As the lid slid free from the top of the glass, rang against the counter, and spun to the ground, ten-year old Troy Kinnard felt his hands fly to the mouth of the candy jar.
The lid crashed like a cymbal into the planks at Troy’s feet. Both his hands locked onto the top of the jar. His eyes darted to the two older people who focused on him like circling hawks without motion.
Kinnard figured he looked like a dog caught messing in the garbage. He couldn’t see his friend from his angle, but he froze motionlessly until Hefleiter spoke up.
“Well now,” the old man said with his clogging voice, a light smile coloring his dry mouth. “You plan on paying for that before dig’n in?”
Kinnard nodded. What else should he do? His dark brown eyes were huge circles. His fingers gripped the lip of the jar, only white knuckles showing. He didn’t smile. He squeezed away the blood of embarrassment attempting to fill his face. Cold swept through his little body. But he managed to say with a weak voice, “Yes, sir.”
“How much money you got?” Hefleiter said, prying the jar away from Troy’s hands with one quick motion.
Kinnard had to think about it fast, rummaging through his pockets with his mind. “Got a penny,” he said with the same shaky voice.
“Let’s see it.”
Then Kinnard remembered flipping the penny he and Ulman had found earlier that day. Heads, it was Troy’s. Tails, Chris kept it. Flip…tails.
It was in Ulman’s pocket.
“Well?” Hefleiter said, spotting the hesitation.
Kinnard spun around and Ulman turned to face him. Chris’s face lacked the little color he normally had, and Kinnard realized Ulman’s eyes screamed, “ Yes I have it, you idiot! But it’s in the pocket with all the candy! It’s beneath all the sweets!”
Ulman didn’t move.
“Let’s see that coin,” Hefleiter said. In the past, the old man had given the boys candy for free once in a while. But the two were getting older, and it seemed Hefleiter wanted to teach them the rudiments of business. Once he said he wanted money, he never backed down. That probably accounted for Ulman’s impulsive attempt to snag all he could.
Kinnard felt the air point fingers of accusation. He remember the lightness in his head, the swaying sensation. Lies to protect his friend surrounded his mind. Nothing Troy could say would get him away from the crime. His eyes dropped to the ground. He prayed for a miracle-for a forgotten penny to wait somewhere on the planks that had betrayed him…
“Oh, land sakes!” Mrs. Higgins said, “I have a penny! Candy for you both.” She promptly produced the funds and jumped just as quickly back into her previous debate with new ammunition spewing from the edge of her lips.
A moment later, Troy and Chris scurried quickly from the corner store with sugar in their hands. Energy surged through Ulman as he bumped again and again into Troy’s shoulder, laughing about their stolen treasure, their free food, and the close call.
Finally, Troy shoved back. “I can’t believe you, Chris! You stole that candy!”
“He wasn’t gonna give us none for free, Troy!” Ulman said, leaning into his friend’s face.
“We were dead meat back there! We could’ve been dubbed robbers and ruined for life!”
“We was fine,” said young Ulman. “You want some?” He produced a lint-layered palm full of hard candies.
“I don’t want any!” Kinnard said, shoving him away with a wave. “Don’t you know stolen candy’s got no taste! It’s filthy! It’s rotten! And it’s no good when guilt’s fill’n your stomach!”
Ulman shrugged. “I heard untouchable goodies taste sweetest.”
Troy stopped walking and shoved his face into Ulman’s. “It’s a lie, Chris! A fib told you by thieves! You wanna be a looter? You wanna be a no good, dirty rotten, two-faced, lying, cheating, stupid-bag-of-potatoes criminal when you grow up! This is all how it starts, you know! Everyone in prison begins this way, Chris!”
“What’s wrong with potatoes?” said young Ulman.
Troy pounded his open hands into Chris.
Ulman lost his footing and skidded to the ground, one leg bending under his bottom while the other stretched out in front of him.
Breathing so hard his shirt felt tight, Kinnard stood with clenched fists over his friend. “You ever do something that dumb again, Chris,” his said through labored breaths, “and you can find yourself a new friend.”
Kinnard remembered storming off in a hurry.
But that hadn’t been the end of their relationship. Relatively, it was still sprouting. Chris had begged Kinnard’s forgiveness and told him he’d gone back to Mr. Hefleiter’s shop to return the candy. Kinnard never knew that for certain, but forgave him and decided to avoid the store for a few weeks.
The two boys grew up together as close pals all the way into high school.
A similar unhappy experience happened in their early dating days.
Ulman ditched his girlfriend, Lily Ungar, at a dance he’d taken her to their junior year. Kinnard found him hiding around the back of the building with Jennifer Broachman where they were kissing away. Kinnard saved his friend from a near disaster when Lily went looking for her boyfriend. Evidently, Lily and Chris had hidden in the same place to learn how to smooch just a year before, so she knew the spot well. Kinnard had to warn his friend without letting his date wonder where he’d gone. Of course, the chaperons were looking out for stragglers, so Kinnard had to dodge them. And if Lily spotted Troy walking alone in the dark, she’d know for sure his best friend, Chris, would be near.
Kinnard ended up climbing through a small window, or rather a fair-sized one, a little too high for his steadily swelling size. He broke the glass, ripped his jacket, and barely got away without being caught stuck in the portal.
Ulman also escaped, but got a scolding later from his friend. Chris must have known it was coming.
Kinnard had continued to save Ulman throughout his life. They both made unwise mistakes, but only Ulman made such absurd choices that they always required Kinnard to pull him out in the end.
Kinnard grew to be large and muscular while Ulman remained small. Size opened a number of avenues for Kinnard, but Ulman found few and thus sought escape from an unfair world through books. Fate gifted Ulman with an exceptional memory. It was a door to a level of prestige neither of the boys could have expected. In time, Ulman became the example and Kinnard the follower. Ulman wanted to study ancient history, so they both did. When Ulman went to Chicago University, Kinnard stayed close behind. They parted ways when graduate school came along, but both sought higher education in similar fields. Ulman went into the nit-picky study of archaeology with a focus in Central and South America, while Kinnard chose to follow the advice of a favorite professor and examine areas of oriental studies. Ulman graduated with a doctorate in archaeology from the University of Minnesota and quickly joined the staff at Stratford University in California.
Kinnard and Ulman remained close while Kinnard slowly finished his studies in Arizona after a short time at the American University in Cairo. Both became professors at Stratford, where they laughed about the past and murmured together concerning the future.
Well, the morrow had evidently arrived, and the grass wasn’t green.
Kinnard rubbed his eyes until they stung, then kept smashing them until the stinging went away.
“What is Ulman doing?” Kinnard said to his wrists.
Three knocks from the door.
Kinnard dropped his hands and tried to focus his bloodshot eyes. “Come in.”
John Porter was already standing in the room, but Kinnard couldn’t tell who it was.
Porter stepped forward and sat in the chair in front of Kinnard’s desk while speaking. “I apologize for not calling for an appointment. If you’re busy, I’ll understand.”
Kinnard watched Porter get comfortable in the chair, slouching a bit. It was obvious the student hoped to stick around and considered Kinnard a close enough acquaintance to freely relax in his small office.