He's a Killer Queen of Drag

The next morning, Captain Dither showed up early. Getting fully dragged up took time. Today, was the live show and the parade. Captain Dither knew he had to look good for the audience. Other than a deflated bounce house, a couple of partially put together booths, a dunk tank, and one car. The parking lot appeared to be a ghost town.

It was a big expensive looking car in the parking lot when Captain Dither arrived. He assumed that either Nick or his dad was there. Captain Dither hadn't seen Nick or his dad since the meeting where they came up with the drag show idea and decided to run with it for a video.

Just as Captain Dither was about to pass the car, a window rolled down revealing the driver. It was Nick's dad. "You... Dither!" He called from the car. Come here for a minute.

Captain Dither gulped. He still didn't feel all that comfortable around Nick or his dad. Not since the punch. "Sure." Captain Dither put on the well worn customer service smile and approached the car. "Sorry about punching Nick that one day. I was... not myself."

"Huh?" The old man commented. "Don't worry about that." He comforted Captain Dither. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to go for a ride with me. I know you need to get ready for the parade and the live performance and all that. I just wanted to talk for a little while."

Captain Dither looked longingly at the rear entrance of the production studio. "Sure." Captain Dither agreed. He didn't want to be rude to Nick's dad. He went around to the passenger side of the car. When he heard the thonk that meant the car was unlocked, he got in. Captain Dither buckled himself in and prayed for safety.

"Relax." Joe said, trying to ease Captain Dither. He felt the energy that Dither was giving off. "I only want to talk." Joe put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking lot.

Captain Dither stared out the window at stores and restaurants that had passed. It had been awhile since the old man had last spoke. Captain Dither let Nick's dad take all the time he wanted to plan out what he was going to say. Dither could only imagine what was going through the old man's mind.

"So..." Joe began. "Captain Dither is it?"

"Yeah." Captain Dither chuckled. He couldn't shake the nerves that he was feeling.

"Is that a family name?" Asked Joe. "I've never heard of anyone with the name of Dither before."

"It's actually a nickname." Captain Dither smiled remembering it. "My brother gave me the name. I get easily distracted when doing stuff. I Dither. You get it." Nerves got the best of Captain Dither and he babbled on. "When I first arrived at the studio, I was a delivery driver. I was supposed to deliver donuts, but I got invited to watch the filming and ended up eating all the donuts that I had delivered."

"I see." Joe said, raising his eyebrows.

Captain Dither rambled on. "I watched the performance for awhile. A couple of the actors quit in the middle of it. Nick looked around the room to find a quick fill in and I just happened to be standing right there. He asked if I was interested and I said 'sure.'"

"Go on." said Joe. He was chuckled at the Adventures of Captain Dither as told by Captain Dither.

"So I joined the crew!" Captain Dither became animated at that point. He talked with his hands, gesticulating at different points in the story. "We had to reshoot a few scenes from the first movie where I joined to account for me being there. Then, I got to meet Miss Jay. She's a trip and a half. But absolutely a doll. When I was a delivery driver, the more unique a customer I had, as long as they weren't dangerous or anything, the more I remembered and liked them. I told them the story about this house I used to deliver to that had this horrible drive way that was full of craters and potholes."

Joe winced at the driveway. He had owned a house with a really bad driveway. Nick's brother Ryan lived there, currently. Joe kept the fact about the house and the driveway to himself. Captain Dither's change in mood lifted Joe's mood as well. "Have you always enjoyed working for the studio?"

"Not always." Captain Dither admitted. "For awhile, when Uncle Bob and Mama Witt were still there, things weren't always the greatest."

"Why?" Joe was curious to know what was going on. He'd seen the lull in producing films and also noted to extra cleaning costs. He knew something was going on and that Nick wasn't telling him everything.

"Well," Captain Dither started. "Robert and Whitney were playing pranks. Calling meetings and not showing up, making huge messes for other people to clean up. For some reason, they loved to torment me. That's what happened the day I punched Nick." Captain Dither gulped and looked over at Joe. "I am terrified of seagulls. Robert and Whitney found out and set up that stupid stunt. I'm impressed that Nick was cool about it though. I still feel embarrassed by the whole thing."

Joe smiled. "Your honesty is refreshing." He confided in Captain Dither. "You don't often find regular people so honest, nowadays. I hired Robert and Whitney. I knew them when they were much younger. They used to babysit Nick when he was little. I guess, they felt they still had the right to push his around and get away with it." Joe sighed, audibly. "I'm glad they quit. If they didn't quit on their own, I'd have let them go myself. I, too, was getting tired of their shenanigans."

Captain Dither stared, wide eyed at Joe. "I thought you'd be mad at me or something. For punching Nick."

Joe laughed outright. "No, Nick's a big boy he can handle himself. I was never mad at you. Neither was Nick. He and I both understood. Things got out of hand. You're good, Dither." Joe shook his head. "One of these days, you're going to have to tell me your real name. Captain Dither's cute and all, but I need a real name to associate with a face."

"Well..." Captain Dither blushed. "If you promise not to tell anyone or use it in public, I'll tell you. But only because you're so nice not to be mad at me for punching Nick."

Joe wanted to lean closer to Dither, but he was still driving. "What is it?"

"My real name is Dave." Captain Dither confided.

"Ah," replied Joe. "Thank you for that, Dave." He used a few side streets to turn them around and head back towards the warehouse. The parking lot looked a lot fuller. The booths were complete. The Bounce house was inflated. It looked like the final touches for the carnival were being put together. Joe parked in the same spot he was in when he beckoned Captain Dither over to him. "Are you looking forward to the parade and live show."

'I'm a little nervous." Captain Dither said. "But I plan on having fun. Either way, it's all good." Captain Dither got out of the car.

Joe waved. "Good luck and have fun. Nick's already inside. He spent all night working on the DVD that's being sold, today."

"Got it." Captain Dither nodded. "Thanks." He ran off to get ready for the parade and show.