I took a road trip over the long weekend to visit my old roommate from college. I got off the highway, and was sitting at a stoplight along a big old high school, when I saw two boys sitting behind a folding table at the curb, in front of an old and vacant parking lot. At first I thought that they were having a car-wash or something, but then I noticed the boxes stacked on the table.
About the same time that I saw the boxes, one of the two high school boys saw me looking at him. He held up a box and yelled, “Hey! You want a Krispy Kream?”
Krispy Kream! I had not heard the name of that delectable doughnut in years! I had forgotten about them entirely. (A Krispy Kream franchise has yet to make it to my neighborhood.) But seeing that box suspended in the air launched me into an instant moment of total recall so vivid, so intense, that I failed to notice that the light had turned green. It was only until the driver behind me honked angrily that I snapped out of it.
The last time that I had the sweet taste of Krispy Kream in my mouth, I was still in college, still dating my ex-boyfriend. I was also in a car then; his this time; and we were on our way to a movie; one that I didn’t particularly care to see. We passed a Krispy Kream store and my boyfriend quipped, “Man, I love those more than sex!”
“Is that so?” I asked, never having had one – and slightly more than perturbed by the inference.
When he nodded, all wide eyed and innocent, I said, “I don’t believe you.”
“Well,” he said, “It’s true.”
“A doughnut is better than sex?” I asked again, giving him one last chance to back away from this ridiculous stance.
“Well, better than sex with you anyway.” He said.
I couldn’t believe he said it. “You’re an ass.” I said.
“Sorry.” He said laughing. “You just don’t compete.”
It was a stupid thing to say. He was always putting me down like that.
I was always too tall, to skinny, not pretty enough. I knew that he thought he was being funny. But he was really just being a pig-headed jerk. Like always.
So I sat silently and simmered for a while.
He noticed after a while.
“Have you ever had one?” He asked, trying to give me a baleful stare and drive safely at the same time, and failing at both tasks. It was a very weak attempt at getting off the sex topic.
“No. I haven’t.” I said honesty. Then an idea occurred to me. “Let’s go get one.”
“What about the movie.” He asked, already getting upset at the idea of missing his ‘war-flick’.
“Hey, Mister ‘I-love-them-more-then-sex’ if they are as good as you say, you would think that you would want one more than seeing a dumb movie. Or are you backing away from your product endorsement?”
“OK, you’ll see.” He said surrendering, and pulling a quick ‘U’ turn.
While he was in the store ordering, I excused myself to go the ladies room. We got back into the car and he wanted me to open the box. “Not yet,” I said. “Let’s have them at the park.”
We drove to a small wooded area just off campus and he parked at the far end of the lot.
Even before he had the ignition turned off I was sitting on his lap, facing him. “What’s up?” He asked. “I thought we were here to have some doughnuts.”
