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Show XiisisSSSiSy by Rick Brough m Of Potguts and Men The two weary Parkites came to rest by a stream about 20 miles from Cincinnati. George, the smaller man, carried a Chamber of Commerce brochure. He found a clear space by the water. His companion was a huge but simple fellow named Lenny. He carried a large flag saying, "Park City-All-America City," and he wore a threadbare, gold Century 21 coat. "Geez," George moaned. "I know the committee said everybody couldn't take the plane to Cincinnati, but I still don't see why we had to hitchhike all the goddamn way to Ohio." "I didn't mind, George," said Lenny. "I'm excited. I can hardly wait to" An ashamed look crossed his face. "George, I forgot the speech I'm gonna give ta the nomina tin' committee." George felt disgusted. "You ain't supposed ta give a speech. You run the slide machine and we show 'em the houses you built. The beautiful lifestyle of Park City, the all-America town. You don't say nothin'. "If they just see how pretty the houses are you built, we're set. They just can't find out how many you built. Criminy, I could have life so easy, if you just haddna built so goddamn many houses." Lenny started to blubber. "I'm sorry I overbuilt, George. I didn't mean ta." "Oh nol You never mean ta. But every damn time, you do it anyway." George was trying to be mean, but he softened, hearing Lenny bawl. "Ah, quit it. I know. Ain't your fault you're a developer." Lenny dried his eyes. He was feeling something in his pocket. "Hey ! " said George. "What you got there?" "Nuthin', George." "C'mon, give it here. What you got? A slide of the Main Street mall! You were gonna put this in the slide show.werntcha!" "No! Honest, George! I was just gonna look at it. I like to look at malls, George. I like the brick and the glass atriums, and the way they stand up, by God, and all the buildings around 'em look like little funny ants .. ." "Shut up! Throw that away! You don't mention the Main Street mall. You don't say nothin', y'nderstand. You run the slide machine! I been tellin' ya! You remember?" Lenny repeated it like a lesson. "I don't say nuthin'. I run the slide machine. I don't mention the Main Street mall and I don't say nuthin'." "And you stay clear of that Mary character. She may be little and white-haired, but, geez, she's mean. She's just itchin' to get in a fight with a developer. " George bent over their backpack. "C'mon, get out the paper plates. I'll get the cheese and crackers." Lenny beamed. "I I like, crackers with quiche, George." "Well, we ain't got quiche," George snapped. "Don't matter if you like it. We had to cut back on quiche J. ., , , , , . , '. jit "I could take life so easy if you. didn't get me in "trp . ! ble like that town in Colorado we got run out of. You got ahold of that mountain. Oh sure, you just wanted to put a bike path on it. It'd look so pretty. Then you got excited and YOU PAVED OVER THE WHOLE GODDAMN , MOUNTAIN." Lenny started blubbering again. "I could go live in Sandy, George. Never bother you again." "Aw, hell," George said. "I couldn't do that. You know that." . Lenny wolfed down his cheese and crackers. Both men lay back under the stars and were quiet for a while. Then Lenny said, "Tell me about the escalators, George." George said, "Not that again. You know it better than I do." "Aw, please, George. Tell me about the escalators." George began the speech he had told many times before, the dream he half-believed himself. "Most guys like you and me, they're a dime a dozen. They blow into a resort town, scrape off some land, build a few hundred houses. They pocket a few million, then go down to the stock market some Friday afternoon and blow it all. " "But we're different, George, we're different. Because we got Park City and Park City's got uh, it's got-" "Ambiance," George said. "AMBIANCE 1" said Lenny. "And someday, we'll be a year-round resort town. Doesn't matter if a visitor blows into town at 1 a.m. on a May morning, there'll be something for him ta do. We're gonna have night life. And there's gonna be boutiques, arid sporting goods shops, and little places full of bric-a-brac. And nobody's ever gonna go hungry " '"CAUSE WE GOT 44 GREAT RESTAURANTS ALL YEAR ROUND AND THEY DON'T EVER CLOSE!" yelled Lenny. "And you won't even have to walk outside to get from one shop to another. We're gonna have three or four malls in town. And they're gonna be beautiful and historical, not like Disneyland' ' "NOT LIKE DISNEYLAND, BY GOD, NOT LIKE GODDAMN DISNEYLAND ! " "And sometimes they'll be set against the hillside, and they'll creep up the hill so's you hardly know they're there. And people won't even have to climb stairs in the malls" '"CAUSE WE GOT ESCALATORS, GEORGE. AND I GET TO RUN THE ESCALATORS!" Lenny said excitedly. ex-citedly. "AND I'LL RUN 'EM WHENEVER SOMEBODY WANTS TO USE 'EM. AND IF SOME KIDS WANT TO RUN DOWN THE UP ESCALATORS, THEY CAN DO IT, BY GOD." Suddenly, the two-men heard a thrashing in the bushes. Another man stumbled into sight. It was Ken Alkema, an official from the state health department. He was carrying a case full of water samples. "Hi, guys," he said, flopping down by the two men. "Boy, I'm beat. Are we nearly to Cincinnati? Boy, I'm ready to tell 'em about Prospector Square! George, the city'll let me talk about Prospector, won't they? I mean, it helped that we had the tailings? The city isn't mad any more, is it, George?" George knew what he had to do. "No, Ken, nobody's , mad, anymore. And soon, the federal government will , give you all the grant money you want to clean' up places and study the ground and the air and the water. Look across the river, Ken, you can almost see it." As the state official gazed across the river, George picked up a club from the ground. "Look, the EPA's coming with bags and bags of money. You can almost see it . . ." |