PREVIOUSLY ON BOOKSHELF Q. BATTLER AND THE MEANING OF LIFE…
READ
AND NOW BOOKSHELF Q. BATTLER AND THE MEANING OF LIFE CONTINUES…
“She’s not my…uhh….”
“Yes!” Vicky said. “Can you take us there?”
Kip Happly, US Air Force. Retired? Dishonorably discharged? You say tomato, I say to-mah-to…
“I sure can, Ma’am,” the man said as he grabbed Vicky’s hand and smooched it. “Kip Happly’s the name. Flying dangerous missions is my game. Why, in my day, I dropped more bombs on the world than network television!”
“You were in the air force?” Vicky asked.
“Yes indeed,” Happly said. “United States Air Force. Ten years before, well, there was an incident involving a Stealth Bomber being flown in an unstealthy manner but hell, we don’t need to get into that.”
“You’ve got a plane?” Vicky asked.
“Of course,” Happly replied. “A fine craft. You’ll be sitting pretty in the lap of luxury! For three hundred US dollars I’ll get you where you’re going.”
“That’s a great deal!” Vicky said.
It occurred to me that Vicky was serious and I started to worry.
“Whaddya say, pal?” Happly said as he lightly punched my shoulder.
“Sorry,” I said. “I don’t have that much cash on me.”
“Fear not, traveler!” Happly said. “Kip Happly Enterprises, a Limited Liability Company, fully registered in Sri Lanka for tax purposes, takes all major credit cards.”
“Thank God!” Vicky said.
I shook my head. I took a moment to think about it. Doubting a better way would present itself, I forked over my plastic.
“I’ll run this and be back in a jiff!” Happly said as he walked away.
“Vicky,” I said. “I don’t want to be rude but…”
“What?”
“You’re a little too trusting…”
“I am?”
“You are,” I said. “You don’t know me and you told me your whole life story. You don’t know this weird pilot guy and you’re signing us up to get on his plane…”
“We’re trying to get to a country with a travel ban on it due to a raging civil war!” Vicky said. “A wacko is our only hope for getting there!”
It was the first disagreement we had in our brand new friendship.
Was Vicky right for trusting Kip Happly of Kip Happly Enterprises, a Limited Liability Company Registered in Sri Lanka?
Find out next time on Bookshelf Q. Battler and the Meaning of Life!
Copyright (C) Bookshelf Q. Battler 2015. All Rights Reserved.
Pilot image courtesy of a shutterstock.com license.
Bookshelf Battle 