Family Time

 

Egon sipped his beer and listened to Hank Williams wail about the evils of a cheatin' heart.  He grimaced at the bitter taste, wondering why anyone would voluntarily consume the stuff, let alone in the mass quantities pouring down the throats of the bar's clientele.  Still, it hadn't seemed wise to refuse when the burly bartender had slammed the outsized mug in front of him.  Shifting to glance around the smoky room, he sighed slightly and wistfully fantasized about facing down a Class Five.  Anything other than a roomful of liquored up cowboys and cowboy wannabes.

He turned towards the light touch on his shoulder, tensing for trouble before he saw the familiar snub nose sprinkled with freckles and dancing brown eyes of his favorite cousin.  "Edith, how wonderful to see you again."  His dawning smile faded as he took stock of her gilded cowgirl appearance, all silver and white from the top of her ten gallon hat to the tips of her high heeled boots.

"Egon.  Thanks for coming.  Come sit down and I'll fill you in."  Edith grinned widely, then tugged on his arm, leading him unresistingly to a nearby table.  Her eyes gleamed impishly as she surveyed her handsome cousin.  "I need some advice on how to handle telling Mom that I'm taking a break from college to ride on the rodeo circuit."

Egon choked, sputtered and tried not to gag at the feeling of beer bubbles going up his nose.  "Please tell me you're joking.  Please."  His face fell as she shook her head and patted his back.  "Edith, you have a magnificent mind.  Your studies in mycology show an unparalleled genius.  You could very well make quantum leaps in our understanding of fungi, in medical applications.  Just your work on eliminating allergic reactions to penicillin-"

Edith shook her head violently and placed a finger over Egon's mouth, cutting him off abruptly.  "You know I only did that because you hated having to take those huge substitute pills when we all had chicken pox and you couldn't take penicillin.  And it's not like I'm turning my back on academia permanently."  She took Egon's mug and drained it, then held up two fingers to signal the bartender for more.  "I thought you of all people would understand."

"Why me?"  Egon barely managed not to flinch as the bartender's ham-like forearm slammed another tank-sized beer in front of him.

"Come on, Egon.  You know everyone expected you to go into physics as your life work.  They were calling you the new Einstein, and MIT was ready to add a new wing to their physics lab just to accommodate your huge brain.  I remember your mom's gently bred hysteria at the thought of her baby chucking the cosmos in favor of chasing goblins and ghosties and boogeymen, not to mention your dad's reaction."

Egon stalled for time by taking a long swallow that somehow didn't taste as bad as he thought it would.  He could hear the jukebox tinkling something about exes in Texas as he scrambled to come up with a reply.  He'd known his family was surprised, but he had never thought that they could have felt so strongly.  His work in the paranormal had seemed a natural extension of his work in physics to him and it had never occurred to him that others might not see it that way.  "So why the rodeo?"

Edith's face lit from within, radiating happiness.  "I love it.  There's no feeling on earth like coming out of the gate, staying on the back of bronc through grit and sweat and muscles.  Even when you fall, it's worth it."  She came out of her enthusiastic trance long enough to notice that Egon had polished off his beer and hers.  "Hey, Egon, you okay?"

Egon's smile had taken on a distinct tilt, but his words were sincere (and only slightly slurred) when he said, "It sounds like what you need to concentrate on is your passion and let your mom worry about herself."

 

Peter looked up from "Vampire Women from Mars" in disgust.  "Jeez, it sounds like there's a cat in heat out there or something."

Winston nodded and turned up the volume in time for a blood-curdling scream that still didn't manage to drown out the noises from outside.  Ray went to the door to see what was making the racket.

"Um, guys, did you slip me one of Egon's molds for dinner or something?  'Cause I don't think I should be seeing what I think I'm seeing."  Winston and Peter abandoned the couch to peer around Ray's shoulders.  None of them could quite believe what they saw.

Egon, the steady, sane and stuffy member of their group, was staggering down the street, swigging from a long necked bottle of Bud, one arm around a brown haired woman wearing a spangly cowgirl costume.  The strange yowling was coming from the throat of one Dr. Egon Spengler, entreating mothers not to let their daughters grow up to be cowgirls when he wasn't giggling or drinking. 

The three Ghostbusters looked at each other, their faces stiff with shock.  They remained that way for a single frozen moment before Ray dove for the camera, Winston grabbed the camcorder and Peter collapsed into helpless laughter.

 

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