Sixkill

time he was eight, he already had a reputation for making trouble. By the time he was ten, his mother had died 'from drinking too much,' as he understood it, and he went to live with his maternal grandfather, whose name was Bob Little Bear, whom Zebulon called Bob. Bob was a widower. He spoke very little. But he didn't drink much. And when Zebulon got in trouble, Bob came down and got him and brought him home and explained to him why he shouldn't do it again. For Zebulon, Bob became a fixed beacon. He was always the same. He did what he said he'd do. He had rules, and he knew what they were and explained them to Zebulon. He taught the boy to shoot a rifle, and build a fire and cook, and generally see to himself. He explained sex to him. Zebulon found it odd to think that Bob had ever done that. Bob said he, too, found it odd, but that in fact sometimes he still did that.

'Who with?' Zebulon said.

'None of your business,' Bob said.

He smiled, though, when he said it. And Zebulon could tell he was kind of proud about it. Zebulon thought for a while.

'My mother was your daughter,' he said, quite suddenly.

'Yes,' Bob said.

'You must have been sad when she died,' Zebulon said.

'Yes,' Bob said.

'I never thought of that,' Zebulon said.

'No reason to,' Bob said.

'You know my father?' Zebulon said.

'Yes.'

'You like him?' Zebulon said.

'No,' Bob said.

'I didn't like him so much, either, I guess.'

'No need to,' Bob said.

'You're supposed to love your father,' Zebulon said.

'If he'll let you,' Bob said.

'And how come they named me Zebulon?'

'After Zebulon Pike,' Bob said.

'Who's he?'

'Famous explorer,' Bob said. 'Discovered Pikes Peak.'

'Where's Pikes Peak?'

'Colorado,' Bob said.

'Famous white explorer?'

'Yes.'

'So how come they named me after some white person?'

'Don't know,' Bob said.

'How come not a famous Cree person?'

'I don't know,' Bob said.

'How come they drank all the time?'

'Don't know,' Bob said.

'Why'd my father run off?'

'Don't know.'

'How come you don't know anything?'

'Know we're here,' Bob said. 'Know we got to deal with that, and not a lot of stuff we got no way to deal with.'

'Least your white-person name is easy to say.'

'Easier than Zebulon,' Bob said.

7

'WELL,' RITA SAID as we drove back to Boston, 'that went well.'

'Can't say I've ever seen you take offense before,' I said.

'Can't remember it myself,' Rita said. 'What did he do to offend you?'

'Asked me if I'd had sex with you.'

'And you were ashamed to admit you hadn't?' Rita said.