NO LAUGHING MATTER

Brenda laughed merrily while sitting on the hood of Ed’s truck.  It appeared that she had not a care in the world, so merry was she.  But clearly, in Ed’s opinion, she had lost her mind.  Ed, on the other hand, was thoroughly disgusted with Brenda and her whole fit of merriment.  She was, after all, sitting on the hood of his truck, which was inconveniently parked halfway into her own living room. 

Ed paced from one end of the trailer to the other, struggling to keep his rage from erupting again.  Again, he walked by the grill of the truck, delivering a sidelong glance at the damage as he did each time he walked by, wishing he had bought a Chevy instead of this piece of crap Dodge.  His anger continued to overpower his good sense.  He would ask himself later just exactly what he was thinking when he drove his truck into the side of his own home, however, momentarily, all he could do was stomp around what was left of his living room while demanding that Brenda tell him what was so damned funny.

Brenda could see that Ed was in a bad place, but try as she might, she just couldn’t stop laughing.  Each time she tried to explain, she erupted in uncontrolled laughter once again.  Sitting there on the hood of Ed’s truck in her own living room added to her mirth…  It was all too funny.  Knowing she needed to get a grip on her laughter, she focused on a faded spot on the far wall where their wedding picture had hung for the last 19 years.  The picture was knocked from the wall upon impact and the faded rectangle on the wall was a silent reminder of what was now in splinters on the floor.   

A knock on the door heralded the arrival of the deputy.  Knowing that Mrs. Busybody next door never misses a thing, there was no mystery about how Deputy Duffus came to be at the door when neither Brenda nor Ed had made a call.  In her heightened state of mirth, it was just one more thing to send Brenda into fresh gales of laughter.  Ed shot Brenda a warning look as he walked over to open the door.

Deputy Davis is a joke.  The locals call him Deputy Duffus.  Struggling to bring her laughter under control, all was lost when Brenda saw his star shaped badge.  The badge reminded her of MANtana and sent laughter bursting from her pursed lips again.  Deputy Duffus was aware that people laughed at him behind their hands, like Mrs. C, but he had endured it because he was sworn to uphold the law and protect and in his opinion, that did not allow for him to have personal feelings.  Now here is Brenda - laughing in his face… 

While Brenda struggled to bring herself under control, Deputy Duffus directed his attention to Ed.  Ed readily admitted to Deputy Duffus that he had intentionally driven his truck into his home.  Upon further questioning, Deputy Duffus came to understand as Ed explained his frustration.

Ed came home from work ~ tired, hungry and dirty.  Brenda was on her computer and had not started supper.  Brenda was telling Ed about a big MySpace blow-up and some hate blogs that were really more funny than hateful.  All Ed wanted was a shower, some food and to relax.  So, Ed asked Brenda to stop long enough to fix something to eat while he took a shower.    When Ed finished his shower, he saw that Brenda had not moved from her chair.  She was laughing so hard at a youtube video that she didn’t even notice Ed stomp out.  It was when Ed was returning home with a sack of cheeseburgers that he lost it.  In a rage, he aimed his truck at the very spot where Brenda should be sitting at her computer. 

When Brenda returned from her quick potty break, the sight of Ed’s truck in the living room sent her into uncontrolled laughter.  Both Ed and Deputy Duffus agree that it is time to send Brenda to the funny farm!