St. George...4

St. George, Part 4

            The family gathered around the kitchen table. Mom utilized every bit of the hamburger graciously given to the family by Nicki’s boyfriend and included it in the evening’s meal. After the blessing on the food, dad addressed the family.

            “Looks like we’ve got a concert day after tomorrow in St. George. I hope everyone’s ready to go.” The children’s reactions expressed both excitement and despair.

            “Now, now, everyone,” dad said. “I checked the calendar and there were no conflicts. I’ve got the bus tuned up and ready to go. I want all of you packed and ready to go by 6 a.m…” The moans from the children stopped the family patriarch in mid-speech.

            “Hey, you know we’ve got to leave early. The Larsen’s are expecting us around noon tomorrow. We're going to need time to check out the venue and go through the program a time or tow. Speaking of which,” dad turned to Adam. “We need a song.”

            Nathan spoke up as Adam’s brain began thinking about a new song for the family. “What’s the gig, dad” Mom answered his question.

            “It’s for a charity, Don’t Blame the Children…It’s Not Their Fault. MarLinda told me all about it.

            “Is that the Panguitch Larsens?” a knowing Natalie asked.

            “The very ones!” the proud mother responded.

            “What’s that charity about?” Nicki asked.

            “A portion of the city park was damaged in a flash flood last month in St. George and the city is blaming the children who play around a creek upstream from the park for causing the damage.”

            “How is it the kid’s fault?” This time the question came from April.

            “Well,” mom began. “MarLinda says every summer the kids dam up the creek to make a swimming hole—you know how hot it can get in St. George in the Summer, so who can blame them? Anyway, during the big storms they had last month a flash flood destroyed part of the park and some yahoo on the city council said if the kids hadn’t built the dam, the damage wouldn’t have happened.”

            “Maybe it was the kid’s fault,” Nathan said.

            “MarLinda doesn’t think so, and she’s never lied to me, so I believe her,” mom said.

            The family continued eating when Nicki interrupted. “Mom, since we’re going to be out-of-town this weekend, can Brad borrow the car?” Everyone at the table yelled in unison, “NO!”

            Dad brought the conversation back to the weekend trip. “Like I was saying, Adam—do you think you can whip us up something special for the event?”

            “You can count on me!” Adam said enthusiastically.

            “Can you pass me the salad Aaron?” April asked. “Since I don’t eat meat, I need something to eat.”

            “It’s too bad, April. This burger is really lean…”