Pie Town - Lynne Hinton [16]
Frank rolled his eyes. He had seen the trunk.
“If you take it back to the dealership in Albuquerque. Do I look like I sell Buicks here?” Frank asked, glancing around at his garage.
Oris reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He fished out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to the other man. “What happened to the good old days when we traded in tobacco and animal skins?” he asked, putting his wallet back. He yanked up his pants and stuck his thumbs in his belt loops.
Frank took the money and stuffed it in the front pocket of his coveralls. He wiped his hands again and returned the rag to his back pocket. “We got screwed is what happened. Now it’s cash only, my friend.” He winked at Oris.
“How’s your mother?” Oris asked. “I haven’t seen her since the graduation.” He recalled seeing all of Frank’s family when Frank’s son graduated from high school. Even though Oris didn’t have any young people in his family finishing school, he liked to attend the special ceremonies. He went every year just to see how the children had grown.
“My mother and all my family are well, thank you,” Frank replied. “They don’t travel much in the summer. They stay up in the mountains where it’s cool.”
“And your boy,” Oris hesitated, trying to recall the name. “Raymond,” he remembered. “He still heading off to the army later this month?”
Frank nodded. “Getting ready to go to boot camp, and against my better wishes,” he answered. “But what’s a father to do?” He shrugged.
Oris leaned against his car and then pulled away because of the heat. “He’ll get a good salary, learn a decent trade. It’s not all bad, the military I mean.”
Frank didn’t respond.
“Could be worse,” Oris noted. “Could be screwed up on drugs, locked up in jail, living with hippies in Taos.”
Frank looked at Oris. They both knew he was talking about his granddaughter Angel.
Frank had not asked about Alex’s mother in a long time. The news never seemed to change, and it always appeared to be an uncomfortable topic for Oris, and Angel’s parents, Roger and Malene. At first, everyone in town thought she would give up whatever she was chasing and come home. They all agreed it was just that she was trying to figure things out, needed a little break from Pie Town, suffered from postpartum depression, or was trying to find the baby’s father. But that was ten years ago. Frank, like most of the others in town, quit asking about Angel once Alex was old enough to understand the questions and understand his family’s embarrassment or discomfort in answering them.
He nodded at his older friend.
“Ah, but that’s the way of being young, isn’t it?” Oris asked, not expecting an answer. “Lord knows I did my share of stupid things when I was a teenager.” He laughed and shook his head. “And if my memory serves me, seems like you did a stint in the army. Doesn’t look like it screwed you up too bad.”
Frank glanced down at the ground. “There wasn’t a war when I signed up,” he said. “The worst thing I saw in four years was some of the recruits suffer from heat stroke at boot camp. I was stationed in North Carolina and Georgia. It was just boarding school for me. Raymond’s likely to face a whole lot more that I don’t think he’s cut out for. He’s soft.”
Oris considered Frank’s assessment of his son. “The boy might surprise you, Frank,” Oris concluded. “Could turn out to be a hell of a soldier. My boy’s done okay.”
Frank just looked at Oris.
“ ’Course, it doesn’t matter anyway, everybody has to find their own way. Seems like I remember you telling Roger that a few years ago.”
Frank nodded, remembering the conversation he had with the sheriff when Angel left town after Alex was born. He and Roger had been friends since they were kids.
“I suppose you and his mother have carried him strapped on your backs for as long as you can,” Oris added.
“I guess you’re right about that,” Frank responded.
Neither of the men spoke for a few minutes, and then Frank glanced up at the sky behind Oris. “Looks like yesterday’s storm is finally coming in,” he noted. “Or bad company.”
Oris didn’t even turn