Tin Universe Monthly #7

by Brian C. Williams

looks and comments set Karen to twisting the radio volume all the way up to make sure her sister did not have anything else to say.

  Jeff leaned in to Gail to say something into her ear, ‘Everyone knows these things aren’t your fault.’ She gives him a smile back.

  Then he gives her a cheesy Thumbs Up which widens her smile.

  Karen pulls her car into K.S.C. property and they find a huge parking area almost empty with vehicles. Once she picks a place near the front gates they all exit the car to get some fresh air and stretch the car ride out of their sore backs.

  The hot Florida heat of the early day was making them ask why they didn’t just hide out at Jeff’s for the day and read comics, were it would have been cool and the snacks would have only cost Jeff.

  But that line of thinking happens a lot when you are in Florida and venture outside. It has always been a hot place with pretty terrible humidity but ever since The Impact a while back it has gotten a lot hotter.

  The Impact took place during the first Tin Universe story which will be rereleased in December; which will be reedited and repriced at a discount of Free.

  ‘We already missed the early morning tour buses because Gail was wasting time at the house.’ Karen

  ‘Sue me for making sure my folder was empty at the comic shop. It’s the duty of every shopper at their local comic book store to keep their pull folder clean as quickly as possible.’ Gail

  As she often does Karen ignores what her sister had to say, ‘So we will have a few minutes of looking around the gift store before we can catch the next bus.’

  With that Karen walks away leaving Fox and Jeff to give Gail sorry she’s being a bitch to you looks.

  ‘Don’t you love how she can talk, ignore, and be focused on task all at the same time.’ Jeff

  ‘Damn sexy if you ask me.’ Fox

  Thinking they had the place for the most part to themselves they found out how wrong they were when with a glance back they caught the sight of several buses full of people who were hot on their heels to enter the gates.

  Our group made quickly for the Free Day gate line and charged in through to keep from getting crushed by the overflow of church groups, a library youth book club trip, and one large family from Eastern Kentucky.

  Gail insisted they stop for a moment for pictures under the big N.A.S.A. sign right after the entrance gates where Jeff had a plan also. He had decided now was the best time for him to whip out his old tired, that Gail and Karen have already heard, N.A.S.A. jokes for Fox.

  ‘Do you know they renamed N.A.S.A. after the Challenger explosion?’

  ‘What did they rename it to?’ Fox

  ‘Need Another Seven Astronauts.’

  Gail and Karen walked away to get some distance from the shame.

  ‘Oh, and do you know how they found out all of the crew members had dandruff?’

  ‘How?’ Fox

  ‘They found their head and shoulders all over the place.’

  Fox patted him on the shoulder, ‘Good boy. Keep trying to be edgy.’ And she walked off to follow the sisters Busiek leaving Jeff to respond, ‘Hey, I am edgy. Did I ever tell you…’ He stopped talking when he realized the only person who was still listening to him was an old lady wearing a Justin Bieber t-shirt who was looking at him with Betty Davis eyes.

  Lusty Betty Davis eyes.

  Jeff jogged off to catch up with the others where he ended up walking beside Fox, ‘Here’s a secret. If you ever go to any sort of amusement park with the Busiek sisters there is no stopping it, no use trying, the first place they will end up at is the nearest food cart that sales churros.’

  Fox raises a finger, ‘Ah, the Spanish doughnut.’

  ‘Gail once said something about fried dough pastry and some Ming Dynasty bullshit but I can’t remember what it was about?’ Jeff

  ‘You know you don’t do the dumb act any better than you do the edgy thing.’

  Jeff was silent for a moment, then with a lot of awkward in his voice, ‘Damn its hot today.’

  Both of them fake wiped their foreheads of sweet and laughed. It was sort of a embracing the self-conscious moment for them. And neither of them is use to this sort of situation.

  Gail and Karen split from how they were walking beside each other and headed towards two different food carts in search of their amusement park craving.

  Fox gave Jeff a look of questioning at seeing them do this.

  ‘When they get churros they never buy them at the same place because they don’t want to act like they have anything in common. Well, Karen doesn’t want people to think she has anything in common with Gail’

  Fox split from Jeff to join Karen while he joined the line Gail was in.

  Fox walked up took Karen’s hand and batted her eyelashes at her with comic flair, ‘So what’s the plan after snacks sexy lady?’

  Karen was so focused on making the day come out how she wanted didn’t even noticed the comedy styling of one of her favorite people, ‘The bus tour to the outdoor engine exhibit, it’s pretty cool. Have you ever seen it?’

  ‘Nope, my family was never much for family outings. Remember I went more places with your family than my own.’

  ‘And now you have to suffer along with me having to take my sister wherever we go. I wish my parents didn’t force me to drag her ass along.’

  Fox took in a deep breath, ‘Karen…’

  ‘Don’t even say it. I’m not going to stop being a bitch to her.’

  ‘Why? Gail’s a cool kid.’

  Karen paid for her food, Fox didn’t get anything, and they sat down together at a picnic table. Karen looked over seeing Jeff and Gail in a longer line talking and laughing. She knew it was probably something comic book or Doctor Who related.

  Karen took a rather large bite from her churro and slowly chewed trying to gather her thoughts, ‘Me and Gail have never had much in common. Before her coma she was a cheerleader who couldn’t carry a conversation about anything outside a TV show or comic book.’

  ‘Well, what kind of conversations were you expecting from someone her age?’

  ‘Now she’s all big brain and constantly trying to make people look bad.’

  ‘I don’t think she does that.’

  ‘I’m not expressing myself well.’

  ‘It can’t just be your differences. She’s your sister. No one gets along with siblings but sometimes it seems like you really hate her.’

  Karen pulls out her vintage 1950’s sunglasses that Jeff found for her on eBay and starts playing with them in one hand like some people do a pencil, ‘I don’t hate my sister.’

  Fox opens her eyes wide and gives out a little shy, ‘It sure seems that way.’

  ‘The hard pure feelings I have is that I hate that she didn’t die that day in the park.’

  Have you ever heard the saying “Jaw dropped”? Fox’s eyeballs almost dropped out of their sockets with her jaw.

  Karen started to take another bite of her churro but Fox quickly grabbed it from her, ‘What do you mean?’

  Karen tried to take her churro back but Fox held it back with an explain further look on her face.

  ‘I don’t really wish she had died or that she will die.

  Fox gives her friend a confused look.

  ‘I just hate the fact that her life seems to be spinning out of control. Things have really gotten strange and I’d almost rather she had died because I don’t know if I can protect her. I’m scared of all of this weird shit that’s been happening. I hate that if she will end up in pain or hurting I’d much rather she had died. I don’t see anything good coming in her future.’

  ‘And your hostile because?’

  Karen puts on her vintage sunglasses, ‘Because despite the fact that we hardly have anything in common I want to control the chaos for her and I can’t.’

  ‘You do know this is sort of really fucked up? Oh, and rather hard to understand.’

  ‘My friend don’t we do fucked up like no others.’

&nb
sp; ‘True.’

  ‘And hard to understand is the circles that cloud Gail’s life.’

  ‘Also true. And rather quotable.’

  ‘Can I have my churro back?’

  Fox takes a bite and then she hands it back.

  They both smile as this was another connecting point in rebuilding their friendship.

  Gail and Jeff sat down at the picnic table on the opposite side facing Karen and Fox with Gail chewing down on two churros at once. Jeff had a large soda as his norm. He keeps saying he’s going to stop drinking soda but as Karen has noted on many occasion he has been saying that since middle school.

  ‘So what were you gals talking about?’ Jeff

  Fox snatched Jeff’s drink, ‘Ass.’

  ‘Wha?’

  ‘Someone calling us gals makes us want to spoon out their eyeballs.’ Karen

  ‘Why do people always say stuff like that and say spoons?’ Gail

  ‘Just trying to make conversation.’ Jeff tried taking his drink back but failed in his snatch attempt.

  ‘You two should go back to talking about whatever stupid thing that had you laughing over there.’ Karen

  ‘We were talking about the Doctor Who episodes were he meet H.G. We….’ Gail

  ‘No one cares.’ Karen

  While Karen and Jeff argued with Fox somewhere in the middle of the argument, Gail over heard two N.A.S.A. personal talking as they ran walked towards the employee parking area, ‘I guess their new Blazing monitoring systems are having problems communicating with him when he does his flyovers up there so they want to us our old tech.’

  The Geographic North Pole is fast becoming a quote unquote future battle ground in the here and now. Everyone who knows the moving pieces on the political scenes of Earth’s major nations know in