Episode 22
FADE IN
In the middle of a languorous return from their once in a lifetime Chicago adventures and while on their connoisseur’s tour of the seemingly unlimited plaster and lumber resources and imagination that are the underpinnings of the wonders of roadside America, DP and Radish have finally remembered to call home.
the DP and Radish tour guide to the best of Americana
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They are shocked at the news they hear from Mona. Her mother has suddenly decided to become a NASCAR roadie and upon her departure has revealed a secret she has held for more than three decades.
Several years prior to Mona’s birth her mother secretly bore fraternal twin boys after a furtive coupling with Sonny. The repercussions of this fateful act rippled through the little community like a tsunami and led to the breakup of the lifelong friendship between Sonny and Red. It was, in fact, the true meaning of the widely known but ambiguously detailed affair known as The Airstream Incident.
the site of the "Airstream Incident"
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Red, Mona’s mother’s fiancé at the time, eventually noticed her progressing fecundity and she soon confessed that the anticipated fraternal twin boys were not his. Once he learned the awful truth, Red moved his things out of the Airstream into the shack at his appliance yard, switched his drinking business from Maf’s to the TipTop, dissolved his partnership with Sonny in their jointly owned boat and never spoke to either of them again.
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out of pique Red switched from Maf's to the TipTop
The two illicitly conceived children were adopted out to separate families who were sworn to secrecy. Over time one set of the new parents departed this mortal coil in a bass fishing accident without ever telling their son of his adoption.
the site of the "Bass Fishing Incident"
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To everyone’s amazement, Red took the other twin. Given the circumstances of the child’s conception he felt some imagined - or perhaps hopeful - kinship. He, too, kept the secret and over the years the two boys knew neither their true biological heritage nor their blood relationship to each other – or to anyone else in the local tribal body.
Mona’s mother did marry a few years later and Mona came into that more conventionally recognized relationship. Sonny, too, entered into a long-suffering union that yielded Radish as its fundamental fruit. However, haunted by recurring dreams that may or may not relate to his unsuccessful attempts to assuage his terrible guilt, Sonny has been seeking relief from the senseless lapse in trust that affected so many lives so long ago. From time to time he anonymously submits accounts of his dreams to the Dream Weaver column in the Tradin' Times.
are Sonny's dreams trying to tell us something?
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At the news of the astounding secret that has had such profound consequences for his life, DP cried out with an audible gasp. “AWEsome. NASCAR!”
During the balance of the ride home DP and Radish have plenty of time to consider their freshly revealed options. “I know, I know - the giant frying pan is almost on the way if we hang a left onto the half-pavement.”
Meanwhile back home the news has not yet spread through the close-knit town as they are deep into preparations for the social event of the year. The annual street carnival celebrating the Festival of St. Orpine, Our Lady of Perpetual Longing, is imminent and each of the local businesses will once again compete for the honor of constructing the best booth.
everyone looks forward to the annual festival
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Mona, stunned by her mother’s revelations finds herself wondering who her half-siblings might be. Seeking out the advice and counsel of Mamie Rey, always knowledgeable beyond her years, Mona first learns of the mysterious and ancient custom of blood ties and secrecy known as - The Mullet Code.
the mysterious and ancient Code Of Secrecy
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MEANINGFUL MUSIC UP
