It was a sunny day.
The slum area was as hot as usual. The house was small, by no means luxurious. The husband was away, while the wife was at home, pregnant with a child.
It has been 8 months, perhaps 8 months and a half, since she knew she will one day give birth to another human being for the world. It also has been that long she has not stopped praying for the future of the child, so that this child may not share the same future of the parents’.
Fourteen days passed and the child was finally born to this world with the cost of his mother’s life, fulfilling her final wish.
“Honey, he should be named Raymond…”
Thus, the little boy was named Raymond. His father at first blamed him for the death of his love, but he began to realize that pointing fingers will not solve anything. An uneducated trash scavenger he might be, but he knows what is simply wrong to do in this world- including blaming people for mistakes they didn’t do.
One day, as he brought the little guy along with him in his scavenging trip, the infant started crying. He was crying very loudly the father panicked and didn’t know exactly what to do. Was he hungry? Was he sick? Was he feeling uncomfortable? The father finally concluded that the baby was hungry. He began searching for food nearby, but he couldn’t find anything- not even leftovers usually scattered all around the place.
All he could get his hands on was this big white chunk of Styrofoam. Getting more and more desperate since little Raymond kept on crying and crying, he immediately carved an ice cream toy out of it and tried to divert the baby’s attention. Surprisingly, the little guy started smiling and stopped crying. The father sighed in relief.
“Ice cream, eh…”
Nine Years Later
I heard that story a few days ago from Dad. He said that he didn’t blame me for everything that happened with Mom, whose face I’ve never even seen before… well maybe except from photos, and those photos are really blurry I couldn’t quite figure how she looks like. Well, Dad said that I inherited my crimson eyes directly from her, but aside the eyes I look roughly a mixture of both of my parents’ physical features.
It was a sunny day. The slums are hot as usual; sweat has been rolling nonstop from my cheeks down to my chin. This is already the third time Dad asked me out on a scavenging trip, and I sort of understand why our family is so poor. We couldn’t afford much but, although I sometimes wished we have a better life, I’m grateful for everything we have now. Especially Dad, he’s the best father ever! He’d tell me stories before I go to sleep and always joke around with me during some of the harshest times. He’d protect me from all kinds of harm, from stray dogs to sharp objects. He’s also the best doctor ever; once I got a high fever and he gave me a lot of water to drink and a cold towel on my forehead, and the next morning I already felt better. But I guess the best thing about Dad is that he had always kept me dreaming of a better future. He wasn’t ashamed to say that his job as a scavenger is not a good job, and he wants me to do something better than that. He made me read those books he picked up on the trash starting from Mathematics, History, English and also Science. Dad somehow believed that knowledge is the key to everything, which I still don’t get… how, by knowing much, would you get money? Still, I just don’t want to let him down, so I did what he asked me to do.
One day, during one of our trips, I saw something that I couldn’t take me eyes off of. The vague memory in my head from my childhood suddenly started to take form; I had seen this thing before somewhere…
“Get your ice cream here!”
The small van looked colorful. It was really enticing, and for a moment I spaced out thinking about what could be inside the van. Some kids about my age started to surround the van, asking this and that. One of them looks really fat, with fancy clothes and a… is that a watch? Yeah, a watch is strapped around his right wrist. It looks like he led this group of other kids, all fearing him like he’s some sort of boss.
As the crowd became smaller, that kid caught me in the eyes. He suddenly started to approach me and I only stood still. When I realized that he’s going in my direction, it was too late for me to run away.
“Hey, you!” his voice was loud and scary. It’s almost obvious now why the other kids are afraid of him.
“Y-yeah?”
“You see this?” he showed to me his chocolate ice cream stick and I had to fight the urge to grab it and sprint.
“Yes, so?”
“You want it?”
Is this a trick question? Is he really going to give me the ice cream? I was silent for a while, not knowing what to say.
“Hey, you’re not mute, right? Answer me!”
“Yeah, I want it.” I tried my hardest not to show any sign of hunger or desperation.
“Well, bad news! You’re not going to get it! It’s mine!” he boomed in laughter. “Do you really think I’ll give it to you? Not a chance, dirty kid! Let’s go, guys!” the little gang left.
I didn’t know why, but at that time I felt overwhelmingly sad, and tears started flowing from my eyes.
“Stupid… don’t… cry…” I had to say this to myself. I didn’t want to cry just because of a stupid thing like ice cream.
“Hey, are you okay?” I heard a man’s voice.
“H-huh?” I looked up, my vision still blurred by the tears. I didn’t recognize him at first, but he’s the ice cream guy at the van. The brown hair, glasses, and his goatee made him really noticeable.
“Are you okay, son?” he asked me again.
“Yeah, I guess,” I rubbed the tears off my eyes. “I should be going,” I said, turning away.
“Well, I saw the whole thing with the fat kid,” he said and I stopped at my tracks. “He’s a nasty one, that guy. You know what, here’s something to cheer you up,” he smiled and handed me a packed chocolate ice cream stick, exactly the same with the one that kid used to tease me.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have any money to…”
“Just take it,” he said. “I don’t know why, but I saw something in your eyes that tells me you’ll make a good ice cream maker one day. As to where did that thought come from, I have no idea,” he laughed. “What’s your name, kid?”
“Uh… Raymond.”
“Raymond… nice name you have there. Well, I have to go now, Ray! See you when I see you!” he winked and left me alone.
I couldn’t quite believe what just happened, but now I’m holding this stick of ice cream, and somehow that’s all that matters now. I unpacked it, took out the ice cream and, after staring at it in awe for a few seconds, tasted it.
Mr. Ice Cream
Original Idea Vedro El Citra
Written By Chris Zhou
My mind went blank, but not exactly that blank. I savored the feeling; the coldness, the melting sensation, the milk, all combined into a serving of delight. The chocolate adds the contradictive pleasure, being bitter and sweet at the same time. I tried to eat as slowly as possible, not wanting this feeling to end anytime soon. Still, all which starts must end; the ice cream finally vanished in a matter of minutes. My stomach and tongue protested in demand for more, but I know that I actually couldn’t afford another one, the previous being given to me for free.
As I went back I saw Dad and he asked me how my day went. I was too happy about the ice cream to explain it shortly I ended up rambling for 30 minutes just to describe the melting sensation. He only smiled when he saw me trying to find the right words.
“By the way, Ray, who gave you that ice cream?”
“It was the ice cream guy in the van! He was so kind!” I smiled wide.
“Van? What van?”
“The ice cream van! You know, the one that goes around the town!”
Dad looked puzzled. “Can you tell me how it looks like?”
“Well it was colorful; there were two big stripes of red and orange dots all over the car. If I’m not mistaken there was one big letter also on the van…”
Dad’s expressions suddenly changed. “Was it possibly a big T?”
“Hey, that’s right, Dad! How did you know?”
He smiled. “You’re really lucky, son. That T stands for Tabidus, one of the top manufacturers of ice cream. People say that Tabidus is in fact the best in not only in our town, but also across the country. That might also explain why the price of the products is rather expensive.”
“Really? Wow…” I said, feeling half surprised, half expecting the ice cream to be that expensive since it tasted heavenly.
“Yep, Tabidus puts passion to their work, making sure that each pack has equal quality. Nothing misses their eyes.” Dad smiled.
“How do you know so much about them, Dad?”
“Well Ray, I happen to enjoy ice creams as much as you do!” he laughed.
I dreamed about having so much ice cream around me and I eat and eat until I can’t eat anymore. It was a pleasant dream!
I can’t really shake my mind off the ice cream thing, so today I decided to visit the same place where the ice cream van was yesterday. Well, if I’m lucky enough…
The ice cream van was going steady, and as the van guy looked into the rear mirror, he caught me off guard. Oh, crap! I tried to run for it, but he already stopped the car and was heading to my direction. Man, this isn’t going to be good…
“Hey, you’re Ray, right? What are you doing there?”
My left hand holding the garbage bin lid and the right hand holding some leftover ice cream pack, I didn’t really know what to say.
“Don’t tell me you’re…”
“I-I… I was scavenging. I do this for a living.”
“Thank God! W-well not that I’m thanking God for you being a scavenger or anything, but for a second there I thought you’re going to eat that…”
“Uh, yeah, I was planning to do just that…”
“Oh no, you can’t do that! What if you get sick?”
“Well, I eat almost anything I can find in the trash, and I’ve got quite good at picking the right stuff to eat,” I said, actually confused as to why he cared about what I eat.
“You know what, let’s get a place to sit and I’ll get you something.”
I didn’t know why I followed that man, but at that time I felt that I could believe him. He led me back to the van and as we sat down, he offered me a pack of ice cream.
“I’m sorry, but this is all I have in this van,” he smiled.
“Why are you doing this?”
I know it’s quite ungrateful for me to say something like that after actually being given another free ice cream, but I needed to know what’s behind his actions.
“Quite paranoid are we, now?” he laughed. “I guess that’s normal. Well, as I said yesterday I saw a glimmer of ice cream in your eyes. Feel free to laugh, but I’m the type of person that simply does what I believe is right to do,” he smiled.
“Glimmer of… ice cream?”
“Yeah, somehow I feel that you have something special when it comes down to ice cream. Hey, you know what, let’s try it right now!”
He returned the pack, and took out another pack which is even more colorful. “Catch!”
I caught it and unpacked it quickly. The color of the ice cream was yellowish, and it smells quite funny.
“Most people don’t know what the flavor of this ice cream is before looking at the catalogue. Let’s see whether you know,” he said.
I gave it a try. A sharp sensation hit my tongue, followed with an overwhelming sweetness. The taste was also a bit sour, so I concluded that this must be a fruit flavored ice cream. Although mixed with milk, this taste doesn’t seem too strange to my tongue…
“Is this… banana?”
“Bingo! Good job, kiddo. I doubted you’d get it right, but it looks like you have sharp senses there!” he laughed again. This man is really cheerful, apparently.
“Banana makes good flavor for ice cream, but why add too much sugar?” I asked. I can’t help but to notice how overly sweet it was.
“Eh? Too much sugar?”
“Yeah, this is too sweet. I think banana is already sweet enough, especially if people are looking for the bananas inside this ice cream.”
“Really?” he looked at the package and started reading the ingredients. “Well, it is indeed true that this particular ice cream flavor has been getting mixed reviews from the consumers. Some say that it’s too sweet it actually covers the flavor of the banana.”
“Yeah, and the smell was also funny. I didn’t notice at first, but it smelled like lemon instead of banana.”
“Wow, your senses aren’t just good, they’re amazing! Yeah, the company decided to spray some lemon essence because to some the smell of banana could be overwhelming.”
“Why did they do that? Don’t people who buy a certain flavor definitely like that certain flavor?”
To my surprise, I started discussing about the ice cream flavors with him, I totally forgot about the scavenging that I had to do.
“Ray, I have to go now. My shift is over now, but you can find me again here at the same time tomorrow. Hey, you know what?” he asked.
“Uh, what?”
“Why don’t you work for me?”
“Me? Working for you?” I couldn’t quite believe my ears.
“Yep, I’ll pay you per hour and I’ll throw in a free ice cream every day. Well, how about it?”
This seemed too good to be true. “What’s in it for you?” I asked.
“I’ll be honest with you, kid- your senses amaze me, and I want to know more about this ability of yours.”
“Uh…”
“Well, just give it a thought. If you’re interested, be here at 3 PM. Off you go now, I have to drive this thing somewhere else!” he laughed and opened the door of the van.
I was about to go out when I realized something. “Um…”
“Yes?”
“I haven’t known your name…”
“That’s right, you haven’t known my name, and I most certainly don’t want to be called the Ice Cream Van Guy,” he laughed. “You can call me Vedro.”
“Okay, Mr. Vedro.”
“Nah, just call me Vedro or Ved without the mister. I don’t like titles,” he chuckled. “Now you really have to get going!”
As I left the van, he hit on the gas pedal and vanished in a matter of minutes.
Me… working in an ice cream van… paid per hour… free ice cream… I think I need to sit down.
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“You’re here!” Ved smiled as he saw me.
I talked about it with Dad yesterday and, to my surprise, he doesn’t mind.
“You seem to like ice cream so much, so go for it. Besides, you’re going to get paid anyways, right? This will also help you to know more about this world other than just scavenging.”
“But you’re really okay with this, Dad?”
“Duh, sure!” he laughed.
“Well, if you say so, Dad…” I said, although I couldn’t help but to feel happy whenever I remember the offer.
Ved quickly showed me around the van.
“Now, the thing with ice cream vans is that sometimes kids could surround the van, and they get bored while I have to get them the flavors they want back and forth myself. To make it worse, some of these bored kids actually leave. So what I need you to do now is to help me by passing me the right ice cream flavor, hopefully doubling the speed of service. You understand me so far?”
“Yep,” I nodded.
“Now I have made certain codes for the ice cream flavors, since I’m thinking of getting an assistant recently. But since I have you here now, let’s go over the codes right now.”
He showed me a list of codes, mostly initials of the flavor like C for Chocolate and B for Banana, but since the van has multiple ice creams that have the same initials like Chocolate and Cherry, he put C1 for Chocolate and C2 for Cherry. The different types also made it more difficult, because there are ones that go on a stick, the ones in a cup and also the cone ice cream ones. The letter coding wasn’t that complicated, but it’ll take same time getting used to.
“Try to memorize all of them by heart, because on certain days things could get quite rough here,” he said in a more serious tone.
“I’ll do my best,” my eyes quickly re-scanned the list and I started cramming as many codes as I could into my head.
“Well, are you ready? There’s no turning back when I start turning on this speaker…”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, let’s do this!”
“Alright, that’s the spirit! Here we go!” he turned a switch and all of a sudden the jingle of Tabidus started playing loudly.
TABIDUS~ THE BEST ICE CREAM IN TOWN~
Upon hearing the ear catchy tune, kids began to come from all directions. They come one by one or in small groups, but it only takes about twenty minutes until the van’s already crowded with kids.
GET YOUR ICE CREAM HERE! ONLY IN TABIDUS~
“C1S!”
I looked at the list, searched the freezer and passed a chocolate ice cream stick to Ved. He seemed so busy he doesn’t even have time to say anything else other than quickly shouting more and more codes.
“VCO, C2C!”
This means a vanilla in a cone and a cherry in a cup. I passed the two packages to him.
“SCO!”
It keeps going on for about an hour, but the crowd gradually decreased. When the time shows 6 PM, only a few kids are left. The selling finally ends at 6.30 PM.
“Phew, that wasn’t too bad. Good job for a first-timer, kid!” Ved smiled.
I must say that this kind of fast-paced job is completely different with my daily scavenging activities, so I was a bit slow. My eyes are trained to differentiate items, but this will definitely take some time getting used to.
“Yeah, but I need more training…” I mumbled.
Ved laughed. “Well, we’ll take care of that later. But for now, enjoy your salary and ice cream. Catch!” he threw me some money and an ice cream cup. I caught the two things, and quickly checked the ice cream first. As I opened the package, a sweet smell leaked out and all I could think of was to taste it immediately, and so I did.
“You know, this vanilla ice cream is even better than the previous two Tabidus ice cream I ate before!” I said.
“Yeah, the company puts pride in all their ice cream flavors, but if there is one that they’re really proud of is their vanilla taste.”
“Can’t argue with that…” I continued eating.
That is the point where everything began for me and my ice cream journey. Everyday Ved would wait for me at the same place at 3 PM, and we’ll face waves of kids together for about three hours, sometimes three hours and a half. Also, for every ice cream I tasted, I made sure to note down the characteristics I felt special about that certain flavor. I also found an old ice cream maker in the back of the van, and I decided to give it a churn after I got Ved’s permission. With it in my arsenal, I got myself a new hobby other than just tasting and noting things: mixing! I tried to mix certain kinds of flavors like chocolate with strawberry or vanilla with banana. I deduced that the main starting point of ice cream flavors was the Neapolitan combination: chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. The classic mixture also has the highest selling point with the children, and it’s also the easiest to tinker with. Still, the Tabidus Neapolitan was missing something, but I couldn’t quite get my hand on it…
Before I knew it, it’s been three months since I worked with Ved in the van. I now don’t only remember all the codes, but I also now make ice cream at my spare time, sometimes trying new flavors based on certain fruits I see interesting.
It was a fine Sunday when I decided to visit Chinatown for a change. Dad was resting at home after the small incident involving a stray dog and a metal stick broken to pieces, but he insisted that I should go out. So here I am, doing nothing much but looking at the hustle and bustle.
With nothing much to do, I finally decided to visit the grocery store to look for some fresh fruits for Dad. As I went around the store, I caught a glimpse of canned fruits. It wasn’t really interesting, but a certain fruit got my attention.
Jack… fruit? Jackfruit? What kind of fruit is that? I looked at the can and read the description: “Cheap imported jackfruit for daily use! A tender and crunchy texture will leave you wanting more!” I had to process that for a moment. Tender and crunchy?
The price was 2 dollars per can, so I thought I’d grab two cans with me. After getting a couple of apples with me, I decided to head home.
When I arrived home, I opened the cans and I almost fainted from the smell; it was overwhelming. Still, as I tried it, the descriptions apparently wasn’t lying about the texture of this fruit. This fruit is very starchy and fibrous, but I could see it tender if prepared in the right way. Well, the first thing that popped in my mind was how to make an ice cream out of this. My first thought was to just blend the fruit and extract the essence and then make ice cream out of it as usual, so I took out the ice cream maker I borrowed from Ved and started working. I already picked up a used blender a few days ago and apparently it’s still working, so I gave it a whirl and then put the whole thing in the ice cream maker.
After it’s done, I gave it a taste… and it was weird. It wasn’t nearly as good as its raw form, so this one’s definitely a failure. Maybe I have to mix this what other flavors? I tried to combine it with some of the ice cream stock I had. I tried vanilla, but the result was too sweet; I can stand the sweetness, but I don’t think most people can, judging from my experience of selling ice cream. I also tried blueberry, thinking that perhaps a mixture of fruit flavors would be good, but the only thing it did was ruining the flavor of both fruits.
I was on the verge of letting this one slip when I saw a cup of chocolate ice cream sitting idly. Yeah, right… mixing chocolate with fruits? Really?
After churning for a while, I finally ended up with a cup of chocolate jackfruit ice cream. Since the color was very dark brown, I wasn’t even enthusiastic about this. I was ready to give this one up too judging from my previous failures, so I wasn’t expecting much when I took a spoonful…
Wait… this is good! I tried another spoonful. It’s really good! I quickly looked at the pack of chocolate ice cream I just used. It was dark chocolate, namely Night Bliss from Tabidus. This product wasn’t even that popular, how on earth…?
Then everything became clear. Night Bliss wasn’t popular because, for some people, it’s too bitter. But when I combined jackfruit with this, it gives the sweetness that it needed, plus giving that fresh fruit aroma that everybody loves. Ideas sprang to my mind immediately on how to make this hybrid flavor even better, and I rushed to retrieve my notes and started writing…
The next day, as usual I found the cheerful Ved for our work on the van. I was eager to show him my new ice cream recipe, since I know he’s experienced at this. So after work, I gave him a cup to taste.
“This isn’t by any chance poisonous, right?” he asked with a skeptical expression.
“Yeah right, like I’d poison someone who gave me work and everything!” I said, half-laughing.
He chuckled. “Just kidding, Ray. Here we go now…” he gave it a taste.
“How was it?” I asked in anxiously. “This is my first time making something like this, so if there’s anything please tell me honestly. Just be blunt, it’s okay, I won’t be mad or anything. I’m still…” I wanted to continue but Ved raised his hand asking me to be quiet.
“This is… what do you make this from?” he asked, his expression unfathomable.
“Jackfruit… it’s made from jackfruit and dark chocolate. I also put in small pieces of jackfruit to strengthen the flavor as well as giving something to chew on. I wanted to preserve the rough flesh of the fruit.”
“Do you have a name for this particular flavor?” he asked again, his face still unreadable.
“I thought about it all night, but I found the name that I think should be good this morning. I named it Black Jack,” I smiled nervously.
“Raymond…” Ved spoke very slowly and seriously, as if I just murdered someone “…you’re a GENIUS! This ice cream tasted amazing! The balance between the dark chocolate and this whatsoever jackfruit is just perfect; the dark chocolate did well in covering the aroma of the fruit, and the fruit sweetened the chocolate, completely erasing the weakness. This is one amazing flavor you’ve just created, Ray!”
I had to say something like thank you, but I was left dumbfounded since I was overjoyed that Ved would compliment me that much.
“Hello, earth to Ray?”
“Ah, yeah, Ray here!” I automatically shouted.
“No need to yell, kid!” Ved laughed. “You know, keep working on your ice cream making skills. You have huge potential!” he smiled.
“T-thank you very much, Ved! This is only a first attempt, and I’m definitely planning on making more flavors,” I said with a wide smile.
“You’re welcome and good luck! Still, don’t forget that you’re still working for me, so no making ice creams on duty!” he laughed again.
I laughed with him. “Yes sir, no making ice creams on duty.”
As I was about to leave, Ved asked if I brought more samples of Black Jack. I gave him all I made yesterday but when I asked him what for, he only winked and said, “I’m going to have this accompany my midnight TV.”
Well, time to go home now!
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“Hey, sis!”
“How’s the van drive, Ved?”
“Oh, it was crowded as usual. The company sure is thriving, you know!” Vedro said with a smile.
Gabrielle smiled at her younger brother and said, “If only you’d take part in it.”
“But I am taking part in it- I drive a van to sell the ice cream to children,” he said, trying hard not to sound dismissive.
“No, silly… I’m talking about real participation. Not just by being some sort of van driver, but up there with me in the Executive Board.”
“You know I don’t do those kinds of things, Elle.”
“You’ve never even tried!” she said, a bit annoyed. “We made Tabidus start and now you’re driving a four-wheeled box selling cups and cones… it just doesn’t make sense, Ved.”
“Well, it doesn’t have to make any sense, then. I’m happy with what I do right now, okay?”
Elle sighed. “One day you’ll see that you’re much better off up here than down there, you hear me?”
“Yeah, yeah…” Ved proceeded straight to his bedroom, bringing a bag of ice cream with him.
“Ved, wait a second.”
Ved stopped. “Now what?”
“What’s that?” she pointed to the paper bag.
“Oh, this? I hired an assistant, remember? Apparently Raymond, the little guy, is quite good; he made a new flavor of ice cream that I find amazing for his level. Ray made something wonderful out of the not-so-blissful Night Bliss,” he chuckled.
“What flavor?” Elle reacted quite defensively. She takes pride in her ice cream team.
“Dark chocolate with jackfruit. The kid named it Black Jack, and quite a fancy name it is, just like the taste.”
“Jackfruit? What fruit is that?”
“I have no idea, but it looks like he got it from Chinatown. Well, they do sell a lot of strange fruits there…”
“Ved, can you leave a cup for me?”
“Yeah, sure… I’ll put it in the kitchen. I’m off for some sleep!” he left for his bedroom.
Elle checked the small ice cream cup that Ved left in the kitchen. The color wasn’t appetizing and neither was the smell, but Ved said that this tasted amazing. He must be losing his senses after working for a year already in that van, she thought.
But when she gave a taste, she had to pause for a moment.
“This…” she took another spoonful, and another, and another… and she finally finished the small cup. As much as she hates to admit, her brother was right; this so-called Black Jack was amazing.
Later that evening, she made a phone call to her personal assistant.
“Hello, good evening.”
“Good evening. This is Gabrielle. Assemble the researchers at the company tomorrow morning at 9 AM. I’d like to have a word with them.”
“Yes ma’am. Is there anything else?”
“…I guess that’s it for now. I’ll contact you if there’s any further change of plans. Good evening.”
“Good evening.”
Elle flipped her cell phone, hanging up.
No one is going to know. Vedro will not mind; at any rate, this is all for the sake of the company.
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Uh, what time is this? It’s really bright outside. I took a glance to the clock, and saw the short hand of clock pointing to 12… Twelve? Twelve in the day?
Dad was already up and about scavenging in the usual parts of the town. I rushed to catch up with him.
“Dad, sorry!”
“I don’t like the idea of you waking up this late, but since you seem really exhausted yesterday I’ll let this one slip,” he said, with a stern look.
“Yeah, I’m really sorry about this one. I won’t repeat it, I promise.”
“Good. How’s your ice cream work going?”
“Well, it’s been three months, and I’m gaining steady money from it.” I smiled.
“I’m glad to hear that. How’s that guy- Vedro, if I’m not mistaken? How’s he treating you?”
“He’s been a great supervisor! I learned so many things from him.” I said.
“It seems that everything is going well with your work, Ray. Just remember to always do your best in whatever you do, you hear me?” he said with a smile.
“Roger!”
We did what we usually do every day, and without notice, it was 3 PM already. Time sure flies when you’re busy. I said goodbye to Dad and went to the usual spot where Ved drives his van every day. To my surprise, Ved didn’t show up. Sometimes you could hear the Tabidus jingle around, but I didn’t hear anything around the place where we usually work. Some children are already even there, waiting for the ‘ice cream car’ to come, but Ved did not come. I waited for a couple more hours, but apparently Ved is really not showing up today, so I decided to go home.
For the next few days, Ved didn’t show up too. I was puzzled; he had never acted this way before. I tried asking Dad once if he had ever seen a Tabidus van driven by a guy with glasses and brown hair, and he also said that it’s as if the van suddenly disappeared without a trace for the last few days.
One week passed, and I still go to the same place every 3 PM, hoping that nothing’s wrong with Ved. As I wait, I heard that familiar jingle I haven’t heard for too long now…
TABIDUS~ THE BEST ICE CREAM IN TOWN~
I hurried to the van; the only thing in my mind was to interrogate Ved for not showing up this past week. When I finally approached that van, the driver’s door opened and I was astonished. It wasn’t Ved.
“Want some ice cream, kid?”
“Uh, no, but what happened to the previous driver?” I asked.
“Sorry? What previous driver?”
“You know, Ved? Vedro, that’s his name. What’s with him?”
“As far as I can remember, I have been driving this van for years. There was no driver called Vedro.”
“You’re joking, right? Vedro! The guy with brown hair, red-rimmed glasses, and a goatee! I’ve been working for him since three months ago!”
“I’m sorry, kid, but there was never any Vedro, even on the list of my substitute drivers.”
“You’re lying. Where is he?” I couldn’t believe all of this.
“There is no Vedro. Now if you’re not going to buy any ice cream, please move. Some of the kids are already heading here.”
I saw a bunch of kids whom already noticed the van and started running to my direction. This is just stupid, really stupid.
As if the disappearance of Ved wasn’t enough, while I slowly move away from the van, I heard that guy’s voice from a loudspeaker.
“Welcome! Get your ice cream here! The newest entry from Tabidus: Black Jack! The best chocolate ice cream mixed with the tropical jackfruit! For this special release promo, we’ll give you your 21! Buy 2 and get 1 for free!”
I couldn’t quite believe my ears. I turned to face the van and I saw the new ice cream from Tabidus, my idea being put up there without asking any permission from the maker! They even used the name I thought up!
Without thinking anything else, I ran. I ran away as fast as I could. I’ve never been this freaked out before in my entire life, but all I could think of was making a cup of simple chocolate ice cream to eat. My tears started falling automatically, but that’s pretty much the least I care of right now.
I arrived at home half-crying, half-furious.
“Son, are you okay? Ray?”
“I-I…”
“What happened to you? Why are you crying?”
“V-Ved… i-i-ice cream… my i-idea…”
And before I knew it, I began crying very hard.
It took me two hours to finally calm down. I finally told everything to Dad, and he listened intently without cutting in, which is good because I don’t feel like telling the story twice.
“So now Vedro is nowhere to be found and your idea has been stolen by Tabidus?”
I nodded.
“Well, there has to be an explanation why that Vedro guy would suddenly disappear. As for the stolen idea, just let it go, Ray.”
I nodded again at the first statement, but I couldn’t believe what Dad said about the stolen idea.
“W-Why?”
“So your idea is stolen, but what can we do?”
“Report them to the police! They stole my idea!”
“And will the police believe you even if you tell them?”
I sat in silence. They have to believe me, it’s my idea… they just have to…
“Look, Ray, this is how the world goes. The rich has the power to do whatever they want, including using somebody else’s idea for their own profit. If we don’t have enough money, then we can’t do anything about it. You can make more recipes, right? If you feel hurt that they use your idea, then just focus on making ice cream better than that one! That’s pretty much what we can do…”
I didn’t want to listen to Dad but I had to admit that, to an extent, he was right.
“Let it go, Ray. As for the matter of Vedro, I will look for him. I’ve been through all the parts of this city; I’ll find him in no time!” he smiled. “Now smile for me a bit, will you? You look awful when you frown.”
Dad’s voice could always ease my sadness, and so I finally smiled.
“There you go! Now let’s just do the usual thing we do every day, okay?”
“No, I don’t feel like doing it today…” I was still too shocked to do anything.
“Oh well, if you feel like joining me then come to the usual spot, okay? I’ll be waiting for you.”
After saying that Dad headed outside and suddenly I got a slight chill.
“Dad?”
“Yes, Ray?”
“Be careful out there.”
He chuckled. “Thanks, son. See you in a while.”
Three hours later, I decided to join Dad. It’s unfair to leave him alone with the scavenging stuff, and I believe everything is going to be fine. When I arrived at the usual spot, I saw an odd crowd busy chattering. I inadvertently heard them talking.
“What’s going on?”
“A car accident happened just now. Too bad the car ran away before anyone could remember the number plate or anything important. The unlucky guy is almost dead, from the looks of it… tough luck for some scavengers.”
My heart skipped a beat and I rushed inside the crowd. To my horror, I recognized the person who’s been hit.
“D-dad…?”
Dad coughed, lying down in a puddle of his own blood.
“Dad!”
“Ray…”
“Y-you’ll be fine, Dad! I’ll take you to the hospital now!”
“N-no, Ray…” he smiled. Why is he smiling? Why? “I feel as if this is already time…”
“NO, THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS ALREADY TIME!” I yelled at him. Stupid Dad!
“Ray, listen to me… you have to be strong…”
“YOU LISTEN TO ME, DAD! We’re going to go to the hospital and that’s that!”
“Shut up, Ray, and just give me time to talk, would you?”
“I-I…”
“Ray, do what makes you happy. I’ve been having you accompany me scavenging for nine years now, but I know you find ice cream to be your passion. So do it well… if there’s one thing people love in food, it’s the emotional experience that they get when they eat. The same goes for ice cream… make… people… happy…” his voice began to falter.
“D-dad? What emotional experience?”
No reply ever came.
The day afterwards was cloudy and cold. I crouched alone in front of my father’s tombstone, trying hard not to cry. I must be strong.
“I’m sorry about your father.”
A familiar voice came from behind me. Vedro was standing behind me.
“You.”
“Yeah, me.”
I stood up slowly. I’m actually surprised at my own composure.
“You disappear just like that and now you appear again. What do you want?”
“I… I wanted to say sorry.”
“Sorry about what? Sorry for suddenly vanishing? Sorry for stealing my idea?”
“Well, all that, but…”
“I’m going.” I headed for the exit of the graveyard. To hell with all of this; I don’t care anymore.
“Ray, wait!”
I was about to run if only he didn’t mention something that made me have to stop.
“I have an offer for you!”
“What offer?”
“I can only tell you about the offer if we sit down somewhere, so will you join me?”
I was silent for a while. “Fine.”
We sat down in a park. It seemed like an eternity since I’ve talked with Ved, but he hasn’t changed a bit.
“Well the story’s quite long, but feel free to interrupt me anytime if you want to.”
“Just start…” I said weakly.
“Okay then.”
He told me about how he had helped starting Tabidus with his sister and I was quite shocked, since Ved doesn’t really look like the type to be able to accomplish anything that big. He also told me about how this sister of his has been quite persistent in asking him to join the ranks of the executives in the company, but he kept on rejecting the offer. He said he was much happier on the road, meeting children and sharing happiness. He chuckled as he explained how his sister is a very ambitious person about this whole ice cream business, and how she single-handedly made Tabidus one of the most successful of its kind.
“So yeah, sometimes she crosses all kinds of lines. This is also where I’m at fault, since I forgot about all this and left your Black Jack in her hands…”
“And she stole it.”
“Yeah, she took your idea and mass produced it as the newest entry of Tabidus.”
“Even the name…”
“Yeah, even the name,” he said in a repulsed tone. “I’ve seen her do many things for the company, but this one’s downright theft. I couldn’t stand this, not when I know you’re brimming with potential. This is why I wanted to make you an offer. Work for me, but not as an assistant- I want you to work for me as head ice cream maker in a company that I will start this month. Everything’s already going fine, and all we need right now is an ice cream maker!” he ended his proposal with a wide smile.
I smiled, but I could only say, “Well, I don’t care anymore, Ved.”
“What do you mean you don’t care? Ice cream had always been a big part of your life!”
“I-I’m just a kid, alright! I’ve had enough with all this!” I finally let out all my frustration.
“Ray…”
“All I want to do is just a good life with Dad, but now even he’s…” I stopped.
“So are you going to give up?”
“Give up?”
“Yeah, give everything up. Forget about ice cream, forget about everything, and just go back being a scavenger. Can you do that?”
“I…” Ved got me right in the heart.
“If that’s the way you want it to be then go ahead, do it. But if you’re thinking what I’m thinking, that is to simply make ice cream and make people happy, join me.”
I suddenly remembered what Dad said. Make people happy.
“Well, if you somehow changed your mind, give me a call. I’ll leave my card…” he slowly stands up and goes through his wallet for a business card.
“Ved, wait.”
“Yeah?”
“How much could you pay me?” I asked, finally with a strong resolve.
Vedro smiled. “Well, let’s discuss that in my office, shall we?”
As I entered the big building in the middle of the city, I was surprised about almost everything I saw. It’s like a whole new world! Ved accompanied me to enter his office.
“You know, Ved? When I started working, I don’t want to be known by people… I’d like to stay unknown.”
Ved raised his eyebrows. “Why is that?”
“So that people won’t recognize me outside, and I could know their honest reactions about the ice cream I make.”
He laughed. “No problem with me, Ray.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The condition in the office was really tense.
“Ma’am, sales has been decreasing lately. It’s because of your brother’s company, ironically…” her assistant showed some charts.
Elle slammed the table with her fist. “Damn it, Ved! What is it that you want, really?”
“Ma’am!”
“No worries, I… I’ll find something to work this one out. Tabidus will not lose to any company, not to mention my own brother’s!”
“According to our research, everything started to affect our sales when GLACE released their Neapolitan, which outsold ours.”
“Who’s making ice cream for them?” Elle asked.
“Well, ma’am…”
“Well, who? That man or woman must sure be an outstanding individual. Have you tried to persuade that person to join us? Tell that we’ll pay triple his or her current salary right now.”
“Ma’am, the problem is… we don’t know who makes ice cream for GLACE.”
“What?” Elle couldn’t believe her ears.
“All we know is that the maker goes under the alias of Mr. Ice Cream. This person is like some sort of myth; no one really knows whether this person is male or female, or even if this person actually existed in the first place. Some even say that GLACE is actually using machines and an advanced artificial intelligence called Mr. Ice Cream.”
“There’s no way a machine could beat our world-class researchers… this Mr. Ice Cream has to be a person. I don’t care how, find this maker’s real identity and inform me as soon as you can. You’re dismissed.”
Elle went out to find some fresh air, and she decided to visit a GLACE stall. Now that she thought about it, she hasn’t even tried the Neapolitan ice cream that everyone’s talking about. When she saw the stall and the selection of ice creams, she had to let out a chuckle. Each of the flavors was associated with a human trait, as if ice cream can raise certain emotions when you eat it. Confident Blueberry, Joyful Vanilla, Persistent Chocolate… she browsed through the menu and finally found the Harmony Neapolitan.
“One cup of Harmony Neapolitan, please.”
“Here you go!”
As she opened the cup she saw the appealing color of the three main flavors, and took a mouthful.
Her mind went blank for a second. This… this is harmony indeed.
The three flavors had strengthened the traits of each other. In some Neapolitan ice creams the problem is that you take three flavors of ice cream and put it together in one package without trying to find out how this will affect the entire taste, but the problem doesn’t exist in this cup. It’s as if the three flavors were mixed into one complete concord, yet each flavor still bear distinct characteristics.
“How was it?”
As she turned her head, she saw Vedro.
“I owed a lot to Mr. Ice Cream for this one; the guy improved on what is almost impossible to improve. You could go wrong with this Neapolitan any day, but he actually did it…”
“So Mr. Ice Cream is a he?”
“Duh, it’s a mister! Of course it’s a he!” Ved chuckled. “Oh yeah, he told me to tell you something if I met you.”
“What?”
“When GLACE finally beats Tabidus in terms of sales one day, he wants you to admit in public that you’ve once stolen his idea.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah, you heard me right. He wants you to admit that you stole his idea… his Black Jack, to be exact.”
“Black Jack...? Sorry Ved, but I couldn’t even remember this so-called Black Jack, and you can tell him to stop dreaming since GLACE will never beat Tabidus. I’ll admit whatever he wants me to admit if that ever happens,” she laughed. “I have to go now, Ved. Just remember that even if you’re my brother, I’m no longer pulling any punches since you’re getting real annoying these days. See you.”
Ved smiled as his sister walked away from the small stall. Someday, sis... someday in the future...
Ten Years Later
I started the engine of the van; it’s been ten years without notice. It’s not too much of a triumph, but I can still clearly remember what happened last month…
“Ma’am, are you sure about this?”
“Shut up! Let me just get this over with!”
Gabrielle stood up at the press conference after a series of issues about copyright infringement had circulated around Tabidus. Last month, GLACE had finally beaten Tabidus in terms of sales by two million dollars. Around the same time, issues started revolving on how Tabidus had stolen recipes in order to maintain the sales as well as the unique products. These kinds of talks only add the strain to an already worrying number of sales, which contributed to how the thirty-years-old company lost to GLACE.
Questions were flying from all sides, but Elle tried to remain composed.
“I have a few statements I need to say, so please be quiet for a minute.”
All the buzzing came to a quick halt, but that only made her more nervous of what she has to say next.
“Tabidus is doing a bit unwell this month, and this kind of breakdown is normal for such a big company. We’ll be back up in no time,” she said, trying to sound as calm as possible.
“You know that’s not what they’re here for, don’t you?” a voice came from the back of the room. It was Vedro, accompanied with a guy she doesn’t know.
“I… I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” she forced a smile through.
“The copyright infringement case- that’s what you’re here for, aren’t you guys?” he asked the journalists. Surprisingly, most of them nodded.
“To be honest, I don’t have a clue on what this man is saying. Tabidus had never been involved in any case of copyright violations,” she said.
“Well, there is a victim right here, right now! Someone whose recipe had been stolen by Tabidus!” Ved said loudly.
As Ved said that, the room went to an uproar. He quickly approached her and whispered to her. “Admit it, Elle, or things will get worse. I’m not lying about bringing the victim.”
“So this is what you want, destroying your own sister’s company?”
“I don’t want to ruin Tabidus, but your ways have hurt many people. Admit it!”
“…”
“Isn’t ten years enough to show that? GLACE has defeated Tabidus by millions of dollars, and I’m more than willing to show you how we arrived at this point without doing anything bad to others!”
“I… fine! If that’s what you want!”
I made a left turn in the intersection. The press conference ended with a shocking official statement by Gabrielle, regarding how she admitted to have stolen ideas from not just me, but also some other people I didn’t know. With it, Tabidus entered a rather grim state, but Ved said that the company will recover, so I don’t need to worry.
Ah, I arrived at the same spot I met Ved ten years ago. This place sure is packed with memories, to the point of making me forget to turn on the jingle switch. Well, better be ready and turn it on now!
GLACE ICE CREAM~
Children began to surround the van and I started preparing the ice creams. Who knew I’d end up doing Ved’s job in the end? I laughed to myself. While I was busy taking orders from the kids, I saw a girl staring at the van. She was around sixteen years old, and quite attractive too if only she wasn’t wearing those tattered clothes. Is she a…?
She was still looking at the van intently when suddenly she noticed that I was looking at her. As she was about to run away, I quickly approached her.
“Hey, do you want some ice cream?” I asked her.
She didn’t say anything.
“It’s okay. Here, just take it,” I smiled and gave her a cup of Persistent Chocolate. She was shy at first, but she accepted the cup and started eating, but she suddenly stopped.
“Is there anything?”
“N-no… it’s just that this is not bitter enough for chocolate.”
“I’m sorry?”
She cleared her throat and said, “This ice cream would definitely make me feel persistent if only this was bitterer.”
“Really?”
I had to try one pack myself. When I gave it a taste, to my surprise, she was right. It wasn’t bitter enough.
“Was I right? I hope Mr. Ice Cream will fix it soon,” she said, smiling at me.
I stood in surprise and felt really funny about all of this. I guess it’s my turn now, eh?
“Say, what if you work as my assistant?”
-fin-
