I stopped at a traffic light in Centerville, and behind me was a man driving a black jeep; he was peeping at me through my side mirror. I tried to resist his stare, but my glances were slightly uncontrollable. He was beckoning a smile, but I resisted. We both crossed the stop light in single file and drove to the next intersection. I signaled to turn right and he signaled me to go straight.
When I turned I cracked a big smile, being amused. After another immediate left turn I headed on my normal route home, although I planned to make a detour to treat myself to ice-cream. As I approached the end of the straight road, poking out of the side street was the black jeep. He took the shortcut road and landed back on my route. This time my smile was unconcealed.
I turned right. He turned right. I turned left. He turned left. I went straight across the t-junction. He went straight across the t-junction. He was staring. I was glancing. The next stop was a traffic filled intersection. I pulled over and he drove up next to my car.
“Are you following me?” I said.
“No. You’re just going my way.” he said. “Where are you headed?”
“To treat myself to ice-cream,” I said, seizing the opportunity to bait him.
“Can I treat you, or are you meeting someone there?” he said, seizing the opportunity to assess my relationship status.
“You can treat me.”
Lucky me: he was in a rush, so he paid for a cup of my favourite ice-cream – one scoop white-chocolate with wafflecone bits, one scoop butter pecan, topped with honey soaked walnuts from TCBY – and I was able to enjoy it with the luxury of solitude.
I gave thanks for my special blessing. My friends said: ‘rebuke the devil’. Healthy lifestyle people know that diary products are bad for your health. The only milk product designed by God for human consumption is breastmilk. So my good samaritan was an emissary of the devil making it too easy for me to fall of my diet. Now if TCBY was a treat I ate every now and then, I would say, lighten up, but truth be told, I am addicted. The day before I had ice cream too. The TCBY attendants know me. It is a sad predicament, but what a sweet sin.