Flea Market Sausage

Bastian and Atreyu got to the flea market right on time that morning.  The shaved ice cart was already in place, so all they had to do was open it up and start serving the hot shoppers.  Atreyu's father had even put up a sunscreen canopy for them so they wouldn't be so hot they were told.  When they got to the spot for the machine, they learned that the tarp he had used was silver.  They thought that was cool, it would reflect the heat away from them.  They thought wrong.

They started the machine at 10 am and by noon; they were both soaking wet with perspiration.  Atreyu's mom brought them lunch at 1:30 and saw the tarp.  She was so angry with her husband that she forgot to hand the boys their lunches.  She stormed back to the sausage wagon and then had to come back with the food.

"Your father will come down and work the booth for a few minutes, Atreyu," she said.  "You come back with me now and sit in front of the fan in the wagon.  Bastian, I would take you first, but you're more familiar with the machine."

"That's ok," Bastian told her.  "You can go ahead and take him first.  He's been whining more."

"White boy speak with forked tongue," Atreyu defended himself.  "Just for that, I am going to go first, so there."

"Atreyu, if you go first now, I'll go first tonight," Bastian whispered.

"I'm waiting on you, mom, let's get going," Atreyu called as he practically ran out of the booth.

"What do you mean, you'll go first tonight?" Lindsay asked Bastian.  When his face flashed red and he looked intently at the ground between his shoes, she laughed.  "You little horndog."

"Did she call you a corndog?" a little boy asked as he walked up holding his money for a snow cone. 

"No," Bastian answered before he could stop himself.  "She's my boss, and she's bringing me a horn…  I mean corndog for lunch."

"I think you're fibbing, but I won't tell anybody," the boy whispered.  "Can I have a grape snow cone?  I wanted a peach, but I have to share with my little sister and she hates peach."

"Tell you what little dude," Bastian offered.  "You don't tell anybody that my boss called me a corndog, and I'll give you a peach snow cone for free."

"You will?" the excited child asked.  His face fell then as he asked, "But what about my sister?"

"Ok, I'll give you a grape for her, too," Bastian surrendered.  "Just don't tell anybody my secret, ok?"

"I promise mister, I won't tell nobody," the boy vowed, crossing his heart in emphasis.

"Here you go, little buddy, a peach for you, and a grape for your sister," Bastian told him a couple of minutes later.

"Thanks Mister Corndog," the boy beamed.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't tell anyone," Bastian pointed out.

"I didn't tell nobody," the boy assured him.

"You just told me."

"You don't count, silly," the little boy giggled as he ran over to a woman with a stroller.

A few minutes later Jack, Atreyu's father, walked up. "So you give away my product on your first day?  I don't know if I can keep you on or not," he growled seriously.

"What?" Bastian gasped.  "I didn't…. well, I did two, but you can take it out of my pay.  I'll explain everything," he began stammering nervously.

"Relax, Corndog," Jack grinned.  "We figured it all out.  The mom came to talk to us because she wanted to know what kind of kid I had working for me.  She said you gave her son two free snow cones if he would keep your secret.  The kid wouldn't tell her a thing.  We finally worked it out when Lindsay recognized the kid.  She didn't think the boy could hear her when she teased you.  She said to tell you she's very sorry."

"No problem, I don't think," Bastian said a little nervously as he glanced up at Jack's face.  When he saw the grin there, he slowly developed one of his own.  He suddenly felt something on his leg and looked down to see the little boy hugging him and crying.

"Hey, little buddy, what's the matter?" he asked as he knelt down to the boy's level.

"I'm sorry.  Mommy made me tell your secret to her.  I wasn't gonna, but she was getting mad, and that man there was getting mad, and I was scared and…."  His voice trailed off as more tears started to fall.

"Hey, it's ok, little dude, don't cry," Bastian soothed.  "That was my fault for not telling you that it's ok to tell your mom and dad.  You should never keep secrets from your parents.  For one thing, they'll figure it out anyway, but the other big reason is that they love you and you should never hide something from somebody that loves you."

"Unless it's a birthday present that you don't want to give them yet," the boy replied.

"Right," Bastian agreed.  "Only hide the good stuff so you can surprise them later."

"So I should tell Mommy about everything?" the boy asked for confirmation.

"Tell Mommy everything," Bastian told him firmly but with a smile.

"Ok, I'll go tell her right now," the boy grinned as he ran off.

"You are very good with the little ones," Jack observed.  "You're going to make a great father someday."

"Mr. Jackson, I don't want to keep secrets from you guys either," Bastian said as he started shifting his feet nervously.  "I don't think I will ever be a father.  I think I'm in love with your son.  I want to be with him forever."

"You think you love my son?" Jack tested.

"No sir, I know I do," the teen confessed.  "I know we just met yesterday, but I have never felt like this before."

"You're just sixteen, you could just be thinking with the wrong head," Jack said seriously.  "What makes you think you love my son?"

"Since the minute I saw him yesterday in your wagon, I have wanted to be with him."  Bastian blushed intensely as he quickly added, "I don't mean be with him that way, well I do want to…  I mean…."

"Calm down, Bastian," Jack told the boy soothingly.  "Close your eyes and take a deep breath.  Now with your eyes still closed, think of Atreyu.  Now tell me what you see."

"I see the light shining off his dark hair," Bastian began quietly.  "I see the strength in his shoulders and arms.  I see his tan chest swell with each breath.  I see his smile and I want to smile back at him.  I see his gorgeous blue eyes….  Wait a minute; I didn't know Indians could have blue eyes."

"You saw well, Bastian," Jack smiled softly.  "You saw those parts to which you are physically attracted, but you also saw those parts that make your mind wonder about him.  That is a good thing.  Oh, and to answer your question, yes a Native American can have blue eyes if their mother is not Native American, but of Nordic descent."

"Oh, I forgot about that," Bastian admitted.  "He looks so much like you otherwise, that the eyes are kind of a surprise."

"He is a lot like me, in many ways, but he is part of his mother as well," Jack mused aloud.  "Well, I think that wraps things up here.  We'll pull this cart down to the wagon and start getting ready to go now."

"Where are we going next?" Bastian asked interestedly.

"The county fairs start this week.  We will be setting up at as many of them as we can, and then at the State Fair at the end of the summer," Jack answered.  "Do you want to steer this, or would you rather push it?"

"I'll just push this time," Bastian told the man.  "I don't want to run over someone's booth."

"Trust me that could happen from either end" Jack laughed.  "Some of these idiots you'll want to run over by the end of the summer."

They got the snow cone cart safely up the aisle and parked in the space that had been set up for tables and chairs.  Those were already folded and placed beside the van.  For the next hour, Bastian and Atreyu cleaned up the area, put away the chairs, tables, and then helped hook up the cart to the car and the wagon to the van.

"Are you boys going to ride with me, or your dad?" Lindsay asked them.

"I thought that we were going to ride the scooter," Atreyu pointed out.

"Honey, it's a scooter, not a motorcycle," Lindsay told her son.  "We have a two hour ride on the Interstate to the fairgrounds."

"Oh," Atreyu was obviously disappointed.

"We'll be there for a week, right?" Bastian asked.  When Lindsay nodded, he continued.  "I'll give you a ride once we get there."

"I don't need details of your love life, boys," Lindsay teased.

"MOOOM!!!!" Atreyu gasped as both boys blushed.

"Get in the car, horndog," Lindsay laughed.  "You too, corndog."