Steam And Diesel Nation

Chapter 4

"Hey Carl!!" 

"Hmm? Oh! Hey John. What brings you out here?" 

"Came to tell ya something.", John answered as he walked up to his occasionally temperamental friend. 

"Oh. Well then what is it?", Carl asked, turning back to his camera. 

"I need you to hand-on-Bible swear to me that you won't go and blow your top over what I'm about to tell ya while I'm here.", John said, whilst sticking out his Bible so Carl could do as he just described. 

The seriousness in John's voice caught Carl's attention. 

"Alright. I, Carl Fullitner, swear with my hand on this Bible, with Johnathon Spagler and the good Lord God Almighty as my witnesses, that I will not allow my anger to get the better of me and cause me to lose my temper over what John is about to tell me whilst he's here at my railfanning spot." 

"Good."

You could see John's shoulders drop the slightest from relief. 

"Well. What's the news?", Carl asked, eyebrow raised. 

"It's about 4501. It ain't coming back through here today. It's supposedly coming back through either tomorrow or the day after."

Carl started tapping his foot after hearing that, visibly upset. 

"Well darn. I was really hoping to catch her coming through here.", he lost a little bit of his look of upset-ness. "But I guess there ain't anything I can do about that. At least I got 611 though. So coming out here wasn't completely pointless." 

"Indeed it wasn't. Say, you didn't beat feet out here and leave ya car back at the church building, did ya?", John replied, trying to alleviate his friends distress. 

"No. I may have gotten excited over 4501 coming through here, but I didn't go and forget my car. I parked over at a friends house." 

"Ah. Well if ya had, I sure wasn't gonna let ya walk back to go get it.", John said with a laugh. 

"Yeah. I know ya wouldn't.", Carl answered with a chuckle, envisioning how that interaction would've went down. 

"Well, I dunno what you're gonna do for the rest of the day, but I've already got guests with me today, so coming over ain't a viable option." 

"Ah ya ain't gotta worry about that. I was just gonna stay out here for a lil while longer and then go home and get a quick nap. Who ya got comin' over?" 

"Lola, Bobby, and Mary Sue." 

"Oohoo. Ya own little pseudo-family. Aren't you a blessed 18 year old?", Carl said, smile visible, foot stationary, teasing tone obvious. 

You could see the blush creep onto John's face, as well as see the faintest hints of a smile tug at the edges of his lips. 

"I guess you could describe us as that. Dunno how Lola will react once I tell her you said that." 

"I would be of the mind to think she'd get flustered and kinda embarrassed.", Carl replied, smirk visible. Wasn't everyday you got John to jump OR get flustered in any way. 

"Well I got guests to entertrain, pun completely intended, and I don't wanna keep 'em waiting to long. You take care now Carl.", John said, sticking his hand out. 

"Alright Mr. Funny Man, you take care of yourself and your little pseudo-family now.", Carl responded, taking his friend's hand and pulling him in for a bro-hug, with John embracing him. 

"Not gonna lie to ya Carl, I honestly thought you was gonna have a harder time keeping cool.", John commented. 

"Funny you say that, I actually took your advice and started praying to God to make me less prone to anger. Lo and behold, my sweetheart offered to sign me up for an anger management class later that day, and I've been in the class ever since. Coming up to the end of the class, and I'm reaping the benefits of taking it.", came the reply. 

"Really? Well praise the Lord for answered prayers." 

"Amen. Now get going you." 

"Alright. Take care and God bless ya Carl!" 

"God bless you too John!!", Carl replied, smiling and waving to his friend. 

And with that, John walked back to the car, and he heard his guests/pseudo-family members singing, which put a small yet warm smile on his face. 

"Oh hey John. How'd it go with Mr. Fullitner when ya told him what ya needed to tell him?", Lola asked upon spotting her host for the day walk up to the car. 

"Oh it went better then I expected. Carl took my advice on praying about his anger, and God answered his prayer later that day.", came the answer. 

"Well hallelujah. You talk to him about anything else after ya gave him the news?" 

"About that. You're gonna get a kick outta what he said to me.", John said as he climbed back into the driver seat.