At the same time all of
this was unfolding on Vern’s deck, Tibian Henley, Eustacia’s husband and
Patella’s father was taking his 11:00 break on the other side of town. He
parked his Snap-Up Tools van in the big lot in front of Gordon’s Gear and
Sprocket Works. He didn’t like parking on the sloping lot. Nothing about that
lot was flat, so he parked and crossed his fingers. He’d been having trouble
with the worn out parking brake and Tibian just hoped it would hold. He
couldn’t get his truck into the shop until this afternoon when Buck, the mechanic
for Speedy Trucking would be back from the dentist.
He also wasn’t happy
about parking across the highway from the Frosty Freeze but there was no room
for his van in their tiny parking lot. He set the brake and crossed his
fingers. He had an hour before he could call on Jeffrey who ran the forklift at
the loading and unloading docks and ordered tools for the Gear and Sprocket
Works. Jeffery always took his at 11:00. Tibian would have to wait.
He had a taste for ice
cream today, so he decided to cross Highway 99 and have a cone at the Frosty
Freeze, which was shaped like a giant chocolate ice cream cone with the twist
broken off the top. The sun had faded the chocolate colored paint to a dusty
unappetizing pink. The caramel colored cone base was curling and peeling like
the bark on the sycamore tree that shaded the parking lot.
Ice cream would
certainly be more refreshing than getting a lukewarm Dr Pepper out of the
machine next to the loading and unloading dock. It was hotter than blue blazes
and he just wanted to sit in the shade at the picnic table.
Tibian walked down the
hill to the two-lane highway and dashed across as fast as his big frame would
allow while there was a lull in the traffic. He got in the long line to order
his cone. Now, Tibian wasn’t the most patient person in the world, but he
wanted that ice cream cone bad enough not to grumble too much. Then he realized
Junior ( Hubert Patterson, Jr. )was in line in front of him. Maybe if he just
stood quietly enough Junior wouldn’t notice him. The line moved slowly and just
as Tibian thought he was safe, he sneezed, and Junior turned around to God
bless him.
“Well, hello, there Tib.
I didn’t know you was behind me. You shoulda said somethin.”
“Sorry, Junior. It’s so
hot I didn’t even notice who was in front of me.”
“The old Frosty Freeze
sure is showin it’s age. Did I ever tell you the story about how the top lost
its curl?”
“You sure did, Jun…”
“Weell, it was about ten
years back, another scorcher like today. Ol Ed Barnes was flyin his bi-plane
practicin for the Wing Walkers Air Show and Fish Fry.”
“I remember that Junior,”
Tibian futilely tried to staunch the flow of the story.
“Well, sir. Ol Ed was
blind as a bat. How they ever let him go up in the plane is beyond me,” Junior
said as he took his greasy baseball cap off and scratched his mostly bald head.
“Ed was flyin’ into the sun that day and just clipped the top of the cone. The
tip landed on Jackie Clark’s dog, Happy. It knocked the sense outta that poor
pup. It was never the same. Jackie couldn’t walk it anywhere after that. Happy
just kept walkin’ round in circles. Betcha never knew that.”
Tibian didn’t see the
point in even trying to answer that. Finally, it was Junior’s turn at the
window and Tibian didn’t have to listen to any more of his stories for the
millionth time.
Sandy and Paddy O’Brien
had been operating the Frosty Freeze for years; they could practically make
sundaes, shakes, and cones with their eyes closed. Sandy served up Junior’s
vanilla shake and the old man ambled off down the sidewalk.
“See ya, Tib”
“See ya, Junior.”
Finally, it was Tibian’s
turn to order. His mouth was beginning to water in anticipation.
“How ya doing, Tibian?
What can I get for ya?” Sandy asked, her giant red hooped earrings swinging
against her overly tanned neck. She pulled a hot pink pencil out from behind
her ear and scratched her head underneath her bleached blond bun.
“I’m burning up out
here, Sandy. Can you get me a vanilla cone double-dipped in butterscotch?”
“Do you want a large, a super dooper or a giant super dooper?”
I’d better just stick
with the large. It’s so hot it’ll melt before I can eat the super dooper, let
alone the giant super dooper.”
“That it? No foot-long Coney dog with the works for you today?”
“Nope. Too hot to eat today.”
He tried to lean into the window where he could feel the coolness from the air
conditioner.
Sandy served up the cone before Tibian could get his money out of his wallet. “
“Hey, Tib. Keep your
money. You’ve been such a good customer, I think it’s about time you got a
freebie.”
“Say, thanks Sandy. This
must be my lucky day.”
Tibian took his cone
over to the picnic table under the old sycamore tree. It felt about twenty
degrees cooler in the shade. He sat down in the middle of the aluminum table’s attached
bench. Tibian was a tall solidly built man and the last time he sat down on the
end of the table it nearly tipped over. He was enjoying his cone, catching the
drips with his tongue when he heard a loud commotion over by the highway.
Brakes were screeching and traffic had come to a standstill. At first, her
thought the brake on his van had failed and it was rolling toward the highway.
It was then that Tibian saw it. A giant funnel had dipped down out of the
clouds and was whirling toward the Frosty Freeze.
“What the?...”
The tornado uprooted the
sycamore, Tibian, the table, and his ice cream cone.
