Bayou Born(43)

In the end, Bobby caved. But he made sure it cost the old man a pretty sum. And made sure his education never interfered with people’s perception about him. He remained, first and forever, a good ol’ boy.

“Come on Professor, let’s get go’n. I’ve been waitin’ here for hours. You drive first.” Bobby took shotgun.

James slid behind the wheel, cranked the truck, put it in gear, and then rolled down the windows. Country music twanged. Trace Adkins belted out, Chrome, as James eased the truck on to southbound I-75.

He and Bobby had been friends and neighbors forever. Growing up, acres of family farmland separated them. A dusty limestone road and trails through planted pines connected them. Parker property bumped up to land owned by James’ grandfather—thirty acres of planted pines created a natural divide.

“Never thought you’d get out of farming, though,” Bobby said. He leaned his seat back and closed his eyes. “We had some great times growing up.”

“Summers, working from before dawn to noon at Granddaddy’s place, then afternoons working for your daddy in hay. Yeah, that’s a real party.” He’d spent summers in the Parkers’ hay fields and took a lot of pride when ol’ man Parker trusted him, at fourteen, enough to let him drive the big John Deer. He cut, fluffed, windrowed, and baled until day faded and it was so dark he couldn’t see to get the tractor out of the field. The headlights from the pickup trucks lit his way. Sunday he rested—rising early for church, dinner on the grounds, and “sings” on Sunday night. Sunday was the social day of the week until he had turned sixteen and was able to drive legally.

“You beat the odds, man,” Bobby said. “A high school dropout with a college degree. And look at you now—fancy professor with a Ph.D.”

“Well, I don’t recommend it. It’s a damn hard way to make it.”

The year he turned sixteen he’d quit school. Worked at a hardware store during the day, then worked with the Parkers during hay season. The single thing he’d loved about school was football. But since his family lived so far from town, twenty-five miles one-way, participation in after-school activities, like football, got scratched from the schedule. No one to pick him up after practice each night during the season.

“I thought quitting high school was a viable plan. Thought life could happen quicker and sooner. Dropping out made sense since football wasn’t an option.” He had wanted more than the basic A-B-Cs they taught in small-town USA.

“You were quick enough for college ball, but you’d never make the pros,” Bobby said matter-of-factly.

“That wasn’t the goal. High school held only one interest for me. Friday night lights.”

Getting his GED was easy. The rest of life, not so much. Between the part-time job at the hardware store, morning classes at the community college, afternoons working hay, then cramming all day on Sundays—he lived for Saturday nights.

As though reading his mind Bobby said, “Tipping back a beer or sipping on Wild Turkey 101 was a fine Saturday night ritual.”

“We were Dumb and Dumber. Can’t say I wish those days back.”

Bobby tugged on the bill of his cap until it covered his eyes. In a few moments, James could tell by his friend’s breathing that Bobby had slipped off to sleep.

Music from the radio filled in the silence as he drove. Occasionally, he checked the side mirrors for any movement in the load. The triple axel flatbed carried six hundred bales of premium horse hay. Each weighed fifty-five pounds, and baled with custom ordered twine, not wire. He’d learned that horsewomen demanded this particular feed, and wire hurt their hands.

The sun peeked over the horizon. Crowning rays of light fanned across the sky. If the color of the light was a true predictor, the cool dawn would evaporate as the sun climbed higher into the sky. As they drove south, the day would heat up. He drew a deep breath and let it go. He enjoyed the world before it turned crazy. Dawn remained his favorite time of day.

Bobby woke as the truck approached the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. James wasn’t fooled when his friend didn’t open his eyes. Bobby’s lack of snoring was a dead giveaway that he played opossum.

“At least you kept it between the lines this time,” Bobby muttered.

“You’re worse than any old woman I know. I drive just fine. Just because one time—”

“You ran us into a ditch and almost rolled the truck.”

“We weren’t hauling hay. I was fifteen! Besides, I’ve got the feather from the owl to prove it hit the windshield. I tried to avoid it. Saving it was more important than saving your sorry ass.”

Bobby chuckled. “Right again, Professor,” he said, then reached into the back seat where they kept a small cooler. Bobby pulled out a bottle of orange juice and waxed paper-wrapped biscuits. “Here. Eat. Your granny made them for us.”

James took the food. Laden with ham and smeared with butter, the golden biscuit beckoned. Ham hung over the edges. One bite of the flaky biscuit and honey-cured ham was a reminder of home. His grandmother still made biscuits twice a day, but he hadn’t been around much to satisfy his cravings.

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” he said when Bobby pulled out two more ham biscuits. “You worked up an appetite.”

“Man, that was the best four hours of sleep I’ve had in a while.” Bobby took another bite of the biscuit, then said, “Your granny knows how to cook.”

“It is one of her finer points,” he agreed while holding a biscuit in one hand and steering with the other.

Bobby gobbled up the remaining crumbles in the fold of the napkin.

“So, you slept on the couch after all?” James asked.

“Slept on the couch?” Bobby puffed up like a barnyard rooster. “Man, you don’t understand about conjugal rights.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yeah. I told Charlene about our little negotiation, ’bout how I would take us all for drinks after dinner, maybe a little dancing.” Bobby paused to wipe his mouth. “Maybe we’ll go over to the County Line? Live band, cheap drinks, a usual good time.”

“Really,” James repeated.

“Anyway, she was telling me about who she selected to be your next girlfriend and...”

“My next what?”

“You know how women are, they want men to nest. Its hormones or genetic in their DNA. Part of the X-chromosome thing.” Bobby tuned the radio to a different country station. “Anyway, Char kinda got hot and bothered talking about you and...”

“I already have a date.”

“You agreed to this blind date. I’m not going to give you the chance to worm out of it by making shit up.”

“I assure you, I have a date. I told you I wouldn’t do a blind date again unless I couldn’t find one of my own. But for the sake of conversation, what was your woman hot and bothered about?”

Bobby wiggled his eyebrows and a sly lop-sided grin spread across his face. “I had her describe to me what moves she thought you might try with this one.”

“You’re frick’n voyeurs,” he said in disgust. “The two of you are detailing my moves on someone, someone whom I don’t even know, and you’re panting about it in bed?”

As if on cue, a singer on the radio crooned about turning the lights down low and doing things soft and slow.

Bobby shrugged. “If you’d get married, you’d understand what it’s like keeping that lusty, brand-new-sex feeling in your life.”

“Bobby, I love you like a brother, but you two are not exactly the absolute picture of a wonderful happy marriage. The way the two of you fight.”

Bobby laughed and slugged him in the arm, “Son, that’s what you don’t understand! Make-up sex is the best!” He winked. “Anger makes her burn. It’s kind of like a backfire. I come along and put more heat to the problem—and we burn ourselves out together.”

“Way too much information.” He shook his head. “Way too much.”

“The best part is, she thinks I’m being all sensitive and stuff. Yeah, gotta have make-up sex.”

“Shut up.”

“Wake me in time for lunch,” Bobby said, leaning back in his seat.

James turned his attention to the truck’s radio. Every song danced with romance and hints of sexual desire—some less subtle than others. His thoughts drifted to Branna. Her vulnerability brought out his protective instincts along with his desire to make love. Leaving her to make this trip made him uneasy. In truth, his rule about no colleague fraternization had evaporated when they walked into the Tin Lizzie. He just didn’t know it then. After he’d made love to her, there was no maybe about his feelings. She tantalized all his senses.

It had been too long since he’d been in love. So long, it took him a while to recognize it.

One thing for sure—he didn’t do anything half way. He’d learned long ago, with his heart, it was all or nothing.