Big Jake

Jake is a guy who has certainly had his share of life's ups and downs. He often brings unfortunate circumstances on himself, as he is very outspoken and compelled to say what is on his mind. Seems like this gets him into a lot of hot water. I guess you could say he is not everyone's "cup of tea."

Jake and his buddies like to party hardy on "big game days" and holidays. The neighbors have seen them fire up the old grill and knock back a few cold ones from time to time. His neighbor, KC, A.K.A. crazy cat lady, becomes unnerved on these occasions. You see, Jake has always been an object of scorn as far as she is concerned. She blames him for everything that goes wrong in her neighborhood whether he is guilty or not and he seems to delight in anything that would remotely tick her off.

An especially favorite time of year for Jake and his gang is July 4th. One year they decided to put on a fireworks display which was truly awesome. There was a lot of hoopin' and hollerin' going on and none of them were feeling much pain. Crouched behind Joe Cool's bushes was none other than KC, herself, nervously observing the festivities as they began to unfold. All you could hear was the popping, crackling and whistling of the fireworks. I guess it was just more than KC could handle and she began to pace up and down the smoke-filled street. You see, she was afraid the hoard of cats in her house were going to go into "cardiac arrest." KC considered calling the P.D., but she knew what they would say, "After all, it is a holiday and people are just having a little fun!" To make matters worse, KC had an 85-year-old antique rose bush that she cherished. A spark fell from the sky and with a "swoosh" landed atop the prized rose bush. Needless to say, it became engulfed in flames and was burnt to a crisp. This was especially tragic for KC, as she said the treasured heirloom always bloomed on her birthday in December. Jake will never be forgiven for his role in this scenario.

KC had been on the verge of calling the fire department that fateful night, but she was able to put out the fire with the water hose. After all the drama that had ensued, she stomped off in a huff, glaring at Jake the whole way back to her house. As for Jake and his crowd, there was no way they could blame this one on the Mexicans!