JOHNETTA'S

Garvin walked out the door of his sandwich shop with his final customer of the day and bid him a good evening. As he turned to walk back into the empty store, his gaze was drawn upward to the newly painted sign above the old wooden door. The ordinary black and white sign printed in large block letters – Garvin’s Market - had been replaced a couple of years ago. In its place was a sign with scripted red letters against a gold background displaying the store’s new name – Johnetta’s. Normally, the sight of the new sign would set his teeth on edge, causing the short gray hairs on the back of his neck to bristle, but tonight was a melancholy moment. 

You see, there is a story behind the sign. Johnetta was the pampered and much loved goddaughter of himself and his wife. Even as a child, she began to develop a love for cooking. As she got older it became her dream to share the counter with Garvin at his store, which held an outstanding reputation for his roast beef sandwiches. At first he was flattered by Johnetta’s interest in his business, and might have even considered sharing the coveted roast beef recipe with her until she informed him of the full extent of her plans. She wanted to use part of his counter to sell her own creations as she built a customer base; most likely from some of his long time customers that she might lure over. She informed Garvin that once she had a following, she would like to have her own restaurant a couple of blocks down the street from his store. She would call her restaurant Johnetta’s. Common sense told Garvin to decline this most lucrative offer, but his wife cajoled him into giving her this opportunity to pursue her dream. Not wanting to lose his customers to a competing restaurant, he came up with a plan. He would change the name of his restaurant to Johnetta’s if she would agree not to compete with him. 

Much to his surprise the partnership caused the business to flourish. Curiosity about the new name brought in customers by the drove and they enjoyed sampling her variety of cuisine. The partnership was cemented by their common love for the homeless. Each night, they would pack up the remaining food and take it down to the people who lived in the tent community under the 4th street Bridge. Although, they could pretty well estimate the amount of food that would sell on a particular day, they somehow came up with an overage. It was rumored among those who knew them well that they purposely made more food that they could sell in a day.

Today, however, he couldn’t bring himself to visit the homeless community. One year ago today, the partnership suddenly ended when Johnetta was killed in a tragic accident. His son had offered to stop by the store and make the delivery for him.

Recently, Garvin had received an offer to sell the store. It would be enough to clear off all his debts and allow him to comfortably retire. Then just this afternoon, he had received a letter regarding last month’s inspection of the store. The repairs needed to bring it up to code were quite costly; to the point that he might need to consider remortgaging his house.

As Garvin was pondering this situation, he trudged through the store, past the counter and made a sharp turn into the cooler. As the frigid air slapped him in the face, he suddenly remembered to push the wedge between the bottom of the door and the frame, but it was too late. In the few seconds that it took to fumble for the piece of wood, the door slammed shut. Could this be the sign that he was looking for? Should he sell the store after all? 

Suddenly, feeling encompassing warmth, he panicked, fearing that hypothermia had already begun. Then he heard her voice. “Over here.” Could it be her? He turned his head in the direction of the soft light that formed an aura around the face that he knew so well. “Don’t sell the store!” “I’ll show you where the treasure is.”

Now, he was scared and elated at the same time. There is a story to be told about the treasure. When Johnetta was a child, Garvin would often tell her that her father had a treasure buried in his garage. Being gullible, and with a child’s trusting innocence, she believed him. She would often mention, to her mother, that she should dig up the treasure that Garvin said was in the garage. Even though her mother told her that he was just teasing, the seed had been planted and she would wonder about it from time to time.

The time of reckoning came when Johnetta was around nine-years-old. She and her friend decided to uncover the buried treasure. Her father was not a wealthy man, so the garage floor was simply dirt covered with gravel. The girls spent most of the day digging until the hole was about three feet deep and four feet wide. It was getting late and Johnetta’s friend had to go home. Her father came home a little earlier that night, before she could tell him about the hole in the garage. Unfortunately, he encountered the hole when he backed into the garage and his right rear tire dropped into it. Not realizing the size of the hole, he thought that he could take a stab at the gas pedal and possibly rock the car out. He tried once without success. The second time, he almost made it out. On the third try, he pressed the gas pedal a little harder and nearly got free, but he had taken his foot off the gas pedal just a second too soon. The car suddenly flew back and bounced out of the hole, crashing into the wall of the garage, thus lodging the rear bumper and part of the trunk into the garage wall.

Her father’s homeowner’s insurance refused to pay for the garage and threatened to report the claim as fraud. The agent was appalled that he would concoct such an unbelievable lie then have the audacity to blame it on an innocent child. The agent from the auto insurance arrived the next day with the tow truck. He was denied payment from the auto insurance because they also suspected fraud, or at the very least, extreme negligence. Since he apparently could not see a three foot hole, his policy was cancelled until he could submit an eye test from his optometrist. 

“Come Garvin, I want to show you the treasure that you have built over the years.” He found himself transported to the tent community where there were families with children waiting expectantly for the evening meal from his store. The children were involved in a game of tag while the adults exchanged conversation. “See that young man over there? Remember how emaciated he was a month ago? He looks so strong and healthy now. He had his own construction company at one time. He is looking for work. He could probably get the store up to code”

“Dad, are you in there?” Garvin could hear a voice in the distance and someone pounding on the door. He was shivering uncontrollably and his head was throbbing. “Hold on, I found the key.” The door flung open just as Garvin was getting up on his feet. He couldn’t get out of the cooler and into the warmth fast enough.

“Come on son, let’s get this food delivered.” “Did I mention that I’m beginning to like that new sign after all?”