Tanglefoot, Texas
1879
The Rusty Nail, packed to the rafters an hour earlier, now fell silent.
The bar's proprietor, U Parker, walked along the dusty floorboards and back towards his office.
He poured himself a shot of Hermitage, downed it, then retreated to the rear hallway.
As he vacated the bar area, however, he could have sworn he heard chatter.
"Hello?" he stammered, into the darkness.
"Who goes there? We closed 'bout an hour ago. Somebody still in here?"
There was no answer.
He figured he was hearing things.
The wind, perhaps.
But as he headed towards his office, a big bag of flower flew off the shelf and exploded against the wall.
U was startled to the point that he fell backwards onto the floor, banging his head.
He was engulfed by a huge, white cloud of smoke, the effect of the exploding flower bag.
Through the cloud, he could make out an apparition, which darted down the hallway and around the corner towards his office.
U, brave man that he was, was scared straight. He got up off the floor, dusted off his pants, and ran like heck out of the Rusty Nail, not even remembering to lock the door behind him.
*************
Temple, Texas
June, 1982
"Hello, I'm Deborah Krendall, owner of Krendy Krafts. On behalf of our family here at Krendy, I want to welcome you. You've made a great choice in deciding to work - and play - here at Krendy Krafts. We like to think that this is NOT your ordinary arts and crafts store. Come with me on a wonderful journey throughout our store..."
The voice on the T.V. screen was none other than Deb Krendall's, as inviting as ever. Dressed in a knee-length beige skirt and cherry red sweater, the busty, former teacher turned entrepreneur was a bundle of energy.
Dick enjoyed the orientation videos, but this being his third one in a row, he did start to get a bit drowsy.
He sat on a fold-up chair in the stockroom, trying to keep his eyes open while staring at the 12-inch color T.V. He was tempted to fast forward the vid, but he knew otherwise.
He came in at seven that morning for orientation, and Krendy was there to meet him, wide-eyed and full of life.
He did admire her spirit.
Krendy was about to open the store. It was getting close to nine, so Dick knew Doris and Dolores would be making their way in soon as well.
As if on cue...
"Hey, Dick," Dolores said with a hint of sympathy in her voice, as she made her way into the back room, a small carrier tray of coffee in hand.
"You still awake?" she asked with a smile.
He could barely nod. Getting up at 6 a.m. during summer vacation was quite a shock to the system.
"Dick, I brought us all coffee so...," she said, trailing off as she placed the tray down on the metal table.
Dick got up from his chair, accidentally knocking it over.
"Watch it there, buddy," Dolores teased him.
Dick sipped his hot drink from Mugs Coffee. He glanced casually at Dolores, who was busy putting on her Krendy Krafts apron. She then tied her soft, brown hair up in a cute ponytail, signifying she was ready for work.
A ray of sunlight shining through the window reflected off her glasses.
Doris soon whooshed in, punching in at 8:58.
"Cuttin' it close there, Doris," her best friend kidded her.
"Oh, my God, I am so out of breath," Doris managed in between gasps. "I had to park...did you see how Texas Totes took all our parking spaces?"
Dolores managed a nod but wasn't too interested or concerned.
"What the fuck? Like, I had to park, okay, like, all the way in the back of Mugs?!" Doris said, disgusted.
Krendy walked elegantly into the back room.
"What's all the commotion?" she asked, like a mother hen wanting to make things right.
"Why are all those cars there?" Doris belted out.
Krendy peered out the window, seeing a full parking lot. One of the cars was a brand-new, 1982 Cadillac Coupe Deville, and Krendy surely knew who that belonged to.
"The nerve," she muttered to herself.
"Why do you think? Texas Totes, across the street. Nancy Calhoun told her staff they could park there," Deb said, as equally disgusted as Doris but not wanting to let the situation get to her. "I spoke to Nancy the other day about it. She waved me off, saying it was because they had construction workers in her lot. Poor baby is having another addition built on her store. So she and her workers have to take our spaces."
Doris just shook her head. She put her apron on, took a few sips of coffee and began to calm down.
"Dick! How are we doing?" Krendy asked excitedly. "Did you make it through the videos?"
"Yeah," Dick said, trying to sound eager. "Just about done the last one..."
Krendy smiled, and went over and hit 'Stop' on the VCR remote control.
"Well, you can finish that later. As for now, I want to give you the tour. So, after you, good sir..."
*************
The tour was thorough and, to Dick's surprise, invigorating. Krendy sure could bring the store to life.
"And, one last thing, hon. Your name tag," Krendy said.
She loved going through the hiring process. She loved every part of the ritual. Dick felt as though he was being knighted by a queen.
"Did you want Richard or Dick?" Krendy asked him easily. "I know you said you sign Richard on all of your college materials."
Doris and Dolores found it difficult to stifle their chuckles.
"What?" Krendy asked. "He idolizes Richard Rogers, the famous architect. I think Richard Parker has a nice ring to it, in architectural circles."
"No, that's (laugh)...that's not why we're laughing," Doris said.
"Well, Dick is short for Richard so I don't know why that would create such amusement," Krendy persisted.
Doris and Dolores only laughed harder.
"What on Earth is so funny???" Krendy asked, looking at Dick for any insight he could offer.
Krendy was oblivious.
"Let's just say, 'Dick' is pretty apropos, after yesterday's unfurling," Dolores teased.
Deb simply smiled.
"Oh," she said with a laugh, finally getting the joke.
She looked at Richard with a beaming smile.
"His God-given endowment," Krendy spelled out. "I see."