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You're on the honor system, but Minner will be taking names.

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Chapter 15


Mr. Baker got the things he thought he’d need for the Brannon’s house and did a walk around on the outside of the house that afternoon making mental notes of what needed doing. He fixed the latch on the fence to the back yard and mended a down spout on the gutter, but most of the doings needed doing from the inside. Billy spent the afternoon at the lake and fished till dark, this time though, with only 3 fish to show for it and all of them on the small side. The summer had gotten in full swing now and as much sweat as he offered with his efforts, he just couldn’t reach the deep water where Mr. Baker had suggested the fish would be. The creek only came close to the banks in 2 places on that lake and it was a fight to get to the second one with all the brush and briars. Billy wouldn’t tell this part of the story the next day, but he’d spent the first 2 hours of his trip in the same spot doing the same thing he’d done yesterday before he decided that Mr. Baker just might be right. All 3 of his fish came from the deepest water though. He’d decided then to take Mr. Baker’s suggestions as commandments from then on.

Ann had made all the arrangements that night and had gotten Carol’s permission for the short trip for the boys and had packed the cardboard box with the jars. William had made the phone call to John around lunch and had it all worked out. Ann had even thrown in a couple extra just in case William needed a bargaining chip.

The next morning when the garage door started up, Billy didn’t wait for the full 1/3 opening and ducked down and in to greet Mr. Baker. “Well, you’re ready to go aren’t you?” “Yes sir, still don’t know where we’re going, but I’m ready to get there”. “Open that door for me on the truck and let me put this box in the back seat and jump in and I’ll tell you all about it.”

They loaded up and Mr. Baker hit the key to let the glow plug heat up. “Well, how’d you do yesterday?” Billy started in with the story careful to leave out the 2 hours in “his” spot while Mr. Baker navigated the streets to the highway. They were fully out of town before Billy had finished up. “Never been this way before Mr. Baker.”

“Well, I might as well tell you where we’re headed then. We’re going to see Mr. Make Do. We’ve got some business to tend to, but before we get there Billy, I need to tell you a little bit about him. John is probably going to be the meanest old guy you’ll ever meet. He’s gonna cuss you and me up one side and down the other, then he’ll spit and cuss some more. He’s not gonna like us being there and he’s gonna tell us about it. We’ll either be early or late and he ain’t going to like that either and he’ll cuss us for it. You’ve got to promise me to stand your ground though, don’t back down and don’t let him get to you and especially don’t pick up any of the words you hear. You’re Mom would skin me alive.”

“Sounds plain awful Mr. Baker. Why in the world would be going there?”

“Because it’s all an act Billy. He’s a good man with a broken heart is all. He needs folks more than he’ll let on and he’s just grown this way to keep folks at arms length. John and I used to work together. He was the finest machinist I’ve ever known. He could build a 351 Windsor out of a bar of soap and a box of paperclips. He could fix anything that ever was made assuming it ever worked in the first place and some that never did. Well, along the way, he lost his only son in some gosh awful place this country sends our soldiers these days. He took it hard too. They were awful close since he was John’s only son. We all called the boy “Shadow” at work because anytime you saw John outside of work, there was his “Shadow” right beside him. Anyway, after John got the news about John Jr., he just shut down. Not much anyone could do for him. It wasn’t long after, he just dropped out of everything. He wouldn’t hardly speak for the first year or so. After a while, he lost his wife, his home and his job over it. Just like always though, he just sort of made do with what he had. He ended up on his old family place out here that his Mom and Dad had left him. Now he just gets by doing odd jobs, making things for people or fixing this and that.”

“Well, how should I act around him Mr. Baker?”

“Billy, you act the same around him as you would anyone else. You act the way you are. Don’t ever pretend to be someone you’re not or act a way because you think that’s the way they want you to act. You just be you and let everyone else be themselves”.

“Yes sir.”

Billy thought about that for a bit as they drove on down the 2 lane highway. They’d gotten far enough out now that the houses weren’t close together any more. When Mr. Baker hit the brakes and turned onto the gravel drive, Billy noticed the mailbox wasn’t really a mailbox. It was a blue Igloo cooler turned on it’s side about the size for a 12 pack of cokes with the word “WILSON” scribbled on the side in yellow paint. It even still had the carry handle on it just turned to the side.


Wannabe...