The Dropped Ice Cream

I cannot bear the ice cream van`s tunes. 

There is one in our area which plays `The Teddy Bear`s picnic` the same tune often played in my 1970`s childhood. It has no association with any happy memories.

 If she was in a good mood my Mother may decide we were having an ice cream when she heard the jingle, trouble was she was so slow at finding her purse and fiddling with just enough coins and giving me instructions what to get and `If they haven`t got that I`ll have`....that by the time I got out the door often he`d served the queue and was almost

ready to pull away. 

One Summer`s day during a time when she had been in her most venomous and easily provoked phases, the hot topic of the moment being lack of funds, she sent me out to the van with just enough money for 2 basic cornets.

The van was parked just around the corner so I bought the ice-cream`s and set off quickly, holding one in each hand. But somehow one of them was sitting precariously and as I walked it wobbled off and plopped onto the pavement, I carried on walking, what was I to do, it was beyond saving and with mounting dread each step bought me closer to facing my Mother with one empty cone and having to explain what had happened.

Given her recent moods I knew I would be for it and she would be raging for ages, if she worked herself into a frenzy it could mean the stick or insisting my Father give me a good hiding on his return from work.

My little heart was racing and my tummy all butterflies, I went up the drive and then had the brain wave of licking frantically at the empty cone and the drips of ice-cream around the edge. I pushed the door open and she appeared at the top of the stairs, eyeing me as I licked the empty cornet, me eyeing her back to see if she had been fooled...

"HAVE YOU DROPPED THAT BLOODY ICE CREAM YA LITTLE MADAM"

No I squeaked in a small voice

"YES YOU BLOODY AVE, YOU NAUGHTY GIRL, YOU GET RIGHT BACK TO THAT VAN AND TELL IM TO GIVE YOU ANOTHER AN DON`T DARE COME BACK ERE WITHOUT IT"

Her face was evil and she was gritting her teeth, a bad sign, I quickly gave her her own cornet and shot out of the door....

What if he`d gone, what if he didn`t believe me, what if he said no and I had to pay, I had no money....

Now we lived in the Black Country and many speak with a really thick dialect as did the Ice cream Man I was about to find out. As I rounded the corner, praying he was still there, I saw him sitting in his cab. As soon as he saw me he jumped up and leaned out of the window as I hurried up the road towards the van,

"You`ve dropped ya ice-cream a ya me bab " he says "I`ve bin waiting for ya to come back, ere ya are, av another"

And just like that he whirls another ice-cream onto a cornet and hands it to me with a big smile. I must of thanked him 10 times.

He would never of known what he saved me from that day.

I got back to find her waiting for me and when she saw I had another one she looked almost disappointed.