the Jesus Lady
Frank Conner woke up with a cold and a sore throat. Next door his neighbor, Mike, was moving. Mike’s job as a trucker was taking him to Wyoming.
“I’ve got family there,” Mike had said at the ‘So-long’ Bar-B-Que last night. There had been plenty of beer.
Lying on his back in bed, Frank tried to keep his eyes open. It was a work day, like it or not.
“Are you awake?” Blaine was calling from the kitchen. ‘How have I been able to keep a marriage together for 16 years?’, Frank thought when he heard his wife calling. “Cinnamon french toast for breakfast,” Blaine was saying.
A day. A day like any other day. Frank was walking on his way to work now, through Court House Park in Fresno. Showered, fed and underarms deodorized. Shoes shined and pants pressed with a crease that could slice hard cheese.
Just like she was every day, the Jesus Lady was walking around the fountain in Court House Park and shouting. “Who woke you up this morning? Jesus. Jesus woke you up!” A kid riding by on a skateboard yelled from behind her, “Orgasm! Orgasm!”
Didn’t phase her. “Thank you Jesus. Talk to Jesus. Talk to Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Jesus wants you in Heaven with him. Don’t believe me, open the Bible.”
A day. A day just like any other day. Frank Conner smiled and looked at the shine on his black shoes as he walked.
