Dad pointed up the street to Henry’s Grocery, said I could get everything I needed there while he sat in the truck and nursed his ankle. “You know how to buy groceries?” he asked. “Or is that something Sarah does?”
“Sometimes she takes me with her, puts me in the little seat so I can pick up some tips,” I said.
Dad said that if Bob did well out on the lake today, he’d bring some fish that could be fried up. But Dad also wanted frozen hamburger patties, buns, stuff for making salad, chips, plenty of beer. He was very specific. “Not those buns with the sesame seeds on top. They get caught in my teeth. I hate that. And get the frozen sirloin burgers, not the mystery meat stuff.”
“Okay, Dad.”
“And none of that light beer. Nobody wants to drink that pony piss.”
“Got it, Dad.”
“Did I mention about the sesame seeds?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“I don’t want you to make a mistake, that’s all.”
“Hey, what about the Wickenses?” I asked. “You inviting them to this shindig? They really took the hit on this one. It was the daughter’s boyfriend the bear decided to have for lunch.”
Dad looked straight ahead through the windshield. “I think the best thing would be to let them deal with their grief in private.”
“What’s the deal with them anyway?” I asked. “The Keep Out signs and the gate and the barbed wire. Isn’t that your property they’re on?”
Dad swallowed, kept looking out the window. I noticed him clenching his right fist. “That’s none of your concern, Zachary.”
“All I’m saying is, who are these people? The property looks like it’s going to ratshit. Old cars, a fridge outside, and Jesus, have you seen those pit bulls? They nearly took a leg off me when the chief and Bob and I went up there to talk to them. Who keeps fucking dogs like that? Nutcases, that’s who. Have you seen the teeth on those things? I’d rather go swimming with sharks than knock on their front door if—”
“Zachary!” Dad bellowed. “Enough!”
“Dad, look, they’re on your property. They’re renting your farmhouse. If you’ve got some problem with them, you should do something about it.”
He turned and glared at me. “Did I say I had a problem with them? Have I complained to you about them? Have I said one damn thing to you about them?”
I slammed the truck door and headed up the street for Henry’s Grocery. I noticed along the way, taped to the light standards, flyers for the fall fair, which kicked off with a parade four days from now, on Saturday. And some other posters, taped just above or below the ones for the fall fair, headlined “Keep the Parade Straight!”
I didn’t know what that meant, exactly. Perhaps, other years, it had taken a roundabout, serpentine route through Braynor that had somehow made the fall fair parade a less than spectacular entertainment. I didn’t bother to read the rest of the poster to find out. I was on a mission.
Once inside Henry’s, I grabbed a cart with two front wheels so badly aligned and balanced I wondered briefly whether Braynor was built on a fault line. Working without a list, I made my way through the store, picking up a head of romaine, some croutons, a bag of hamburger buns without sesame seeds, God forbid.
I was coming around the end of the aisle when I nearly ran the cart into a thin, white-coated man who at first I thought had escaped from some laboratory, but the absence of a pocket full of pens and the presence of blood splotches identified him as someone who had recently been behind the meat counter. Then I noticed the name “Charles” stitched to his jacket, and the clipboard in his hand.
He peered at me over his wire glasses.
“Hello,” he said.
I nodded.
“Charles Henry,” he said, offering a hand. I didn’t have a chance to check it for blood before I took it. “Manager, Henry’s Grocery. I don’t believe I know you.”
I thought, why would he? But then, in a small town, I guess if you’re the local grocer you get to know all the local faces.
“No,” I said. “I’m just staying at my father’s place.”
Henry’s face was screwed up like he was detecting a bad smell, but since I couldn’t smell anything, I figured that was his normal expression. “That doesn’t mean you can’t sign the petition,” he said. “It’s open to anyone.”
“I’m sorry?” I said.
He shoved the clipboard at me. “To keep the parade family-friendly,” he said. “Just sign down there. We’re getting a lot of names, but we need more if we’re going to be able to get the mayor to back down.”
I smiled politely and waved my hands in front of me. “I don’t really know much about all that, but thanks, and good luck, okay?”
As I tried to wheel the cart around him he said, “Don’t you believe in decency?”