below, in the old part of the cemetery, he noticed again that another gravestone had sunken down into the ground. He 'd seen two more like that the day Doug unveiled the mapa day that seemed like an eternity ago, even though it had been less than a week.
It was hard to tell through the drizzle, but it looked like in addition to the sinking grave markers, a few more headstones might have fallen over onto the grass, too. Barry 's dad was letting the cemetery fall into disrepair. Despite the man's misgivings, it was unlike him. Even if he was laid up drunk somewhere, he' d crack the whip, making sure his son covered for him. Maybe he just didn 't have enough time to keep up with the sinking tombstones.
The funeral procession halted. The coffin was unloaded from the hearse while the crowd circled the open grave. Timmy's breath caught in his throat. Barry and his father had dug the grave that morning. The top of the hole was framed with a brass rail and covered with a white cloth. A mound of fresh, reddish, claylike dirt lay piled to one side, along with squares of sod. Deep backhoe tracks marked the grass, but Clark Smeltzer had moved the machine back into the utility shed so that it wouldn 't loom over the service.
This was it, his grandfather's final resting placea long, rectangular hole in the ground, right next to his grandmother. Now, every time Timmy came here to play, they 'd both be nearby. The morbid strangeness of it all was not lost on him. This was both his playground and his grandparents' burial ground. If not for the Dugout and the fierce pride he took in its construction, he 'd have suggested to Barry and Doug that they'd been right before, and maybe they should play in Bowman' s Woods more often, or settle for a tree house somewhere else.
After the graveside portion of the service, Timmy trudged home with his parents. They walked in silence, not speaking, emotionally and physically exhausted. For the first time in his life, Timmy felt two new sensations. He felt old.
And he felt mortaleven more now than when he did playing among the graves of kids his own age.
He didn't at all like feeling either one.
Grandpa wasn't sleeping. He was dead. That was that. Sooner or later, everybody died. And one day, it would be his turn.
The cemetery had a new permanent resident.
After everyone else went home, Barry and his father went back to their house, changed from their suits into work clothes, and then returned to the grave. Slowly, they lowered Dane Graco 's coffin into the hole via a winch rope and pulley system. The casket was heavy, and Barry' s arms and back ached afterward. His father didn ' t allow him to take a break once the coffin rested at the bottom of the grave. Instead, Barry began shoveling dirt back into the hole while his father retrieved the backhoe. The clouds had finally cleared, and the temperature rose. It was hard, sweaty work, and Barry was glad that evening was drawing closer. It would have been even hotter had the sun been in the sky, rather than setting on the horizon. His calloused hands blistered beneath his leather work gloves.
Barry hated this, hated working for his father, slaving away every day, mowing and digging and raking while his friends enjoyed the summer. Nobody else' s fathers made them work like this. Randy Graco didn't force Timmy to go to the paper mill with him every day. Why should he be stuck doing this stuff all summer long, just because his father was a drunk? Chores, his father called them.
Barry knew about chores, and this wasn't it. Timmy had chores; weeding the garden and sweeping out the basement, stuff that took him an hour or so to complete. Timmy bitched and complained about it, but Barry could only laugh. Timmy had no idea how lucky he was. He didn 't have to bust his rear just to cover for his old man's laziness.
Barry didn't know what he wanted to be when he grew up, but it certainly wasn't his father. Buzzing gnats flew in front of his face, darting for his eyes and ears. He waved them away and dropped another shovel full of dirt onto the coffin, listening to it hit the wood and trickle down the sides.
Minutes later, another sound echoed across the graveyard, the roar of the backhoe's powerful diesel engine as it sputtered to life. Slowly, his father backed it out of the utility shed and drove over to the grave, carefully weaving the big machine through the tombstones. Barry backed out of the way, grateful for the short break, and wiped the sweat from his brow. Using the scoop, his father quickly filled the hole with dirt. Then he shut off the backhoe, hopped down, and lit a cigarette. Smoke curled into the sky. The tip glowed.
Barry thought his father seemed nervous.
The sun edged closer to the horizon.
'No screwing around now,' Clark grumbled. 'Let's get this done quick. Your mom's got dinner waiting.'
'Yes, sir.'
Barry tensed. His father' s tone was all too familiar. It meant trouble tonight. For him, for his mother, for anybody who did anything to piss him off. Barry wondered whose turn it would be this time.
He hated his father. Sometimes, late at night when everyone was asleep, Barry imagined what it would be like to kill him. He thought about it again now. To hit him over the head with the shovel, dig up the dirt and throw him down on top of Dane Graco' s coffin, then fill it all in again, burying his old man alive. He grinned, even as sour bile rose in his throat. He knew it wasn't right, thinking that way. He knew that God could see inside his heart, just like Reverend Moore said. But he couldn't help it. Besides, if God really cared, then why didn't He step in and help them? Why did He allow Barry and his mother to continue living this way? He imagined his father in the hole, gasping and sputtering as the dirt hit him in the face. His smile grew broader.
'What are you grinning about?' Clark grunted. 'You laughing at me?'
'No.'
'Then what you grinning about?'
'Nothing.'
'Wipe that damn smirk off your face and keep working.'
'Yeah…'
'Yeah? Yeah what?'
Barry lowered his eyes. 'Yes, sir.'
They replanted the squares of sod on top of the grave, as they'd done so many times before, and neither said a word to the other as they worked. Barry watched his father out of the corner of his eye, trying to determine if he was drunk yet. He knew that his father kept a bottle of Wild Turkey hidden in the shed, and it was very likely he 'd taken a few swigs while getting the backhoe. Barry hadn't told Timmy and Doug about the secret stash. They might want to try some, the way they had last summer when they
'd found a six pack of Old Milwaukee beer that Pat Kemp had left in the creek to stay cold (the oversized pounder cans). Secretly, Barry was terrified of alcohol and its effects. He'd seen firsthand what it did to his father, turning him into someone else, into a monster, and he had no desire to do the same. Barry 's biggest fear was of becoming his father. He'd heard other adults say that happenedas you got older, you became your parents. He' d vowed that in his case, he 'd make sure that didn't happen. Never. He hated it when some wellmeaning adult patted him on the head and said, 'Why, you look just like your father.'
His father was an abusive drunk, and Barry had the scars, both physical and mental, to prove it.
But his father didn' t seem drunk now. He seemed… apprehensive. And as the sun sank lower, his agitation increased. He kept glancing around the cemetery, as if looking for something… or someone.
'You okay, Dad?'
Clark frowned. 'Course I'm okay. Why? You saying I don't look okay?'
'No. It's nothing.'
'Well, then quit dicking around.'
'Yes, sir.'
Finished with the job, they tamped the sod down firmly, and then stepped back. Clark Smeltzer mopped his forehead with a red bandanna. 'Let's get home.'
'Don't we need to water the sod first?'
'No.' He glanced up at the advancing twilight. 'We'll do it tomorrow. Been a long day.'
'But'
'None of your lip.' A vein throbbed on his father's forehead. 'I said we're leaving. Now.'
'Sorry.'
'Shut up.'
They went home. Barry's mother had fixed pork chops, green beans, and mashed potatoes.
