as a subversive.
P.S. For more information, please contact me at home, not at work. Please also advise what reward I might receive. Thank you.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Tony came up next to him, and Sam noted the smell of sweat, of coal, of old clothes and bad meals and long travel along back roads and rails.
His brother held out a hand, and without hesitation, Sam took it and gave it a squeeze. The hand was rough from all of the outdoor work his brother had done in the camp. Sam reached into his coat pocket, took out a waxed-paper package he had gotten from the truck stop for twenty-five cents, and passed it over. Tony tore open the package greedily, started eating the roast beef and cheese sandwich. Sam let his older brother eat in silence. When he finished, Tony said, “God, that tasted good. Thanks,” and then sat down next to Sam on the Packard’s wide fender.
“You’re welcome.”
Tony wiped a hand across his mouth and Sam asked, “How long have you been out?”
“Just over a week.”
“You okay?”
“Stiff. Sore. Hope I never pick up an ax again for the rest of my life. And you?”
“Doing all right.”
“How’s Sarah? And my nephew?”
“Doing fine.”
“Good. Glad to hear that. You know… well, you get to feeling odd up there in the camps, wondering how family and friends are doing. All those months dragging by, every shitty day the same as the one before. And Sarah and Toby… good to know they’re doing well. Up there… means a lot to think about family.”
Sam said, “I know they worry about you.”
Tony crumpled the waxed paper and tossed it into the shadows. “Those food packages, they make a hell of a difference, even though the guards steal a third of everything. If it wasn’t for those packages, it’d be stale bread and potato soup every day.”
“Glad to hear the packages make a difference.”
“You know, where the camp was built, it’s gorgeous country. Would love to try hunting in those mountains one of these days, if things ever change. Christ, that’s another thing I miss, heading out into the woods for a quiet day of hunting.”
Sam remembered how Tony always seemed happier fishing or hunting than doing chores or being at school. “How long are you staying here?”
“Don’t know yet.”
Sam knew what he had to say next and was surprised at how it felt, like he was twelve again, trying to stand up to his older brother. “Then you should know this: You can’t stay long.”
“Why’s that?”
“You know why.”
“Enlighten me, little brother.”
“Maybe I don’t have a choice, you know? On the road after getting out, this was the only place I could go, at least for now. And tell me, what’s got you worried? Me getting arrested? Or you getting the heat for me being caught in your backyard?”
“I don’t want you to get arrested, and I’m also trying to protect my family. If you think so much of Toby and Sarah, you’ll be going someplace else tonight.”
“You’re my family, too, little brother.”
“If I get picked up because of you, Toby and Sarah will suffer. You ever take a moment to think about that?”
No response, just the old and complicated silence between two brothers who were never really friends. Sam felt like kicking something. It was always like this, always, like he and his brother were two radio stations endlessly transmitting past each other on different frequencies.
“I’ll be along in a while, I promise you that. All right?” Tony’s voice had softened, as if he recognized Sam’s frustration and was trying to make amends.
“Really? You got something going on? Something planned?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Me in my smelly clothes, my feet covered in blisters, no money, no place to sleep, oh yeah, I got plans, brother. Lots and lots of plans.”
Sam felt ashamed, thinking of how Tony must feel, finally being free after years of being in a work camp and not getting anything but grief from his younger brother, save a cheap truck-stop sandwich.
Tony asked, “How’s Mom doing? Any change?”
“She has good days and bad days. Depends on when you visit her at the county home.”
“Next time you see her, if she’s with it, tell her I said hi. And Sarah, she still working at the school department? And Toby still a hell-raiser?”
“Yes on both counts,” Sam said. “You telling the truth about moving on in a couple of days?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“I can put you up someplace, if you’d like.”
“Am I hearing you right? A minute or two ago, you were so shook up you were going to hand me over to J. Edgar Hoover himself. Now you’re offering me a hidey-hole? A hell of a change of heart.”
“No, it’s not,” Sam said. “It’s being realistic. You stay on the streets, it’s easier for you to get picked up. I can get you in at a boardinghouse; a landlord I know owes me a few favors. What do you say?”
“If I say no, will you arrest me?”
Something thickened the air between them. There was a cry of something out in the woods being hunted and killed. Sam said quietly, “I should. I should grab you right now and see that you transported back to Fort Drum tomorrow. You’ve always been a pain in the ass, you’ve always thought you were better than me, but I won’t turn you in. It’s… it’s bad now, Tony, but not bad enough to turn in my own brother.”
Tony nudged him with an elbow. “You wouldn’t believe the number of guys back at the camp who were ratted out by family members, either for a reward or to save their own hides. You’re a better man than a lot of folks.”
“Not sure what kind of man I am, but I won’t arrest you.”
“So you got both of my messages.”
“Hard to ignore them,” Sam replied. “I’ll always remember what you or me would do, whenever Dad got into one of his tempers, to warn the other.”
“Yeah, three stones or three sticks on the porch, and haul ass to Pierce Island to wait until his mood changed. Or he fell asleep in his chair. Or Mom told him to go to the cellar to sleep it off. Tough times but good times, brother.”
“Well, if that’s how you remember it. I just remember Dad drunk a lot, beating on us and making Mom cry.”
“He worked hard for us, you know that. The job ended up killing him.”
“That’s history, Tony.”
“The hell it is. It’s the reason I got into trouble back at the yard. Family can mean more than blood, you
