The Year Money Grew on Trees - Aaron Hawkins [42]
Between our house and Farmington was Fruitland. Fruitland wasn't really a town by any strict definitions. It was mostly just a name. There was no mayor or police or city limits, just some houses and a post office. Maybe our house was even part of Fruitland. Everyone I knew drove into Farmington if they wanted to shop for food or clothes or toothpaste because the only store in Fruitland was General Supply. I hadn't been there much, mostly for emergencies, like when we ran out of toilet paper.
A tractor going down the side of the road in Fruitland was pretty common, so no one paid much attention to Sam and me on our way to General Supply. Even in third gear and full throttle, it took us about twenty minutes to get there. I parked the tractor out front on the torn-up pavement next to some beaten-up pickup trucks.
When you walked into General Supply, you had to give your eyes a few seconds to adjust to all the shapes and colors. Every inch of the place from floor to ceiling held something for sale. A bell over the door rang as Sam and I moved inside. We quickly shuffled toward a dimly lit back section and began to look around.
We kept moving until we saw saddles and harnesses and then salt licks and different bags of feed. "This looks kind of like a farming section," I whispered to Sam. "I'll bet what we're looking for is around here somewhere."
Sam wasn't paying attention because he was poking at the baby chicks for sale in a big wire pen.
I walked up and down looking at various "chows" for dogs and rabbits and sheep. There were bags full of baby goat formula but nothing that looked like worm poison.
"Maybe we should ask someone," said Sam, who was following me.
I looked around nervously. "But I don't know anyone. They might think we're idiots," I whispered. I wished Amy had come.
After another few minutes of random searching, I had to agree with Sam. We moved back toward the front of the store and hid behind some shelves so I could spy on whoever worked there.
The store seemed to have two employees. One was a huge man who looked tall even though he was sitting on a stool behind a counter. He was talking loudly with a customer, and his big stomach would shake against the counter as he laughed.
The other worker looked like he was in high school, maybe three or four years older than me, although I didn't recognize him. He was trying to add up someone's purchases and kept looking nervously at the huge man and brushing his messy hair out of his face. I waited until he was done with his customer and then hurried up to him.
"Hi," I began.
"Can I help you?" he asked, looking unsure of himself.
"Do you know anything about sprays? Worm poisons you could use on apple trees?"
"Well, I don't really know too much about them." He looked over at the fat man. "I could probably show you where they are, though."
I don't know why I liked him, but I did. Maybe it was because he was more flustered and nervous than I was. Sam and I followed him toward the back of the store near the baby chicks.
"So how long have you been working here?" I asked, trying to sound friendly.
"About three weeks. After school and Saturdays. I still don't know my way around very well."
"I'm Jackson and this is Sam."
"I'm Jimmy. So here's where most of this stuff is. Do you know what kind you need?" He pointed at a group of dusty bags on one of the shelves.
"No, not really," I said, staring at them. "Do you know what kind Jess Brown uses?"
"Jess Brown?"
"He's kind of short. Wears blue bib overalls. Talks in a croaky voice."
A look of recognition crossed over Jimmy's face. "Oh yeah. He was in here a couple of days ago and bought a bunch of this, uh..."—he pointed his finger along a few of the bags—"Diazinon."
"That's what we need, then."
Jimmy grabbed one of the bags and started walking back toward the front. We followed him wordlessly.
"So will that be cash or charge?" asked Jimmy, setting the bag on the glass counter.
I hadn't thought about the fact that bug spray would cost money. I guess just finding out about the spray seemed like such a huge