I snuck in each week in a Burger King cup with a little more fervor when I saw a young woman (couldn’t have been much older than 25) with a stack of golden hair sit down in one of our plastic chairs. That tingle turned into a slow burn when I watched her dunk one of those little airplane bottles of Jack Daniels into her traveler mug when everyone but me and her got up to attack the tray of knock off brand cookies someone brought for the intermission.

I hadn’t even gotten the new woman’s name yet. Our group conducted our usual clockwise rotation of talking about what we wanted to talk about this week and our new friend was sitting at about 10 p.m. Because of that, it would be awhile before we heard from her, especially since Tanya Chare told the lengthy story about the time she talked to Nancy Grace, but got edited out of the show because she used the “C” word a couple of times.

I wasted no time, the rest of the ladies in the group would gulp down their watered-down Maxwell’s House and Western Family cookies in less than 10 minutes and they would have to jump right back into the monotony of their weekly sorrow right away. I walked across the room and stuck a hand out to the woman who was sucking back on her traveler mug.

“Hi, I’m Holly Barrow. Are you new to the group?” Thought I’d introduce myself.”

I was nervous. I prayed the new woman wouldn’t sense the vodka sweat on my palms.

“Oh hi, I’m Krista Hansen, and yes, this is my first time to the group. I just moved from Kansas and saw the group listed in the paper up in Springfield, so I thought it would come down. I’m glad I did. Everyone seems so nice.”

I almost laughed out loud at Krista’s innocence of thinking everyone in the group was nice. Just give it a few weeks. Regardless, I really liked her vibe. She seemed like the kind of person who could serve as a sounding board for my frustrations with the group and the stupid shit people post on Facebook. I needed that.

“You got a flight tonight?” I said coyly and shot a look at the purse where I saw Krista tuck her little bottle of Jack Daniels just a minute ago.

“What?” Krista answered back with a big, oblivious smile.

“You drink,” I said and flashed a wide smile.

“Ohhhhhhhhh,” Krista responded with a blush and a giggle. “I had no idea what you mean by what you said about a flight.”

Jack has written professionally as a journalist, fiction writer, and ghost writer. For more information, visit his website.

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