Buck Henry

Buck Henry slowly wakened. It was the fly that did it. It was on his nose. And it was busy, and it wasn’t leaving. He felt the sensation on his face, then the mild warmth of his scalp, and next the sunlight dripped down his brow and slowly washed over his cheeks and lips and chin. He was half in, half out of his little box shelter in the alley behind Adam’s Bakery. Now later in the afternoon, the sun shone down bright and hot. Buck scrunched up his face, yawned, lolled his head to the side, and slowly opened his eyes. He saw two pale white legs, slightly smudged. Very close. And a bright orange butterfly on one ankle. He frowned at this. He wasn’t sure there should be a butterfly there, should there? Should a butterfly, could a butterfly, would a butterfly, did a butterfly go there? Yes, it was there. That was good.

“You alive, mister?” The voice was somewhat timid, but curious.

A butterfly could go almost anywhere it wanted, really. Anywhere. Even down low, or up high. Sometimes you didn’t see a butterfly in your whole life! That was bad.
The shoes the legs were attached to turned around and started going away. The butterfly went with them. It darted beside the leg, but it still stayed orange. It didn’t change color one bit. Some days when things stayed the same color that was really good. Especially when they were orange! The legs disappeared into the back end of the bakery. The butterfly did a little dance beside the wall and disappeared. Buck was sad to see it go. It was so beautiful! Some days were sad days.

Buck pushed himself into a sitting position and moved back into the boxes and out of the sun. He began looking at himself. He saw his favorite coat! Good. He still had some vodka left! Great! His sleeping place was scattered with his stuff, mostly clothes. They made him feel good to have them here. And they helped keep him warm at night. That and the crack in the building that let warm air seep out. It was good to find a warm spot sometimes! And because of Adam. Because everyone knew Adam would give you stuff. Sometimes to eat. Some days that was pretty good. And he didn’t mind if you were there. So you didn’t have to always leave because people were telling you to go away. Some days it was good to just stay here, so no one ever told you to go.

Suddenly there was a bang, but Buck knew what it was! There were good bangs and there were bad bangs. Buck knew this bang because it was the bang the door made when it closed. He peeked around the corner of his box. There was another butterfly! And it was orange. It was flying low near a girl’s leg. It was the same butterfly! It followed her to the back stoop. It followed her as she looked around and searched. It danced while she tucked her purse behind a box. And then it settled down and was finally quiet after the girl sat on the stoop and started eating bakery stuff. The smell of the hot dough started making Buck hungry!

He moved back into his box to get ready for tonight. He would go to the back of Gino’s and get a treat! And he might get some left over wine from the table! Some days it was good to go to Gino’s. And some days it was good to take your favorite coat!

Just as he was ready to leave, he heard a voice. He shrunk back, and then slowly moved his head to peek. There was a very proper man next to the girl. He had on a turtleneck, trousers, shoes, and jacket. And he was all in black. But the man was so interested in talking to the girl that he didn’t notice the butterfly had starting moving again. The man and the girl were talking too quiet. You couldn’t hear them. Talking could be good sometimes. When you know someone, and they want to talk about good stuff, then it can be fun. Some days it was a good day to talk. Buck could talk to Gino! But it was too early to talk to him. But you could tell if it was too early if the sun was going down. Buck turned to see where the sun was. Yes, it was especially shiny as it glanced off the roofs while it sunk lower in the sky. And it glinted on the butterfly!

Then the man shouted! And the butterfly began moving quickly. It was upset with the man! Then, quick as the light, he brought up his hand shiny and gold, and hit her with it. The butterfly stopped. The girl slumped. The man hunched over and picked her up and began to walk. Buck quickly pulled back inside the box as they went away. Some days aren’t good days to be out. Later, Buck made his way over to the stoop and grabbed the girl’s purse that she left behind. And inside was another butterfly! Some days are good days even though you aren’t out.