Freez Kiwi

Danny's daddy always told him to stay away from certain areas of town. He told them they were dangerous and an unsavory element hung out there. Since as far back as he could remember Danny's ears were filled with warnings of the danger just a few miles away. His imagination made these areas out to be war zones torn apart by drug dealers and road warriors (he was a huge early Mel Gibson fan). His nights were filled with nightmares of being stuck in these areas and having to fight his way out after saving the president (he also love Escape From New York). There was absolutely no way that he would ever set foot in those neighborhoods. He liked being alive and not strung out, and he wanted to keep it that way.

When Danny was 16 he got his license and his daddy let him take the car out for a ride to celebrate. He left home, and got on the highway to go pick up his cousin so they could go do a few laps at the mall and score some Orange Julius and soft pretzels. It was going to be a good night. He got a few miles from home and without warning the car ran out of gas. He was luckily able to coast over to the side of the road, right before an exit. “Oh no” thought Danny. This was the exit that led to one of the bad neighborhoods that his father spoke of. He had no choice but to walk off the exit and find a gas station or a phone. Seeing as he was only 16 and his parents weren't insane, he did not have a cell phone. He shoved his hands in his pockets put his head down and began to walk. As got off the exit onto the main road he was surprised to not hear any screams or to see any buildings burning. Actually it didn't look that much different than where he lived. Luckily there was a small mart a block away. Out side the door Danny paused, drew in a deep breath and pushed open the door. He was instantly greeted by the shop keep who also informed him that there was not a pay phone, but that he was welcomed to use the store phone to call for assistance. Danny made his call to his deeply concerned daddy, and then continued to make some small talk with the cashier. He was a nice funny man, who even offered Danny a soda. It was like nothing Danny had ever seen before. He was shocked to discover it was from Lebanon. For all he knew there was nothing but bombed out buildings there and poor people. It was also kiwi flavored, which Danny had never heard of in a soda. He expected it to just taste overly sweet and “green.” He twisted off the gap and took a sip. It did taste a little sweeter than how he normally liked his soda, but he had to admit it really did taste like kiwi, which was a huge surprise. It did taste a little candy like, but in a way that wasn't gross at all. It was also a shocker to find out that this was a pop that actually had fruit juice in it. The soda was delicious and before he knew it the bottle was gone and his daddy was pulling into the parking lot. He thanked the cashier and left, quickly turning around to buy a sixer of this wonderful soda and gave his thanks again. As he climbed into his dad's car he thought of several things: A. This neighborhood really was kind of nice. B. He dad was a racist. C. His dad was really a jerk for letting him borrow the car with no gas in it, and without telling him the fuel gauge didn't work. What a prick.