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‘Oh, is that guy going to come in here? No, no. He just walked past. Oh, are they going to visit? Come on lady, spoil your little kids with some ice cream. No, apparently not.’ Thirty-five-year-old Louise sighed as she saw people walking past her establishment without stopping. She knew when she converted her dad’s old burger joint into an ice cream parlor, Louise: Shakes & Ice Creams that there would be fewer customers come autumn and winter but this? This was depressing.
“Hey mom, check this out.”
Louise turned to the sound of the voice and looked down. Her son of nine years looked up with eager eyes and that ear-to-ear smile he inherited from his father. He wore a green-striped shirt and purple shorts but the accessory hardest to miss was the oversized, lilac beanie with a big white pom-pom at the top. Underneath it cascaded a drape of uneven black hair.
The young Belcher produced two empty wafer cones from behind his back and started spinning them on the tips of his index fingers, all while mouthing helicopter sounds. It didn’t last long though before the cones fell to the floor and shattered into crumbles.
“That’s nice, Russ. What a creative waste of wafer.” Louise sighed as they both stared at the floor.
“Waste? That was a new record for me. It lasted like seven whole seconds.” Russel said, sounding impressed with himself.
“You mean that was your record cause it was the first time you tried it, right?”
“It was definitely the first time I tried it. Yep, I’m a natural.” Russel haughtily confirmed with his hands on his hips.
Louise crossed her arms. “So if I go down to the cellar there won’t be like a hundred broken ice cream cones littering the floor?”
The boy shrugged. “There may or may not be but it wouldn’t have anything to do with me.”
Louise groaned and turned her nose to the ceiling. “How did Dad ever put up with this?”
“By not blaming his kids and forgetting all about it?” Russel suggested with a grin so mischievous, it had to be guilty.
Louise gave her son a lopsided smile. “Nice try, Russ. How about if you clean up the basement I promise to not ground you.”
“Okay. I just thought you needed me up here working the mixer.”
Louise raised an eyebrow. “Why would I need you working the mixer?”
“Cause the milkshake machine’s busted.”
“What?” Louise hurried over to the milkshake machine. She experimentally thumbed the lever. The machine churned but nothing came. “Oh, great.” She sighed and took out her cell phone, speed dialing her husband/repair man.
“Hey, hon,” Rudy answered the phone. “I don’t know, Louise. What if a customer comes in while I’m not here?” He listened to her answer. “Yeah, it’s been a slow day for me too. I’m coming over.”
“Don’t get lost on the way here,” Louise said over the phone.
Rudy chuckled a little. “Funny.” He turned off his phone and stepped out of his office.
He took one step. Two steps. Four steps. Six steps and then he was home. Rudy’s business, Rusty Rudy’s Repairs was located in the store next door. So far it was one of the few to last more than a year there.
“Hey, who called for a handsome repairman?” Rudy exclaimed as he stepped inside the old restaurant.
“I’m pretty sure Mom just called for you Dad but who knows what sort of phone calls she makes in my absence,” Russel exclaimed with a smirk.
“Hey, buddy. How’s the fever going?” Rudy asked his son as he closed the door behind him.
“Mom found the heat lamp under my bed so I guess I’m cured now.” Russel sighed.
Rudy rolled his eyes before turning to his wife. “So, what’s broken this time?”
“The milkshake machine.”
“Okay, let’s give it a look.” Rudy clapped his hands and walked to the aforementioned machine.
“Thank you, Rudy.” Louise thanked with a grateful smile. She knew it probably sounded old-fashioned but it was nice having a man around the house who could fix things that broke. Rather him than someone who'd charge her.
Rudy opened up the top of the machine and inspected the inside until he saw something puzzling. “What’s this?”
The moment he pulled in the green piece of plastic he’d found, the tap burst open! Covering Rudy’s entire lower half with pink milkshake. Rudy shrieked. “Cold! Cold, cold.”
Russel started laughing while Louise groaned. She grabbed a towel and started mopping up the shake mix on the floor.
“Well, that’s one mystery solved. This was clogging up the tap.” Rudy stated and held up the floppy thing he pulled out of the machine. “Is it a… condom?”
Louise took the thing away from him. “It’s a balloon, Ro. Get your head out of the gutter.” She then turned to her son, glaring. “I wonder how that got in there.”
Russel immediately stopped laughing. He looked at his parents who stared back at him. “Who knows?” He shrugged with an innocent smile. “I guess it’s just one of those unexplained mysteries like Jack the Ripper or grandpa’s disappearing hair?”
“Right.” Rudy sighed.
“I give you this Russ, it takes some nerve to fake a sickness and make a mess of your family’s business twice in one day.”
“I’m innocent but flattered by the compliment, mother.”
At that moment, the door opened and Louise’s other child, Margo rolled inside with her roller-skates. She wore a red-stripped t-shirt, pink-stripped socks that almost went up to her knees, and black shorts. Her ginger-haired pigtail flailed in the wind as she zoomed through the parlor and right towards her dad, giving him a big hug. “Sorry, I’m late. I swung by the pet shop and one thing led to another. By the way, Aunt T might need medical care. That Gila monster was not happy.”
“I’m sure she will be fine, sweetie,” Rudy said, giving his daughter a one-armed hug.
“Welcome home, Margo.” Louise greeted.
When Margo let go of her dad, Rudy noticed that she was now smeared with shake too and that gave him a devious idea. “Hey Margo, I know about one poor boy who’s been dying to get a hug from his big sister.”
Russel froze up, eyes dilating. “Oh no. Oh no. Not me. Stop!”
Before he knew it, his big sister had crossed the room and snatched up him in her arms. She spun him around, getting milkshake all over him. “Hey, baby bro. Have your fever starved yet?” Margo asked and kissed his forehead which made him squirm even harder. “Wouldn’t it be something if it turned out you had yellow fever? You’d be bleeding out of your mouth and your nose.”
After squirming out of his sister’s grip, Russel looked down on his stained clothes and groaned. “Good job, Margo. You gooped me up like sort of goop…fairy.”
Louise and Rudy couldn’t help but chuckle at their kids’ shenanigans. “Awe, I love my messy family.” Louise cooed, only for Margo to roll over and hug her too, smearing Louise's clothes as well. “Margo!”