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The Street Scoop by Otis Nixon
For many years, a short row of parking meters have been located along the 2900 block of Everbrown Avenue, just across from the Lankville Equitable Bank in the Snowy Lake District. Of the few residents who noticed they were there, no one could remember why they had been installed in the first place. To our surprise, when The Lankville Daily News contacted the Lankville Parking and Curbs Authority, they didn’t know why either.
“I pulled some giant tomes off shelves,” noted LPCA employee Jean Stargell. “There was nothing in any of them about any parking meters.”
Just like that, with a simple question from The News, the meters will be no more by summer.
“The process essentially involves beheading the meters and then leaving the posts up for a year or two and then taking the posts down,” noted Stargell. “Or maybe not.”
After speaking with Stargell for a few more moments, I was able to glean some information about her whereabouts. Utilizing the Lankville Real Property Data Digital Workstation, I discovered her home address.
I picked up a six-pack of beer and a pack of short cigars and drove to the house at dusk. Indeed, a squat, shapeless woman was outside watering some dead ferns. A radio played somewhere deep inside the house. I cracked open a beer and watched Jean– I watched her until darkness fell. When she finally went inside, I got out of the car.
There was a little area in between the wraparound porch and the dining room bay window where I could lurk unseen. An overhead maple shielded me from the neighbors. At one point, a strange-looking man wandered by aimlessly, walking a little puffball dog and whispering, “C’mon now Hugs. C’mon. C’mon Hugs. Please urinate, Hugs.” But he didn’t see me.
I am still lurking.
PEOPLE OF LANKVILLE: But I Still Love Him
LDN: What is your name and where do your work?
TLH: My name is Tammy La Hoyt and I work at Tammy Nails.
LDN: Funny that it’s called Tammy Nails and that you work there.
TLH: Well, I own the place.
LDN: What do you do at Tammy Nails?
TLH: Nails.
LDN: What if somebody doesn’t have any nails?
TLH: Who the hell doesn’t have no nails?
LDN: Amputees?
TLH: Christ. Can you move on to something else, shit-for-brains?
LDN: Married? Children?
TLH: My husband Dick and I have been married for 16 years. We don’t have no children. Dick’s got a low-sperm count. But I still love him.
LDN: What do you like to do for fun?
TLH: Dick and me got a gravel lot in front of the garage.
The interview suddenly collapsed.
Field Service Highlights of the Kingdom Witnesses
“I’m here to give you this month’s issue of Aroused!”
(Hand magazine to the person. Allow them time to respond).
“What’s your opinion?”
(Allow them time to respond. Take two steps backward to avoid violence).
“There is a very nice article here that discusses some Kingdom principles that can help us improve our outlook on life.”
(Point to article).
Total field service credit: 1 hour.
OTHER ITEMS
When is it appropriate to discontinue Kingdom study?
If a student’s spiritual progress comes to a halt, you may have to discontinue his Kingdom study tactfully. Consider: Does he keep his appointments to study? Does he present himself in a neat, orderly fashion and generally wear long pants? Does he prepare his lesson in advance? Has he attended 75% of his congregation meetings? Does he share with others what he is learning or does he tend to lurk in the corner eerily? Does he turn his chair backwards and lean against the back in an overtly frank manner? Is he making changes in harmony with Kingdom principles? Of course, make allowance for his age and his abilities, recognizing that each person progresses at a different rate and that the retarded and spastic for example, will be very slow in grasping Kingdom principles and women, hampered by the abominable crimson flow, may also be inconsistent in understanding key concepts. Also, if you discontinue the study, keep the door open for him to resume his study in the future. “You are always welcome back,” you will say, as you show him out into the back parking lot where his battered jalopy is waiting, its faded paint failing to glisten in the sunlight of his recently-abandoned Kingdom.
HOW TO DO IT
Use the introductory pages of your Aroused! workbook to stimulate interest and then show the householder where the ancient texts give the answer. For example, you might refer to a recent terrorist attack or challenge spree covered in the news and explain that many have wondered about the answers to the questions on page 17. Or you could say that you are visiting your neighbors to share a wondrous, positive view of the future. Then show the pictures on pages 22-25 and ask, “Which of these promises would you like to see fulfilled?” If the householder does not wish any of the promises fulfilled, suggest an alternative promise. Another possibility is to say that you are making brief visits to help people find answers to very big questions. Then show the householder the questions at the bottom of page 35, and ask which one interests him the most. A third possibility is to point out things on his porch and say, “what about that?” His answers may be the springboard to a positive conversation and an opportunity for prime witnessing.
PROPER BEHAVIOR
There have been complaints of Kingdom Witnesses, having been rebuked by householders, pushing over filled trash cans. This should be avoided at all costs.
There is absolutely no tolerance for inebriation while engaged in field service.
For more information, please call the Kingdom Witnesses free hotline at KINGDOM EAST 6-3442.
Rennie Stennett: Bounty Hunter
Triple homicide, just over the border. Three agents. Craughing is giving us hell, giving us absolute hell. We got the potential for a war here.
“We can fix that.”
Early this morning, a vigilante group– all blown to pieces. Out at Cactus Pond. Machine gun shells from a high velocity weapon. We’re talking extended magazine on a short-stroke piston gas-system kind of thing here, Rennie. It’s a hell of a mess.
“We can fix that too.”
There was a long pause on the line.
I got nothing else for you. No witnesses. We got a gas station nearby that was boosted out of fifty bucks, some chips and a collectible swinger’s magazine. We have two more dead at a sporting goods shop. But I got no line on the perp. Nothing.
“Hundred a day expenses. I’ll bring him in in three.”
I opened the closet and found the red metal case buried beneath some fall blankets. These are the kind of blankets that aren’t as thick as the ones I keep for winter. Just enough to keep the chill out. I looked over the weapons inside. I didn’t have nothing that would match up against that kind of firepower but I didn’t figure on needing it. I picked out a couple of shotguns and loaded them with shells. Buckshot lets you take care of business in tight quarters. I knew it’d be tight.
Klacik’s Garage was next up. Where I keep the bus. Klacik had his kid there– he was out front stacking pebbles.
“How’s she running, babe?”
Klacik was lit, you could see it. He had to lean against a pole to keep himself vertical.
She’s a gem, Rennie. She’s a gorgeous piece of Lankville Iron. God damn sweat and elbow grease. Lankville ingenuity. Stars and streaks, baby. Our birthright…
Klacik suddenly kicked the boy’s pebble stack over. It was a hell of a boot. The boy took it alright. Probably used to it.
I pulled her out and headed West towards Craughing. About ten miles before the crossing, I turned south into the desert. Put the fan on and hit the gas– got her up to 75. First stop was the service station.
There was a yokel done up in an oil-stained jumpsuit standing around out front– he had a car up on the lift inside that was dripping antifreeze. Light trumpet music was coming from somewhere.
“Hear you had some money and some chips go missing?”
Who wants to know.
“Interested party. Why don’t we leave it at that?”
Stole a car too, right off the lift. I didn’t report that.
“Why?”
He didn’t say anything for awhile. The light shifted. Had to be 95 out. Had to be.
It belonged to a friend of mine’s wife. Ex ball-player. I was…having sexual relations with her. Mostly just mutual oral but…well, I didn’t want him to know. He’d be upset. About the mutual oral, you know? Had a tendency to get a little sloppy– some spraying went on….
“I get it. Now, did you get a look at this guy?”
Who? The ball-player? Sure, I’ve known him for years…”
“No, the guy that took the car.” Got a real rocket scientist, here, Rennie.
Just the back of his head as he drove off. He was bald, that’s all I can say. But, there’s one other thing…
“Spit it out.”
Well, it was near sunset a couple nights ago. Big guy with a beard came in, filled up his tank. He asked if I had seen a bald guy, a Mr. Oakes or Oates or something. Said that he was this guy’s caretaker or something. He said– “I am his eternal overseer” or something like that, I couldn’t understand him much. His whole suit was white and it had some blood on it. It seemed odd.
You tell the cops?
Yeah, they said it didn’t sound suspicious, it being a white suit and all.
Which way did he go?
Who?
The big guy with the beard and the blood-stained suit.
Into the desert. He drove off down 144.
I thanked him and headed West.
PEOPLE OF LANKVILLE: “I Work at the Self-Service Island”
LDN: What is your name and where do you work?
KB: My name is Keith Baby and I work at the self-service island down at the Diadem Station on Highway 71.
LDN: What do you do there?
KB: Oversee the self-service island, make sure people aren’t having any problems servicing themselves. If they are, then I step in.
LDN: When you step in, what happens? Describe a typical scenario.
KB: I explain the pump to them– how it inserts into the opening of the gas tank.
LDN: Do you ever insert it yourself?
KB: Sometimes. If the person is really incapable. Sometimes people are incapable.
LDN: So, then you have to jam it in there and let it fly?
KB: Yep.
LDN: Do you ever pull it out and then go back in?
KB: Nope. I usually fill it up on the first try. That is, if they want it.
LDN: Sometimes they don’t want it?
KB: Sometimes they just need a certain amount, you know.
LDN: What if nobody comes into the station?
KB: Well, then I can sweep up, tidy up the place. We get a lot of vomit in the grass. Got to keep an eye out for that stuff.
LDN: When you get home, what do you do?
KB: I got a little place above a bakery. It’s alright. I was dating this lace-curtain paddy for awhile and she fixed it up OK.
LDN: Do you read magazines?
KB: A little.
LDN: How long do you think you’ll live?
KB: I hope to live to a hundred, you know.
LDN: You won’t.
KB: Well nobody knows, right?
LDN: Trust me. You won’t.
People of Lankville will continue in future issues.
Diary of a Female Bowling Champion by Whitney Balboni
I’ll never forget the Bowladrome in the Lankville Area Marshlands. That’s where Daddy first took me bowling. I think I was three years old.
Back then, everything was blue with red trashcans at the end of each lane. I’ll never forget those trash cans. People used to throw chipped bowling bowls in them. It was impossible for the attendants to remove the bag. The ball would break right through and roll away, littering the blue carpet with other garbage. I remember Cliff, the manager. He was a little blue, himself. He said, “there just ain’t no trash bag strong enough to handle a 12-pound bowling ball. Wish there was.” I bet Cliff could have used one of those big contractor’s bags that they sell at the Home Tyrant now. But this was back before they had places like the Home Tyrant or the Home Dump or Barlow’s.
Anyway, back then I was in the Lankville Young Female Bowling Association (LYFBA) and I was champion by age 5. Daddy showed me how to put a lot of reverse English on the ball and people couldn’t believe it. Cliff said, “look at that wicked little girl. Kee-rist, she’ll be a champion one day” and then he would go back to spraying the shoes.
One time, Cliff said to Daddy, “I’d like to make little Whitney the mascot here at the Bowladrome. We can put her picture up on the god damn sign.” But Daddy was pretty sly. He asked for a hundred thousand dollars. Cliff threw up all over Daddy then, I’ll never forget it. When he recovered, he said, “don’t come back here. Don’t never come back here. And give me back all those damn award patches we doled out like they was god damn candy. I’m revoking all them.”
Daddy quietly said, “Whitney earned them patches” and we walked out into the parking lot. There was a little store at the end of the strip mall and Daddy said, “let’s get a loaf of bread.” So we did.
And that was the end of our time at the Bowladrome.
We started going across the Area Marshlands to the Rose Bowl. It was run by an ex-boxer named Mr. Farmer.
“Mr. Farmer will be better for your career,” my Daddy said. “You now need to enter a higher phase of learning. Bowling will be your life now. There is no need for any further education.”
And so Daddy pulled me out of school and we spent everyday– 9 hours a day, at the Rose Bowl.
It paid off. Even though I couldn’t barely read, I was Junior Champion by age 8. By age 10, I was beating 20 year-olds. By age 12, I was beating 30 year-olds. And only one year after that, I beat a guy who was 54. I had a perfect game that day, my first. I was the Marshland Champion.
“It’s time to travel east into the capital,” Daddy said. “It’s time for the Wheat Triangle Lane Tournament. But let’s get a loaf of bread first.”
Daddy left the car running while he went into the little store. I played the radio for awhile but Daddy didn’t come out. Then, a fat man in an apron came out. He looked around for a while and then he saw me. He came over.
“Is that your Dad that came in for the bread?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He sighed deeply.
“I hate to be the one to tell you this but I’m afraid that his arm got caught on the sharp corner of the bread shelf. His arm got torn off completely. Before I noticed, he bled to death.”
I was going to cry but I remembered what Daddy said. “There’s no crying in bowling”. So I showed the man my patch celebrating my first 300 game.
He looked at the sky. “Bowling is a sort of scourge here in the Marshlands,” he said. “That’s why your Daddy got his arm ripped off. Nature was balancing the scale.”
He reached into his pocket and gave me $5. I never knew why.
Diary of a Bowling Champion will continue in future issues.
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PEOPLE OF LANKVILLE: “I Put Out Fruit”
LDN: What is your name and where do you work?
CT: My name is Cathy Teffley and I work for the Agape Foundation.
LDN: What’s that?
CT: It’s a company that builds refreshment stands.
LDN: Do you build the refreshment stands?
CT(laughing): Of course not! I’m just a woman.
LDN: What do you do there?
CT: Answer the phones, operate the carpet sweeper, put out fruit.
LDN: Are you satisfied?
CT: Do you mean…in that way?
LDN: No, with your job.
CT: Very. I’m very satisfied. Mr. Agape is a sweetheart and he always gives the girls a real bonus during the holidays!
LDN: You mean…in that way?
CT: No, a check.
LDN: Married?
CT: Nah. I mean, sort of. I don’t know where he is. I think he went abroad. He said something about some island revolution.
LDN: Children?
CT: Just Glenn. He’s 6.
LDN: What’s he all about?
CT: He’s gay.
LDN: Is there anything else you would like to add?
CT: Hi Glenn!
Teffley began giggling and the interview was ended prematurely.
LETTER SACK