Read Online Fly the Rain by Robert Burton Robinson - Free Book Online

gave
in.”
    “ Too bad the Edsel ended up
being such a dud.”
    “ It wasn’t really a dud. It
just had some problems. Plus—the country was going into a
recession. It was a bad year for car sales across the board. But
the Edsel did have some great new features, like self-adjusting
brakes—which we still have on cars today,” he said
proudly.
    “ Wow, you’re just full of
all these car facts, Honey. I had no idea.”
    “ Go ahead—make fun. But I
used to love hearing Uncle Ed talk about this stuff.”
    “ Well, I can’t wait to meet
him.”
    **********
    E. Z. Bender was waiting in
the parking lot of Angie’s Country Fried
Two-Step restaurant when Sondra drove
up, and got out of her car. “This better not be a waste of
time.”
    “ Well, you said you wanted
to find some more regular gigs for us. And this place is pretty
cool, and it does a lot of business.”
    “ And they only have a band
for weekends, right?”
    “ That’s right.”
    “ Well, let’s give it a
shot.”
    They walked through the door
and looked around. Sondra was impressed that most of the tables
were occupied on a Saturday at 1:00—considering the lousy location.
It was not anywhere near a mall or a shopping center. And the
business across the street was an eyesore: Edsel Torkman’s Auto Shop . She
remembered Edsel. Weird guy.
    “ There’s the owner,” said E.
Z.
    Angie Silverstern was dressed just like the
other waitresses. She took an order and then hurried to the kitchen
window to turn it in.
    “ Angie?”
    She spun around. “Yes?”
    “ Hi. I’m Sondra, and this is
E. Z. We need to talk to you.”
    “ Well, I’m sorry, but you’ll
have to come back later. As you can see, we’re very busy right
now.”
    “ It won’t take long,” said
Sondra.
    Angie sensed the woman’s determination.
“Okay—but all I can give you is two minutes.”
    “ No problem,” said
Sondra.
    “ Follow me.” Angie led them
to her cramped little office. “What’s this about?”
    “ My band has been selected
as the official band of Billy-Eye’s
Arcade and Dance Barn .”
    “ Oh—somebody was telling me
about that this morning. The whole thing with the Tang.”
    “ Yeah, that’s
us.”
    “ Well,
congratulations.”
    “ Thanks. And now we’re gonna
do you a big favor. We’re gonna be your band twice a week, every
week—for only $500 a night.”
    “ What? I can’t afford
that.”
    “ Okay, I get it—you want to
negotiate. Fair enough. $400.”
    “ No. I don’t need another
band. I’ve got the Haystack
Fiddlers on weekends, and that’s all I
need.”
    Sondra got up in her face. “Just tell me
which nights you want us to play.”
    “ None.” She saw Sondra’s
right arm beginning to tremble, and braced herself for a punch in
the face.
    “ I don’t think you’re
understanding me,” said Sondra.
    “ Oh, she’s understanding you
alright.” Edsel was in the doorway, behind Sondra and E. Z. “Now
guh-guh-get out of here!”
    Same old weirdo, thought Sondra. She had
forgotten about the stutter. “Whatever you say, Edseloser.” She
sneered at him as she slowly turned, and then strode out.
    “ And I’d better not ever
suh-see you in here aguh-aguh.” He took a breath. “Again.” His
stuttering always kicked in at the worst times.
    E. Z. had not moved. She just stood there
staring—first at Edsel, then at Angie.
    What’s her problem, thought Edsel. He
started to yell at her, but caught himself. He was surprised by her
kind eyes.
    E. Z. suddenly turned rushed out of the
room.
    He turned to Angie. “You okay?”
    “ I’m fine, Edsel. Thanks.”
She walked over to him, and gave him a tight hug.
    “ Be careful. You’re gonna
get grease on your clothes.”
    “ I don’t care.”
    Angie never hugged him like this. It felt so
good. Maybe this was the perfect time to tell her his true
feelings.
    “ Angie?” One of the
waitresses called to her from just outside the doorway. “Sorry. But
it’s Mr. Philbert again. He said