Forever Country (3 page)

“
You think that’s what Pops
and Momma want? A lighter load?”

“
Yes, isn’t that what we
all want? It’s nice to live on the farm, but wouldn’t it be nicer
to live on a new and improved farm?”

Levi shoves his hands into his pocket. “You
have it all wrong and you’ve been gone far too long.” He looks in
the pickup at Mia before looking back at me. “I gotta go, but I’ll
be back first thing in the morning.”

“
You’ll be here before you
go to work?”

He looks confused and says, “There’s a storm
threatenin’ the area tonight. I come by every mornin’ and feed the
animals and gather eggs. Who did you think did that, the
farmhands?”

I look in the direction of the chicken
coop.

“
Really, Abel? Farmhands?
We need to talk. I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

“
It’s good seeing you,” I
say.

“
You, too. Take Mia’s
advice and consider stayin’ through the New Year. Momma’s gonna be
right sad when you leave here again.”

“
She knows I’m not
staying.”

“
Abel, she may know that,
but in her heart, she doesn’t wanna believe it.”

I shower and go to bed.
Looking at my phone, I see I still don’t have any
messages. After I put my things away, I set the
alarm for 5:00 a.m. I no longer fight, but I still work out every
morning. I don’t want to be the ex-fighter who gains 40 pounds the
year after retiring, although if I’m not careful I may end up being
like the many people who become obese by gaining one pound a year
for 40 years.

The high winds wake me from
a restless sleep. The wooden shutters continue to beat against the
house, and I wonder if my folks can hear it. Lying awake in bed, I
wonder why my parents never spent the money I sent them. I
understand this is their family farm, but why not use the money for
home improvements or even a farmhand?
Money
isn’t everything, but it can be helpful. It’s a tool; people can
use it to make their lives better.

In the morning, I work on
the farm. I dress in jeans, a sweatshirt, and a pair of boots. My
boots aren’t the kind of boots you work on a farm in; wearing them
for farmwork is kind of like a woman wearing an original Dior to
hoe weeds in a garden. I slowly open the creaky wooden bedroom
door, and walk across the cold hardwood floor. I smell coffee and
bacon before
I notice a chill in the house
and add more logs to the hot embers in the fireplace.

Momma’s standing at the stove. “You’re up
early?” I ask, looking from her to the clock. I take a seat on one
of the four bar stools. She’s still in her nightgown and a
housecoat.

“
Nah, this isn’t early.
Your brother’s comin’ over, and I wanna make sure he’s got
something hot in his belly before he leaves here. He comes over
every day, and I make him breakfast every day.” She pours a cup of
coffee and asks, “Did you sleep well?”

I gratefully take the coffee she hands me. “I
did, thank you.”

She looks up at me and smiles. “Abel Lee, you
didn’t hear that shutter bangin’ against the house all night?”

I smile. “I did sleep well
before the wind knocked the shutter lose.”
Truth is, I didn’t sleep well at all.

“
It was so loud I thought
it was gonna send the pigs into a panic.” She turns back around and
flips the bacon over in the cast iron skillet.

Pops walks into the kitchen and smiles.
“Mornin’, Son.” He’s wearing a brown flannel shirt, Wrangler jeans,
and work boots.

“
Morning, Pops.” I watch as
he walks over and kisses Momma before he fills a large mug with hot
coffee. The timer goes off on the oven, and I watch as she removes
a casserole and biscuits.

“
Mornin’, Belle, breakfast
smells delicious.” Pops smiles and takes a seat next to me. “We
have a busy day today.” He takes a drink of his coffee. “The wind
knocked that shutter lose again and the horse fence is fallin’
apart. If you’ll help me, I’d like to get those two things taken
care of before noon.”

“
Sounds good. I need to run
into town and get some work clothes sometime today.”

“
Good, we’ll stop in and
have lunch with Mia. She’s workin’ today, isn’t she,
Belle?”

“
She sure is. She’s
probably there now. I’ll also need to get some groceries while
we’re in town.”

I see headlights before I hear the sound of
tires in the rocky driveway. If I were at home, I would be
concerned about who’s pulling up this time of day, but here on the
farm, it can be only one person, Levi.

“
I should help him.” I
stand and begin to walk towards the door.

“
Nah, don’t bother.” Momma
looks out the window and using her apron, she wipes her hands.
“He’ll get the eggs before he comes in and eats. It’ll only take
‘im a few minutes.”

The way he made it sound, he really had a
morning full of chores to do here, before heading to his real job.
Momma was right, after a few short minutes he walks into the house,
carrying a metal basket filled with farm-fresh brown eggs.

“
Didn’t get many eggs
today,” he says, placing the basket on the counter. “Maybe the
storm frightened the chickens.”

“
Maybe, or maybe they’re
just getting’ old,” Pops says.

Momma hands Levi a cup and coffee and takes
the basket of eggs from the counter. “Thank you, these are just
fine.”

I look at the basket of eggs and it’s full. I
wonder how many chickens there are and how many eggs he thought he
should have gotten. I don’t ask.

After a hearty breakfast and two cups of
coffee, I go outside with Levi to feed the animals. “You’re gonna
ruin them good boots of yours.” I follow Levi’s eyes to my cowboy
boots.

“
They’re just boots,” I
lie. These are actually very expensive boots and I had them
specially made. I can’t admit that out loud.

“
They don’t look like ‘just
boots,’ but suit yourself.”

I am surprised and amazed at all the animals
that are still on the farm. Cows, pigs, chickens, roosters, horses,
and even a few mules. It takes a good hour between the two of us to
feed all of the animals.

“
What’s up with the mules?”
I finally ask.

“
Pops went to a livestock
auction in Hartville and got ’em at a ‘good price,’” he says, using
air quotes.

“
It’s not very practical,
is it?” I ask.

“
Not hardly, but when he
came home, he named the farm and made a sign and hung it over the
barn doors. Welcome to ‘The Kennedy Mule Hill Farm.’”

We both laugh and Pops asks, “What’s so
funny?”

Levi looks at me and I say, “The mules. I’m a
little surprised to see you have mules on the farm.”

“
Yep, got ’em for next to
nothin’ at an auction. It must have been my lucky day,” he says
proudly, petting a mule like it’s his favorite pet.

I smile, although I am still confused as to
why he would want mules. Has he not considered the amount of money
he spends on feed for them weekly, monthly, and especially yearly?
I look from Pops to Levi. Levi subtly shakes his head at me. He
knows what I’m thinking.

“
Well, you can’t beat
that,” I finally say.

Once the animals are fed,
Levi leaves for work. Pops and I fix the shutter before we repair
the fence.
The fence was in worse shape
than he thought. Once it’s repaired, we head to the house for
lunch. Pops wanted to have lunch with Mia at Peaches, but it’s too
late. The repairs took longer than expected.

After we eat, Pops and I
shower and we all head into town to get me some appropriate work
clothes. As Levi said I would, I ruined my expensive boots from
working in them this morning. Since I need to return the rental
truck today, I follow Momma and Pops into South Zanesville. Rose
Farm is too small to have the stores I need to buy work clothes;
actually, it is too small to have any stores.
The country roads are winding and dangerous. I worry about my
parents driving on them although they don’t seem concerned. The
light dusting of snow that was here yesterday is just a memory
now.

I return the truck first, then we shop for
some work clothes for me. I stock up on work boots, Wrangler jeans,
several flannel shirts, and long john underwear. I’m also able to
buy an insulated coat and work gloves at the same store.

As I pay for my purchase, Momma tells the man
he should be ashamed of himself for chargin’ an arm and a leg for
the same things that Wal-Mart sells. Pops and I quickly usher Momma
out of the store.

“
Nelly, you’re a feisty one
today.”

“
I reckon his Momma don’t
know what he’s chargin’ in his store. Abel, you coulda gone to
Wal-Mart or even K-Mart for the same stuff and it’s a heck of a lot
cheaper,” she insists.

I understand the man sells better quality
than the big-box department stores, and I also realize he needs to
upcharge his items to make a profit. I didn’t think he was
outrageously priced. The boots I ruined cost more than everything I
bought today.

“
It’s all right, Momma. He
has a family he needs to feed.”

We go to the Campbell’s Food Town on S.R. 22,
and the people there greet my parents by name. I am introduced to
the owner and I think I remember him from my younger years. Momma
compares prices, sale items, and coupons on everything she buys. It
takes a lot longer to shop than I expected, and I have to remind
myself I don’t have any place else that I need to be.

Pops pushes the cart and
reads a magazine he took from the shelf as we came in. I keep
waiting for someone to say something to him, but they don’t. This
is something straight out of
The Andy
Griffith Show
. I must learn to relax. Momma
shops for her Thanksgiving Day meal. I’m a little surprised that
the cart is almost full when she finally gets to the register. I
also notice that she bought two or more of everything.

I’m disappointed and hurt
when she refuses to let me pay. I almost have to threaten the
cashier to make him use my credit card instead of taking Momma’s
cash. I calmly and as nicely as I can explain to Momma that while I
am here, she
will not
be paying for anything herself. “It’s the least I can do. I’m
staying with you, so please let me buy the groceries,” I beg. She
reluctantly agrees. Momma would expect me to pay for my
girlfriend’s groceries, if I had a girlfriend, yet she doesn’t want
me to pay for hers.
Does she feel like
this is a handout? Does she still look at me as her little boy she
needs to take care of? The answer to the last question, of course,
is yes.

As we are in line at the
grocery store, I overhear the cashier tell a woman that she is
short on money. Momma is busy searching through her coupons as Pops
holds her coupon organizer. They don’t notice. The manager comes
out from the office and offers the woman store credit. She leaves
with her purchase and her small child. I remember this same store
used to help Momma out years ago. Pops got paid on Fridays and they
would always let Momma shop on Thursdays. They would hold
the
post-dated check until the next day.
It’s good to know they still help out in this small
community.

Campbell’s Food Town is a privately owned and
operated business, with a hometown feel. The owners are older than
my parents and still live like they did in the days when you
trusted most people and helped out the community. I miss some
things from rural living, and this is one of them. People in the
city aren’t as trusting.

While a young man loads up our groceries into
the back of the truck, I run back inside and quickly settle up the
debt owed from the woman. I also give Mr. Campbell a little extra
money to cover arrears for future customers. He tells me, “You’re a
good man, Abel Kennedy.” I watch as he places the money in an
envelope and writes “Customer Emergency Fund” with a black magic
marker.

“
Thank you. Can’t have
people going around hungry now, can we?”

“
I can’t imagine anything
much worse than hunger,” he replies. He hands the envelope to his
wife, who is the only other person in the office with him. She
smiles as she puts the envelope in the top desk drawer. “There
needs to be more people like you in the world.”

“
Thank you, and Happy
Thanksgiving. I would like the donation to remain
anonymous.”

“
Yes, of course. Happy
Thanksgiving to you. Many people run short this time of year. This
emergency fund you set up will make many people happy,” Mrs.
Campbell says.

I nod and leave.

On the drive home, Pops takes the long way.
It’s late fall and many trees are bare of leaves. I remember how
beautiful the countryside is in the middle of fall. Mom looks out
the window as if in deep thought. I wonder if my paying for the
groceries is still bothering her.

“
After we get the mail from
the post office, I need to stop by the church.” Momma reaches up
and readjusts the bobby pin in her hair.

Pops looks over at Momma and smiles.
“Whatever you want, Belle.”

We go to the local post office, then we pull
up at the church, and she asks, “Abel, would you mind helping
me?”

“
No, whatever you need.” I
get out of the truck and then help Momma out. We walk to the back
of the pickup and she sorts through the bags of groceries. Pops
also joins us.