Ice on the Sidewalk

Whoever left that shoe box sized ice cube on the middle of the street, must have known that people passing by would be glancing at it, and suddenly felt the coolness emitting from the inside of that melting crystal. That pool of water gathering around the ice cube, that was the best testimony of how hot the day was, and what people felt like when walking down the streets.

"Seriously, I'd not anticipated anything from such a simple and boring thing," that old man said, his short silver hair glittering, and so was the sweat dripping down on his forehead.

"I thought it was pretty cool," Tyler said, moving the basketball around his waist, "literally."

"Where'd you get that chunk of ice, Mr. Simon, if you don't mind us asking?" Jacky stretched the black sweatband on his left arm and used it to absorb the sweat gathering around his neck. The sweatband was too wet and couldn't do its job, and it smelled dirty.

The old man, Mr. Simon, sitting on a chair next to the top opening freezer, slid aside the pane of glass and dipped his hand into the cold current. He lifted a bottle of water and gave it to Jacky, his hand slightly trembling. "The thing is that I don't quite remember," his voice weak with sour, "let me think." He took out another bottle and gave it to Tyler, and then his hand returned to the freezer, uncertain about the ice. He closed the freezer. "I made it myself, of course, why wouldn't I."

"How?" Tyler closed the lid on his bottle, which he had only took a sip to moist his fat lips and warm throat.

"And more importantly, why?" Jacky asked, looking at the ice on the street, melting under the strong sunlight. He gave Tyler his water bottle and walked outside, and stripped off his sweatband and squeezed it dry. His sweat, accumulated over the day, went splashing to the ground. Steamy white vapors were visible for a few seconds.

"Men, I could smell your stink over here, what're you doing that for?" Tyler yelled.

Jacky walked back into the shop, standing next to Mr. Simon. "Gotta do that sometime anyway."

"As I was saying," Mr. Simon continued, "I was washing the freezer yesterday night. And poor me, I have not even a mind to remember draining the water after I'd finished cleaning it. I just flipped the switch, and like anyone would expect, the water had turned to ice when I got up this morning," Mr. Simon chuckled, his drooping, wrinkled neck moved in waves. "So by the time I realized there was an ice block in my freezer, I went over to Larry's place and paid him five bucks just to come over and dig the ice out."

"So, you did pay Larry five bucks, huh?" Tyler wriggled his brows at Jacky, "alright."

Jacky reached inside his back pocket and took out a crumbled five dollar bill. It was wet. He gave it to Tyler, but not look at him. He couldn't stand looking at Tyler's fat lips cracking up into a wide smile.

"Sure, a man should always be compensated for his work. Anyway, after Larry had dug that ice out, we could not find a place to throw it away, so I thought I would just let the ice melt on the street and then that would be it. I didn't know it would take so long for it to melt," Mr. Simon said.

"How big was the ice?" Tyler asked. His fat lips didn't make him smarter than normal people.

"As big as this freezer," Jacky said.