I’m sorry to say you don’t make the best decisions when you do get a break. We really got to work on your decision-making skills.’
‘I want to do better.’
‘Good. You know you’re a good looking broad. I’ve never seen a girl look so good in a nurse’s outfit. Those blue eyes of yours. They’re something else.’
‘I’m sorry I don’t have much in the way of breasts.’
‘Listen, when I give you a compliment you can’t turn it around and hit yourself. That ain’t gonna fly with me. Come to think of it, a comment like that gets me two pies a week. I might invite my old friend the Sundance Kid to share a piece. That boy can sure eat pie.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Look, first things first. Have this wine drinking pervert drop you off. A little walk wouldn’t hurt you. And listen, you gotta lay off the bottle. And no caffeine. You can’t drink or smoke or have caffeine. You’re going to have a baby, comprende ?”
‘I’ll be better.’
‘You promise?’
‘I promise.’
‘My recommendation is to start new. Get the hell out of Dodge, as they say, and most of all, kid, buck up. This ain’t the right time to cave in.’
‘I’m all right,’ she said finally and opened her eyes and looked out to the road passing underneath them.
The man took a drink from the bottle.
‘As long as you’re all right,’ he said. He took the pack of cigarettes he had off the dash. ‘You almost scared the shit out of me. You want a smoke?’
She wiped her eyes. ‘I’m trying to quit.’
‘I’ve quit fifteen, maybe twenty times. Longest I’ve lasted is seven months. Then five of my best breeding ferrets died, and I fell off the wagon. My A/C went out in the dead of the summer.’
‘You breed ferrets?’
‘You like them?’
‘I’ve never seen one except in a pet store.’
‘I raise them. They’re a good pet. Next to a dog, I’d say a ferret is the best. A lot of people don’t think so, but I know. The magazines go back and forth on it. They’re good especially if you live in an apartment or duplex that don’t allow dogs. They got a scent, though. A lot of people don’t like that. But they love to be petted. At least mine do. Crazy thing is they’re related to the wolverine, in the same family. The wolverine is a mean son of a bitch. Ferrets can get tough, but they don’t usually get mean. You can teach them a lot, too. They’re smart. I have forty-one right now. I usually sell off ten at a time. Sell them to a couple pet stores I know.’
‘You make a lot of money?’
‘Some. I just like ferrets more than anything. It takes a lot of work. More work than money.’
She found a stick of gum in her purse and put it into her mouth to kill the taste of blood.
‘I’ve been raising them seven, almost eight years. At one time I had over ninety, but my neighbor called the Humane Society and I had to sell off most. I moved after that. But before I did I saw my neighbor smoking pot on his porch. He had a big old bong. He was growing weed in his attic. I called the cops, which I hated doing, but people should mind their own goddamn business.’
She could see the outskirts of the city in the distance. The sun was up now, moving across the sky. They came to a suburb and stopped at a light. He put them in the right lane and turned onto a side street.
‘Where we going?’ she asked.
‘I just got to make a quick stop.’
‘You can drop me off here then.’
‘Listen,’ he said, ‘you’re still ten miles from where you want to be. You don’t want to be stuck on the bus all day, do you? I’ll only be a minute.’
‘Okay,’ she said finally. ‘But then you’ll take me into town?’
‘I told you I would,’ he said and worked his way through side streets until he came to a large lot with an old yellow double wide trailer parked in the center. There was a dying cottonwood tree behind it, with its broken and dry branches hanging limply over the trailer’s roof trying to give it cover.
‘I want to do better.’
‘Good. You know you’re a good looking broad. I’ve never seen a girl look so good in a nurse’s outfit. Those blue eyes of yours. They’re something else.’
‘I’m sorry I don’t have much in the way of breasts.’
‘Listen, when I give you a compliment you can’t turn it around and hit yourself. That ain’t gonna fly with me. Come to think of it, a comment like that gets me two pies a week. I might invite my old friend the Sundance Kid to share a piece. That boy can sure eat pie.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Look, first things first. Have this wine drinking pervert drop you off. A little walk wouldn’t hurt you. And listen, you gotta lay off the bottle. And no caffeine. You can’t drink or smoke or have caffeine. You’re going to have a baby, comprende ?”
‘I’ll be better.’
‘You promise?’
‘I promise.’
‘My recommendation is to start new. Get the hell out of Dodge, as they say, and most of all, kid, buck up. This ain’t the right time to cave in.’
‘I’m all right,’ she said finally and opened her eyes and looked out to the road passing underneath them.
The man took a drink from the bottle.
‘As long as you’re all right,’ he said. He took the pack of cigarettes he had off the dash. ‘You almost scared the shit out of me. You want a smoke?’
She wiped her eyes. ‘I’m trying to quit.’
‘I’ve quit fifteen, maybe twenty times. Longest I’ve lasted is seven months. Then five of my best breeding ferrets died, and I fell off the wagon. My A/C went out in the dead of the summer.’
‘You breed ferrets?’
‘You like them?’
‘I’ve never seen one except in a pet store.’
‘I raise them. They’re a good pet. Next to a dog, I’d say a ferret is the best. A lot of people don’t think so, but I know. The magazines go back and forth on it. They’re good especially if you live in an apartment or duplex that don’t allow dogs. They got a scent, though. A lot of people don’t like that. But they love to be petted. At least mine do. Crazy thing is they’re related to the wolverine, in the same family. The wolverine is a mean son of a bitch. Ferrets can get tough, but they don’t usually get mean. You can teach them a lot, too. They’re smart. I have forty-one right now. I usually sell off ten at a time. Sell them to a couple pet stores I know.’
‘You make a lot of money?’
‘Some. I just like ferrets more than anything. It takes a lot of work. More work than money.’
She found a stick of gum in her purse and put it into her mouth to kill the taste of blood.
‘I’ve been raising them seven, almost eight years. At one time I had over ninety, but my neighbor called the Humane Society and I had to sell off most. I moved after that. But before I did I saw my neighbor smoking pot on his porch. He had a big old bong. He was growing weed in his attic. I called the cops, which I hated doing, but people should mind their own goddamn business.’
She could see the outskirts of the city in the distance. The sun was up now, moving across the sky. They came to a suburb and stopped at a light. He put them in the right lane and turned onto a side street.
‘Where we going?’ she asked.
‘I just got to make a quick stop.’
‘You can drop me off here then.’
‘Listen,’ he said, ‘you’re still ten miles from where you want to be. You don’t want to be stuck on the bus all day, do you? I’ll only be a minute.’
‘Okay,’ she said finally. ‘But then you’ll take me into town?’
‘I told you I would,’ he said and worked his way through side streets until he came to a large lot with an old yellow double wide trailer parked in the center. There was a dying cottonwood tree behind it, with its broken and dry branches hanging limply over the trailer’s roof trying to give it cover.
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