They could here the ice cream truck as its jingle tune echoed through the streets. The game of kickball abruptly ended and a mad dash ensued. Most ran home for money, the rest ran towards the sound, plink-itty-planky-jingle-jangle-jingle. Kate knew when the truck came and was always sure to have a dollar for the ice cream truck. This helped guarantee her a place at the front of the line. Sometimes she would get there first. You never waited for it to drive down your street because sometimes it would skip around and miss yours. Kate was fast, a head taller than most of the boys, she easily out stride her male counterparts. All except Jimmy. He was just as tall, mostly because his parents had him held back a year in school. This put a chip on his shoulder and made him the neighborhood bully. First in line went to the fastest but it made your life easier to to slow up and let Jimmy have the lead. Kate knew she was well ahead of Jimmy since she was already playing outfield when she heard the jingle. She rounded a hedge and saw the prize. The ice cream truck was a white panel van with a large section cut out of the side. It was riddled with decal stickers, larger than life size, of all the creamy, cold confections it sold. The back of the truck got closer and closer as it slowed to make the next left down the other street. Kate put on a burst of speed, hoping the driver would see her in his side mirror. She looked over her shoulder to see the progress of the others. Jimmy cut across the street and went between two houses to head off the truck on the next street over. Kate knew she could catch it before then. The truck came to a complete stop, then made its turn. The house on the corner had tall grass for a house on this block, everybody knew the height limit as required by the Neighborhood Beautification Committee. The truck made its turn and was passing out of sight. Kate rounded the corner just after the truck, then something reached out and grabbed her foot. She felt gravity take over as she splayed her arms out to break her fall. She turned her head as cheek met grass with a hard thump. She let the shock of the fall pass and looked up just in time to see the ice cream truck make the next turn. She stood up and brushed herself off. She turned and looked down to see a sprinkler head peering through the tall grass. She resumed her route, jogging now since there was no way to catch it. She was right, as she rounded the corner, the truck was stopped four houses down where Jimmy had cut through to intercept it. Not only that, but the rest of the herd had followed him. The line was complete, except for Kate, who took the end spot. She was still breathing hard as Jimmy past her with a Power Bomb Pop. He stopped and looked at her, his lips stretched over the fluted cylinder of red, white and blue. He made a wet, slurpy sound as he dragged it out of his mouth. Whatcha say, slowpoke, vanilla again," he said?
Kate with a blank face of indifference said, "yes."
"Vanilla Kate, same as you ever were. Why don't you try something different for a change. I mean, if you insist on being last in line, you could at least use the time to pick something better than plain old vanilla", he said with a sneer.
Kate knew that crack was about the race and not the ice cream. He knew she was faster and just wanted to goad her about the loss. Everybody stood around the truck to eat because you could get a Dixie cup of ice cold water when you were finished. Kate finally made it to the front but before she got her mouth open to ask for vanilla, Jimmy appeared beside her and said, "Rocky Road Rocket Pop, please!"
"No," Kate said.
The ice cream man must have had a long day, he looked at Kate with little patience, the cold vapor from the open freezer chest swirling around his head.
"Maybe, a Mega Berry Blast Bar," Jimmy offered to the ice cream man.
"No," yelled Kate!
The ice cream man said, "Look, do you want ice cream or not?"
"She wants vanilla, plain old vanilla for plain old Kate," Jimmy exclaimed to the whole group. They all laughed at her with Jimmy. She liked vanilla, found the other flavors to be an assault on her taste buds. Vanilla was clean and smooth with a richness that caressed the throat all the way down. It was plain and so was Kate in her own way, but she didn't care. Kate announced to the ice cream man, "Vanilla Bar, please." This seemed to lighten the mood even more as an affirmation of Jimmy's indictment, whooping laughing and cat calling continued. Kate had started to feel the effects of this treatment and have second thoughts about ice cream all together when the ice cream man made a suggestion. While the others were still laughing and pointing, he said very clearly to her in a quiet voice, "We have a new product that I think you will like if I could offer a suggestion." There was something different in his voice, a patience that said he had been the butt of someones joke in his life. "Its called Vanilla Surprise." At this point she just wanted the moment to be over and shook her head yes. He reached into the cooler and pulled out a packet of goodness, stripped the paper off, wrapped the stick with a napkin and handed over a smooth, white oval. She took it. It looked just the same as what she always got. She gave him a quirky look and said, "Thank you?" The ice cream man said, "Trust me." He started filling Dixie cups with water as the group finished their ice cream. Kate had just started as everyone else made their way back to the kickball field. Final insults seemed to be the way of things with Jimmy having the last word, "Vanilla Kate." Kate took her time getting back. She was determined to visibly enjoy her vanilla, not that anybody noticed. The game resumed and she took up her position in the outfield. There were more than enough people to cover her if a ball came her way. The cold of the vanilla coated her mouth with goodness lick after lick. Suddenly the vanilla gave way to a gooey cherry center, with real Bing cherries. It reminded her of cherry pie ala mode. Vanilla Surprise for sure! She lapped each gooey bite until the stick was all that remained. The chill of the ice cream cooled her in the waining hours of the hot day. Jimmy was up and yelled to Kate, "Coming your way Vanilla Kate!" Kate smiled thinking how true it was, laughed to herself and yelled back, "Let it fly Bomb Pop Boy!"
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