Cliff(hanger) Notes: Robert (Bob) Fulton

Robert Fulton was born in 1980 in Spearfish, South Dakota. The fourth of five children, Bob tipped the scales back to a tie between girls and boys in the Fulton household until his youngest sister was born. By then, Robert had become “Bob” and he was the most outgoing and adventurous of the Fulton clan. He quickly took to hunting and fishing, and his scoutmasters were driven crazy by his constant wandering off during hikes, even though he always found his way back within a few minutes. Bob’s high school life was spent cruising Spearfish, wandering the Black Hills, and a very active social life. Bob also played for the high school football team, but he saw that as more of a fall diversion than anything. Bob’s academic career was fairly average until his junior year, when he became inspired by a new history teacher. With a new found love of history, Bob put a bigger focus on his schoolwork, propelling him to honor roll status. He decided to major in History at USD, and his application was quickly accepted. His freshman year was a blur of women and alcohol, and not much attention to schoolwork. He went through several roommates that year, and his grades had him on the brink of failing out. After a summer spent living at home and spending a lot of time hiking alone in the Black Hills and Bear Butte, Bob returned for his sophomore year with a new focus on finishing school, a focus that his freshman  year friends thought was due to something that happened to him over the summer (Bob denied this was the case). He met his new roommate, Phil Anderton. Most of Bob’s friends didn’t expect Phil to last a week as Bob’s roommate, but Bob and Phil became unlikely friends. Bob graduated with a degree in History, but without a desire to teach his options were limited. He didn’t want to move home, so he took a few low wage jobs in Sioux Falls to strike out on his own. He kept in contact with Phil, whose life was going great, until his engagement fell apart. Bob didn’t hear from Phil for almost five months after that. Bob knew Phil was having a hard time, so he decided one day to just move in with him. Phil wasn’t excited about the situation at first, but soon it felt almost like college again, and Phil’s life had gotten back on track. One night at a poker tournament, Bob met Jer, who wound up facing Bob on the final table. The two became friends after they were simultaneously eliminated by the table’s eventual winner (and Jer’s apartment manger), Geoff Pryblinski. Jer suggested that Bob sell cars, due to his poker face and ability to get opponents to bet more than they wanted. Within a week, Bob had a new job selling Volkswagens. Shortly thereafter, Friday nights for Bob and Jer meant Xbox and a bar crawl (with or without Phil), at least until our story began.