“I wanted to tell. People but I didn’t at the. Beginning and then it just sort of got too late to,” said Johnny. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry, Johnny,” said Hosea.
“Well, I may not have to be sorry about it, Hose, but I am sorry about. It I’m as sorry as they come.”
Hosea put his head into his hands. By moving Johnny out of the town limits he was destroying Johnny’s chance at redemption. And for what? For his own personal gain. For a kid’s dream of meeting his dad. Johnny never got to see his kid, never got to hold him in his arms and protect him from harm, never got to show him off and call him son and sweetheart. Hosea’s head hurt. He would put Johnny back. Somehow. And before July first. Maybe tomorrow. He knew Johnny would just laugh if he said, Oh, by the way you’re back in. He’d have to do it soon, though. And he’d have to get Johnny the job of fire chief of Algren. He was the only man for the job. It was his destiny. And I, thought Hosea, am not God. He took a deep breath.
“So,” said Johnny, “more coffee?”
“You were going to tell me what’s wrong with this country,” said Hosea.
“Right,” said John. “Remember Yusef, my. Lab, the garbage eater?”
“Big, black …” said Hosea.
“Yeah,” said John. “He died in the fall, sudden. Death from lead poisoning.” He smiled.
“Lead poisoning?” said Hosea.
“I shot him,” said John.
Hosea smiled and nodded. “Why?”
“Cancer of the. Throat I gave him two Big Macs, his favourite, put the rifle to his head and … Bam Yusef’s. Gone didn’t even know what hit. Him far as he knew he was eating a Big Mac with special sauce, box and everything.” John shook his head and had a sip of his coffee. “He was a good dog, Yusef.”
“Mmmmm,” said Hosea. He had a sip of his coffee.
“So a couple of months before Yusef died I got Tiny, another black lab, as a. Replacement they became really good. Friends I hoped Tiny would kill cockroaches the way Yusef. Had but no. Dice Tiny’s all right. Not like Yusef, mind you, but Tiny’s got a head on his shoulders and his heart’s in the right place.”
Where had Yusef’s head and heart been? thought Hosea. He had another sip and said, “Well, that’s good.”
“After Yusef died I buried him out. Back it was a hell of a job because the ground was beginning to freeze, but I got him in there and I said good-bye.”
But what’s wrong with this country? thought Hosea. “That’s too bad,” he said. His thoughts turned to Caroline Russo. He remembered her orange lunch box. She had called the colour eldorado nights or eldorado sunset or something like that.
“So about a week ago, when we had the first big thaw, I’m riding in the truck with Tiny and I smell something weird and I look over at him and he’s got blood and hair hanging off his. Snout sure enough we get home, I go out back, and I see that Tiny’s been digging at Yusef’s grave and then I get closer and I see that he’s actually dug him right up and I see that parts of Yusef have been eaten.”
“He’s been eating Yusef?” asked Hosea.
“Yeah! And then I thought back to the day I buried. Yusef had Tiny been hanging around? Watching I knew he was shook up about Yusef. Dying they were good friends there towards the end.”
“But he ate him,” said Hosea.
“Yeah,” said Johnny, and he began to laugh. He sat there laughing and Hosea stared at him. Johnny began to laugh harder and finally Hosea got it. He grinned. He rubbed his hands on his thighs and began to laugh.
eight
Max and Knute had worked out a sort of arrangement. He looked after Summer Feelin’ from quarter to ten in the morning ‘til quarter after two in the afternoon. Those were the hours that Knute worked for Hosea. Although calling it work was a bit of an exaggeration. Mostly it just gave her a break from Tom and Dory and Summer Feelin’. Tom was having more chest pain lately and was feeling depressed. He had quit practising his juggling. He had quit going to the garage to read his veterinarian journals. Dory was worried about him but at the same time she was restless and annoyed. The wallpaper was coming down in sheets all over the house and she’d bought herself a new hammer. Summer Feelin’ was giddy with excitement over Max’s return and was doing a lot of shaking and flapping. Max and Knute hadn’t really talked much about anything. They’d had coffee at the Wagon Wheel together but it was just like always. It was fun at first but then Knute would get a thought in her head and she’d start getting more and more pissed off. The more pissed off she got, the more he joked around. He joked and she glared. And then she got tired of being the sullen, injured one and she said, “Fuck this noise,” and left. She really wanted to hurt him the same way he had hurt her, but she didn’t know how to. The rest of the time, whenever Max and Knute were together, Summer Feelin’ was with them and then, of course, everything was kind of strained. Summer Feelin’ and Max adored each other and Knute hung around saying things like “Watch her head” or “She should eat lunch first.” Tom and Dory were wondering if Max was going to give Knute regular child support money and they also wondered if Summer Feelin’ was going to be safe over at Combine Jo’s place with all her drinking and lumbering around. The one time Max had been in the same room as Tom, Tom had said, “So, Max, are you still … putting pen to paper? Still looking for someone to publish your … jottings?” And Dory had given Tom a look and said, “It’s called poetry, Tom.” And he had said, “Oh really,” and walked away.
Once Max had asked Dory if all kids flapped as much as Summer Feelin’ did and she had said, “Oh, well, that’s just something she does.”
He had said, “What do you mean that’s just something she does? Shouldn’t it be checked out or something? Has she seen a doctor about it? She looks like a hummingbird, man, she could lift off anytime.” Then Dory had become irritated.
“Max,” she said, “Knutie has been taking very good care of Summer Feelin’ with no help from you. Of course she’s been checked out. She’s fine. And nobody appreciates you, of all people, second-guessing Knute’s efforts.” She paused and then she said, “You can just keep your mouth shut, Buster.”
Max and Knute looked at her. Buster? Knute thought to herself, Dory’s mad.
“Really, Knute, he has no right to come in here and question your ability to parent, I mean …”
And Knute had said, “I know, I know.”
And Max had said, “Sorry, Dory, you’re right. It was just all that fluttering and flapping, you know, I was expecting a back door to open up on her and a battalion of soldiers to jump out with flak jackets and camouflage, with somebody giving her hand signals for lift-off—”
“Oh shut up,” Dory had said and then, “Excuse me,” as she stalked out of the room with her hammer and a pail of plaster.
Just then Summer Feelin’ came running into the room. Max said, “Hey, Summer Feelin’, it’s a beautiful day for collecting bottles. Get your rubber boots on and we’ll hit the ditches around the dike. They’re full of ’em.” This idea got Summer Feelin’ flapping and Max started beating his chest to make helicopter noises and saying things like “incoming,” “over,” “prepare troops for landing,” “all clear.” Knute looked at Max. At his mouth and his hands, his boots, his narrow hips.