“Did he have a fight with Bea?” Rick asked, but not seriously.
“Naah. They like to give each other time to spend with their separate families. You know, Bea gets up there with her folks and they can talk in French or Vietnamese and not worry about keeping Brian included. And Brian can spend time with me or - or - his folks. It’s kinda nice.”
“Bea speaks three languages?”
“Yeah.” Dan said with some pride. “The kids too. I can understand ‘you’re a baby’ and ‘I’m telling Mom’ in three languages...Brian said he’d like to take some pictures of the farm when he’s here.”
“Why?” Rick asked.
“That’s what he does. He’s a photographer. He likes to take photographs.”
“Of decrepit run-down dairy farms - and farmers?”
The way he said it worried Dan. “This place isn’t all that bad is it?”
“It’s a poor farm Dan. If this is all you’ve seen of dairy farms you have nothing to compare it to. Thirty milkers, no other income, run-down buildings. New housing going up all over the place. It won’t be long before some upstart from Amherst moves here and complains about the smell and the animals and goes to some length to get us shut down.”
“Yeah, but the farm was here first. How can they do that?”
“Money will out Dan. It’s hard to compete with somebody paying thirty thousand dollars just for the lot to build on. The land we rent to grow our feed on gets smaller every season.”
“So what’s going to happen?”
“They’ll sell. I’ve heard them arguing about it already. Aunt Marie has been wanting to sell since before I came here. Mr. Ward held out though. It hurt him that none of his kids wanted the place after him. But it’s a hard life. They haven’t had a real vacation since their honeymoon, and even then they had to come here between the ceremony and the reception to milk the cows. Aunt Marie has had enough.”
“What about Russell? Doesn’t he want it?”
“No. He wants to be a veterinarian.”
“How about you?”
Rick looked around him at the land he had lived and worked on for five years, land he’d only left for an hour or so a week for Mass and hardly ever else. “It isn’t my home. Someday I intend to go back home.”
The morning of the day Brian was showing up, as they walked to the farm from
the schoolhouse, Rick remarked: “I haven’t seen Carly around lately.”
“We’re kinda having a down time right now...I’ll call her in a week and we’ll be back where we were... how ‘bout you? Don’t you got any lady friends?”
“Not since I left Manneville.”
“How come?”
Sandra... Rick chose the answer he thought was most obvious. “You may have noticed Dan, I don’t get off the farm much. ‘sides, you know what I’m like. What self-respecting girl would go out with me?”
Dan looked Rick up and Dan. “You ain’t so bad. I expect you’d clean up good. What if I found some ‘self-respecting’ lady who would go out with you? Would you go?”
Rick thought and Dan watched him thinking, wondering but never imagining what the difficulty was “I guess. I guess that’d be all right.” But something inside of Rick went into a slow burning panic.
They walked down the gravel driveway to the barns and cows. “Have you had any more dizzy spells? Dan asked.
“No Mom, I’ve been just fine since that one and only dizzy I’ve had since you’ve been here.”
“I ain’t kidding Rick.” Dan bent down and scooped up some gravel. “You were one mighty sickly looking person that morning.”
“Dan, it’s been six months - HEY!” Rick tried to pull away as Dan dumped a handful of gravel down the front of his sweatshirt. Dan ran away, Rick chased him and bowled him over. He pulled on Dan’s collar and pushed pebbles down his shirt. Then he ran and tried to shake the gravel out of his clothes as Dan got to his feet.
“I’m going to get you.” Dan said.
“Ha, big talk.” Rick ran into the calf barn; Dan chased him. Halfway down the aisle Rick turned. “Stop it, keep away from me.” He was laughing, but there was a flash of fear or anger in his eyes.
Brian appeared while they were milking that morning. He came with camera in
hand and his bag filled with film. He wandered around and spent time with Dan as he
worked, and Brian photographed. He had lunch with them with Aunt Marie and he got
photographs of her as well. Rick watched Brian and Dan. Brian was like a big brother to
Dan and it was clear that Dan was proud of Brian, proud to be friends with him.
For dinner, they went back to the schoolhouse and Brian set his camera up on the tripod to get some pictures. Rick and Dan went upstairs to wash up and change. Dan came back downstairs first and started dinner while Brian photographed him. Dan didn’t mind, he almost didn’t notice it. Brian was forever photographing something and if Dan was in the area, Dan was in the photograph.
“Rick seems like a really nice kid.” Brian said to Dan as he snapped him chopping broccoli.
“Are you thinking of trading me in?”
“I could always use a spare...how did he get that scar?”
“Said a piece of fence got him. We’ve always got some fence to fix around here... hey you should take a picture of the place just as the sun comes up. If you stand at a certain spot out front, just off the side of the third big tree out front, there’s a point when the sun is coming up and you can get the house and the barns with the sun just dead in the middle of them, like a slot, you know?”
“You’ve got a good eye.” Brian said and Dan smiled at the compliment. He liked being around Brian.
Rick came down the stairs slowly. Dan and Brian went together so well, Rick felt like he was intruding. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, Brian was putting in a new roll of film. “Hey Rick, can I get a picture of you?”
“Don’t you already have a picture of me? A few pictures?”
“I mean a portrait of you.”
“I - well - I don’t - -” Rick glanced around, almost in fear. “I’m not- -”
“I just want to get you the way you are, nothing fancy. Just a dairy farmer at the end of a long day.”
“What about Dan?” Anything to get out of it.
“Oh I’ve got enough pictures of Bunches. I’d really like to get a photograph of you.”
“I haven’t had a real picture taken of me since - well, my brother’s wedding I guess and even that -” And that jogged some reassurance into his mind. “You airbrush right?” Rick hated the way it blurted out but it was the only thing on his mind.
Brian took it as a matter of course. “Oh yeah, no problem.”
“Okay...”
Brian had Rick sit on a high stool from the island in front of the knotty pine wall next to the woodstove. “Just relax. I’ll ask you some questions and take a roll of pictures as we talk okay?”
“Okay...I don’t have to smile do I?”
“No, you don’t have to smile.” Brian sized Rick up through his camera.
“But it would help if you stopped looking at your hands.” Dan tossed in. Rick made a face at him and flinched as the camera whirred.
“So how are you getting along with Bunches here?”
“Fine as long as he stops annoying me. Why do you call him Bunches anyway?”
“Mom always calls him Honeybunches, so I call him Bunches.”
“Dignified name for a man ain’t it?” Dan asked from the kitchen.
“When you’re old enough to be a man Bunches, I’ll let you know...okay Rick...” They talked as Brian photographed and Dan actually got Rick to laugh enough to make him relaxed. But Rick wasn’t sorry when Brian said he was done, and he got down and put the stool back at the island. Dinner was cooking and Dan was getting plates down from the cupboard.
“Rick’s got a whole walletful of pictures.” Dan told Brian.
“Really? Could I see them?”
Rick backed away. “They’re just family pictures...nothing like the ones Dan showed me that you took. Those are really great.” He retreated to the kitchen. “Would you like some tea?”
The next day it rained. Brian stayed till after dinner. When he was gone, the
schoolhouse seemed quiet and a little more empty. Rick stoked the fire and Dan put away
the dry dishes. A couple of times he sneezed.
“Bless you! You’re sneezing a lot. You’re not catching cold are you?”
“Gosh I hope not. I hate being sick worse’n I hate being cold...I’ll have to up my dose of vitamin C...can I ask you a question?”
“No.”
“How come you didn’t show Brian your photographs yesterday?”
“He was just being polite.” Rick shut the door of the woodstove and adjusted the flue.
“No, he’d really be interested. He likes looking at other people’s photographs.”
“Well, maybe next time.”
The next morning, Rick got up for work. The downstairs was dark and silent.
“Dan?” He flipped a light on and checked the clock in the kitchen. Dan was always awake
by this time. He went back up to Dan’s room.
“Dan?” He tapped then opened the door. Dan must’ve started to get up: the bedside lamp was on, his covers were thrown back. But he was asleep. “You getting up?” Dan’s face was flushed and sweaty. He coughed as he came awake.
“What time is it?” He sounded like he had a cold.
“Still early.” Rick turned his clock around. “Cover back up; I’ll get you some aspirin and some orange juice.” When he brought it back up he said, “You must’ve caught cold in the rain.”
“I notice you didn’t.”
“I’m surprised, it’s odd when I don’t catch cold.”
“Oh, I don’t feel good.”
“Well, just lie back Dan and try to recuperate. I’ll check back in on you at lunch time.”
“No - no - it’s time to get up ain’t it? I have to go to work.” Dan tried to sit up but fell back.
“Dan, believe me. By the time you get up and dressed and out to the barn, it’ll be time for evening milking.”
“I won’t get fired will I?”
“’Course not. Stay here. I’ll be back later.” As Rick walked out of the room, Dan called after him:
“You be sure to eat a real breakfast.”
Dan’s room had more personality to it than Rick’s. Photographs of the Banks and
old houses graced the walls and lined the top of the high dresser. The rocking chair had a
quilt draped across it, a smaller version of the patchwork quilt that Dan used on his bed.
When Rick checked back at lunch time, he found Dan curled up near the edge of the bed. The blankets were pulled tight, on pillow under his head, the other clutched in his arms. His fever hadn’t gone down. “Dan, wake up. I’ve got lunch for you.”
Dan’s eyes came open slowly. “Didn’t you just leave?”
“Nope, lunch time. Here’s some more aspirin and some soup and milk.”
“Have you had lunch yet?” Dan asked as he sat up and took the aspirin.
“I had some bread and some soup.”
“Is that enough?” Just the natural light coming through the window hurt Dan’s eyes.
“I’ve survived on less...Aunt Marie will make sure I eat more when I get back. How do you feel? Did sleeping help?”
“I guess. I only feel half as dead as I did this morning. At least now if Mr. Ward asks if you’ve been taking care of me, I’ll have something to tell him.”
“I’ll see if Aunt Marie has any Nyquil you can take. If not, maybe I’ll borrow your car and get you some.” An image formed, or rather didn’t form in Dan’s mind.
“You know, I ain’t seen you drive since I met you.”
“I haven’t had a reason to drive since you’ve known me.” Rick took the empty bowl and glass from Dan. “I’ll come back and make some dinner for you tonight... you’ve never had my cooking either, this ought to be neat.” He was almost out the door when he turned back. “Anyway, since you’ve known me, my license has been expired.” And he left before Dan could say anything.
Rick extended his cooking skills to heating last nights leftovers. He was later than
usual coming back to the house after work and Dan was awake, sitting on the couch,
working on a computer flowchart.
“How do you feel? Any better?” Rick took off his jacket and hung it on the peg Dan had installed on the back of the kitchen door specifically for that purpose.
“My teeth no longer feel like they’re going to explode. But I’m so tired. I haven’t slept this much in years.”
“The Nyquil ought to help you tonight.”
Dan looked at him suspiciously. “Did you drive my car without a license?”
Rick widened his eyes. “I’ll never tell...”
Dan survived his cold. He stayed out late one night in October to spend time with
Carly. “Hey, do you know anybody I could fix Rick up with?”
“I’ll think about it. What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I was thinking about Sylvia, but you know how Rick is. She just don’t seem right.”
“Sylvia? You wouldn’t unleash the Buffalo Barracuda on poor, sweet, unsuspecting Rick would you?”
“Since when did he become ‘poor’ and ‘sweet’? What about Lynne? She’s not seeing anybody.”
“No, she hasn’t dated since The Idiot. I’ll ask her. I think she and Rick would make a nice pair, they have a lot in common.”
“Yeah, they’re both literate...’poor, sweet Rick’...how come I don’t get to be poor and sweet?”
“Oh you’re sweet Danny, but you can’t be poor because you have me.”
Carly invited her cousin out to lunch. It was easy to see that they were related, same hair and eyes, same way of carrying themselves. But Lynne was thinner.
“So, Lynne, how’s your love life?”
“Who wants to know?” Lynne didn’t know they’d be discussing this.
“Dan - he has a friend...” Carly caught the frown. “No Lynne, you’d be surprised. I really think you’d like him.”
“With a few notable exceptions Carly, Dan does not travel with the beautiful people.”
“I’ve met Rick, He’s very nice.”
Lynne was still suspicious. “What does he look like?”
“He’s taller than Dan by a fraction. He’s thin, he needs to eat more. He has brown hair, needs some help with his wardrobe...”
“But what does he look like?”
“He borders on cute. And you should see his eyes Lynne -”
“Give me a break Carly. Tell me the whole story. Does he have bad breath, is he illiterate, what won’t I like about him?”
“I only met him for a half hour while I was waiting for Danny, he’s polite, seems shy.”
“Good gracious, a charity case. Some people rescue forsaken animals, Dan rescues forsaken hearts.” And she included herself in the description.
“You know I love him. The only thing with Rick, with his looks, is a scar, like a lightning bolt through his lip.”
“You haven’t convinced me.”
“When I met him, he was reading ‘Morte d’Arthur.”
“All right, I’ll go.”
“So what does she look like?” Rick asked. He was shoveling stalls after milking,
Dan was leaning against a stall divider.
“How shallow can you get, ‘what does she look like?’”
“That bad hunh?”
“No, Lynne is pretty -”
“And she has a wonderful personality...”
“Actually her personality isn’t all that great either...” When Dan saw that he had Rick’s full attention, a trifle bemused, he told him: “She’s almost as pretty as my Carly actually. About the same height, not as curvaceous though.”.
“What’s so wrong with her that she needs to be fixed up on a blind date?”
“Well smart guy, you tell me why you think.”
A half a dozen reasons crossed Rick’s mind, none of them flattering. “She’s pretty?” Rick asked again.
“She’s pretty, I just told you. You’ll like her - she’s literate. She teaches English at St. John’s Academy on the West Side. She owns her own house, her parents live in Tucson, her favorite food is shrimp ay too fay.” Dan paused on the pronunciation just enough to be noticeable. “What more would you like to know before you go see one movie with her?”
“It’s been ages since I’ve been on a date Dan.”
“Stone ages.”
“I’m not sure I know how to do it anymore. How to date. I’m not a sociable person.”
“You’ll be allright. It’s just a movie. Maybe go out for some pop after. ‘Soda’ for those of you from somewhere outside the Buffalo area. ‘Sides, you never know, she might be all you ever wanted.”
I had all I ever wanted. But Rick said “If she was all I wanted she’d be sole heir to a working dairy farm.” and Dan didn’t know how to respond to that.
“...it’s just a movie, me ‘n Carly’ll be there. It’ll be okay.”
“...all right. I guess. I’ll go see one movie with her.”
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Chapter Six
Chapter Eight
