Once Again, Hick's Harem Beckons

Friday evening, Hick's phone rang. Once again, it was just as he sat down with his supper.

I could hear Hick's part of the conversation from the kitchen.

"Huh. Are you sure? It should be working. Turn it all the way up."

Then nothing. I didn't hear a goodbye. I thought Hick might be waiting for somebody to "turn it all the way up," and report the result. My first thought was that it might be The Pony, about a problem with his furnace. We were expecting single digit temps overnight for Saturday and Sunday. My second thought was that it might be The Veteran, who sometimes calls Hick while working on his truck.

Ten minutes went by, and I could no longer contain my inner Gladys Kravitz. 

"Who's that? What's that phone call about?"

"Just one of the crazy ladies from the apartments. She said her heater don't work. I know it works! I was just there on Wednesday, checking ALL of the heaters, in every apartment. They all worked. Including hers. I set them on 70, but apparently she turned hers down to 60. And now she say's it don't work! It's warmer in them apartments than 60. That's why it's not running. I told her to turn it up. I ain't heard nothin' back, so I guess it worked."

"Are you going to check on it? It's supposed to get REALLY cold!"

"I'll go by there tomorrow afternoon and make sure. But it was working fine when I tried it two days ago. She ain't gonna freeze. It's a second floor apartment. The ones above and below her have heat."

It's not that Hick is uncaring. Or is not performing the duties of his less-than-$300-a-month job. He had tested the heaters, and made sure they all worked. He was not going back to town Friday night to check on this one. He DID go on Saturday afternoon.

"She wasn't there. Nobody home."

"Huh. Maybe she doesn't have heat, and had to go stay somewhere warm!"

"I don't know where she was. But she ain't called back. I'm guessing it worked fine when she turned it up. If not, I guess she'll call me again."

At least this time it wasn't a fracas for Hick to break up. No police, unless that old gal called them to report Hick! He still hasn't heard anything about the Dog Lady and her nemesis. Which may be a good thing.