FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #6

Almost everyone thought the man and the boy were father and son.  And that was okay for the time being.  I mean, it didn't interfere with anything they were doing in town.  I say the town, but mostly it was the farm.  Both worked there during the short season that is blueberry picking time in Maine.  Perry Harkins had let them stay in his barn for a couple of years now during that season, and it was a good thing too, with the sky routinely opening up during one of the many thunder storms passing through.  Many workers stumble into towns throughout Maine during this season to make what little money is available for the best rakers.  It's backbreaking work, but the weather is mild and sleeping outside if necessary, is no biggie, that is unless it's pouring.

Tom Andrews put one foot in front of the other trying to muster up enough energy to get started on this bright, August morning.  He knew he was behind because the sun had that late sort of slant to it.  You know these things if you work outside everyday.  He looked over at Danny Wentworth and tried to wake him by shaking him with his foot. 

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Danny mumbled as he stretched his arms straight up over his head.  "I don't need you to get me up.  I think you should just get going yourself.  Maybe I'll join you later, I don't know."

"Get your lazy ass up and let's go to the field before it gets too hot.  Move it," the older man barked. "We're going to make some money this season, come hell or high water. Now, stay away from the women today.  You can't afford to spend time trying to get laid just now."  Tom walked out of the barn doors while looking at the pasture and beyond that to the acres of blue just waiting for them.  He could see others bent over their rakes.  There must be at least thirty there he thought.  More today than yesterday. That  would shorten the season.  Harkins must be in a hurry for this crop.  Tom knew as soon as he got what he wanted crated and shipped that would be it.  "Danny, get moving. I am leaving in five minutes and will drag you if I have to.  Think how that'll look to those girls you keep pestering."

"Pestering, my ass.  You know they all like me," he rambled while pulling his right sneaker on.  It was getting bluer everyday and had a rip in the fake leather near the toe.  Who gives a shit he thought as he looked at the tear.  His feet didn't show in the bushes anyway.

They picked up their rakes by the side of the water barrel after taking a long, slow drink.  Each splashed the cold water on their faces and started down the hill.  They knew Harkins would have water in coolers for the workers and maybe some leftover pastries, but doubtful with that crowd. It could be a long time till lunch.

Harkins met them at the edge of the first field and directed them to the area he wanted them to work.  He was a man of very few words - typical of Mainers was what it was.  "Didn't think you two were gonna make it today."  Before Tom could offer some lame assed excuse Harkins continued. "I need this ridge done today and with your experience figured you could make short work of it."  That meant get it done Tom thought.  As Harkins drove over to the next field Danny flipped him the bird.  Tom shot Danny a look that he just shrugged off. 

"Why don't you ever just do what comes into your head?" Danny quizzed.  "You know how you really feel about the old buzzard.  Can't you ever have any fun?" he asked while scooping up a handful of ripe blueberries.  Without replying Tom grabbed a box and started raking.  He knew better than to be baited into answering that fucking kid.  Danny meant well, but watching over him these past couple of years were taking a toll on him.  He sort of inherited Danny when Mel, his best friend, died in a trucking accident in northern Maine.  Danny's mother never hung around after getting caught in bed with another trucker many years earlier when the kid was only four.  He thought Mel would have killed that guy, but he never even bothered to find out who it was.  He had heard about it from someone else he trusted.  Tom knew Mel had kicked Estelle out.   Didn't matter anyway.  She was gone and that was that.  Danny quit school as soon as Tom came by and took him with him.  He was twelve, almost thirteen then.  Telling Danny about his father had been hard, but necessary, of course.  Odd, he didn't cry at all.  Just picked up the few things in the apartment he had called home for nearly ten years.  On the surface Danny seemed like a goofy kid, but Tom knew there was more there.

They raked in silence for about two hours before Danny inched himself toward field two.  Tom was aware of this as he stood wiping the sweat from his forehead.  It was getting near ten o'clock and the sun was beginning to beat down on them.  He headed for the cooler near the end of the row.  It was then he heard yelling from field two.  It was a woman's voice, high pitched and shrill.  "Get the hell out of here.  I told you yesterday to stay away from her.  What's wrong with you?  I'm gonna tell Mr. Harkins and he will throw your ass off this place."  Tom knew it was Danny messing around again.  They had to work here this season, and he had been warned just this morning about this kind of thing.  He ran toward the voices, saw Danny standing near the woman, and heard him giving her some shit.  Not what he wanted to deal with today.  "Oh, is that right?" the woman shouted.  "My daughter is not going to fool around with you.  You had better understand that.  Where's your father anyway?"

"No where you can talk to him," Danny shouted, half laughing.  "Why don't you let your girl decide for herself what she wants?  You're just jealous and gone by, old woman."

Tom interrupted, "Danny, get back where we're supposed to be raking.  Let these people alone," he said in a kindly way. "Sorry, lady, if my boy here was bothering you and your daughter.  He acts without thinking sometimes, Tom continued with a smile.

"Son, you should take some lessons about manners from your father," the portly woman said while shading the sun out of her eyes as she looked up from the patch she was working in. Danny turned and started to say something to Tom, but saw the look in Tom's eyes and surprisingly thought better of it.  As the two started off Danny shot the young girl a look that could not be denied.  It suggested something that Tom had known all too well.  It also suggested from the way the girl looked back at both of them that she was no innocent at all.  Damn, Tom just didn't need this crap.  What next was all he could think about walking back to his raking. What next?

Danny walked behind sullenly.  Tom could feel the anger in each step Danny took. "Fuck it," he said as he turned to deal with him.  "You know I am fed up with your attitude.  This has been going on since we got here, no, it started at least six months ago.  What gives? I am seriously thinking about leaving alone when the season is over.  You're no baby," he went on, "and I have to start thinking about myself.  I need to put something away until I can get more work.  Hell, you know the drill."  All the while Tom was talking Danny was staring off toward the farm looming over the blue fields like he wasn't listening at all.  Tom started to continue, but decided to let go of it for now.

While the workers had lunch Tom and Danny stayed in their own field eating bologna sandwiches and belting down lemonade.  Damn, that was a good lunch Tom thought as he pulled some tobacco out of his backpack and rolled a couple of cigarettes.  He was cutting back on his smoking and this was only his second of the day.  He passed one to Danny.  Normally, he resisted giving him any, but if he was going to get him to talk he needed a peace offering.  Danny took the cigarette and flashed a slow grin. "Tell me, Tommy Boy, what you got against screwing?  You never talk about it and get pissed off if I do.  You dried up or what?  Jesus, man, I plan to get laid as much as I can.  What skin is it off your old withered ass?" Danny asked with a broad grin.

"My sex life is no business of yours, buddy," he snapped back.  Then thinking better of it said in a softer tone, "Why don't we go into town later?  Maybe you could take in a movie while I scout out a few things and do some laundry.  Oh, we both need more gloves," he told the boy as he looked at how worn his were. They were stained and needed to be thrown out.

"What about getting up early in the morning?  We can't be late again, can we?" Danny shot back.

"If we go in, it's gotta be with the understanding we have to be up on time tomorrow.  After the movie we'll get right back and be sleeping by nine, I figure.  But, no mouth in the morning. Deal or not?"

Danny stretched and sighed, "Okay, no mouth. I'll be good," he laughed as he brushed his blond hair away form his brow with his hand. "Wonder what's playing in town?  Maybe I can ask one of the other guys before we go."  They continued raking and the talk was light and easy for the rest of the afternoon.  If Danny spoke with anyone, Tom didn't see him do it.  Maybe down by one of the green Porta-Pottis he thought. 

Knowing they were headed for town, both the man and the boy seemed to walk with a lighter step as they made their way up the hill toward the barn.  Danny spent some time at the water barrel using the bucket to wash up a bit.  He put on some fresh clothes while Tom counted the money they had left.  If he was careful it would last until they got paid again.  It would have to. Pay check, to pay check, wasn't that what he had heard on the television?  That's how most Americans lived according to the newscaster flapping his jaws.  Tom and Danny moved like migrant animals did.  They always worked where the weather was good.  They rarely stayed in barns, but usually the cheapest rooms they could find suited their needs.  It was repairs to their old truck that often ate their cash.  Whenever he could, Tom fixed it himself, but parts were expensive, even the used ones.  He had decided he was going to try to get work in a parts store when he got his next job.  He had worked as a mechanic before and could always fall back on that. 

After he dropped Danny off at the movie theater Tom went to the WalMart for gloves while their clothes were drying at the local laundry mat.  They didn't have much so it wouldn't take too long. They had grabbed a burger just outside of town driving in, the same place they usually went to for supper every night.  A real meal would be nice, but that would have to wait for now.

When Tom picked Danny up he noticed the boy was still somewhat moody.  Maybe a night away from the barn wasn't what the kid needed.  Then he seemed to come out of it.  They rode discussing the movie and laughed when Danny told about some of the more comical scenes.  It was all good.

As they drove into the Harkins' place they noticed some cars parked at the house and one was the police.  "Jesus," Danny said, "maybe old Perry dropped dead or something."   The hairs on Tom's neck stood up.  He drove past the house right to the barn.  It was none of their business anyway. Even as Tom thought this he said, "We'll probably find out soon enough."  They didn't have long to wait as they saw Harkins and the policeman walking up from the house toward them.  Tom spoke up right away and asked what was wrong.  Danny said nothing.

"Where were the two of you this afternoon?" asked the policeman. 

"You know where we were," Tom answered.  "We work for Harkins after all."

"That's right," Danny chimed in.  "You know where we work." He said this but never made eye contact with anyone Tom noticed, still feeling the hairs on his neck.

"Sadie Patterson's daughter Amber was feeling poorly this afternoon and went home from the fields.  But when her mother got home the girl wasn't there.  There were no signs she had gotten there at all.  Sadie told us your boy had been bothering Amber the past couple of days.  What do you have to say about that?" asked the policeman as he turned his attention to Danny.

"What would I know?  I raked all day.  I never bothered her. We were just fooling around, that's all," he said with a shrug, "her mother just doesn't want her to have any fun.  Maybe they got into it," he replied in a surly way.  Tom could tell Danny's attitude didn't sit well with the cop. Hell, it didn't sit well with him, either.

Harkins suddenly spoke up and said he hadn't had any problems with the man and the boy in the past.  He also asked if Amber had said anything about where she might be going.  Danny told them he didn't know anything about where she might be and never knew she was sick.  Tom thought while Danny talked that he couldn't remember how long Danny had been alone when he went to use the toilet.  He had been lost in his own thoughts and knew Danny would not go back to the field the girl had been working in.  At least that's what he told himself.  Just then another police car pulled up with dogs and Sadie Patterson driving right behind them.  She jumped down from her rather faded, red Ford pickup screaming at Danny.  "Where's my girl?  I know you know something.  Now tell me, or by god, I'll take care of you myself."

"Calm down," the policeman told her, "just take it easy.  The dogs will find her if she's nearby. She might be at a friend's house."

"No," she answered back, "I called all her friends and they haven't seen her today." All the while men from the town were pulling in at the house to start a search party between the fields and the Patterson house, which was only a few miles apart.

The search party wasn't out long.  The dogs found Amber within a half an hour.  Her neck had been broken and she was naked from the waist down.  There was no evidence of sexual contact, but the intent was surely there. There was evidence of a struggle.  As the police turned their attention toward the man and the boy, Tom announced he wasn't really the boy's father.  It was at that point the boy suddenly spoke up and said he was not this man's son.  Both admitted they had been together for nearly most of that afternoon.  How long was, nearly most of that afternoon, was the question the police struggled with.  No finger prints or DNA were found. The man and the boy didn't return to the fields to finish the season.  Harkins paid them what they had earned and told them to never to come back again.   As he stood looking out over his blue fields from the barn he was relieved about telling them that, yet he couldn't help but think about what good workers they were.  Damn, they were good rakers he thought as he walked down the drive, through the pasture, and out into the fields. Damn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

back to Contest #6