Chapter 110: The Drive-In Movie


Jake intended to take Marie on a romantic date to the drive-in movies, but things did not go the way he planned.


It was a brisk fall morning, the frost was still glittering upon the grass and the birds were gaily singing in the trees. The red fox had returned from his early morning jog and he had just stepped out onto his home's back patio when he saw his best friend next door.

"So what's the matter with you this morning?" Nick called over to the raccoon who was stretched out on his outdoor chaise lounge. Despite the chill air, the raccoon was still in his lightweight blue cotton pajamas and had his dark sunglasses on while he stared out at the garden with a half-empty mug of cold coffee clutched in his right paw. "You look like you got run over by a herd of elephants, are you feeling okay?"

"I was supposed to have a romantic evening with Marie at the Starlight Drive-In Movie Theater over in the Canyonlands last night. We never went there when we were dating," Jake answered before he gave a toothy yawn. "I remembered that my father used to tell me stories about when he was young, how he would borrow Big Bob's old beat-up pickup truck to take his dates to the drive-in movie theater just outside of Happy Town. He had really fond memories of that place."

"That would have been the old Pawamont Drive-In, it went out of business and was torn down before I was born. The place just couldn't compete with the mega theaters that were being built, not to mention the crime rate in the neighborhoods surrounding the theater also kept folks away."

"As I said, I never took Marie to the drive-in when we were dating."

"Of course not, how could you? You don't have a driver's license."

"Marie does."

"That's true, so go on."

"I rented a fancy white convertible for our date."

"That was your first mistake, you are supposed to rent a car with a hardtop so that no one can see what you are doing in the backseat!" the fox said with a knowing wink. "You've seen the old movies about what used to happen at the drive-in."

"You're probably right," the raccoon sighed. "But it didn't matter anyway. I had everything perfectly planned out, but I forgot one important thing."

"What was that?"

"No, make that two important things who were born over ten years ago!"

"Nicky and Freddie."

"Yep, and since you and Judy were working, I was going to hire a babysitter but the boys pitched a fit about wanting to go too and Marie gave in," Jake said before he looked at his half-empty mug of cold coffee.

"So much for romance," Nick chuckled.

"Yep, we went from going to watching a romantic movie to seeing a movie about a superhero instead."

"Don't tell me it was the one with the blue hedgehog who can run really fast?"

"Yep, that is the one and then things went from bad to worse."

"Someone got sick?" Nick asked as he took a seat.

"Nope, you know how the boys can't seem to go anywhere without their best friends? Well, the next thing I know Cheri and Billy are tagging along," the raccoon answered before he slowly took a sip of the cold brew.

"Just how did you fit everyone into that convertible?" Nick asked before he gently took the mug out of the raccoon's paw and opened the kitchen door. Stepping inside he dumped the mug's cold contents into the sink and refilled it before he took another mug from the cabinet and also poured himself some of the hot coffee.

"I had to cancel the convertible and lease a luxury van instead. I got a really nice one with a surround sound speaker system," Jake answered the fox's question when Nick returned and handed him his refilled mug full of steaming coffee.

"You might have asked Finn if you could have borrowed his van," Nick said as he took a seat again.

"Nick, there is no way I would subject anyone to having to ride in that filthy thing!" the raccoon replied in disgust. "I shudder to think what would show if you took a blue light inside that dump."

"You're probably right. So, Marie drove all six of you to the drive-in in a huge van?

"Nope, she said it was too big and refused to drive the thing, so I had it delivered to the drive-in."

"Wait, you had the van delivered to the drive-in theater? How could you do that?"

"The drive-in is owned by some coyotes and I am an elder of a pack, well kind of since they believe that I'm Azeban's Thief, so I'm treated like an elder."

"If the van was at the drive-in, how did you all get there?"

"In a limousine. I called Kevin at Tundratown Limo Service and hired Renato Manchas to drive us there and back. I told Renato to bring his boyfriend Samuel and I'd pay for the movie. They parked over at the other screen in the limo and got to see the romantic movie while we sat in the van and tried to watch the family movie."

"Tried?"

"Well, first there was standing in line for snacks and sodas. Then when I got back with the food and we all got settled in, Nicky had to go pee. So I took him and Billy to go stand in the line for the men's bathroom. When I got back, Freddie, who said he didn't have to go before, now needed to go. So, back to the line we went."

"Why didn't you send Nicky and Billy by themselves to start with? You let them run all over the neighborhood."

"It is safe around here since everyone knows them and the members of the pack keep an eye on them."

"I guess so?" Nick said with a shrug of his shoulders. "This has become a fairly safe place for the kits."

"With Nicky and Billy, I'm not so much worried about them as much as I am the remainder of the neighborhood. I hate to think about what kind of mischief those two would have gotten into at the drive-in in the dark!"

"Good point!"

"Anyway, I got back and settled in next to Marie. She put her head on my shoulder and we were snuggling as we watched the movie, just then Cheri had to go to the bathroom. So they went off to the ladies bathroom, do you have any idea how long the line into the ladies room can be?"

"They are always long."

"Once they got back, Marie thought we needed some more snacks and so I was back standing in the concessions line."

"So, what did you think of the movie?"

"I didn't see much of it since I spent most of the night waiting in one line after another. Once I got back to the van, I was so exhausted from all that standing around that I fell asleep."