Back To Branson For A Moment

 

Kreshnik

            It was Joe who hired the Albanian music student to man the counter at the Howler Frozen Custard shop. Kreshnik had to be sworn into secrecy first. He and Joe had gotten to know each other at the recording studio, where Joe learned that the kid needed a job. He told Kresh, as the other guys called him, that if he could keep his mouth shut about a couple of things they would pay him double the going rate for that type of service work. They met in the back of the McDonald’s dining room to discuss business.
            Can you imagine a guy who wouldn’t jump at that? What were the couple of things to keep his mouth shut about?  He wondered that after he said, “sure Joe, I can do that.”
            “Kresh, it’s like this.  I am kind of a ghost figurehead at the new ice cream place that will open soon. I’m not really the boss. But I am a friend of the boss. You’ll understand in a minute. In fact, I put him and his assistant up in the business.”
            “That sounds mysterious and possibly illegal Joe,” laughed Kreshnik. Of course, he was talking a little bit of smack. It’s not illegal at all. Mysterious, yes. Well, part of it’s illegal, but not the putting some other guy up in business part.
            “The important thing, Kresh, is that this is top secret stuff. Don’t tell anybody, not your sweetie, not your mama!”
            “Gosh, Joe, what’s the big secret? I’m 99% ears,” said Kresh.
            “The real boss, the guy who will be making the ice cream in the backroom with his helper is a local character. But he’s not human.  Oh, he speaks English and has passed himself off as a particularly ugly and hairy guy. But he’s not a real guy. There’s a reason the shop is called the Howler. I assume you’ve heard of the Ozark Howler? OK. Well, Maurice, is him.  The last of his tribe. He’s um, reformed, not dangerous, mostly, and he and the other party really want to do well with this shop. But they needed a counter guy who won’t make the customers ask weird questions.  You okay with that so far?”
            “Come on Joe!  Are you messing with me?  Very funny, man! Is this serious?” said Kresh, with a big grin.
            “Oh, yeah, I’m serious. Now, get ready for the second part. The other one is a cat named Sue. Yeah, yeah, she’s a cat, but she’s a smart cookie, Kresh.  This whole deal was her idea and her idea only.  She also speaks good English. Can you dig it?”
            “I’ll try. I won’t tell anybody. Who would believe it anyhow,” said Kresh.
            “The health department might believe it. Crazy as it is, and blockheaded as those guys might be. If they get a breath of it, it’s all over. No more double pay. You get it?”
            “I get it. All I have to do is sell scoops of ice cream made by an imaginary local legend and a cat, not tell anybody and just keep smiling at the people.”
            “You got it. You in?” asked Joe.
            “I’m in Joe, you bet,” said Kresh seriously.   
            “Good man,” said Joe.  
            And so, it has been written, and so it was. The days were fulfilled. The shop was prepared, the ice cream was created.
            Joe introduced Kreshnik to Maurice and Sue the evening before the opening. They all liked each other and actually got a huge giggle out of the big secret. In fact, Kresh loved Sue on sight. Maurice and Kresh sized each other up and decided it was good. Sue purred a lot and smiled to herself, because this was just what she had in mind back when she and Maurice and Joe were bumming their way across America and dreaming the big dream.
            The next day, a Monday, they sold every scrap of ice cream before 1:00 pm. They could see that this was going to be a big job! But they were all up for it, and Joe got a nice little cut too.