I HEARD MAMA HOLLERING FOR US TO COME IN AND I KNEW THAT meant she had our lunch ready. The ferns were all mashed down from where Stump had walked through them, and I followed the trail he made up to where I’d buried the rattler. The dirt was still soft, and I walked around on top of it to get it good and packed down, and then I picked up the shovel and set off up the hill to the barn.
I leaned the shovel against the wall behind the barn door, and I looked up at the rafters where I knew my daddy was going to be hanging the tobacco once he’d finished sticking it and bringing it all in. When I left the barn and stepped out into the sunlight, I saw Stump up beside the house. He was on his knees in front of the rain barrel turning the spigot back and forth. There wasn’t no water coming out because there wasn’t any in there.
“Nothing’s going to come out,” I told him. “It’s still broke, and if I was you I wouldn’t be messing with it because sooner or later Daddy’s going to find out.” We were standing under their window again. It was open, and I could hear them talking all the way from the kitchen. It sounded like they were arguing about something. I looked up at the gutter spout where it was supposed to run down inside the barrel, but it was all bent up and torn loose. “You’d better use the hose,” I said. He gave the spigot another couple of turns, and I walked over to the hose pipe and turned it on. I washed off my hands one at a time, and I left it running and sat it down in the grass. “Here,” I said. “Here, use this.” Stump shimmied over on his knees and picked up the hose and took a sip of the water, and then he rinsed his hands. I went around to the back of the house and opened the back door and walked down the hallway to the kitchen.
“Well, he’s the one that called me,” I heard Daddy say. “It ain’t like I called him, Julie. He’s been back for a while, and I didn’t even know about it.”
“Why’d he even come back? It sounds like he ain’t but a couple of miles away, so it’s not like he’s been dying to see you. It ain’t like he’s made any effort at all to meet your family.”
“Maybe that’s what he’s doing now,” Daddy said.
“Yeah, right,” Mama said. “He probably needs money.”
“He did mention that he’s thinking about selling the old place,” Daddy said.
“What a surprise,” Mama said. “Well, if he asks you for any money, then you’d better tell him to get in line behind me.” I heard her sigh.
“Who are y’all talking about?” I asked. Daddy stood with his hands on the back of one of the chairs and leaned out over the table and stared down at it where Mama had already started setting out the food. He looked at me, and then he looked at Mama where she was rinsing off a head of cabbage in the sink. He smiled at her just a little bit like he was in trouble for something that he wasn’t going to take very seriously. Mama just looked away from him and picked up a big knife and sat that head of cabbage down on the counter and started chopping away at it.
“Nunya,” Daddy said. I knew what joke he was playing, but I went along with it anyway.
“Nunya who?” I said.
“Nunya Business,” Daddy said. I walked to the sink and poured a little water into my cup, and then I turned around and leaned against the counter and took a long drink. Mama rolled her eyes and walked past Daddy down the hallway to the bathroom. I heard the door shut, and then I heard it lock. Daddy looked over at me.
“Where’s your brother at?” he asked.
“He’s with Nunya,” I said. Daddy smiled and reached out and floated a soft, fake punch onto my jaw and wiggled his fist against my face. I felt his wedding ring on my cheek when he did it.
“That’s a good one,” Daddy said. He smiled. “With Nunya.”
MAMA SAT A PLATE FULL OF SLICES OF COLD HAM IN THE CENTER OF the table, and she’d made pintos and coleslaw with corn bread. I took my fork and picked up a slice of ham and dropped it on my plate, and then I mixed my beans and my coleslaw together and crumbled my corn bread over it, just like Daddy did. It was quiet except for the sound of the silverware hitting on the plates while we ate.
“Where’d you find that snake?” I asked Daddy. He cut himself a piece of ham and stabbed it with his fork.
“I just found him inside the barn door,” he said. “It’s like he was sitting there waiting on me.” He put the ham in his mouth and chewed on it. “Mmm!” he said. “This is just about the best ham I’ve ever had.” Mama looked up and stared across the table at Daddy like she was a little bit mad at him, but when I looked back at him I saw he was crumbling his corn bread over his beans like he didn’t even know she was thinking about him.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I looked down and saw a big old snake waiting on me,” I said. “It makes me think I probably should have a BB gun.”
“What do you think a BB gun’s going to do against a snake like that?” Daddy asked me.
“I’d shoot it,” I said. “I’d shoot it before it bit me.”
“There ain’t no way you’re getting a gun,” Mama said.
“That thing would’ve had you by the thigh before you could even give that gun a pump,” Daddy said. He reached under the table and grabbed my leg, and I jumped when he did it because it surprised me.
“I just think I need a BB gun,” I said.
“There ain’t no way,” Mama said. “One gun’s one too many in this house.” She stood up and walked over to the refrigerator and opened it and leaned inside and took the butter out of the door. When she did, Daddy dropped his fork and acted like he was pumping a shotgun and he aimed it at her backside. I laughed, and when she turned around we both went back to eating our lunch. Mama came back to the table and sat down and sat the butter by the corn bread.
“Jess,” she said, “me and your brother are going to the prayer meeting tonight after supper, and you’re going to have to come with us.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because your daddy’s got plans this evening,” she said. “He’s having company over.” She looked at Daddy, and then she took her knife and carved out a slice of butter and dropped it on Stump’s corn bread. Stump picked it up and took a bite, and the butter ran down off his chin. He picked up his napkin and wiped it off.
“I don’t need nobody watching me,” I said. “It ain’t like I’m a baby.” I looked over at Daddy. “I bet Stump don’t even want to go back to church tonight anyway. Me and him could just stay here.” Daddy crumbled more corn bread over his pintos and then reached across the table for the bowl of coleslaw. He spooned a helping onto his plate and sat it back down.
“Listen to your mother,” he said.
“Christopher,” Mama said. “Do you want some coleslaw?” Mama picked up the bowl and held it over Stump’s plate. She waited, and I knew she was hoping he might say something. Daddy sat his fork down and chewed his food and looked across the table at her. “Christopher,” she said again. She waited another second, and then she sat the bowl down on the table and picked up her fork.
DADDY WAS STANDING ON THE PORCH AND SIPPING A GLASS OF WATER when we left for the evening service. The sun was on its way down, and even though it was September and I knew the leaves would start dying soon, it was still awfully hot outside. I rolled the window down in the truck and leaned out and waved at Daddy. He waved back and stood there and watched us until we went around the corner of the driveway.
“I need to tell you boys something,” Mama said. She looked over at me and Stump. “Your grandpa’s coming to see Daddy this evening, and he might still be here when we get home.” She looked back at the road, and I stared at the side of her face. I hadn’t seen him since I was real little, back when he used to live out in Shelton where my daddy grew up. Mama’d told me I should call him Grandpa if I ever saw him again because it would make Daddy feel good.