Page 42 of Pete and His Precious

“Want to come on in and sit down for a little bit? We can talk when we’re settled,” Pete says, motioning to the living room. “Can I get you something to drink? I have water and... I can make coffee, but I don’t drink it this late.”

“I don’t need anything. I’m perfectly fine.”

“All right. They fed me while I was there,” Pete says as we walked into the living room, and I see the chair sitting against the wall.

I point to it. “Is that where you sit?” I ask, and I don’t need to add whenever you and I talk.

“Yeah. Wherever you sit when you do your recording is right on the other side of that.”

“Interesting.” I smile a little, thinking about Pete sitting there listening to me. It’s a little bit embarrassing. After all, it’s not like I’m saying things I want to say, I’m reading what someone else has written, and I don’t necessarily agree with it, or think it’s any good. I’m just an actor, paid to bring it to life.

“Did you get your book finished?” he asks, and I’m kind of shocked he remembered that I was working on it and was almost done. In my experience, when I talk to guys, they don’t really pay attention to what I say, and they definitely can’t remember it well enough to ask me a question about it a day or two later.

My estimation of Pete went up a few notches.

“I did. I sent it off to the author, and if she approves it, I’ll get the rest of my money.”

“So you get paid thousands of dollars for a book?” he asks, and then he adds, “Not to be nosy.”

“You’re not. I don’t mind telling you. That’s probably a pretty high book. It depends on the length, honestly. But, what most authors do is pay me by the finished hour. So, if the book is six hours long, and I get three hundred dollars per finished hour, that’s eighteen hundred dollars.”

“Wow. That’s not much at all.”

“No. Considering the equipment that I have to buy, and the amount of time I put into it. I... Don’t really mind though because I love it.”

“That’s interesting. If you were an actor in a movie, you would get paid an awful lot of money, and no one would remember the writer. But books are almost the exact opposite, where the author gets most of the money, and the narrator kind of gets shoved aside, at least from my point of view,” he says, looking at me as though looking for confirmation.

“That’s a good comparison, although I’ve never thought about it that way. But you’re right. It’s the actors in the movies who are the big deal. Even the special-effects people, who might be really talented, and of course without the writers there wouldn’t be a movie, but none of them get as much attention as the people bringing it to life. Narrators just don’t get those kind of accolades. I guess.”

“And they’re using your voice for their words. It’s...feels like you should get paid every time someone listens.”

“I certainly wouldn’t turn it down,” I say. Then, I realize that we never got to talk about the ping-pong, or anything that happened to him, and I’m curious.

“So you didn’t tell me how much you beat Baxley by?”

“Just a couple of points. When I say she’s good, I’m serious.”

“Leo and his love bunny. Leo and his love bunny. Precious. Precious.”

I laugh, but Pete gets a little bit red.

“That bird and I have talked about this. And I feel like he’s not saying my name on purpose. Just to be contrary.”

“Well, I guess that’s not the way I look at it. I think it’s funny.”

“Especially since he’s probably talking to your cat.”

“It does look like he’s looking that way,” I say, glancing over my shoulder and leaning a little so I could look back into the kitchen.

“You have to come watch us play. She’s actually really good. I am surprised that you didn’t know.” Pete picks up our conversation before it was interrupted.

“I didn’t know, but I guess I’m not surprised. If you didn’t notice, the adults in her life are not overly interested in her. Or maybe I should say, she has to be interested in what they are doing, not the other way around.”

“I did notice that, and I feel a little bit bad for her.”

“I know she’s excited about going to the farm. And, maybe I can try to spend a little bit more time with her, more than I usually do, since Kylie is not there. Especially now that I’m done with my book.” As much as I wish I had another project lined up, because I could really use the money, I’m kind of glad I don’t. Because, it’s not everyday that I get to spend time with my niece, and... Okay. I am excited about hanging out with Pete, too. And now, with the ping pong, I have a legitimate reason.

“So what did you do the rest of the day?” Pete says. “Were you at the diner?”

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