Zebulon Zenith was glad to hear the whistle
blow, the long-low signaled an end to the workday, when he heard it, he and his
crew headed for the gates without delay.
Zeb
hung up his work hat, goggles and duster. He washed his face and hands, donned
his bowler, grabbed his lunch box and thermos, punched his timecard and left
the flour mill off Main Street by the river.
He
and the boys walked up to Hennepin Avenue, on their way to the polka bar for a
pint and a shot or two..
It
was raining hard, so they walked swiftly, but Zeb didn’t run. The wet-weather
felt good to him after a hard-hot and dusty day at the mill turning wheat into
flour.
As
he passed Our Lady of Lourdes, he stepped inside to put a penny in the offering
and light a candle for his children. He did this every day; it was his way of showing
thanks for getting through another shift with all his fingers and toes in the
right place.
Zeb dipped his fingers in the marble basin
with the holy water in it and crossed himself like a good Catholic boy. Then he
waited in the front alcove for a minute while a hard bit of wind passed by. He lit
a Chesterfield and took a couple of puffs while he watched a long black car
roll down the Avenue until it stopped at the polonaise, next door to the polka
bar.
He
watched a tall-thin-and-awkward looking man get out of the driver’s seat and go
around the car to open the door for two ladies who had been riding in the back
seat and were in too much in a hurry to wait for the valet.
The
two women who emerged from the sedan looked like movie stars when they got
under the lighted canopy at Nye’s.
They wore clear plastic raincoats that
gathered beads of water along the surface, each one shining like a diamond through
the storm; they appeared to be wearing little else underneath.
Zeb
felt his heart pounding like a man in love.
He walked toward them like he had a date with
destiny; they were going to the same establishment, if not the same place, and
he was mesmerized by their luster.
Zeb
was headed to the polka bar for some suds and a song. The starlets were going
for fancy cocktails at the adjacent lounge.
He went in through the smaller door down at
the foot of the hill, while they walked the red carpet through the lighted
entrance.
Zeb was dazzled and almost collided with them.
He nearly lost track of where he was going and
followed the until their ostrich-like chaperone blocked his path and pushed him
off, and then the glamour began to fade.
The two beauties had entered the building and were
no longer in sight. Zeb took the measure of the fop who stood in his way,
knowing that he could have turned the guy into a pretzel if he had wanted to…which
he did not.
He
shook his head like he was shaking the water from his hat, got his wits about
him and laughed at himself. Now he could hear the band playing in the polka bar,
and he knew there would be a glass of beer waiting for him on the table.
When he got to it he raised it to his friends,
and they all shouted hurrah!
Zeb didn’t know what they were cheering for, but
he joined along, while he silently raised his glass to the two dames who were
just on the other side of the wall from him, and then he raised it again to his
wife and kids.
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