Ice Cream Summer 1978
I had a difficult time asking A.I. to turn this particular memory of mine into an image. The above graphic is about as close as I could get it without enabling the 'violence and blood' censorship filters.
I am ten years old and a hefty boy
With my gang of obese pals
We prowl our neighborhood with waddling footsteps
The sounds of our prey make our breaths short, excited
The anticipation of satiation
The Dickee-Dee Ice Cream Man on his ice cream bike rolls into view
Summer sunshine glory illuminates the white paint of his stocked cooler
His cart laden with Mana from Heaven, Midas’ edible gold, the Soma for our stomachs
The ice cream man’s eyes go pie-plate wide, white in fear as he spots our waiting lion pride
He cannot move very fast, for his cart is laden with ice cream
We cannot move very fast, for we are heavy with cellulite and cholesterol
The chase is on
Mr. Ice Cream Man pumps his toned sun-burnt legs, urging his confectionery steed forward
Yet he sweats more in fear than exertion
I, the fastest of the large children, charge forward
I heft my bulk into the air like Dom DeLuise in grand eagle flight
My juvenile hands grab the shirt of the man who has the ice cream
I pull him off the ice cream cart
Shrieking, screaming, cursing, the young teenager
(He just wanted to make a little extra money this summer for Ted Nugent concert tickets)
Falls into the clutches of my friends, their chubby hands holding him down
The summer hot asphalt burns the skin
Victory makes me powerful as I pedal the ice cream bike away
When my friends meet me five minutes later
at the Elmvale Acres shopping center parking lot
they don’t tell me what happened to the ice cream man
I don’t ask
We eat the ice cream in silence, savoring the flavor
I see spots of blood on Dave’s hands
I continue eating.
I am ten years old and a hefty boy