“Sal, when were you an Olympic sharp-shooter?”
“What? Oh mah gahd! Lou, take thatoffthere! I weren’t no Olympic sharp-shooter!”
“You were, too!”
“No, I wasqualifiedto shoot, but I never went! Couldn’ afford to after mom passed. Had to keep Becky in school somehow.”
“How’s your sister doin’ these days?” Chet asked, breaking into the conversation.
Sally grinned. “Still recovering from popping out the twins, which I think has become her new life motto.”
“Oh dear Lord! Twins inyourfamily?! I’ll send a prayer to Jesus for her,” Tracy kissed the little silver cross she always wore and made an ‘up there’ gesture with hands and eyes. She handed the laptop back to Llewellyn before adding with a wink to Sally, “I made it a little classier for you.”
“Hey,minewas classy!” Lou complained.
Tracy snorted. “Yours was a good start if you were lookin’ to pimp her out to ET, darlin’.”
Lou grinned, “I mean, kinda…”
Sally rolled her eyes, “I’m not lookin’ for the U-F-HO experience, Lou.”
“No? You sure? Cuz I remember you tellin’ me you’d be interested a U-F-Whole-lotta-fuckin’!”
Chet choked on his drink, but wisely said nothing as shrieking laughter erupted around him. He did, however, reach down and fish out a couple of dvd cases from his satchel.
“Well now, I don’t know how serious Sally is about movin’ to outer space, but I did bring on-theme entertainment for the evening.” He fanned out his dvd choices like playing cards, holding them up for all to see. “What do y’all think? Fifth Element, Aliens, John Carter, or Stupider Ascending?”
“OH MAH GAHD, DON’T YOU DARE! THAT’S JUPITER ASCENDING AND IT IS A GOD’S DAMNED MASTERPIECE!” Llewellyn's offended holler filled the trailer as she snatched the case out of his hands, ignoring his laughter as he teased her. She sniffed in disdain, hugging the movie to her chest and defending herself to the group with a pouty, “I LIKE DOGS, TOO, OKAY?!”
Tracy snickered quietly, but snagged the case for Fifth Element, flipping it over to read the back. Sally noticed and froze, drink halfway to her mouth.
“Oh dear lord in heaven! Tracy? ‘Fess up! Have you not seen Fifth Element?!”
Tracy flushed, shifting uncomfortably as she cleared her throat. “I, ah, I ain’t seen any o’ these.”
“WHAT?!”
“WHAT?!”
“WHAT?!”
Even Chet joined in with the 3-way cry of shock at Tracy’s lack of sci-fi romantical viewings. He reached down and plopped his bulging satchel on his lap with purpose.
“I have more!” he declared, pulling out Earth Girls Are Easy, In Time, Divergent, Gattaca, and Aeon Flux. Llewellyn reached out and put a hand on his arm, pausing his rummage.
“Whoa, whoa! Baby, calm down!” She patted his forearm reassuringly. “I know Sci-Fi is your happy place, but we ain’t gonna get through all of these in one night! And obviously we’ve gonna start with thebestone, right?”
Chet looked up at her a little wide-eyed. “O’ course! Yer right, Lou. Sorry, I got, uh, excited is all!”
Lou looked around a little wickedly. “Didja all hear that?? He said I was right! Which meansobviouslywe’re startin’ with JUPITER ASCENDING!”
Chet burst out laughing, but held his hands up in surrender. “I know when I’m beat!”
“I think you mean ‘whipped’,” Sally snickered, making awhuTISCH!,sound along with a little whip-crack gesture.
“Hey!” Llewellyn pouted, before grinning brightly. “Thatiswhat attracted him to me in the first place!”
Tracy rolled her eyes, but laughed. “Speakin’ of which, I know I’ve got t’be in the ring by 11:00 tomorrow, and I’m pretty sure all y’all do, too…”
