Crack! Gun Shot At The Movies

Crack!  Gun Shot At The Movies

I have to tell you about the "Cra-ack!", the gun shot in the movie theater.  No, it had nothing to do with the gun store down the road called Crack Shot, nor a mass killing.  This was an explosion at the Mounds Mall Movie Theater.  

No sense in even trying to remember the name of the movie.  It’s clean left my mind.  There were several of us; we were between the ages of 15 to 22, and we were with cousin D.K.  D.K. was in a wheelchair and it was her choice to go to the movies.  But she can't take ANY of the blame. I call her D.K. here to protect the innocent.  She was innocent of all showtime tomfoolry.  It was ME! 

 

In those days, our family couldn’t afford the theater’s popcorn and soda pop, so we brought in our own snacks.  And…in those days soda pop only came in glass bottles.  After we’d selected our seats, arranged and rearranged ourselves to sit down, we began passing out the snacks and drinks.  Keep in mind, this was a no-no.  You did NOT bring in your own refreshments!

 

And I probably shouldn’t have.

 

This bottle of 16 oz. diet Pepsi was tucked under my left armpit under my coat.

Well, it slipped.  I couldn’t grab it fast enough.  

It slipped from my armpit right out of my coat.  It fell between the seat and the armrest.  It crashed to the floor.  It hit that cement floor like the sound of a shotgun in a closely confined metal shed!  

KA-BANG!  Shatter!  Splat!  

Liquid and glass, everywhere!

 

And us?  We sat there stiff as mannequins; stiff as mannequins in double-starched clothes, hoping to high heaven know one knew it was us.  We weren’t moving.  We weren’t speaking.  And we weren’t looking at each other.  

And to this day, I don’t know how we didn’t give ourselves away by our laughter as we were exiting.  We couldn't snicker or giggle, no, nothing as quiet as that, we couldn't keep it in.  With hands over our mouths, and heads bent down, we laughed out loud.  

How did the ushers not know where that awful, ringing-from-the rafters sound came from!

KA-BANG!  SHATTER!  SPLAT!

 

But what a memory!