Flamingo Blues (3 page)

CHAPTER SIX

Corny was so excited about the show; she ignored the rumblings--in her stomach. Steve insisted on buying a large tub of buttered popcorn, two diet sodas, and big bag of pink cotton candy for her. What was she thinking when she insisted on cotton candy?

They were literally seated right in front of the stage; which was great for Steve. (She unfortunately would be on the road with a bunch of birds during most of the show.) That was if her stomach settled down. What if she had food poisoning from the under-cooked hamburger? Wouldn’t that be her luck?

She hadn’t had a chance to tell the flamingos they were going home today and thought they might need to prepare the whole door opening thing. After a couple bites of popcorn and a big gulp of diet soda, she headed off to use another beautifully decorated bathroom. This one’s theme was Santa’s Workshop; no kidding…The ceiling had tasteful fake presents hanging from it and it smelled like sugar cookies, which made her stomach gurgle a little--not too bad, maybe she’d be okay after all.

As she was headed to the flamingo exhibit, she ran into the butterfly guy who was determined to get her phone number.

“Hey there, I’ve been looking all over for you, he said. I have a half-hour break; do you want a personal tour of my butterflies now?”

“That’s really nice of you but I’m not feeling too well. See you around.” She walked away as the gurgling was getting louder and louder.

When she was back at the flamingo exhibit, she told the male flamingo the plan, “Okay, I need all of you to meet me at the large parking lot in forty-five minutes. Can you tell time, I need you to be on time?”

“No problem Mon, our lives revolve around a time schedule. We’ll be on time.”
The flamingo said confidently.

“Try not to attract a lot of attention, if that’s possible.”

“
You got it Mon.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Corny made it to her seat in record time. The show was into its second act and Steve insisted she taste the cotton candy.

“Hey Corny, this stuff isn’t too bad. Try it.”

It melted on her tongue and made it down her throat and into her stomach. “It’s good, you’re right.” Then he put the cone-shaped container in her hand. He must have wanted her to finish it.

The next performance was a display of Aerial Hoop by a woman named, Habana. What she did with the hoops was unbelievable--flying through the air on a trapeze, while twirling large loops around her body in mid-air. It was so hypnotizing--Corny didn’t want to leave, but it was time to grant a Christmas wish.

“Steve, my stomach is acting up, and it’s not the cotton candy. I think it was the hamburger I ate.

“You do look a little on the green side, do you want me to go with you?”

“That’s the sweet of you, but hopefully I’ll only be a couple of minutes.”

Once in the parking lot she hadn’t considered how to break into the bus, which was a rookie mistake. Lucky for her the Canadians were trusting folks; the keys were left in the ignition. In the stolen Gray Lines Express bus she calculated it would take her about an hour to load the birds, drive to the lake, unload them, and return, before she and the bus were missed. The thing she never considered was she’d never driven a bus before but it had an automatic transmission, this should be a piece of cake.

Right on time, the flock of flamingos walked with exaggerated delicacy on stork-like legs into the parking lot. She started the bus and eased over to where they all stood on one leg waiting. The less time they were out in the open, the better for all of them. She opened the bus door and one by one they hopped up the steps and made their way to the rear of the bus. The bus had a really loud engine, which she didn’t notice when she was riding in it. It was freaking the birds out. She felt like telling them not to be messing around in the bus, but she and Steve were probably the only ones who did that.

Corny said, “Okay guys, keep your heads down. We don’t want the police pulling us over.”

She wasn’t sure what she would tell a cop if she got pulled over, and Steve would be mad if she got thrown in jail. She obeyed all the traffic laws and was making good progress. The flamingos were chattering about being excited and then they broke the news to her.

“Hey lady, we need a bathroom break real soon or you’re going to have a mess to clean up.”

She never considered they’d need to go to the bathroom while still on the bus. She wouldn’t have time to clean the bus if they pooped in it.

“What? You guys can’t wait another fifteen minutes?” Corny said in a desperate voice.

“No, sorry but we all need to go right now.”
The bird replied
.

Corny found a nice gravel driveway to pull into and one by one the flamingos did their business in an orderly fashion. If someone had been videotaping them, they would make millions off this.

On the road again, she requested they hold it until they got to the lake. When Corny pulled the monstrous bus into the Shornclifton parking lot, there were cheers and confetti – floating through the air. Wow, these people knew how to throw a party. Some of the elderly residents were in wheelchairs and others had canes, but it looked as though they were all in attendance when the bus arrived. Every one of the residents, plus the staff, had Santa hats on. They had a huge tree decorated in the middle of a beautifully manicured lawn and the lake was glistening, like it was waiting for the flamingos to return.

Loading and unloading wasn’t too bad; the old folks helped get the flamingos to the lake and they promised to keep a much closer eye on them from then on. For all her hard work, Corny was rewarded with several plates of cookies and a Santa hat. How was she going to explain the cookies and the Santa’s hat to Steve? Maybe she should be more concerned about being caught with a stolen bus.

Her stomach decided to let her know it didn’t like the undercooked burger and it grumbled and churned.

She said her goodbyes to the birds, “You guys take care now and have a wonderful holiday.”

“
You did a good thing Mon, but how are you going to explain us being gone?”

“It’s a Christmas miracle.” because it was…

It had been the best vacation ever because everyone got what they wanted: her stomach finally settled down and she got a shiny new key to Steve’s house; the flamingos got to go home to their lake, and Steve got front row seats for the Cirque du Soleil.

Hopefully, Steve and The Royal Canadian Mounted Police wouldn’t be weren’t waiting for her when she returned. When she drove the bus into its parking area, she took a deep breath, and then looked around. It didn’t look as though the SWAT team was waiting for her--this time. She made her way to her front row seat and watched the end of the best circus ever, while fondling her shiny new key.

Steve knew Corny wasn’t in the bathroom all this time, but as long as she wasn’t in the hospital or in a Canadian jail, comma he’d sit there and enjoy the
best
circus he’d ever seen.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Corny moved into Steve’s house in record speed, while he had grumbled the whole time. Whenever another box was brought in he had said, “Corny, where did all this stuff come from? It wasn’t in your apartment.”

“My apartment was too small to hold all of it; I had most if it in storage.”

All it had taken was for her to show Steve the benefits of a live-in girlfriend and he had shut up real fast.

She had woken Christmas morning, in
their
bed, listening to Elvis singing ‘Blue Christmas’ and remembered their trip to Victoria. And then Corny thought that getting the flamingos home by Christmas saved them from having ‘The Flamingo Blues’.

Merry Christmas!

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If you enjoyed Flamingo Blues look for Darlene Panzera’s Me and Mr. Claus:

Me and Mr. Claus

A jingle of bells and a flurry of greetings erupted from the hallway and both Kristen and Ashley turned their heads. Through the glass walls of the office they could see Noah Goodwell making his cheerful happy-go-lucky rounds.

“I bet that relentless do-gooder has never had a bad day in his life,” Kristen complained.

Ashley smiled. “He’s always so friendly and nice.”

“Too nice to be genuine.”

“Handsome,” Ashley continued, and a dreamy look crossed over her face. “He’s very, very handsome.”

“Somewhat good-looking,” Kristen conceded. “Oh
no
. Here he comes.”

Noah poked his head around the door. “Hello ladies,” he said, wearing a bright smile. “Just want to wish you a good morning.”

“Good morning to you, too, Noah,” Ashley returned.

Kristen gave him a curt nod. His gaze lingered on her a second longer than Ashley. Then he left, and his voice could be heard greeting Mr. Holly down the hall.

“It wouldn’t kill you to at least say ‘Good Morning,’” Ashley scolded.

Kristen frowned. “Today it might.”