Sunday, August 2, 2015

THE GOOD THE BAD & THE UGLY--- Part 1

                                                 Fiction----Fiction------Fiction




      THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY 


The day was so extra special for Wilbur Windham, a.k.a. Will. Today was Will’s 18th Birthday. Further, he was only two months away from graduating from high school. The mail contained some exciting communication for Will.


He was admitted to the prestigious, honeysuckled covered walls of Graham Creek University. His ACT score of 33 clinched his acceptance and a full ride to GCU. A color brochure from Ford spotlighted the Candy Apple Red Mustang convertible Mom and Dad had special ordered for him. A card from Aunt Stella in Cleveland told Will to go to Best Buy and pick out any laptop and have them call her for the credit card info. Will liked everything about Aunt Stella except the horrible perfume she wore in hopes of luring a husband who would marry a chubby 57 year old woman.


Grandma Windham sent a card containing five crisp $100 bills to be used for college expenses. She closed with a very promising note: When she and her Kentucky tobacco growing husband sold their tobacco, around the first of the year, she would send five more “Benjamins.” Wow! This is a day for rejoicing and shouting. Mom and his 8th grade sister lead the cheers.


Could Will’s life get any better? Maybe yes? Maybe no?  A panicky text message from his sweetheart, Sally, started an avalanche of bad news. He immediately called her and through her hysterical sobs he made out the following:


a. Her mother opened a confidential doctor’s report addressed to her father. The letter simply stated the blood tests confirmed he had an STD. Later, Mom nearly attacked her father demanding an explanation. Old dad, fearing the words might turn to guns and knives, confessed he and the men from his VFW post made an overnight trip to Canada while attending the National VFW Convention in Buffalo. Yes, he had a one-night stand with a dancer from a local club. No, he doesn’t know her name or phone number. She was only called Niagara Falls by the club. Yes, he was sorry and volunteered to move out of the house the next morning. He did.


b. Mom on the other was livid and sought revenge. She got a clean bill of health from a  one-day, free women’s clinic and without as much as a goodbye note, ran off with a young door-to-door magazine salesman from West Virginia two days later. Sally was by now already living with an aunt. The aunt reassured Sally that she was sure her mother would call her before long.


c. Sally was so upset by the events surrounding her parents that she failed to stop at a Stop sign and T-Boned a limo carrying the top 12 Girl Scout cookie sellers enroute to Chuckie Cheeze for an awards party. No one was injured; however, her Ford 150 pickup was totaled, the limo company has threatened a lawsuit, and the parents of the 12 Girl Scouts are considering a class-action suit against Sally, her parents, her driving instructor, Ford Motor Co, the Stop sign manufacturer, street maintenance crew, the mayor and anyone who will admit voting for him.


d. Sally’s brother broke up with his teenage girlfriend and moved in with a single mother with eight children. Her brother told Sally that with Food Stamps, free medical, free cell phone and welfare he will never have to work a day in his life!


e. Will tried in vain to comfort the heart broken girlfriend of some seven years. He told her he loved and not do anything stupid and hung up. He was shaking uncontrollably.


Everything seemed in hyper speed and he could not make it slow down, much less stop. He was so glad to see his Dad come in from the dog collar manufacturing plant. His Dad who would only drink a couple of beers at a Fourth of July cookout was tore up like a can of kraut. The old man was stoned, blasted, plastered and feeling no pain. Will and Mom rushed to help this Good Time Charlie to his $758 Lazy Boy recliner. To every question he would shout “Those *&^%&&*!”


Ten minutes later the air in the living room was still blue but he had enough composure to tell them what brought on this one-man party. Seems the dog collar plant, all equipment, all suppliers and venders, warehouses, and distribution network had been purchased by a drug cartel in Mexico. Everything was moving to Nuevo Laredo in six months. To placate the Mexican authorities, the factory will only employ Mexican Nationals. Will’s Dad, the current plant manager, had a $200k per year salary. He had 10 years to go before retirement.  


Will thought he was on the portal of Hell. Nothing seemed to make sense. Everything was a first class 27 alarm disaster. How could anything get worse? His answer soon came when his Mom shouted that the kitchen was on fire! During the commotion surrounding Dad, the bacon she was frying for BLTs was left unattended and burst into flames and the popping grease quickly spread to the hutch containing her grandmother’s silverware. Somehow the green and gold lava lamp which Dad insisted be placed on top of the hutch escaped the now strengthening blaze. Mom was frozen in place and just seconds from passing out, Dad had already gone to where all good drunks go---the bathroom and was no help to fight the fire, so only Will could answer the call to duty.


Will did two actions almost at once. He grabbed the flour container and threw the full contents onto the stove smothering the source of the flames. Within a split second he wet several kitchen towels and beat the fire on the hutch out in just a few seconds.


Only good old Mom could bring comfort to this madness. Through her own tears she told the upset, broken hearted Windham family to go to bed, sleep late for tomorrow is Saturday. Her final pep talk included the encouraging assurance that tomorrow would be better.


 


      WATCH FOR PART TWO WITHIN A WEEK


GLENN <><


JUST WEST OF YESTERDAY


     

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