Best Day Ever

Just a little story about a man who is happy living his best life. This definitely works better if you're familiar with my Pueblo stories.

"Look at this, the boss is cooking!"

I laughed. "No bosses here, Katy. Everybody's pulling the same weight."

Pushing a third of the chicken to the left side of the flat-top, I bopped my way through "You Enjoy Myself" playing on the sound system. Grabbing the metal shaker of Habanero Harry Seasoning, I sprinkled some out on the portioned poultry. The other two-thirds would be plain. You never knew with kids. Some couldn't take it, others loved the heat.

Katy slapped down a five-pounder of ground beef. "Where's this going?"

"It's Taco Tuesday on 4/20. We're gonna get swamped. Proper preparation... Something something something. Wait, I got it. Proper preparation prepares proper performance. Or something like that. I'm doing the drop-offs today and Max is coming in early."

She looked surprised. I didn't usually do the drop-offs and we only had two deliveries on the books.

"Yeah? Something special going on?"

My last stop of the day. "Sure is. It's a secret. You'll find out tomorrow."

Katy grinned. "Okay, boss."

"No bosses here. I'm just Mooky. Listen, Ilse's picking up a big order for Adam and the wrestling team. Throw them some extra protein, okay? And they like them seriously hot."

I packed up some jars of salsa and put them in the bags with Jerry's face. People looked at me weird when I had a pro photographer take pictures of Jerry. He wasn't just a dog, though, he was our representative. People loved Jerry and we used that photo for our logo and on our bags and shirts and everything.

I've got two things going for me. I know my limitations, I make damn good tacos and I have a way with the herb. So, I hire people to walk me through the stuff I'm not so good at. The marketing guy thought people would dig Jerry and liked the idea, so we went with it.

Mookie's House of Taco's didn't make that much money, but I had plenty from the weed farms we started after I moved up here, so it was all good. We gave away lots of tacos and salsa, and I like feeding people. The finance guys for the farms made us bring in kids from the agricultural schools and botanists and shit, so now I just went in to keep them honest. I didn't like all that manipulation of the plants. Just keep it true to what it is and you can't go wrong.

Anyway, the regular salsa went into the bag with Jerry's face and the special salsa went into the white bag. The law office was closest, so I stopped there first. The lady at the desk stopped me.

"Sir, dogs aren't allowed."

"It's okay, it's just Jerry!"

When I finished setting up in their breakroom I went to see Liz. She had one of her law people walking a guy out of her office. Seeing Jerry, she hustled back into her office and he rushed after her. Walking in, I plopped a bag on her desk. Liz pulled a dog biscuit from a draw and made Jerry give her his paw.

I nodded towards the bag. "Two Caliente Burrito Bombs for Alyssa."

Liz grinned. "Thanks, Mooky. Charge the account, okay?"

"Sure."

"How's your day?"

"Best day ever!"

"You say that every week." She laughed. "See you next Tuesday."

The school was next. It was near the vet's hospital, so I could hit both pretty quick. I carried in the trays and left a small bag of tacos with the secretaries where I had to sign in.

"Mooky, you can't bring a dog in to the school."

"It's okay, it's just Jerry."

She shook her head, smiled, leaned down and ruffled his greying fur just above the tie-dyed bandana around his neck. Everybody loved Jerry. Ethan Poplin's woodworking class finished the benches they made for the Ronald McDonald House's yard, so they were having a party. Jerry got a lot of attention from the kids when I dropped off the food, so Ethan and I talked about his band.

The secretary shook her head as we were leaving. When she thought I wasn't looking she slipped Jerry a treat.

"Thanks for the tacos, Mooky."

"Welcome, Jill!"

We pulled into the parking lot for the hospital, grabbed the food trays out of the Cambro and walked to the door. The guard looked over his desk.

"Hello, Jerry. You and Mooky having a good day?"

I laughed. "Best day ever, Terry."

He called Dr. Gruwel who met us in the front.

"Hello, Mooky! More tacos?"

I didn't charge the vets and they didn't place any orders, but I was here every Tuesday. I brought Doc some sofrito tacos. I didn't know much about Sikh people, but I knew they were vegetarians. We put the food in the kitchen and I dropped off jars of the salsa with THC with the patients I knew could have it. The regular salsa had gone to the kids.

Jerry was getting tired, so I got him some water and walked him slowly out to the truck. Picking him up, I put him in the front and strapped him in. The drive out to Archer Farms took a while, so he was able to rest up. Jerry wasn't as young as he used to be and although we were best buds, I thought he was lonely.

Finally pulling into the long driveway of Archer Farms, I went directly to the first barn. Penelope and her son Jason were there talking to one of the guys that worked there. They grew my chickens, hogs and cows. We signed some paperwork for new contracts and they took Jerry and me on a drive out to see the animals. They were all roaming around and seemed happy.

I checked my Blues for Allah commemorative watch when we got back to the truck. We didn't have much time left. "C'mon, buddy. Gotta get going."

There was a farmstand about a quarter-mile away. Pulling up, I got out and turned to Jerry. As he stood, his legs shook. Leaning over, I kissed the top of his head and scratched his ears. I put down the windows and left the radio on.

"I'll be right back. Sit tight, Jerry."

They were a family business, a dad and two kids. Ken was around fifty and some sort of pepper genius. They had all the normal stuff you'd see at a roadside stand, but their peppers were the gold standard. If the season was right you could smell them roasting hatch peppers in the rotating cage from miles around.

Pulling a bag with three burritos from the truck, I walked over. "Hey, Ken. Whatcha got?"

I ordered three cases of peppers, six cases of tomatoes, seven cases of onions and bought some pepper relish for myself. I found Althea in the building they used to store produce. She was going through vegetables, separating them into piles for regular people and another pile for people like me. If you're in the industry, you don't really care about small blemishes. We'd buy them cheaper and chop everything up anyway.

"Where's Jerry?" She pushed her large glasses back on her nose, making her big eyes seem tremendous.

"Resting up in the truck. I, uh, brought you guys some burritos. Your dad has them."

She spoke to me without looking up, her long black hair tied back. She never looked at people. Althea seemed shy, but nice.

"Okay. Thanks. Roasting more peppers tomorrow."

"Cool. I'll call Ken and order some for the salsa. Um, okay, yeah. See ya next time."

I started walking to the big open door.

"Mooky?"

Turning back, I waited.

"There's a jazz festival next week on the river-walk. Want to go?"

I smiled slowly. "Yeah. I'd like that."

"You have my number?"

"Yeah. Can I call tonight?"

"Sure."

Whistling "Touch of Grey" back to the truck, I got in, got Jerry a little water and took off smiling.

The Greater Pueblo Animal Rescue was close to the farm, so we made it in time. Lillian met us at the door.

"You made it!"

"Wouldn't miss it!"

I signed the final paperwork and they let me and Jerry in the little hall to wait. His tail began wagging before Lillian walked back in with Bob. The two dogs began sniffing and fooling around while Lillian gave me the bag with the leash, bowls and other stuff you get when you adopt a dog.

Jerry looked five years younger as he barked playfully and jumped around with the younger dog. I wiped my eye after watching Jerry and Bob playing together. Lillian put her arm around my shoulder.

"Mooky, you okay?"

I nodded. "Best day ever."

*****

With thanks to Todd172 (revered Mooky Master) and the Alligator Alliance. I'm grateful for the support from Bob, Brad, Jerry, Vik, Racing, Timothy, MrZ, Leon, Phillip, Laurence, Adam, Ken, Mark, Nora, Cheryl, Kerry, RP, Zachary, Alex, George, Dan, and Charles.