Except it did.
Mark came over that night. Dad invited him to stay for supper, but he stayed a lot longer than that. Normally, I didn’t mind when Mark stopped by—he joked around with me and played with Jack—but his being here tonight threw off my schedule. I wanted Dad to be in bed while I set about baiting the coyote.
Instead, we had pizza delivered and knocked back a few root beers.
“Old enough to fight, not old enough to drink,” Mark said, raising his bottle to Dad; then he finished it off.
Dad chuckled.
“Well,” I said. I smacked the couch cushions and stood. Mark was done. This night was over. But no, they just sat there and looked at me. I walked over to the front door and leaned on it.
“Joshua?” Dad tilted his head at me.
Peeling myself off the door, I strode between them to the kitchen. It was almost ten. “Is he ever going to leave?” I asked Jack. He followed me back into the living room, where I scooped up his rope toy and sat on the arm of the couch.
Blah, blah, blah. They kept talking. I thought about when Dad and I drove to Harveys Lake and that lady baited Jack with a ham sandwich. How much more would a hungry coyote go for chicken drumsticks?
“Joshua!” Dad leaned over and jerked the hem of my shirt. “Sit down. You’re making me nervous. Either throw that thing or quit fiddling with it.”
I’d been slapping Jack’s toy against my other palm. Jack stood at the ready. Unlike me, he was very patient. I tossed it for him and slumped down onto the couch.
Dad asked Mark, “Did you look over those papers I gave you?”
“Yep.”
“What papers?” I asked. “You’re not reenlisting, are you?” I’d heard about guys going back.
“No.” Mark gave his head a quick shake. Then a grin took over his face and he said, “I’m going to college.”
“I’ve been talking to Mark about using his GI benefits. He’s thinking about Penn State.”
Everyone talked about Penn State. “But that’s not even close to here,” I said.
Mark shrugged. He didn’t know what I was talking about.
“You just got back. Don’t you want to stick around for a while?” If I was from somewhere, I’d be glad to be back. You wouldn’t see me taking off right away.
“It’s only two hours away,” he said. Then to Dad, “I can come back whenever my laundry pile gets too high.”
They laughed.
“Yes, sir, I like that idea a lot. So does my old man.”
I said, “I thought your dad wanted you to deliver bread like him.”
Mark tapped his hand against the armrest. “Yeah, but then your dad here talked to him. Convinced him that going to college would get me a lot further than a bread truck ever could.”
“That’s right,” Dad said.
Mark grinned. “But when you told him the service would pay for college, that sealed the deal.”
I remembered what Mark had said about wanting to make a difference. “What are you going to study?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“That’s okay,” Dad said. “You’ll figure it out. You’ve got your whole life in front of you now.”
“Yep,” Mark said, his face turning serious.
It felt like he was going to spend his whole life here tonight. I rubbed the tops of my legs and patted out a rhythm. I sent mental messages to Mark: Time to go home; time to go home. Go home so Dad will go to bed and I can bait the trash can.
They were still talking when I got up and wandered into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, I saw Millie’s chicken in a big container, just waiting for me. First, I’d—
“What’re you poking around in there for?” Dad yelled from the living room. “There’s more pizza out here.”
I rolled my head upward and shut the fridge door.
Oh, man! Back in the living room, I saw they’d started on the second pizza.
“Jack needs to go outside,” I muttered. Jack’s ears pricked at the word “outside.” He sprang and darted around me, almost blocking my way to the back door.
“Don’t go too far,” Dad said. “It’s late.”
I reached for Jack’s leash and hooked it onto his collar. “Yeah, it is late,” I said, then Jack and I slipped out the door.
The night air chilled the backs of my arms. Tiny emissions of light sparked against the darkness, fireflies threading their way through the trees. Except for Jack’s excited snuffling, it was dead quiet out here. He tugged toward the woods, but there was no way I was heading up the mountain in this blackness. I pulled him away, and we jogged down the hill.
The coyote had struck this morning. I wondered where it was now. Maybe it watched me from deep within the woods. No, I thought, Jack would know. Jack would smell him. Still, a shiver zipped through my spine. I felt like a soldier in the bush.
After we reached Mrs. Puchalski’s house, we turned around for home. Mark’s car was still in the driveway. Once inside, I unhooked Jack and he rambled into the living room to greet them. I sighed heavily as I hung up Jack’s leash.
“I’m going upstairs,” I said, skulking through the living room.
Dad looked up. “All right, kiddo.” Talk about oblivious.
“See you later,” Mark said.
I shut my door on them.