The Manchester Early Summer Carnival 
A “How I Spent My Summer Vacation: I became a Girl” Gaiden
by
Rebecca Coleman

-1-
A Proposal

I think there is something of an unwritten rule that most small towns in Mississippi have to have at least one good barbecue place. For Manchester that was the old Greyhound bus station turned barbecue house, a modest little place called Ubon's. Ubons was not the only barbecue place in Manchester, there was another place down the road called Dusters. But well nobody really liked Dusters as the owner was a bitter old man named West, who had been forced to retire from the air force because of his failing eyesight.

Anyway, it was one of those nights that neither I or Aunt Flora felt like cooking. Of course we could have gotten something delivered to the house, but neither of us were in the mood for pizza. And ordering a pizza from the local Pizza Hut was like playing Russian Roulette with a loaded handgun. So, with that in mind we firmly made up our minds to dine out.

But where? I would have loved to go to the local Hibachi place. Aunt Flora would have loved to go Mexican, she adored Mexican cooking just as much as I adored Hibachi. Turns out neither were open on a Tuesday Night. The Hibachi it turns out was only closed one night a week and that happens to be on a Tuesday Night. And the Mexican place was having trouble with their water. Of course there's more than one Mexican place in town. I mean last time I counted I counted three in total. But the one Aunt Flora liked the most was located on Canal Street right across from the police station. 

Anyway, we decided on Ubons because if I could not have Hibachi and Aunt Flora could not have Mexican then it would have to be barbecue. Anyway the inside of the Ubon's was not really crowded this Tuesday evening. It was still hovering around the first of the month and so most of the townspeople were still waiting on their monthly checks. Like most southern towns that lacked a lot of heavy industry and depended heavily on agriculture most of the people in down depended on government programs such as Food Stamps, Social Security, and if they were lucky their pensions to make ends meet. Most however lived paycheck to paycheck.

And so with it still being around the first of the month, nobody really had the money to eat out. So Aunt Flora and I pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.

“It's pretty good.” Aunt Flora said to me as she took a bite from her mountain of pulled-pork. Aunt Flora and I had both settled on the “Ubon's Famous: Barbecue Princess Platter” , a kind of sample platter that included a generous portion of pulled-pork, a staple of the south. Smoked brisket, sliced thin and smoked long and slow, a link of smoked sausage, and a few ribs. All this with two sides of your choice and all the bread  you can eat. For sides I'd decided on fried okra and fries. Aunt Flora had decided to bake beans and coleslaw.

“It's a nice change of pace.” I said taking a bite from one of my ribs. “Kind of glad to get a break from cooking you know.” I added.

Aunt Flora smiled a little and nodded her head.
“You're like your mother.” Aunt Flora said as she took another fork full of pulled-pork. “Your mother was one of the best cooks in the family. Just like our mom. On the other hand, I'll burn water.” She said smiling. 

I nodded my head and decided to sample their pulled-pork. It tasted okay, but it was nothing to write home about. Nor did I think it was worthy of all the praise all the so called top-rated food critics heaped on it.

“So.. Emily.” Aunt Flora said, smiling a little as she peered at me. “I have a favor to ask you” 

At that moment I stopped chewing and just looked at my beloved aunt who had boldly stepped up to fill the shoes my late mother had left empty.

“There is going to be an early summer carnival this weekend at the fairgrounds. It's kind of a big thing. It generated a lot of talk around town. There will be food trucks, rides, and attractions. And well, the hospital I work at, rented a dunking booth from Manchester Attractions.” Aunt Flora said.

I nodded my head and decided at that moment to take a sip from my glass of ice tea, sweetened of course.

“So you volunteered to get dunked?” I asked with a little too much pepper.

Aunt Flora did not seem to notice the pepper, instead she took another fork full of her pulled-pork before chewing down a rib. She then took a long sip from her glass of ice tea.

“Not quite.” Aunt Flora. “While I'm sure the public would love to see us nurses and doctors in the dunking booth. I'm afraid there are not enough of us to go around. We barely have enough hands on deck as is. We can't really afford to pull anybody off shift to staff the thing” Aunt Flora blushed a little.

I raised my eyebrow.

“So right now we're looking for volunteers. Now, I know  you volunteered to play 'Dotty' and you raised a lot of money for our town's only no-kill animal shelter and you did a really amazing job. And I'm proud of you.” Aunt Flora said. “So I was hoping you'll volunteer. It's for a good cause.”

I felt my cheeks starting to flush a little as I peered toward Aunt Flora who just smiled a little.

“You see, we're using the dunking booth to raise money to buy toys for the pediatric ward. The Board of Directors are a bunch of greedy old men and don't want to open the purse to buy things like stuffed animals, coloring books and sticker books for children on the ward.” Aunt Flora said.

I nodded my head.

“Plus by your volunteering, you'll earn some major brownie points with the community.” Aunt Flora then started to smirk a little. “Plus, your boyfriend would be there. Jack's mom is a nurse and she and I often work the same nine to five shifts on the cutting room floor. Anyway Jack's mom told me that you two have been getting a little close. And well.. she volunteered her son cause that's just what some moms do.” 

As soon as Aunt Flora mentioned Jack's name I started to blush up a storm. I could feel my cheeks starting to heat up a bit. The idea of Jack sitting in a dunking booth, wearing nothing more than a pair of form fitting swim trunks. Swim trucks that fitted every curve of his body. His well toned and developed body. Oh and I bet he would be blushing too! That mental image was just too sexy to be spoiled by words.

“Plus.” She said smiling. “You'll get into the fair free of charge, I'll be sure to buy you another bikini, I mean I know you already have a bikini. But we brought that suit before you started on HRT. You might have developed a little.. I also think you've grown a little too.”

I smiled a little at this.

“Really?” I said as I smiled across the table at Jack.

“Well your breasts are getting bigger. A few months ago they were flat as a board. Now there like the size of grapefruits or something. You're getting a lot more moody. I mean like I said last spring, you were kind of void of emotions. Nothing really seemed to bother you. Now you have really weird mood swings. Also.. you getting snippy. All in all, you're displaying the signs of a female going through puberty.. though a few years too late, as most girls go through puberty through the ages of eight and thirteen. Being close to fifteen you're about two years too late, but then again we can just tell your classmates you're a late bloomer.” Aunt Flora said.

I blinked.

“So are you going to volunteer or not?” I could tell by the tone of her voice that Aunt Flora was getting tired of me beating around the bush and she was now looking for a solid 'Yes' or 'No' question. 

“Sure..” I said.

“Okay good! Also, just so you know. They finally probated your mothers will.” Aunt Flora's voice changed. I could feel a sudden surge in emotions as she mentioned my late mother and of course her will. 

“Your mother left the house to your older brother, that was to be expected.” Aunt Flora said, taking a deep breath. “I'm not sure what he's going to do with it. Maybe he's going to sell the thing or move in. I'm not sure what his plans are for the future. Anyway, your sister got her car, her china, her jewelry and stuff.” Aunt Flora sighed and nodded her head again.

“Okay.. was there anything left for me?” I said tilting my head to the side.

“Well yes.” Aunt Flora said smiling. “It seems when your mother divorced your father. Your father was ordered by the judge that oversaw the divorce case to hand over a lot of the wealth your father brought to the marriage. It seems your father owned a lot of shares in some major oil companies located down south toward the coast. So, you were left the oil and mineral rights to those wells. Now, my mother, your grandmother, also owned some oil and mineral rights. And around four hundred acres of farmland near some rustic settlement called Sharbrough's Landing. When she passed, right  before your mother.  Everything was split fifty-fifty. Between your mother and I. I got half the oil and mineral rights, she got half the oil and mineral rights. I got two hundred acres of prime cotton ground.. that I rented to some Sharbrough guy and she got two hundred acres of prime cotton ground that she rented to the same guy.”

“Anyway, you're getting the mineral rights and two hundred acres of prime farmland in the Mississippi Delta..” Aunt Flora said smiling, her smile reaching from one ear to the other. “So.. that's that!”

“Also your mother's bank account at the time of her death was roughly around one hundred thousand dollars. Thirty thousand will go to your brother, another thirty thousand would go to your sister, and the remaining forty thousand will be given to you. So right now, you're one of the richest teenagers in the state of Mississippi.” 

I blinked.

“This is like a damn anime..”

And so that's how another chapter in my life came to a close. With me discovering that I was one of the richest teenagers in the state of Mississippi.