Page 35 of Resilience on Canvas

“Yeah, yeah, thirty-three . . . plus ten . . . so . . . for—forty-three . . . and ten makes fifty-three . . .”

Mr. Miller let out an exasperated sigh, and Henry winced. Oh, Lord.Pleaselet Robert finish totaling the rest.

Robert closed his eyes. “And eight more...” He began counting on his fingers. “Fifty-four, fifty-five—”

“Sixty-one cents,” Mr. Miller finished for him.

Robert’s eyes flew open, and his nostrils flared. “Now I have to start over!”

Tentatively, Henry shuffled to the right, crowding Robert’s space and forcing him to move over, and then he tapped the total in himself. Robert held up a hand.

“Now, wait, Hen, what if he’s cheatin’ us? He wouldn’t even let me finish countin’!”

“No, I—I know it’s right. Sixty-one cents—that’s correct.”

Mr. Miller smirked, and Henry couldn’t miss the way Robert’s hand twitched. Robert opened and closed his fist a few times, letting out a long breath, and Henry finished the rest of the transaction himself, pulling the little lever, taking the change from Mr. Miller, and putting everything in a cloth bag.

Neither of them spoke while Mr. Miller walked back toward the entrance, but the moment the entryway bell rang, Robert smacked the counter half-heartedly.

“Goddamn son-of-a-bitch Benjamin Miller! Of course he knew the total! He probably buys the same Goddamn things every month! And why’d you let him talk to you like that? Does he think that because he’s, what, seventy, that he’s excused from common courtesy? Where are the man’s manners?”

Affection bloomed in Henry’s chest. Why Robert’s temper was so endearing, Henry couldn’t say, but holy heck, he liked it. Especially when Robert wasn’t mad athim.

“You won’t have to see him for a while, if that helps,” Henry said with a shrug. “He typically sends his wife. Ann, I think? Mr. Miller only comes once every month or so.”

Robert frowned. “How did you know the total?” he asked. “Did you really add them numbers that fast?”

“Yeah. But I’ve had a lot of practice, workin’ here.”

“Nah, I bet you were one of the smart kids in school, huh?”

Blood rushed to Henry’s cheeks and his eyes fell to his shoes.

“Maybe,” he said before chewing on his bottom lip. “I can teach you a trick, though?” Face still on fire, he peered up at Robert through his lashes. “If you want.”

“Anything to keep me from embarrassing myself like that,” Robert said. “I mean, I’m sure I’d become faster withoutthe trick or whatever it is you want to show me. I’m not stupid. I may not have been thesmartestkid in school, but I passed my tests.” Henry opened his mouth to say that he knew Robert was plenty smart, but Robert kept going. “I keep track of our expenses and such. It takes me some time, but I manage. I have to relearn how to figure out the math in my head, is all.”

“No, Robert, I-I know,” Henry said. “I know how smart you are. Running that whole farm of yers takes smarts. It must have been even harder when we had more crops. Keepin’ track of the—the types of vegetables and fruits you were growin’ and when you planted them. I’m sure it took a lot of, uhm, of mental effort. All I can manage is to count up some cans of food.”

Robert pursed his lips. It seemed like he was chewing on Henry’s words for a moment.

Finally, he smiled back and said, “Thanks, Hen. So, what’s the trick?”

“Well, when you have a number that’s not a five or a ten, I try to round to the nearest whole. So, twelve cents becomes ten. And then I tack on the two more later. Five cents plus twelve cents becomes five cents plus ten cents, which is easier. Fifteen, right? And then two more makes seventeen. See?”

“Kind of?”

“We can try that next time someone comes in. And most people, they’re nicer than Mr. Miller. He’s—”

“—a bastard.”

Henry snorted. “Yeah, he’s a mean bastard.”

“A meanoldbastard,” Robert corrected, tipping his head a little, as though to urge Henry to confirm.

“The meanest, oldest bastard in the entirety of Guymon,” Henry said with confidence, which made Robert chuckle. Oh, what a lovely sound that was. “And you handled him fine. I’d have let him take the cereal for five cents, probably. Sometimes I pushback, but if he’s persistent enough, I can’t make myself be so stern. Not like you were.”

“Well,thatI have a trick for.”

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