Page 145 of Everything Under the Sun

Esra shuffled past June and stood in front of me then. He reached deep into a pocket of his sagging overalls and dug out a plastic baggie half-full of bullets, and placed them into my hand.

“I cain’t spare no more,” Esra said, “but yens are welcome to ‘em.”

Surprised by Esra’s generosity—it was unheard of to give away two bullets to a stranger, much less a bag full—I just looked at the bag in the palm of my hand for a moment.

“Thank you, Esra,” I finally said. “Thank you very much.” I felt a great sense of relief wash over me now that I had more ammunition for our inevitable travels. “And remember what Thais said,” I added. “If you need our help, we’ll come as soon as we know.” I promptly stuffed the bag of bullets into my pants pocket.

June pointed at Thais’ oversized hiking boots. “How in the world are ya walkin’ in them things, dear? Look like ya could fit two feet in one boot.”

Thais glanced down and shrugged.

“Oh, they’re not so bad,” she said. “It’s either these, or my sandals, and it’s better to wear something that covers my feet when I’m out in the woods.”

I hated those hiking boots—the way Thais sometimes limped when she walked in them never went unnoticed by me.

June leaned over Thais’ boots as far as her cane would allow, and she inspected them.

“Hmm,” she said, “ya look like ya might wear a six?” She raised herself with a painful grunt—Thais reached out to steady her.

“Six and a half,” Thais said.

“Well, I wear a seven,” June said.

She turned to Esra; her long, silvery hair looked like Christmas tinsel under the fading sunlight. “Help me get’ma boots off,” she told Esra, and stuck out her right foot for him.

Thais waved her hands out in front of her, shaking her head. “Oh, no, I couldn’t take your boots, June, I really couldn’t. The ones I have are fine.”

“No they’re not,” I spoke up.

Thais privately glared at me.

“Don’t be silly,” June told Thais. “Ya need better boots, and mine will fit ya. It ain’t the only pair I got.”

Seeing Esra struggle to take off his wife’s shoes, I stepped forward and took over, eager to get Thais into a better-fitting pair. She said she has more, I thought, and it made it that much easier for me to jump right in and help with the process.

“No, really, I couldn’t—.”

Thais lost the argument, took off the hiking boots and traded them for June’s size sevens, black with black laces that crisscrossed the shins. She put on a brand-new pair of socks fresh out of the package from the supply cabin, and then slipped her feet down into her new boots.

“Feel better already, don’t ya?” June said.

Thais took June into another hug; even kissed her wrinkled cheek.

“Be careful!” Esra called out as we started down the dirt path again.

“I come swim on Tuesday!” Jeffrey’s voice carried down from the treehouse. “On Tuesday at six o’clock, okay?!”

We could just barely see him for the height and the canopy of trees, but he was there, waving excitedly at us—well, probably at Thais. Tuesday. Friday. Six o’clock. Eight o’clock. No one knew anymore, but apparently Jeffrey had his own way of keeping track of the days—for all I knew, he might’ve been right.

Thais raised her hand high in the air. “I’ll see you soon, Jeffrey!” she shouted. “I had a great time with you!”

“I build you a house!”

“I can’t wait!”

“I see you Tuesday!”

“Okay, I’ll see you Tuesday! Bye-bye, Jeffrey!”

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