Apricots

Apricots

The early morning sprinkle had cooled the air off. We pushed down the road and I watched the wheat fields slip by. I checked my rear view and tipped it down. Danny was still asleep in the back, his head tilted to the side and rocking back and forth on the window.
“It shouldn’t be much further, couple miles or so.” I fixed the mirror and rolled the window all the way down.
“That’s good. It’ll be good for him to get some air.” She stared straight ahead as she played with her lower lip. Her hair was bound up in a bun, and her glasses gave her a very sophisticated appearance. I took a left turn, and shifted down to climb the hill further down the road.
“Which weekend is your trip?” Molly had told me that she was going to Seattle to meet with her sister. They hadn’t seen each other in a year. She looked up at the sky and pursed her lips.
“Not next weekend, but the one after. I booked the tickets yesterday. I’ll only be gone for three days.”
“I’m sure I’ll manage.” I looked over at her and smiled. I felt queasy, and when I looked at her face, it seemed blank. She continued to stare at the road. I squeezed the steering wheel and watched my knuckles turn pale. She didn’t notice. She kept playing with her lower lip and watching the wheat fields pass by.
“I don’t mean to feel so damned distant,” she said languidly. She stopped playing with her lip and turned and faced me. I stared straight ahead. “I just don’t know what I am supposed to do.” I hated it when her voice sounded sad. It was a little higher, and she held her words a little longer on her tongue. It had an odd emptiness to it, like she was hurt.
“It’s not your fault. I don’t blame you. You’re going to go to Seattle and having a damned good time with your sister. I’ll take Danny fishing, and we’ll have a damned good time too. It’s not doing us any good not having damned good times.” I tried to sound funny. I looked at her as I steered to the right. She didn’t look amused.
“I know you don’t blame me, but you seem upset that I am leaving, and I don’t want you to be angry. It’s only three days.”
“It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
The road split in two, and I turned up to the left. I pushed the gas a little harder as the hill steepened and shifted down again. The car lurched and sputtered. I saw her turn to me as I tried to keep it from dying.
I pumped the gas and heard the engine choke and spit. I could tell when she was looking at me; I could feel her gaze.
“What’s wrong?” She rolled down the window and stuck her head out and looked down.
“I don’t think I’m out of gas.”
She must not have seen anything, so she returned her head inside the car. “I don’t see anything, and I don’t have my damn cell phone.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone.
“No service.” I coasted the car to the side of the road and pulled the emergency brake. I held the lock button in so the clicking wouldn’t wake Danny up.
“Maybe we could use Danny’s phone.” She reached behind her and grabbed his plastic phone. It was bright red toy rotary phone with a smiley face embossed on the front. Molly picked up the phone, and dialed a number. It clicked and whirred as she spun the dial.
“Does Danny get bars out here? Danny must get bars. He’s our only damned chance!” It felt good to change the subject, but she still seemed annoyed at the situation.
“Hello?” Her voiced sounded panicked. “Is anybody there?” She breathed heavily and waited for a response.
“Well?” I said. I was trying to start the car back up. The engine gave out a whimper and sputtered loudly. It ran for a moment, and died again. Molly slowly pulled the red receiver from her ear.
“The lines must have been cut, there’s—no dial tone.” She mocked a look of horror. She never kept things serious for too long.
“Well,” I said as I let out a long sigh. “We are burnt, my lady.” I took the keys out and looked back at Danny. He was still asleep.
“Burnt? What the hell does burnt mean?” She opened her door and got out and stretched. I popped the hood and rolled my window up and stepped out. The morning air was cold and refreshing. It was a wonderful day for a hike, or a break-down.
“Burnt means that we are all out of options; the gods have not favored our voyage, Molly.” I enjoyed saying her name. It made me feel good for some reason or another. “I told you we should have sacrificed the cat and poured out libations.” She had been re-reading The Odyssey. I tried to boast my literary knowledge whenever possible.
I reached back into the car and got our pack of cigarettes. I packed it, slapping it hard against my palm ten or fifteen times. I pulled one out with my teeth and slid it across the roof of the car to her. She grabbed one herself. She leaned over the hood and let me light it for her. The breeze sent the smoke whirling around our heads.
“What’s our plan of attack, captain?” She took a hard drag off the cigarette and tried to blow the smoke at my face. The wind grabbed it and sent it upward into the sky.
“I can call Henry. He’s watching football right now, I’m sure.” I looked up the road. There was a house a ways up the hill with cloud of smoke rolling up through the trees that shrouded its outline. “There’s a house up the road. I’m going to go ask to use their phone.”
“What would I ever do without you?” She put the back of her hand on her forehead and leaned her head back. The smoke from the cigarette rolled around her head and coiled around her bangs. I enjoyed the sarcasm for some reason. It made me feel more comfortable.
“So you’re staying with Danny?”
“Yeah, he is still pretty tuckered.”
“I’ll be back in a jiff.” She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I could tell what she was thinking, but didn’t want to reciprocate. Jiff was an acceptable word to express a short amount of expected time to complete a task. She could go to hell. I made my way up the gravel road. The house was nestled in a small grove of locust trees. The leaves were turning yellow and the ground below them was littered with those that had already been sheared off by the wind. The fire was on the other side of the house, so I made my way around. There was a small garage, and a brush fire sent thick puffs of smoke into the air. The wind sent it out over the wheat field beyond the locusts. There was a man rummaging in the shed. He saw me walking up and came out to greet me. He was a short man and had blue overalls on. He had a shovel in his hand and as he got closer I could see a large lump in his lower lip. He spit out a long strand of dark chew spit on the ground and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
“What can I do you for?” His face was sallow and he tried to muster up a smile. He was older, around fifty or sixty, with streaks of grey in his short hair. His eyes were set wide apart and his nose was crooked to the left.
“I was wondering if I could use your phone. My car broke down further on up the road.”
He looked me over and stuck his left hand in his pocket. He smiled at me again and set his shovel down near the fire.
“Of course you can! I tend to keep my phones and such inside, come on in.” His voice was rough and sharp. He led the way in through the back door. The house had a thick musty smell and the halls were narrow. His shoulders were hunched as he walked and made his way through the living room and into the kitchen. He pointed to a phone that was hanging on the wall. It was a rotary phone, and I resisted the urge to let out a chuckle, but I must have been smiling. He gave me an odd look. “Take all the time you need.”
“Thank you so much.”
“Oh, it’s no problem at all.” He smiled again, and walked around the corner. I spun the dial and smiled again at the whirring sound. Henry picked up the phone on the first ring.
“Hello?” I could hear the football blaring in the background.
“Henry, I need a favor.”
“What’s the deal, Zac?”
“I’m broke down.”
“The old Nissan finally blow up?” He had sold me the car a couple of years ago.
“I’m not sure, she won’t start. Molly and I thought it would be a good idea to bring Danny on a walk. Didn’t plan on the whole, breaking down thing, you know?”
“Weren’t you going to ask her?” I was caught off guard by what he said. I took a deep breath and rubbed my left eye. I had forgotten that I told him. Damn, why did I tell him?
“I already did.” I opened my eyes back up and stared at the phone.
“And?” He sounded like he wanted to hear good news. He wanted to hear what I wanted to happen. I shut my eyes again and felt a little sick.
“No dice, you know?” I choked down a lump it my throat. A tingling sensation rushed over my skull and down my spine. I felt unsteady. I heard Henry let out a big, apologetic sigh. It wasn’t his damn fault. He didn’t need to apologize.
“I’m so sorry, man.”
“It’s fine.” I swallowed and stood up straight.
“Did you go up to Moscow Mountain?”
“Yeah, just past the cut-off road.”
“Alright, I’ll be there in about twenty?”
“Sounds good, I’ll see you then.” I hung the phone back on the wall. It made a loud clack and just as I turned to head out the door the man emerged from behind the corner. He held a small bucket in his hands, and held it out for me.
“Raspberries? Just picked them.” He reached in and took a handful and popped them in his mouth.
“Thanks. And thanks for letting me use your phone.” I reached in and grabbed a handful of the berries. They were red and plump. I ate one, and shoved the rest in my pocket. “I’ll be on my way now. My girlfriend and kid are waiting back down the road.”
“I can give you a ride into town if you need one.” He set the bucket down on the counter and walked over to the fridge. He opened it and set to drinking from a gallon of orange juice.
“I have a friend coming to give me a lift. Thanks again for letting me use your phone. And the raspberries were delicious.” I smiled and we shook hands.
I got back to the car just in time to see that Danny was waking up. I reached in through the window and handed him one of the raspberries. It was a little crushed from being in my pocket, but he popped it in his mouth and sucked on it for a while. Molly was sitting on the hood and reading the Odyssey. She rested her back on the windshield and lowered her glasses once she felt it necessary to address me.
“Did you get a hold of Henry?”
“Yeah, he’s coming right now.” I reached in my pocket and grabbed one of the raspberries. I held it out to her.
“Raspberry?” She reached her hand out, palm up.
“No, it’s an apricot.” I smiled and dropped it in her palm. She popped it in her mouth and sucked on it like Danny had. I looked in and saw him playing with the rotary phone. It whirred and clicked as he spun the dial. She looked up at me over The Odyssey.
“This is a delicious apricot.” She shut the book and slipped down off the hood. “What is it that you want me to say, honestly?” She looked away from me, toward the wheat fields.
“I wanted you to say yes.” I mulled a raspberry over in my mouth. It was no apricot, but had a very fine texture and taste. She turned around and looked at me, right at me. It made me feel uneasy, but I looked right back at her.
“Damned good apricots, after all.”
“Yes, I suppose they are.”