The day wore on in slow motion. They ate lunch together from the two birds. Boots was a master of the iron skillet, and all were full. They sat on the front porch and made small talk, as much as creatures from different worlds could.
Jack was disengaged. He felt unsettled. He did not want to be here. He wanted to get back. How could they have ended up in the one place on earth where a simple phone call to get them back to the city was impossible? It was simple—this old man was lonely, talking to his horse and dead people all these years and now had a captive audience. He wasn’t going to let them go until he told them all of his stories of panhandling and skinning ’coons.
Laura was enthralled by Boots. She listened to his tales of desert life and the way things used to be. She seemed to be oblivious to the real situation they were in. She was still on a vacation of sorts.
Why was she encouraging this? Why was she not on his side? Why did she not back him up at times like these? Why couldn’t she see that their situation did not improve from when they were sitting on the highway baking in the sun?
Boots talked about how he moved out in the old times. “Pushed out,” he said, as if there was ever a place where he fit in. “Just not into what people got into.” So he moved out here in the middle of nowhere. His form of running away, Jack surmised.
“Desert is a fine spot,” Boots went on. “You can see a man coming for miles. Ain’t no one can sneak up on you. By the time they get to you, they be worn down. Not ready for no trouble. People in town, they get all worked up. Little man acting big, big man acting bigger. Naw, you can have all that. Out here ain’t no one act tough who ain’t gone in a day or two. There is a peace to that.”
“And the view is unbelievable,” Laura said, looking out onto the western mountain range.
“Yeah, you can’t beat that. Beauty and death out here. Up there on one of them mountains some plane fell out of the sky. Had some lovely lady from film on it. Don’t think they felt much. Over right quick, from what I hear. Mountain probably didn’t look too good from their eyes.” Boots chuckled. He leaned forward in his chair and spit, tobacco turning the sand a deep brown before drying up and cracking again. “I’ve been up there a few times. You can still see some pieces of the plane. Must’ve been quite the mess.”
“I can’t imagine.”
“It be a funny thing. You get up one day and then it ends. You don’t see it coming, but you think you have all the time. That lady probably thought she’d make some more movies, live grandly. But boom, done.” Another spit into the sand punctuated the statement. “Kinda like you, huh?”
“I guess you’re right. I never thought we’d be here right now,” Laura said softly.
Jack just sat listening, stewing in his recollection of the highway. Of his mistake. Of his failure. He was sure Laura’s comment was aimed at him. A small dagger from a quiet victim.
“Bet she never thought she’d be painted across no mountain, huh? But it happens. Ain’t nothing to do about it. It just happens.”
“You sure you didn’t drag them all back here and bury them, Boots?” Jack said, horrifying Laura in the process. Good, he thought. Get mad. Wake up!
“Naw, Jack. That would be a long haul from up there.” Boots spat again, seeming not to notice Jack’s tone.
Jack got up and paced the porch before walking off around the house. He just couldn’t sit any longer.
“A bit antsy, that one.”
“Yeah”—Laura smiled—“he gets anxious pretty quick.”
“I’ve seen it before. Man who can’t sit down ain’t never happy. Always got to be going somewhere.”
“He’s a good guy, Boots.”
“You say so. Man like that get beat down mighty quick where I come from.”
“He just wants to get home. We both do.”
“I can understand that. You seem to be taking it all good.”
“Yeah, I’m kind of enjoying this. Like I said, I never thought I would be sitting here right now.”
“Never can tell what’ll happen. You get home, don’t worry. Just be patient.”
“Okay.”
“I can take you out, if you want. Jack don’t seem to care about it.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t imagine leaving him here, or rather, having to have you deal with him alone.” She smiled, and Boots smiled back.
He pulled the plug out of his cheek and refreshed it with some fresh chew. “Yeah, he’s an ornery cuss. If I’m here by myself with him, I’m liable to put him in the ground out back.”