“Yeah, alright. That’s probably good, seeing as I might need some
help with the Chevy, you know? Plus I know you kids love my stories.
Right?”
“Right,” I said getting up from my beach chair, peering into the
hood of the car and taking note of its general disarray. I didn’t know
much about cars, but I was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to look like
that.
“Yeah, Dutrey,” said my brother. “We’ll be back. Hell, we’ll be
back tomorrow if you’re here.” Pete rose from his chair as well.
“John!” cried a voice from inside the house.
“Ah, shit. That’s my wife.” He froze, staring at the door that led
inside. Pete coughed and Dutrey’s attention snapped back to us. He
let out a little chuckle, but didn’t smile. “Probably got some chore or
something she needs help with. Nowhere near as fun as a girlfriend,” he
said as he looked at Pete and shook his head.
“God damn it, John get in here!” the voice yelled again. Mr.
Dutrey sat down in the beach chair I had occupied and leaned back,
looking at the ceiling. He sighed. Starting to feel uncomfortable, I looked
at Pete.
“Hey we should go, Pete.” I grabbed Olive around her middle
and carried her towards the open garage door. “Thanks for having us, Mr.
Dutrey.”
“No problem, kids. Come back soon,” he said to the roof. We
headed outside. From the sidewalk, we could see him get up slowly from
the chair, walk to the door and pause briefly before turning the knob and
making his way inside.
****
In the midst of another “stay” lesson one evening, Olive’s already
low focus level was beginning to slip. She snapped at the lightning bugs
that were beginning to pepper the air above our lawn, and darted around
in complete disregard to our commands. Only when we sat down in the
grass in frustration, did she run to us, darting into my lap and licking my
face profusely.
“Let’s call it a night,” I said to Pete.
“Yeah, we may need to call in some sort of learning specialist,”
Pete said as Olive crawled off my lap to eat some grass.
“Come on, Olive.” I stood up and started for the house,
68