Refrigerator Art, Set-up
On her early morning ramble, Despina realizes that she misses Alberto's exuberant company. He was probably exhausted. He just couldn't stand missing a single piece of action. she thinks as she remembers how faithfully he stayed at her side, introducing the various visitors with pride. He probably stayed up way too late to be his normal, energetic self, she thinks, shuddering with a twinge of guilt as she reflects on her role in the events. I really did try to keep him beside me to smooth the way. Everyone seems to like him, and tolerate his excesses.
Restless after returning, Despina decides to high tail it into town before class to set up the refrigerator deal.
Once she is en route to town, she reflects that the hardware store is surely still closed this early, and she does not know the proprietor. Heading toward the now-familiar sheriff's office, she disturbs Tony at a nap. Rapping loudly on the door, she smiles her most charming smile.
"Ya kin save the high wattage. The sheriff ain't in, yet."
"Actually, I think you ought to be able to help me."
"The bath room's empty. It ain't moved none. Ya ain't gotta wake a man for help with THAT every second day!" he groused.
Laughing merrily, Despina continues as if he hadn't interrupted, "I need to talk to the owner of those old refrigerators. I might be able to help him remove them with no expense or effort on his part. Might he be interested in a good deal like that, which would save him some time and effort bringing them up to code? I'd sure hate to see him fined for not removing the doors. All it would take would be for some town child to be trapped inside one of them and suffocate..." she trails off, leaving the horrid fate to work on Tony's protector instincts.
"That would be Cyril McDougall. He lives in the big white house jist two doors past the store, right on the corner. Ya kin't miss it. He already got one warnin' 'bout not removin' the m nasty chemicals, so he just might be int'rested."
"How much them Injuns willing to pay apiece for 'em?"
"Pay? For discards? Nothing. However, they will remove the ugly eyesores from your property for free, with no labor required on your part."
"What them Injuns want with old motor-less refrigerators whose doors work, anyway?"
"Actually, it's not the Native Americans at all,``` directly. I want to set them up outside my new classroom as storage units to keep the books dry."
"Where'd they get books?"
"Well, there actually aren't any at present, but I want to take the kids to the library and check out some, but first, we need a clean, dry place to store them safely."
"Fat chance Alice'd let a bunch o' Injun brats run off with her precious books. We're s'ppozeta remove the doors."
"Guess I lack imagination, or maybe I have too much."
"Yeah, well, we're runnin' a bit behind."
"You do have the freon removed, though, surely?"
"Ah, not exactly."
"Just what is entailed in safely removing and storing that? They may want some compensation if it is very time-consuming. I just assumed that all the legal stuff had been taken care of properly. Aren't those fines pretty stiff?"
"I got a storage drum at the back o' the shop. Ain't nothin' to puttin' a hose into the line and drainin' it into the drum."
"You will supply the hose, I assume?"
"I reckon."
"Good. We should be back into town sometime this morning."
Last updated 1/22/02.