“Well it was back in ’78. Long before you kids were born.” He
paused here to set down the wrench, and pick up a hammer, which he
then used to bang on another part of the engine. “Let me tell you, I
bagged some serious wildlife. White rhino, elephant, and hell I even got
a fucking zebra. They’re all mounted inside,” he said, nodding towards
the door that led inside the house. My brow furrowed in skepticism as
I looked at Pete, his eyes wide with astonishment. The walls of the little
ranch house we stood beside were supposedly a free safari.
“Could we see them?” Pete asked for the both of us.
“Ah, well,” he said scratching the back of his head. “I don’t know,
you see. The wife wasn’t really expecting any guests today. I wouldn’t want
her to feel any pressure. Another day, though,” he said. “Another day for
sure.”
******
Days passed, and we didn’t see Mr. Dutrey on any of our walks.
But one day as we ran around our front yard trying to teach Olive to
stay, we saw him drive by in a purple mini-van with the windows rolled
down. The passenger in the front seat was a beautiful, young blonde
lady probably twenty years younger than Mr. Dutrey. She was wearing
sunglasses, and she sucked on a cigarette and blew curly white smoke out
the window towards our yard. I hadn’t seen anything so glamorous in my
life. Mr. Dutrey noticed us and waved wildly. We waved back as he sped
through the stop sign on our corner.
*****
“Hey who was that lady in your van the other day?” my brother
asked Mr. Dutrey a few days later as we sat in his garage on old beach
chairs and watched him tug various bolts out of the Chevy and toss them
on the ground haphazardly. Olive ran around inspecting the bolts Dutrey
had tossed aside. She found an appetizing one, and promptly began
gnawing on it.
“Lady…” he said with a pause to remember. “Oh, her!” he
finally cried, his smile widening. He leaned in close to us and whispered,
“That’s kind of my girlfriend. But don’t tell nobody, okay? Mrs. Dutrey
would not be pleased.” He turned back from us and studied the engine
for a moment before fiddling with another bolt. I couldn’t believe it. A
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