Charles Wins a Trip

"Charles Nelson Reilly ran off to Jamaica with the fat ladies in Nick's Diner, while throwing up".
                                                                                      - Bovine Gossip
 
 

Charles Nelson Reilly reached for another air sickness bag, as once again his stomach threatened to reject its contents. Seated on either side of him were Celia Gerhardt and Charlene Unser, whom he'd known for years, and who were accompanying him on a trip to Jamaica.

They had all been regulars at Nick's Diner, often spending their afternoons there, eating Nick's famed fruit pies. Because of Charles' stomach problems, he managed to keep his weight down. This wasn't the case with Celia and Charlene, though, who had long ago decided that their rotund figures were a small price to pay, compared to the delight of Nick's pies. Especially his peach pie, with a scoop of ice cream on top. In fact, they tended to introduce themselves as "The Fat Ladies in Nick's Diner" to any new customers who seemed at all friendly.

Two weeks ago, Nick had run a contest, where he had a large jar of chocolate kisses. The person who could guess the number of chocolate kisses in the jar would win a free trip to Jamaica, for three people, all expenses paid, including meals. Of course Charles, Celia and Charlene had merely gone out and bought a similar jar, along with several bags of chocolate kisses. After filling the jar, the had spent two evenings counting each chocolate kiss before eating it.

As the plane began to descend for landing at Kingston International Airport, Charles' stomach seemed to have settled, and he began wondering what kinds of pies were common in Jamaica.