Neighbors and the Deluge

Michelle is more at home in the neighborhood as the residents experience water problems.

         Michelle had managed to develop a routine in her neighborhood after a rocky start. Many of her neighbors turned out to be eccentric well-meaning individuals. She learned to overlook Sherry's overactive libido, and suspected that much of that was bravado. Meanwhile Walt could always be counted upon to offer some amusing anecdote in which he starred as the clown. Mr. Cutler occupied the role of lovable curmudgeon in Michelle's heart. He was frequently complaining about the noise of the neighborhood children and the ostentatious manner of Michelle's azaleas. He was known for his complaint letters he would place in the mailbox of the offending party.

         Each neighbor, including Michelle, had become accustomed to one another's idiosyncrasies, and after the excitement of Michelle's arrival wore off, the neighborhood settled into its own routine. The residents tended their lawns, hosted cookouts and dinner parties, greeted one another fondly as they crossed paths on their way to their cars, evening walks through the neighborhood or random unannounced visits.

         The community even had its own distinct sounds and smells. At any given time, Michelle could smell what Norma and Leslie were cooking for their families or what Sherry had ordered in from her favorite Chinese take out to masquerade as her own cooking for her husband. During the spring, the sounds lawn sprinklers, mowers, and weed trimmers floated pleasantly through the air. In addition, the laughs and shouts of the children at play carried throughout the area. Michelle loved most the smells of Norma's garden, which was fragrant with lilies, jasmine, roses and more. Summer evenings found Michelle on her front porch enjoying the wafting scent of jasmine.

         One day in June, Michelle was preparing to wash dishes. She was surprised when she turned on her faucet and it spewed air and noise at her before going silent. She noticed some commotion outside, and stepped out on her porch. Her first sight was of Sherry, pale and carrying some new areas of pudginess position spread eagle on a beach towel in her front lawn wearing a bikini that appeared as though Sherry's curves were devouring the miniscule amount of fabric present.

"Woohoo Michelle! Come layout with me! We need some color girl!"

"Maybe some other time! Do you know what's going on?" Michelle indicated to a gathering crowd down the street.

"Sure don't hon, at first when everybody was passing by here I thought they was coming to get a look at the goods," Sherry ran her hands up her abdomen and cupped her breasts, accidentally, popping one out of its bikini top cup.

"Sherry Ingram! I will thank you to put that away. Seeing them during their annual outing after you drink all the punch at the July 4th picnic is plenty enough thank you," Shouted Norma as she approached.

"Oh put a penis in it Norma, you just wish you had my rack," gloated Sherry.

         Michelle joined Norma and walked with her toward the crowd. Norma greeted her, head shaking, "Can you believe that woman's nerve?" Norma asked

"Oh, she's just…Sherry. And there are worse breasts to have see as often as hers"

"Yeah, that bitch is right. I'd kill for her rack. I guess I'm just gonna keep my eyes and mouth closed." Norma replied, "Hey is your water working?"

"No, actually. Yours is out too huh?" Michelle asked.

"Yep. I think it's the whole neighborhood, otherwise I’d have taken a hose to Sherry by now."

         As they got closer to the crowd, Norma and Michelle noticed water running down the street toward them and spilling into neighboring yards. Michelle spied Walt, and she and Norma walked over.

"Hey ladies, you see this water? We might need to start building an ark" Walt guffawed.

"What happened?" asked Michelle who found it ironically amusing that she preferred Walt with one half eye brow opposed to his current one total.

"Aw, ole pipe to water main busted over there by Hunter Thompson's yard. He's been about to have kittens since it happened."

         "Who's that?" Norma asked, pointing to a round man with a mustache dressed in khakis and a button down white shirt tucked into to his pants. His stomach poked out several inches from his waistline. He was down in a hole that had been dug out by Hunter Thompson and his 8-year-old twin boys.

Michelle knew the twins collectively as the Thompson boys, or individually as "hey you" and "come here boy" as that is how Hunter Thompson referred to them. She had long forgotten their names, and as far as she could tell, their mother was not in the picture. Norma had said, "There was one once, had to have been since there's the boys, but she was gone not long after they moved in."

         Several feet of pipe was exposed into Hunter Thompson's yard as apparently the repairs extended that far. The water main at the head of the neighborhood had been shut off to make the repairs. "He's from the water company," Walt said. The squat man, now filthy from mud and dirty, struggled and hoisted himself back up with the crowd.

"All right folks, stand back and watch for any leaks. I'm going to turn the water main back on," he said in between heaves of breath.

         The Thompsons did not heed the advice. The boys followed their father's lead of looking for leaks directly over the pipes. A small muffled roar could be heard as it approached the crowd from the direction of the water main. The pipes jerked as a powerful stream of water entered them.

         One of the twins leaned over and positioned himself for closer inspection just as a joint burst from the pressure. A massive geyser of water rocketed from the breach and shot right into the face of the boy who gave a scream that was a result of both surprise and pain. He jumped back slipped in the mud, landing on his back writhing back and forth in a manner that reminded Michelle of a hog enjoying a mud pit. Water rained down everyone.

         Michelle stifled a laugh, and walked away listening to Hunter Thompson berate his boys for not minding. The twin had to wear an eye patch for a while, which everyone liked as they could identify which Thompson twin was tossing eggs at passing cars. He didn't seem to mind, and Michelle saw he was up to his old tricks peeking inside Sherry's window's with his brother just a couple days later.





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