Shipping News, The - E. Annie Proulx [114]
[261] Quoyle thought of the barrel full of piss, the tiny aluminum rooms. He did not want to live in the trailer.
¯
Beety gave him a cool look and a mug of hot tea.
“I stayed at the inn last night,” he said, “apparently.”
“Look like you slept in the puppy’s parlor. I never thought you was the type, Quoyle.”
“I didn’t think so, either.” The tea, scalding hot with two sugars and plenty of milk repairing him. “Is Dennis up?”
“Yes. In a way you could say he’s up all night. Come in at daylight with that poor Nutbeem to get some tools, and now he’s out rousting the rest of them that sank the boat. Poor Mr. Nutbeem.”
“Sank the boat? I didn’t see that. I just came from there. I didn’t see anything. There was nobody there. Nothing.”
“They’ve gone to get a crane. Dennis says they got in a wild mood last night. Seemed like a good joke to keep poor Nutbeem here by wrecking his boat. So now they’ve got to fix it.”
“My God,” said Quoyle. “And I thought Nutbeem had left in the night.”
“He didn’t look in shape to cross the road.”
“Dad. Guess what, Dad, I’m sick. And Bunny’s sick, too. And Marty.”
Sunshine stood in the door in droopy pajamas, her nose running. Gripping a sheet of paper.
“Poor baby,” said Quoyle, lifting her up and dipping a bit of toast in his tea for her.
“They’ve all got colds,” said Beety.
“I was going to take them out to the house with me this morning. You’ve had them all week, Beety. You must need a break.”
“They’re like me own,” she said. “But perhaps you’ll be in tomorrow afternoon? Stay with them all for a bit? Winnie will be here, but I’d like for an adult to be on hand, y’know. Dennis and I was going up to see his mother and father. They says ‘come up for evening service, a bite of supper.’ We’d take the kids, but they’s all sneezing and hawking.”
[262] “Glad to stay with them, Beety. You’ve been all the help in the world. I saw Jack and Dennis together last night. They both looked in a good mood. So I gather the coolness is over.”
“That was a lot of gossip. They was never cool. Hot under the collar for a while is more like it, but it passed right off. The old gossips made something out of it.”
Sunshine felt hot under Quoyle’s hand. He looked at her drawing. At the top a shape with cactus ears and spiral tail. The legs shot down to the bottom of the page.
“It’s a monkey with his legs stretched out,” said Sunshine. Quoyle kissed the hot temple, aware of the crouching forces that would press her to draw broccoli trees with brown bark.
“Nutbeem’s trailer looked pretty sad this morning. They lifted one end off the foundation last night. I think I’d rather take the kids into a house than that trailer. If I can find anything. If you hear of anyone who’d rent for a while.”
“Did you talk to the Burkes? They’re down in Florida. A nice house. They want to sell it but they might rent now. Said they wouldn’t at first, but there’s been no buyers. It’s up on the road to Flour Sack Cove. You go past it twice a day. Grey house with a FOR SALE sign on the front. On the corner, there.”
“Black and white picket fence all around?”
“That’s it.”
He knew the house. Neat house with blue trim, high up, a sailor’s wife’s view of the harbor.
“I’ll see what I can find out on Monday. It might be just the place for us. But I can’t buy it. I’ve put a lot of money into that old house out on the point. I don’t have much left. The girls’ money’s put aside for them. All right, here’s the plan,” he said, half to Sunshine, half to Beety. “I’m going out to the green house now to pick up the rest of the things. Then I’m going up to Alvin Yark’s and help with the boat. Then I’ll look in at Nutbeem’s and see what’s happened with his boat. If they fixed it. If Dennis is ready to quit for the day, maybe we’ll pick up some pizzas and a movie to watch. How’s that, Beety?