Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes by Dixie Cash Read Free Book Online

time it is. I couldn’t sleep.”
    Buddy scowled. “And you thought a Tejano band would improve your chances?”
    â€œNo. I accidentally turned it on.” She stifled a giggle. “I’m so sorry I woke you up.”
    The words were no sooner out of her mouth than the phone rang.
    â€œOh, that’s okay,” Buddy grumbled. “I needed to answer the phone anyway.” He picked up the receiver. “Overstreet,” he snapped.
    Debbie Sue could hear a voice broadcasting through the handset. Edwina. “What the hell’s going on over there? You two having a party?”
    â€œDebbie Sue couldn’t sleep,” Buddy said. “Here, I’ll let you talk to her.” He passed the receiver to Debbie Sue, flopped back onto the mattress and covered his head with the pillow. Debbie Sue pressed the phone to her ear. “Hey, Ed.”
    â€œI can’t sleep, either. Been awake all damn night. Case of the nerves, I guess. Did Buddy go back to sleep?”
    â€œHe’s fixin’ to. I’ll see you in the morning, Ed.”
    â€œDon’t hang up. Listen, I’ve been laying here thinking about the plane getting hijacked.”
    â€œGood Lord, Ed, why would you worry about something like that?”
    â€œSame damn reason I worry about anything. In case it happens, I want to be prepared.”
    â€œYou mean like getting yourself right with God?”
    â€œHell, no. I always stay on His good side. There’s just some folks you don’t want to piss off…. I’m talking about the guys that try to take over the plane. Let’s agree to fight like hell. Nothing’s off limits. Eyes, balls and dicks go first.”
    â€œEyes, balls and dicks?” Debbie Sue repeated. “In that order?”
    â€œPromise me, Debbie Sue.”
    â€œOkay, I promise. Eyes, balls and dicks. Now, let’s hang up and get some sleep.”
    â€œOkay, shug. I feel better with that out of the way. ’Night.”
    Debbie Sue shook her head and replaced the receiver in its cradle.
    â€œEyes, balls and dicks?” Buddy muttered into his pillow. “What was that all about?”
    â€œDon’t ask. But the whole world can rest easier now.”
    Â 
    Morning came. Following a gourmet breakfast in the hotel dining room, the foursome started for the airport. With the skill of a local cab driver, Buddy maneuvered their crew-cab pickup from the downtown Fort Worth hotel through the snarl of rush hour traffic and multistory overpasses.
    Debbie Sue sat in awe of the crush of cars and people and the bustling activity. “Every time we come here, they’ve built a bunch of new freeways and a bunch of new buildings.”
    Half an hour later they reached the airport entrance. Not having been to DFW Airport in several years, she had forgotten that it looked more like a small city than an air terminal. She might have thought she had reached another one of thosebedroom communities that lay between Fort Worth and Dallas if another snarl of traffic hadn’t given the airport entrance away. “How in God’s name do people drive in this friggin’ nightmare every day? I’d lose my ever-lovin’ mind.”
    â€œYou’d get used to it after a while,” Buddy said.
    â€œThat’s what they said about leprosy,” Vic added with a laugh from the backseat.
    Debbie Sue turned to join in on the joke, but stopped short. “What’s wrong with Ed?”
    Edwina’s head lay against the back of the seat, her mouth loosely hanging open.
    Vic reached over and gently swept her bangs from her forehead. “She didn’t sleep worth a damn last night. Not to mention she took medication to keep her from being airsick.”
    â€œGood Lord, how much did she take?” Debbie Sue asked.
    â€œI’ll wake her up.” Vic gently shook her shoulder. “Mama Doll. Baby, wake up.”
    Edwina raised her head and blinked.