The Skylla Surfers beat the hell out of Otis and he came to on the edge of the Palos Verdes Golf Course wearing nothing but bruises. The good news was that he found a large leaf to cover his privates. The bad news was that he found that he was very allergic to this plant. It caused an awful rash with terrible swelling which compounded the difficulty of covering the essentials.
As fate had it, earlier that day, in a mansion overlooking the Palos Verdes County Club, Nancy, a dignitary's daughter and three other debutantes, were soaking up the sun in the backyard and did not hear the gate buzzer in time. The Artemis Laundry truck turned and left when no one opened the front gate. The bikini clad, sunburnt girls crammed into a borrowed golf cart and took a short cut across the golf course to intercept the truck with its precious cargo of prom dresses.
When they came upon Otis they gave him a lift. Nancy told him that since he was on the market again, she would consider marrying an older man of his caliber, after the prom, of course. Otis was used to silly offers by now. He thanked her just the same.
The Artemis truck was in sight, delivering linens to the Country Club, and yet it seemed so far away to Otis. One of the girls would shout, "Hi daddy!" as the little cart zipped by yet another cart carrying many of the South Bay's leaders in government and commerce. It seemed everyone was playing golf that day. Otis gave friendly nods and encouraged the girls to drive faster.
While the girls obtained their dresses, Otis slipped into the laundry truck and hid. He found a tuxedo in his size, but of course there were no socks and shoes to be had.
The trucks next stop was to deliver towels and table cloths to the charity chili festival contest at the pier.
Otis was hopping on one foot then the other, desperately seeking cool shadows to walk in because the hot sand and cement really made his feet hurt. He heard a familiar yelp and saw Polutropos glide by overhead.
Otis spotted another kite flying by the pier and asked to borrow it to use as a lasso. The little girl refused at first to make the loan. Otis argued skillfully and just as she was handing him the string, he was distracted by the horrible sight of Polutropos tumbing from the sky. For the second time in one day he lost a kite.
Otis ran through the crowds and towards the festival booths to collect the fallen chihuahua. In his wake there followed the little girl and her older brothers, all screaming for justice.
Otis gasped again when he saw where the puppy had landed .He arrived just in time to watch the basket sink slowly in a great kettle of boiling three bean habanero chili. A long line of people waited to sample the blue ribbon winning entry. Otis sat in the sand and wept.
- to be continued -
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