“Roy! Roll up your window. It’s freezing outside.”
“I want to leave it open just a little, okay, Mom? I like the feeling when the heater’s on high and we can still feel the cold air.”
“Amazing how cold it can get in Mississippi, huh, Roy? And it’s not even Christmas yet.”
“Where are we now?”
“We just passed the Batesville turnoff. We’ll stay tonight in Memphis, maybe at the Peabody if we can get a room. Remember that hotel, baby? The one with the ducks on the pond in the lobby.”
“There was a kid there the last time who told me he drowned a duck once. Not one of the Peabody ducks.”
“Drowned a duck? I didn’t know ducks could drown.”
“I guess they can. They have to come up for air, like people, only probably not as often.”
“I wish I could pass this darn truck. Sorry, Roy, I don’t mean to swear, but the driver won’t let me get around him. Tell me more about the ducks. Who was it who drowned one?”
“A boy I met at the Peabody Hotel the last time we stayed there. He was older than me, twelve or thirteen, I think.”
“It was in March. Bert came up.”
“Is Bert still alive?”
“Of course, baby. Why would you ask that?”
“Just wondering. You said he was having trouble with his brain, so I thought maybe it exploded or something.”
“He had something growing in his head, that’s right. You remembered. I think the doctors took it out.”
“Before his brain could explode.”
“His brain wouldn’t have exploded, baby. At least I don’t think so. If the thing that was growing in there got big enough, though, it might have squeezed the inside of Bert’s head so much that he wouldn’t have been able to think properly. I’ll call him when we get to Memphis.”
“What if the doctors couldn’t get it out?”
“I’m sure they did, Roy, otherwise I would have heard something. I think I can pass now, hold on.”
“Mom, where did the seed in Bert’s brain come from?”
“Just a sec, baby, let me get back over into the other lane. Okay, what did you say? How did a seed get where?”
“In Bert’s brain. The thing that was growing began as a seed, right? How did it get planted there?”
“That’s a good question, Roy. I don’t think anybody knows exactly, not even the doctors.”
“Remember the Johnny Appleseed song? ‘Oh, the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the apple seed. The Lord is good to me.’”
“I like to hear you sing, baby. You have a sweet voice.”
“It couldn’t have been an apple seed in Bert’s head.”
“No, it wasn’t. Don’t think about it anymore, honey. Pretty soon you’ll see the ducks on the pond at the Peabody.”
“Maybe that kid will be there again.”
“I guess it’s possible.”
“I wouldn’t ever try to drown a duck, even if I could.”
“No, Roy, I don’t believe you ever would.”