The Case of the Sinister Slice

My Dad and I sat around the dinner table eating a cheese pizza ordered from a local hippie joint. Delicious!

The great Elmore Leonard once wrote that a writer should never use the word “suddenly” is a piece of writing. Ever.

But as another writer once wrote, when it comes to writing, “there are no rules.”

Suddenly, my Dad began coughing and gasping. I recognized instantly he was choking to death because exactly the same emergency took place across the table from me during a Christmas snack in 2018. Then, I raced into action and saved a friend’s life with a Heimlich Maneuver.

I stood up calmly from the table and asked Dad if he was choking and couldn’t breathe. He nodded. I went around behind him and applied the maneuver several times.

Everything slowed down during the procedure and I ran scenarios through my mind: I might have to really pound his chest; the neighbor was mowing the lawn and I might need her immediate assistance; what if I wasn’t successful and this was the end of the line?

A chunk of pizza dislodged from Dad’s windpipe and landed on the plate. He quickly regained his breathing and relaxed, apologizing and saying he was embarrassed.

Embarrassed!

I cleaned up and we later talked about the incident. I suggested the scene might work itself well into a Perry Mason episode. “The Case of the Sinister Slice!”