Morning Came And Morning Went

 

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            Morning came.  The band was sick and tired of their accommodations. They weren’t starving and had some cash left. But that bumpy roll all night took its toll on Howler and man. But it was their last box car ride, and they were happy for that.

Sue fared better, being so small, and liquid, as everyone knows about cats. She smiled and purred in Maurice’s arm as they followed Joe out into the Missouri morning.

***

            Speaking of cats, as it happened, Sleeky Sue was right about everything!  Joe’s song, Can You Hear Me, Mama, was a huge hit. Joe&Company were on their way, even though Joe&Company was only Joe as it turned out. Maurice and Sue could hardly perform with him, after all.

            It was all over the radio, wherever they catered to the C&W market. There were T-shirts and other merch. And Joe's success wasn’t a flash in the pan either. His other songs began to slowly catch on. He made TV appearances and played Country venues. Joe became a moderately rich man.

            While Joe was living the life and getting rich, Maurice and Sue kept house in his ritzy apartment in downtown Branson. It was an easy life, but not what they had come to Missouri for. They kept thinking and planning, wondering about the best location for a new ice cream shop. Maurice washed dishes and Suzy picked up strings and papers off the floor to help. Maurice was becoming a pretty fair cook. He even learned how to do laundry and get Joe’s things ready for his next trip. This went on for a good six months. Winter passed. Spring came.

            Sue was getting to be a grown up kitten. She personified her name well. Sleeky. Her tabby coat was of the finest. Her green eyes snapped with intelligence.

            Maurice grew a beard and started wearing jeans and T-shirts. Not all of them were Joe’s merch. In the evenings he and Sue practiced reading and writing. Well, Maurice could hold a pen, but Sue’s little paws just weren’t built for that. Sue was all about ideas and plans.

            One evening when Joe had come home for a few days, Sue decided that the time to speak up had come. Maurice cleared the table, and Sue crossed her paws and spoke.

            “Joe, do you remember back last year when we were bumming our way across the country?” said Sue. All three thought back to those chilly and bumpy rides and sneaking on and off those box cars, hoping not to get caught and tossed out. They remembered the deli chicken and being very glad to have it. They remembered Howard at the store where they first performed and their very first relatively decent money. They remembered when Maurice had declared himself to be Albanian, incredibly.

            “Of course I do, but it’s hard to believe now, everything has changed so much.” He had to grin. Joe was quite a style icon these days. In fact, he had a bit of a following in matters of fashion. He had some silver in his ponytail now and had taken to wearing sunglasses in the daytime.

            “Well, Joe, as the song says, ‘baby you’re a rich man…’.  Me and Maurice want to go ahead with the ice cream shop now.  Good time for you?”

            “Sue, I have not forgotten, and I think I know a good neighborhood for you. I’m all for it, and once again let’s do it!,” Joe announced.  “I see a lot of kids from the College of the Ozarks, and they seem like great kids who would just love some ice cream.  I mean. They are hungry. Always.

            “What shall we call it, guys? It might help to trade on my name,” said Joe.

            “Maurice and I were thinking ‘Howler’s Frozen Custard’,” said Sue. “It’s right for the location.  Everybody loves the Ozark Howler. Or, maybe they like to think they do. What if they knew they were buying ice cream from the real deal!”

            Maurice howled, getting a kick out of the idea. He still liked to sing along with Joe’s hits when he heard them on the radio.

            “That’s fair, “said Joe, “you guys will do fine on your own without my name hung on the business.” They sat up late into the night laughing and remembering.

            In the annals of happily ever after this was a good one. A defunct gift shop within three blocks of the college was leased. Joe paid for everything. There were renovations. A great sign was made by a local sign painter who needed the work and did a hilarious cartoon of Maurice along with the lettering. Licenses were obtained and inspections made. Equipment and supplies were bought and the whole enterprise proceeded as perfectly as a dream.

            They hired an Albanian student to man the counter. Maurice and Sue made ice cream from scratch, their own signature flavors. And, man, how the money rolled in!

            And, as in all good dreams, they did live happily ever after! This is the absolute truth.

La Fin and Adieu!