Trigun: Happy Birthday Milly! 5
It had been many days since Vash and Iris' successful citizen's arrest. The hours were spent performing odd jobs in the Rockerfeller Saloon. Their payment had been decent for fifty double dollars a day and receiving free food as their discount. Iris had earned her reputation to be labeled the "feisty waitress" due to an incident with an intoxicated elderly man. The patrons seemed surprised to have the hand that impermissibly grasped her left buttock be twisted at a forty-five degree angle, and a small fist that collided into his jaw like a hammer with several teeth that fell to the floor. Vash had been grateful that she had injured him or he could have gave a worse punishment. Escorting him from the premises and giving the customers a firm warning by stating: "Touch her and I'll be less merciful.", gave him enough satisfaction.
Their duties consisted of serving drinks, cleaning the floors, waxing the counters, cleaning the glass. There had been times when the place was extremely dull and Vash played several cheerful tunes on the piano to attract customers to the saloon Occasionally, Wolfwood visited them at work and helped Vash in a duet with his harmonica that he kept in his jacket. Iris had been too shy to accept the offer to perform in their "band" but watched and listened to the beautiful songs they played with their instruments.
One day the men had been conspiring together in the men's bathroom. "Do you hear that, Vash?" Wolfwood asked while in the midst of shaving in the mirror. "No, what am I supposed to hear?" Vash asked with a raised brow. "Listen to the backwall and you'll hear it." he said and wiped the shaving cream off the skin with a rag. He obeyed him and pressed his ear against the wall to hear a faint voice singing: "I'm back in baby's arms. How I miss those lovin' arms...I'm back where I belong. Back in baby's arms."
"That can't be Iris. It sounds so soft...." he said in disbelief. "It is her. I say we play a little prank of our own.." he said with a wicked grin. "It had better be harmless!" Vash said firmly. "Don't worry. No girl will be harmed in the making of this prank." he assured him. "Okay so what's the plan?" he asked. "Well..." he said and told him the plan....
Iris seemed to relieved to be staying in one place for the time being. She was not disgusted of cleaning the puddle of spilt liquor with the wet mop in the back office of the saloon and sang in the duration of the chore. In the midst of squeezing the mop within its compression chamber, she heard Vash say from behind her: "Dinner will be ready in twelve minutes." "Thanks Vash, I'm almost done." she said and gave him a smile.
She continued to sing merrily while finishing the chore and had returned the equipment to the storage closet.
She hummed the song beneath her breath with the huge jug of Wild Turkey and had been surprised with the number of customers in the lobby that arrived in a short amount of time. There had been murmurs of: "Come on! We wanna hear the girl sing again!" or "Have her sing a few more bars at least!" Vash and Wolfwood stepped forward from the crowd and Wolfwood said, "No band can not be complete without a singer." Iris gave him a severe scowl and said, "You planted a microphone didn't you?!" "No, I didn't. I just hooked up the speakers." he replied and laughed heartily. "YOU DID WHAT?!!!" Iris yelled in her embarrassment and anger. "Uh-ooooooh..." the men said in unison. She did not want hurt them but had instead gave them a stinky shower by soaking them down with the liquid with a swing of the open jug. The customers laughed at their predicament as they blushed in embarrassment and watched her storm out of the saloon.
"I think we deserved that." Vash muttered and entered the men's room with Wolfwood following. "She'll get over it. Iris is not one to hold a grudge." Wolfwood said with a chuckle. "But one hell of a temper." he added. The two of them cleaned their faces and dried their drenched hair with the rags that hung on the rails installed in the walls.
What had awaited them on the other side of the door had nothing short of pleasant.
Vash recoiled in horror to see a short woman dressed in a white dress, blue pants, white boots, and a white cloak with her dark blue hair in a crop that wore a stern expression and a tall woman dressed in a green and brown cloak with long light brown hair trailing past her shoulders with a pleasant smile. "The insurance girls! Damn it! I thought you lost me!" he shouted in frustration. Wolfwood looked to Vash and to the women and commented, "You have good navigational skills to find this guy!" "Don't encourage them Wolfwood." he said. "This is your battle, dandelion. It's not for me to decide who wins." Wolfwood objected. "Don't call me that!" he shouted. "See ya, I hope you come back in one piece." Wolfwood said and departed from the saloon with a chuckle.
"He's right you know." the short woman said. "Oh come off it, Meryl. All I want is to be left alone." he said with a frown. "The name dandelion fits you like a glove, Vash. But, we can't leave you alone because it's our job." the tall woman said politely.
:"You can't deny your duties can't you?" he asked with a sigh. "Nope, and we will watch you like a hawk." Meryl said firmly. "Or a vulture..." he muttered. "What was that?!" she shouted. "Oh nothing..." he replied innocently. "I'm going outside for awhile." the tall woman said. "Okay don't be long Milly." Meryl said. "Alright..." she said left the saloon in trudging pace.
Milly had always been the woman with the sunny disposition but this occasion had been different. Her baby blue eyes always took in the vibrant environment but they were partially covered with heavy eyelids. The tears flowed freely upon her soft cheeks as she settled herself upon the bench in a slumped position and faced the sandy ground.
I can't believe she forgot my birthday...Maybe she thought so much of the job and did not bother to plan for it...she thought with a sniffle Five minutes passed and her thoughts were interrupted with a woman's voice that spoke softly: "What's with the waterworks, kiddo?" The baby blue eyes traveled from the ground to identify a red-headed lady with her hair in a braid dressed in a green off the shoulder ruffled blouse and black cargo pants standing before her. "It's nothing. I don't want to share my troubles with a stranger." she answered with a sheepish grin. "Well then we can fix that. I'm Iris Bloodworth." she said. "Milly Thompson." she said and grinned despite her tears. "I bet you're crying for a good reason. Nobody can be upset unless it was something very painful." Iris said. "That's true. I think you might have better things to do." Milly said and turned away with another sniffle. "I've got all the time in the world, Milly. Mind if I sit with you?" she asked. "Sure, go ahead." she said. Iris sat at Milly's right side and tilted her head in concern. "Just let me guess...someone had forgotten something very important to you. Like a birthday?" she asked. "How did you know?!" Milly exclaimed with surprise.
"It's a gift." she replied casually. "Tell me Ms. Bloodworth, why did you stop to talk to me? I'm nobody special." Milly asked in curiosity. "I just can't stand to see anybody cry and there is something special about you." Iris replied. "What is that?" she asked. "It's your name. It means honeybee." Iris answered. "I didn't know that!" she exclaimed.
"So how about I take you out to the carnival at the other side of town? There might be some cute teddy bears you could win at the games." Iris offered. "You would do that for me?!" Milly exclaimed once more. "Like I said before, 'There is something special about you.'" Iris said.
Milly began to like her new friend and enjoyed the time being spent at the carnival.
She truly excelled in the game of shooting the tin ducks that traveled upon the conveyer belt in one of the booths. Iris giggled to see Milly carry away her prize that had been a huge five foot pink bear upon her back. She also marveled at how Iris fetched the goldfish with the small strainer in a blink of an eye. The maze of mirrors in the fun house were a hilarious segment for them as Iris made Milly laugh hysterically by raising her hair above her head in front of the stretch mirror and shouted in mock horror: "My head is on fire!!!!" Each of them had traded intervals of supervising the prizes and riding upon the loopy rollercoaster. It's nice to see her happy. I hope that Vash and Wolfwood don't worry about me for being away longer than usual. Iris thought and grinned in satisfaction, as she watched Milly participating in her third ride on the rollercoaster.
The women spent two hours at the carnival with cotton candy in each of their hands as they departed from the gates. "Did you have a good birthday, Milly?" Iris asked.
"Yes, this one tops them all! Thanks to you!" she said cheerfully. "I'm glad that you're happy again and every person on their birthday has the right to be spoiled rotten." Iris said modestly. "So where are you headed?" Milly asked. "The Rockerfeller Saloon." she answered. "Hey! I'm going there too!" Milly exclaimed. "Fate surely has a wicked sense of humor!" she exclaimed as well.
Iris and Milly returned the saloon ten minutes later and beheld Vash and Meryl sitting upon the cushioned stools at the bar counter with stern facial expressions and crossed arms. "Uh..." both uttered in unison with sheepish grins. "Where have you been?!" Meryl demanded. "We were worried sick!" Vash exclaimed. "Hey, we were out for a good reason." Iris said calmly and gently nudged Milly in the ribs. "That's right. Today is my birthday and she came to my rescue and took me to the carnival." Milly said confidently. "Milly....I had no idea...I just must have...forgotten." Meryl said softly while looking to the floor in shame. "It's alright I forgive you, Meryl, " Milly said gently with a hand on her shoulder and offered her the cotton candy, "Here you can have this. I'm very full." Both Iris and Vash grinned to witness this little sincere moment. "You did the right thing, Iris but next time let me know where you are." Vash said.
She smiled and nodded, "I'm sorry that I made you worry, yet you do know that I can watch out for myself." "Yes, but it's like you said. I'm a worry wart." he said and chuckled. Milly's birthday certainly had been full of surprises but the best gifts of all did not come in a package, instead they were sincerity and friendship.
(( The song is entitled Back in Baby's Arms by Patsy Kline)). .