Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Pink Lady Apple Yeggs and my friend, and brother-in-law, Deviled Yeggs suggested that I record each project that I set up in the hopes of reforming the people who continue to work for Lily the Pink Enterprises.  If for no other reason, it would show how God is at work.

The Forlorn Four had an appointment.  The Forlorn Four were introduced in early April.  This is a LINK HERE to their introduction.

But I had no one in the office when Todd Kingsley and Patty McCormick walked into the room fifteen minutes early.

I laughed, “You are definitely early.”

Todd sighed, “My parents taught me that if you don’t show up fifteen minutes early, you are late.  The rest will be on time, but lately Anna has been dragging in a few minutes late.”

I offered them their choice of seats.  Since this was not a hostile therapy session, I thought they could pair off as four couples.

Patty asked, “Why have you called all eight of us here, Mommie Pinkie?”

I smiled, “I know you attend Stinker’s Sunday school class, and you hang out in the Turtle Bay, but I was wondering how the Forlorn Four is doing?  You four personally and the draft of the comic strip.  Then maybe we can do some true confession time after the others show up.”

Patty said, “Well, we thought about having me as the only main character for the first week.  The editor said since this was a story about four, we needed to get to the four quickly or we would lose readers.  So, I am the soul person in the first two strips, and both on the first day.  The first frame is a closeup of me, very ugly teeth and glasses that grandma wouldn’t wear.  I talk about how it’s so degrading being the last one picked.  Then the middle frame shows me on the bench while everyone else is shooting basketball, Marika being one of them, but Anna and Susana aren’t there yet.  You see the back of me, and I am saying something like ‘unless I never get picked.’  Then the last frame is an empty bench with a bubble over it saying, “It’s as if they do not even see me.”

I smiled, “I like it, Patty.  It does not scream ‘invisible.’ It gives them a hint.”

Patty nodded, “Then the next strip that first day, I am complaining about being bullied and how no one likes me. But just a bubble on the bench with everyone else playing.  Then the middle frame I say that if I scream, no one would see me, just a bubble over the bench.  I scream, and a couple of girls are talking.  One asks where the scream came from, and the other says that somebody probably stepped into a cold shower.  But Marika looks off the screen with a question mark over her head.”

I asked, “Are you going with your own names?”

Marika walked in and said, “No, I’m Marty.  It could be a boy or girl’s name.”  Marika was almost unrecognizable.  She was not bald.

I gasped, “Do I know you?  Are we going to have to call security?  The guy you are with is Luke, but Marika is bald, okay, shaved.”

Marika rocked her head back and forth.  “Do you like it?  I wanted a long wavy wig.  Luke bought it from the money he makes on the Turtle grease monkey crew.  I wanted to have a little…” She quickly turned her head away and then quickly turned back to me. “Vavoom!”  Then she laughed heartily.

Patty said, “I’m Paula in the strip.  Anna is Amy, and Susanna is Sofia.  So, we hint that Marty reacted differently to the other girls.  No one saw me, but maybe Marty did.  They are running two strips per day until they establish the four main characters.  The boys can filter in one at a time, but they want the girls to establish themselves in just a few frames.  The Thursday paper then has strip three and four.  We have all these roughly approved.  But Amy is sitting next to me on the bench at the start of the third strip.  She asks if anyone is sitting there. The next frame, I say something about two questions, can you see me?  And why aren’t you playing?  The last frame says, no one wants the cyber bullied fatso.  No, I do not like girls.  It’s like no one sees me.  I kind of like it that way.  No bullying.”

Marty said, “Then the fourth strip has me blocking a shot.  Paula (Patty) swats the ball back into play.  The last frame has me laughing and looking toward the bench.  The prissy girls asked how that happened, and I say it was spin on the ball.”

Susana came in with Trey, “Have you told Mommie Pinkie about the full color Sunday strip?  We rehash a few of the old frames, in case people only get the Sunday paper.  And it’s where I come up and join them on the bench.  We all talk about not being seen.  When you see us, we have halos around us, but from the court, you see an empty bench with bubbles where we are talking.  And in the last frame, Marty over there comes up and asks what we are doing sitting out PE class?  We ask if she can see us?  Marty says, sure but it’s like I see a glow around each of you.”

Patty said, “The next week, we still have two strips per day.  We establish that everyone thinks Marty is a boy taking girl’s PE.  And we all talk about our cyber bullying.  We reveal what people are saying about us.  We establish that Sofia was held back due to poor English skills, but the PE class is made up of juniors and seniors.  So, for two weeks, we see them playing basketball on the court and Marty is visible, but then, Marty gives Paula a hug and she gets a halo, and the other girls ask where she went. Then when their back is turned, Marty lets go of the hug, becomes visible, and says she had gone to the bathroom.”

Susana says, “In case someone complains that the invisible man wore clothing that you could see, why are these girls physically clothed, but invisible?  We reveal through experimentation that we are invisible any time no one wants us and everything that touches our skin is invisible.  We are going to play with that for a few months. And occasionally, Paula, Amy, and Sofia make the ball change course so that Marty’s team always wins, in basketball and then in volleyball.”

I asked, “You are promoting cheating?”

Marika says, “In PE class, they really don’t worry much about the score.  In the varsity games, we have discussions about morality.  We can’t put our school in the championship due to the three inviso girls tapping the ball to be in or out.  They try it, but since I can see them, I get upset with them.”

I asked, “Marika, why are you seen, but you see them?”

Marika smiled, “I am like them due to the cyber bullying. I am seen because they want the tall girl on their team, and I am athletic.  But when I am not needed in the game, it is obvious that I am only wanted for my abilities.  I am yet another nobody when the game is not being played.  At first, Paula touched me with her skin, but when it was softball, I wasn’t picked for the team.  I disappear and join the others on the bench.”

I smiled, “That sounds great, but how does this become a visual essay against bullying, cyber bullying, etc.?”

Anna walked in with Bubba, about five minutes late.  “I wrote an essay that will come out in the Sunday paper, the Sunday before the comic strip starts.  Our biggest problem is that we don’t know how much time it will take to get a strip drawn with dialogue and approved by the editor.  And that amount of time has to match our free time at school.  The first strip comes out early in January.  We want to clock our timing on each additional strip”

I smiled, “Thank you for joining us, but it would be better if you were on time.”

Anna and Bubba sat in the only chairs left.  She was wearing a beautiful dirndl.  She had lost a lot of weight, but the bosom area of the dirndl was filled out nicely.  She had her hair in braids and tucked into a bun.  She looked like a German girl in a postcard.

But I wondered why she was late coming in when the girls had all come from Pawnee Heights in the same pink car.

I said, “I am curious.  This entire partnership depends on the four of you remaining friends.  What if one of you gets on the other person’s nerves.  Patty arrived early.  Marika was here a little early, Susana on time and Anna late.  You cannot collaborate until you are all at the same place.  So three have to wait for Anna.”

Patty said, “We don’t wait.  We get started and she has to catch up.”

I asked, “But isn’t that irritating?”

Anna said, “It’s only been recent that I have been late, and I’m not a lot late.”

I asked, “What changed recently?”

Susana replied, “I do not wish to be rude, but she and her boyfriend are getting the physical.”

I smiled, “Susana, I think you mean getting physical, but then again, the way Bubba is obsessed with body shape, maybe it is like getting a doctor to give you the physical examination.”

Bubba said, “Mommie Pinkie, I can explain.”

I nodded, “I hope so.  This idea of she not being your girlfriend unless she subjects to a harsh physical regime and dietary restrictions….  Well, it does not sound much like love.”

Bubba said, “I have three sisters at home.  Two of them are Type 1 diabetics.  Mom was a meat and potatoes kind of cook.  My two sisters had a hard time maintaining their blood sugar.  I read the books, and I started cooking meals that were good for the condition.  Then, we started exercising together.  That’s how I got into bodybuilding.  It was out of love that I found this healthy lifestyle.  It was out of love that I want to see Anna be in the best health.  I did not want a girlfriend that did not care about that.  My Dad died from complications with diabetes.  I know what not caring about food and exercise can do.”

I nodded, “But you can take that too far.”

Anna nodded, “Yes, Mommie Pinkie, we are adjusting everything now that I am in the right range.  I would love to try water polo here, at lease swim laps.  I want to be Marika’s partner in beach volleyball when the next season begins.  She says that you won’t let her team with Zuzka.”

I laughed, “Yes.  I would put my foot down with having two athletic people whose combined height is a fraction of an inch short of thirteen feet.  And look at Marika’s arm span.  Have you thought of writing her stretching arms into the comic strip?”

Patty laughed, “We help her win a volleyball game by hitting the ball when she could not stretch far enough.  Obviously, the ball was hit, and it must have been that her arms stretched to reach it.  But we already talked about not doing that in varsity games.  Marika has found another niche in our team.  She develops the lines that we step over and then she corrects our behavior.  And the editor wanted the word to be aura instead of halo.”

I smiled, “I was wondering about that.”

Marika said, “The artists over the centuries depict spiritual beings with halos, like Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, and angels.  Some put halos on Joseph and Mary, but I think that is taking it too far.  So, the editor is prepared when someone complains about the word halo that we all have a spiritual side.  While the inviso girls have a physical body that is invisible, their spiritual side in an earthly setting has a halo.  This is in accordance with artist convention for centuries.”

Susana giggled, “Now, you see why Marika is our spokesperson.  She insists that our Christianity is not hidden while our bodies in the comic strips might be invisible.”

Sparkle ran over, “Mommy!  Am I inbizible?”

I smiled, “No, Sparkle, you are not invisible.  I see you.  But this is a private meeting.  I cannot have you running over and getting into the conversation.”

Sparkle asked, “I just wanted to know where Joon is at.”

I smiled, “Where Joon is.  You don’t need the ‘at.’  And Joon left very early with Daddy to help in the bakery.  At least I hope he was helping.”

At that moment, the door opened and Joon, with a baker’s hat on his head, rolled a cart into the room.

Joon said, “Donuts for everybody.”

Kanok and the other children ran over and got a donut.  Bubba even nodded that Anna could have one.

Joon picked up a jelly donut and said, “Now, jelly for my belly!”

Scrambled Yeggs, my husband, leaned against the doorframe and laughed, “Expect the jelly donuts to be messy.  Joon added more jelly and more cream than we usually put in the donuts.  I put a lot of napkins on the cart.  And other than over-stuffing the donuts, Joon is a natural baker.  I did not think I would keep his attention for this long.  And even Mabel laughed and enjoyed having him in the kitchen.  Mabel is very particular about HER kitchen.  I may be the owner, but we all know who is in charge.  If I pressed the issue that I am the boss, I think she’d move back to her old house in the city center.  It had always been her kitchen there, and once you work with her for an hour or two, you realize that she is a force to be reckoned with.”

I went over and gave my Scrammie a hug and a kiss.  “Do you have any advice for the Forlorn Four and friends?”

Scrambled said, “Eat what you like, if it is on your diet.  Life is too short to go through life not liking what you eat.  This batch is free but be sure to have your wallet handy when you come to the bakery.”

They would have said thank you, but it is not polite to eat with your mouth full.  They waved, nodded, and hummed their approval.  Joon was officially a baker.

I got some wipes from my desk.  Napkins were not going to be enough for the explosive donuts.  Whether cream or jelly, one bite and the insides found a place to squirt out.

It took a while before the children went back to the play area and my guests had taken their last bites and wiped their faces clean.

Marika said, “Mommie Pinkie, can I correct you on something.  We are professionally not the Forlorn Four.  I sign for everyone on the team, but our name is Pam S.  We have not decided what the ‘S’ stands for.”

Susana said, “The ‘S’ stands for me!”

Patty laughed, “Our professional name is PAM S.  It’s our initials. Patty. Anna, Marika, and Susana.  But I am sure that people will write to the editor about what the artist’s last name is.  We have thought of Schultz, since we all like Peanuts.  But we have thought of mashing Stan Lee together to get Stanley.  Since we live in Tracy, we thought of Steele, since Junior Tracy’s biological parents were Hank and Mary Steele.”

I laughed, “I suppose Diet Smith is out of the question since they are the rival school in town.  But why not leave it the letter “S”.  Some people are given initials on their birth certificate.  Why not leave it a mystery?”

Patty smiled and nodded, “Yes, that is what we told the editor to say.  And it cuts down on harassment.  If we get fan mail, it will go to the newsroom.”

I said, “I have another question.  How is each of your love lives going?  The Beatles fell apart supposedly by the interference of one wife.  And you are thinking of introducing the boyfriend characters into the comic strip.  That could get messy if the eight of you cannot get along with each other.”

Patty said, “We get along fine.”

Luke said, “Trey has come up with some great ideas about a vehicle of the future.  We are talking about working together on that, setting ourselves up as a think tank that could pitch ideas to the various car manufacturers, maybe start a manufacturing arm to make high efficiency parts.  The work that we’ve done on the Turtle could be resized for cars and trucks.  If that works out, we don’t have to leave Tracy.  We might talk Todd into joining us.  I think he wants to bid on being a grease monkey.  Our time as grease monkeys is over in January.  We are already bidding on being design team members.  That isn’t as much time at Lily the Pink, but it gives us an excuse to be over more often.”

Bubba said, “If we don’t take the pink bus, we will drive over to Lily the Pink to meet the ladies anyway.  We don’t all have cars.  And Trey can’t take all of us on dates.  That would get weird.”

I smiled, “Thanks for that update.  I did not know there were grease monkeys until you came along.  I was wondering how they spread that opportunity around.  But my question is for each couple individually, not the eight of you in general.”

I noticed that Bubba and Anna turned red.

But it was Todd who spoke first.  “As you know, Patty and I were in a physical relationship when the other ladies met their boyfriends.  We were at it like rabbits after the other ladies went to their houses.  Patty’s mom even visited us there instead of us going to her house.  But I mentioned this was our apartment one day, and Patty said that it wasn’t.  We did not have a marriage license to say that.  So, we thought of going to the courthouse or something, but we had seen the Crystal Mountain, and we loved the idea of having a wedding here.”

Patty interrupted, “And if my friends made progress on their relationships, it might be disappointing to not take that leap together.  We are a team.  And like you said, one wife broke up the Beatles, allegedly.  So, we didn’t want to be enjoying wedded bliss without my teammates.  I won’t say we don’t get a little physical at times, but I moved back to Mom’s house.  Frankly, I never really moved, I just took a change of clothes, and after a few days, I was doing laundry at MawMaw’s house.  But I will admit, we talk about our future together.  And Mom visits MawMaw and Todd about as much as MawMaw comes over to check on us.  MawMaw is kind of the grandmother to all us kids on the block.”

Marika said, “And Luke and I have known each other since we were toddlers.  It has mostly been catching up.  We quickly rekindled our old love for each other.  As the old song goes, we are no longer friends; we are romantically linked.”

Luke simply nodded.

Susana spoke up, “Trey says that he is not ready to say that I am his official girlfriend, but what he says makes little sense.  When I have free time, I am usually side-by-side with him under his car or the Turtle.  He tells me what he is doing, and I hand him the tool that he needs.”

Trey said, “I guess my hang up is my hang up.  Susana and I seem to be a perfect match.  It doesn’t matter that I am an engineer and she is an artist.  We have a connection in a lot of our likes and dislikes.  My hang up is that I have always wanted to have a long drive with the girl of my dreams, and Susana is always busy drawing.”

I winked, “Since school is starting soon, I have an idea.  But I want to hear from Anna and Bubba.”

Marika snickered, “She is wearing the dress of shame.”

Anna huffed, “That was unkind.  We stopped before we got too far.”

I smiled, “As I feared, there is tension in the room.  Now, I have one more piece of the puzzle.  You are wearing a dress of shame, but I think it is lovely.  I sense a story, and maybe it is not a good story.”

Bubba said, “Okay, I bought the dress for her soon after we met.  If she could get into the dress, she met the milestones that I thought were best for her.  When she met the milestones, I told her that I had a gift for her.  We went to MawMaw’s house and she let us into Todd’s apartment when he wasn’t expected back for a while.  She went into the bathroom and put on the dress after she had unwrapped the present.  She was so lovely, Mommie Pinkie.  We hugged and kissed and our animal instincts kicked in.  All our clothing was off, and we were in bed together when MawMaw came into the room with lemonade.  She smiled and said we looked like a nice couple.  She set down the lemonade and excused herself, but by then we were so ashamed of ourselves for being weak.  We put our clothing back on.  We never got to the part where we might be making a baby.  Honest.”

I nodded, “I have said this often, but I am not the morality police.  If you are troubled with shame, then repent and turn that over to God.”

Anna said, “But we like the kissing and hugging.  I get carried away and get to meetings late.  I apologize to everyone.  My body is weak.  I want Bubba and Bubba wants me.”

I smiled, “Might I suggest that you purposefully sit across from each other and talk about your likes and dislikes.  Try to avoid that physical activity for a while so that you can get to know more than just the physical activity.  But I am a poor example.  I slept with the man who eventually became my husband before we actually dated.  Our dating life was trying out every bed in the house except for Gwen’s bed.  And it is a big house.  I capitalized those words when this house became my prison (the Big House).  If you cannot keep your hands off each other for too long a time, then you need to get married.  Paul speaks about the blood boiling, and that leading to sexual sin.  But I am worried that you might not know each other’s favorite type of ice cream.”

Anna said, “Bubba knows that my favorite ice cream is spaghetti eis.  Vanilla ice cream made to look like noodles. Strawberry topping for the sauce.  And sprinkles of white chocolate instead of the cheese.  Since he has not perfected the press to make the special sundae, he slices the ice cream so that I can get the flavor right.  His favorite is Raspberry Swirl with chocolate chips.”

I laughed, “Okay, I stand corrected on that one, but I think you know what I mean.  You quit talking and you get physical.  You may find out that you have some bad habit that the other one cannot live with.”

Anna looked at the floor and nodded.

I sighed, “Okay, back to Trey not thinking he has had a long drive with Susana.  I will call my employees down on the farm.  If they cannot borrow a drafting board from the construction crew that is building the lodge, I will authorize them to buy one.  Here are the directions to the Rowe-Casey Farm.  If you know how to play golf, they have clubs.  Three holes are all that is open.  Only once each day.  Then, there are the freshly inspected ziplines.  I think only eight people have used them, but they have been cleared for use.  Inner tubes, kayaks, canoes on ponds or river.  Walking trails. I will instruct one of the ladies down there to supervise at the farmhouse.  There are bedrooms for maybe the ladies, and then the guys can sleep in the attic, the living room, or in a hammock outside.  I think Easy won’t mind doing his own repairs to the Turtle for a week.  And Trey, you and Susana can take your car.  Bubba and Luke can take the Party 6.  Six-seater SUV with a fridge.  Non-alcoholic, none of you are of age yet.”

Todd asked, “I might be prying, but who are the eight people who have used the zipline?”

I replied, “The required inspection was a week or two ago.  We sent Blaise Yeggs and Kevin Johnson down there.  Margie went along and Joseline Johnson went down with Misty.  Our employees that you will meet down there are Sierra and Dakota.  Sierra’s boyfriend is Virgil.  Dakota’s boyfriend is Jeff.  That makes eight people who christened the ziplines after the inspection paperwork was signed, and we have had no other visitors since then.  And Misty is not old enough by a long shot.”

And off to their homes they went to pack their bags.  They had a lot of mines in their minefield.  Four ladies who have not experienced the good things of life, only the bullying of others that drove them to become friends.  Four young men that hardly know themselves, much less the ladies that they are dating.  And they combine to become Pam S., author and artist of the comic strip, The Forlorn Four.

I think they need all the prayers that I can offer.

Credits

This is The End of A Beautiful Friendship, sung by Carmen McRea with Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet.  It was the song to which Marika alluded.

Spaghetti Eis is as described.  The internet says that it was invented in Mannheim, Germany, but I had that type of sundae in Karlsruhe, Germany, about a block or two from the Schloss (Kaiser Karl Wilhelm’s palace) down the street from the Burger King that opened the last year I was stationed there.  Sure, it’s just vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce and chopped strawberries and then grated white chocolate on top.  But in a dimly lit ice cream parlor, it looks like a plate of spaghetti.

When I returned home, I used various things to act as the press to extrude the ice cream into spaghetti shaped noodles, but it must be a careful balance between the strength of the extruder and the softness of the ice cream.  I could not get the ice cream to not soften enough to lose its shape by the time you finish, but then again, maybe that was the reason for the dimly lit ice cream parlor and I never noticed.