The Laughing Matter by William Saroyan Page A

move it down, and then, sure enough, the thing made noises and began to go. His father and his sister watched him, standing far below and waving.
    He tugged at the whistle handle, but once was enough.He pulled the bell cord, but once was enough for that, too. Now, here they were slowing down to draw up alongside another locomotive on another track, the other engineer leaning out, waiting for them.
    â€œHi,” Red said.
    â€œHi, boy,” the engineer said. He was a younger man than Cody Bone, a man who chewed tobacco and spit, his face smeared here and there, a man who smiled only with his eyes.
    The two engineers talked a moment, then the new one said, “Is that your grandson, Cody?”
    â€œYes,” Cody said. “Pat’s boy. We call him Red.”
    When the engine went off Red said, “I’m not your grandson, am I?”
    Red thought perhaps he
might
be, but hadn’t heard.
    â€œWell, not really, Red,” Cody said. “I just said that because—— Well, I guess I
wish
you were my grandson.”
    â€œIf I was,” Red said, “would I lose my father?”
    â€œOh, no,” Cody said. “Evan’s your father. You can never lose him. Your father is always your father, and so is your grandfather.”
    â€œWho
is
my grandfather?” Red said.
    â€œEvan’s father.”
    â€œBut he’s dead.”
    â€œYour mother’s father. He’s your grandfather, too.”
    â€œWhy do I have two grandfathers, but one father?”
    â€œYou’ve got two grandmothers, too. Your father’s mother and your mother’s mother. Now, we’ve got to go along here a little, pick up three boxcars, and push them back in front of the depot. There you’ll see your father again. And thatwill be the ride in the big black baby. What do you think of it?”
    â€œIt’s awful big,” Red said. “Hot and heavy, too. Does it scare
you?”
    â€œYes,” Cody said. “It
does.”
    â€œIt scares me, too,” Red said. “If you want to be my grandfather, I want you to.”
    â€œAll right,” Cody said. “I’m your grandfather and you’re my grandson, but call me Cody. That’s what I’d ask you to call me if you
were
Pat’s boy.”
    â€œDoes Pat’s boy call you Cody?”
    â€œPat hasn’t got a boy. He’s got two girls, but when he gets a boy, the boy is going to call me Cody. Now, look, Red, we’re going to bump these three boxcars and push them to the depot. Ready?”
    â€œReady,” the boy said.
    They bumped the three boxcars. The man standing near the track went quickly to where the engine had bumped them, worked there a moment, signaled Cody, then Cody made the engine push the cars ahead.
    After a few minutes they saw the depot, and there was his father Evan Nazarenus and his sister Eva.
    When he came down with Cody Bone from the engine Red went to his father and put his arms around him, hiding his head in the small of his back, not saying anything, because the truth was that something lately had made him feel he might not see his father again.

Chapter 14
    When the man got home he found the woman lying on the sofa in the parlor, and he saw that she had been crying. He saw that she was desperate and needed help. He saw her eyes say to him, Help me, you’re my husband, you’re the father of my kids, whatever I am, whatever it is that I’ve done, whatever it is that I may do if you
do
help me, help me, it’s not wrong to help those who have betrayed you, they too are alone, they too are betrayed, help me, Evan.
    â€œI drove the locomotive,” Red said. “I drove it myself.Cody Bone sat beside me, but I was the one who drove it. Wasn’t I, Papa?”
    â€œYes, you were.”
    â€œYes, he was,” Eva said. “I saw him. He went up with the man, and he was the one, Mama. Yes, he was. Weren’t you?”
    â€œAh,