‘Why not?’ he asked like a child might.
‘What kinda fool you gonna feel like if you come all the way out here an’ then you don’t even ask? You cain’t tell, you know, he might reach in his pocket an’ come out wit’ the bread.’
That seemed to tickle Mouse. The winter passed and he smiled.
‘All right, Easy. We see what he got t’give.’
The yard, if you could call it that, was a mess. There was an old wagon that had both of its axles broken, the rusted-out metal hulk of a steam boiler, and pointy-spouted oil cans scattered around. There was a jumbled pile of old bales of hay that must’ve laid there for five years and more. Old furniture tossed anywhere and many things I couldn’t even put a name to. I got the feeling that the old farmer went into a rage, taking everything he had and throwing it from the house and barn.
Little animals scurried in amongst the junk; there were mounds of ants; an opossum had made its nest in a hollow tree full of old clothes, rags.
There was a large stack of rotting timber that must’ve been intended for building at one time, laying in front of the house like a giant pile of dropped kindling.
A few wild roosters hopped around and four mongrel dogs sat in the shade of a sweet olive tree. The ground around them was scattered with dried turds and dead blades of grass.
The house was even worse.
It looked as if the main beams had been broken. The roof was caved in; all four walls leaned inward. The old two-story farm house had been folded into a squat hut. There was a pipe sticking out near the top of one of the slanted walls, a weak rag of smoke coming from it. If it wasn’t for that I’d’ve thought we had come on a deserted wreck.
One of the dogs got up, snarling and slavering at Mouse. It snapped and growled but just when it got near, Mouse slammed it on the side of the neck with his pole. It was a very simple thing; he did it almost like breathing, he was so blase.
The dog’s yelp was so sharp that you could feel his pain. He rolled in the filth under the tree, making a terrible racket. The other dogs jumped up and started pacing, back and forth.
That’s when some boards that were once the front door of the house moved outward. A strong-looking black man stood in the wreck of that doorway. He wore overalls with no shirt and you could see the strength in his arms and chest like flats of dark steel. He looked like he belonged in the fields all day long, tearing up the sod and yanking trees out by the root.
Mouse dropped his stick. ‘Hey there, Reese,’ he said.
The big man came out of the doorway but he seemed to bring the shadows along with him.
‘This here’s my friend - Easy Rawlins.’
I said hello but the farmer didn’t even look at me. He was watching his dog, who by then had stopped wallowing and was simply laying in the dirt, shivering like one of the fish Mouse had stunned earlier that morning.
‘Wha’ happen my dog, Raymond?’
‘Search me. He run up like he knew me an’ then he fell into a fit.’ Mouse stared Reese straight in the face. He wasn’t letting anything show, except a slight squint from the sun.
‘Ain’t no room in the house fo’no guests, Ray. What you want?’
Mouse hunkered down against a rotted bale of hay and said, ‘Just wanted to shout at ya, Reese, you know it’s been some years an’ I thought I’d see ya while we down here.’
‘I ain’t got no food and no drinks fo’ guests neither. So if you got sumpin’ t’say then let’s have it.’
I was sorry I talked Mouse into coming.
‘Looks like you could use a hand out here, Reese. Farm’s goin’ to shit if you ask me.’
Reese took a deep breath, you could see the rage. Watching Mouse bait him was like watching a man striking matches over a vat of gasoline.
‘I mean you might need some help out here an’, well you know I’m kinda settlin’ down nowadays... gettin’ married to a girl down in Houston.’
Reese was through with small talk.
‘So I thought maybe we talk some business. You know after my weddin’ I might wanna come on out here an’ do some honest work.’
That got a smile from Reese. He said, ‘No, uh-uh. You go on an’ do whatever it is you doin’. I stay out to here.’
‘Well we don’t have to worry ‘bout that now. I thought you wanna come on out an’ celebrate wit’ me an’ Easy. You know it ain’t ev’ryday you get a daughter-in-law an’ maybe some grandkids.’
‘I gotta take care’a my dog...’ Reese said. He turned to go back into the house.
‘Reese!’ Mouse shouted as he jumped to his feet.
The older man stopped. Without turning he said, ‘I don’t take to folks raisin’ they voice t’me out on my farm, an’ I don’t take t’folks comin’ out an’ hurtin’ my dogs. So I guess you better go back to wherever you come from or I’ma go get my gun an’...’
‘I come fo’my part’a Momma’s dowry, Reese,’ Mouse said. ‘I know she had some jewelry an’ some money from her folks when you two got married an’ you leased land wit’ it. I know you got money out here now, an’ I want some for my own weddin’. It’s mines, Reese, an’ I want it.’
The last three words turned Reese around.
