Chapter 2
SARGE
I didn’t smell coffee brewing as I walked down the stairs, which shocked me. I felt even more surprised when I found none of the downstairs lights on, and I realized I was the first person awake.
My heart dropped, and I reached out to brace my hand on the newel post as I tried to catch my breath.
I couldn’t remember a single morning when I got downstairs and Ma didn’t give me a ration of shit for “lazing around wasting the day like a vagrant with nothing better to do” or tell me that “sleeping in just makes the work take longer.”
Usually, by the time I woke up (at a respectable five o’clock in the morning, thank you very much), Ma was already up, dressed, and ready to go, had something thawing or started for dinner, had cooked breakfast, and was sitting down to enjoy her second cup of coffee while she made plans for the day.
Births and deaths were the only events that took precedence over her morning routine, and we weren’t expecting any new animals on the farm for at least three months.
I was working up the courage to cross the living room and tap on Ma’s door when the kitchen light came on and scared the ever-loving hell out of me.
I let out a terrified screech that I was sure everyone on the farm could hear, even the ones in the farthest houses, and then frowned when Ma let out a sharp bark of laughter.
“I’m glad I know how to protect myself, son, because obviously you can’t hear anyone sneaking up on you, and when they do, you’re too busy wetting yourself to be any help if they’ve got bad intentions.”
I ignored her insult and admitted, “I was worried about you.”
“Can’t a woman take a little extra time for herself in the morning without everyone getting in a tizzy?”
“That mood hasn’t hit you in at least half a century, so I’m not sure why it would start now.”
“I’m not exactly getting any younger, and for that matter, neither are you,” Ma said as she turned on the burner beneath the old-style percolator she preferred to the coffee maker sitting a few feet away. “We need to talk about that sooner rather than later.”
“Talk about what?”
“I’m not going to be around forever, so you and your brothers need to figure out which one of you is going to take over my tasks when I’m gone. It’s not something you can just step into, so we should get training started soon.”
“Is there something you’re not telling us, Ma?”
“As if I can keep a secret from all the busybodies always in my space,” Ma scoffed as she pulled a jar of milk out of the refrigerator to skim the cream for her coffee.
“Most parents get to spend time pining for their children because they live so far away, but mine are all within yelling distance and have been since I brought them home from the corner store.”
I rolled my eyes because she’d always claimed she picked each of us up on sale at the market and could return us whenever she pleased.
As a child, I secretly worried about that, but now I knew it was bullshit.
I also knew her complaints about her children living on the same property were entirely for show.
Ma and Pa provided each of us with a plot of land to build on so that we could raise our own families close by.
I was the first and only one to leave the farm and came back with my wife and kids as soon as I left the Army.
Since I worked at the sheriff’s office in town, I lived there with my family until I went to prison.
When I came home, it felt only natural to move into the old farmhouse with Ma, especially since Pa was already gone, leaving her alone.
Plus, it was only fair that I did not take another plot of land, since Ma had given my ex-wife a small portion to call her own in exchange for legal custody of our sons. Ma raised them in the same home where she raised my brothers and me.
As if they knew I was thinking of them, the door opened and my three sons–Grant, Gabe, and Garrison–walked in.
“Is everything okay, Ma?” Garrison asked.
Gabe looked around, realized Ma hadn’t even started breakfast yet, and asked, “Did you sleep in?”
Grant took the lead and leaned down to kiss Ma before he put his hand on her forehead and asked, “Do you feel okay?”
Ma frowned at me before she rolled her eyes and pushed Grant’s hand away. “A tizzy. That’s what this is.”
When Ma stood up and walked toward the stove, I shrugged a shoulder at Grant’s questioning look. He smiled and asked, “Were you out partying too late last night?”
“Yep. That’s it. You’re onto me.”
“I knew if we kept hounding you that you’d give Mr. Daniels some attention,” Garrison teased.
“That man needs more than attention. He needs a keeper and a decent set of dentures,” Ma scoffed. “I’m way too old to train another man, especially since I can’t seem to get any of you to pay attention to what I say.”
“We pay attention,” I argued as I poured my own mug of coffee. I scooped out some cream and added it to the mugs Grant, Garrison, and Gabe held out toward me. I then put the glass jar back in the fridge for later. “Sometimes we choose not to follow your advice.”
“This time you should take it. I’ve got someone in mind to take over the books and planning, but I’m sure you and your brothers won’t like my choice. Maybe I should ignore your complaints and stop listening to your advice.”
“Surely you can teach one of the kids how to do your job,” I argued.
“Because they’re all so interested,” Mom said drolly. She looked around at the boys, who sat in their usual spots, and asked, “Which one of you wants to learn about taxes and the like?”
A quick chorus of “Not it!” erupted around the table. Ma gave me a tight smile. “My guess is I’ll get the same reaction from the rest of them.”
“Let’s have a family meeting and talk about it,” I suggested.
“Let’s do that. I’d also like to talk about hiring a companion to live here in the house with me.”
“A companion? What do you mean? Like a nurse?” Grant asked. “What are you not telling us?”
Grant was our family veterinarian–unofficially, of course.
He’d finished college with a few certificates that helped him now and then, but he hadn’t studied veterinary medicine.
Instead, he learned everything he knew about caring for animals from me, my dad, my uncles, and my brothers.
Now, with the internet at his fingertips, he could find answers to almost any question we couldn’t answer, so he embraced the role of handling the animals’ medical needs that didn’t require an actual vet.
Gabe wasn’t quite as knowledgeable about medical things, but he was an animal whisperer.
Sometimes it seemed like he could read their minds and figure out what was wrong with them, which came in handy when Grant had trouble pinning down a problem.
It also helped when we got new stock. We’d be doing this soon since it was almost time for me to take Rip’s new animals to Rojo and pick up the ones I’d chosen a few months ago.
Gabe was truly a jack-of-all-trades around the farm.
He loved animals, but he also loved farming. Luckily, he was great at both.
My youngest son, Garrison, wasn’t an animal guy at all.
He was a man of the soil and liked nothing more than feeling dirt between his fingers.
He took his love of the land with him to college and came back with ideas that boosted our production.
These innovations made every cent I’d paid for his education worthwhile.
I’d never even considered going to college.
I’d clawed my way onto the stage for my high school graduation and probably only got the diploma because the teachers and principal were glad to see the back of the last Brick boy (which meant they wouldn’t have to deal with Ma anymore either).
Of course, not even a decade later, she appeared at their door with my sons in tow, which probably drove them all back to drinking.
When I was in high school, I heard some teachers talking and almost lost it when one said, “That woman and those wild boys of hers are the reason the principal enjoys whiskey a little more than he should.” At the time, I thought that was funny, but as an adult who still occasionally goes toe to toe with Ma over one thing or another, and as the father of three wild Brick boys, I understand why the principal took up drinking.
I’d considered it myself more than once.
“Why do you need a companion? There are plenty of people on the farm who would help you if you need it,” Gabe reminded Ma.
“And every one of them has work to do that doesn’t include listening to me complain about a new ache or a constant pain.”
“What kind of pain are you experiencing?” Grant asked before he took a sip of his coffee. “I bet I’ve got some salve that would help.”
Ma scoffed and started making animal noises. “Mooo. Baaaa. Cluck, cluck, cluck.”
“You and I both know plenty of remedies work on livestock and the people who care for them,” Grant said huffily. “Hell, you taught me how to make most of them, and I’m still using them to this day.”
“Which means I can doctor myself just fine, young man.”
“What exactly do you mean when you say a companion?” I asked.
“Did you ever stop to think that before you boys got married, I was the one and only female on this property? No, probably not. But when my sons did get married, they moved into their own homes, thank the good Lord above, and then their wives were busy raising their own families. So, yes, I had more women around, but those women were just as busy as I’d been for the last twenty-plus years.
Maybe I’d like a little softness around me in my golden years.
Maybe I’d like to have a friend to sip tea with while we do our nails.
Maybe I’d . . . stop looking at me like I’ve lost my marbles! ”
“You want to do your nails?” Grant asked.
Garrison looked confused. “Since when do you like tea?”
“She drinks tea,” Gabe reminded him. “She makes sun tea all the time.”