They Got Me Again

Sam & my nephew Johnny are doing a pretty good Cliff-Jeff impression.

"I'm always trying to talk him out of doing stupid stuff," Sam said.

Yeah. I know the feeling.

Once again, when it all comes down, I'm the one who gets burned.

Johnny and I often play billiards on the phone. He takes a shot, sends it to me, and we play a few games in a row.

I hadn't heard from him in awhile.

Until Friday night.

I was in the airport, waiting for the captain to show up so we could leave. I received a text with the billiard table and a message.

"Remember when you said you'd get me a plane ticket for my birthday?"

"Sure," I answered. "When you thinking of coming up?"

I missed my shot and sent the table back.

"Tomorrow," he said in the return text. He had made 3 shots.

I made one, missed my second shot.

"Plane tickets don't actually work like that," I said. "It's pretty expensive to try and buy a ticket the night before."

He made 3 more.

"You'll be all right," he answered.

I made the trip home and Kathy greeted me.

"They're still scheming. We aren't paying that for him to get here."

Johnny was now on the Face-Time making his case.

"Don't you want to see my beautiful face?"  He asked.

"Not for a grand!" Kathy said.

The conversation continued until mid-afternoon on Saturday.

Johnny arrives early Monday morning.

"That's a pretty nice birthday present," he said. "Of course it'll be worth every penny."

Of course.

Now to fill the freezer.