Since he was an accountant, the first four months of the year were always far and away the busiest for John Archer. He thought of it as “tax time,” and it was a hectic period with long hours and lots of weekend work. These days, tax time was the only time of the year that Joe McGuinness, the more or less senior partner in the business, came in to work. The rest of the year he might drop in once in a while if he happened to be in the vicinity and didn’t have anything better to do. But even Joe made up for it by working overtime, especially in March and the first half of April. So, by the end of April, John was ready to see something besides the office for a change. When the time came that Shay had to be picked up at Lake State just after the first of May, John grabbed the opportunity and wasn’t about to let it go.

Since Shay was moving out of his dorm room for the summer, there was a lot more stuff involved, so the night before leaving, John had Cody help him take the seats out of the minivan. Right about dawn, John made an early stop at the Spearfish Lake Café for breakfast and got on the road for Lake State. It was a nice day, with spring in the air, although there could still be some snow seen back in the trees as he headed through the forest country for Sault Ste. Marie. It was already much better than being in the office, and John looked forward to having a good one-on-one discussion with his older son – it hadn’t happened for a while, and the way things worked in life, it might not happen often again.

The campus at Lake State was busy when he got there late in the morning. It was late in finals week and a lot of students were loading up to head home, so parking was at a premium. Other than a few pleasantries, John and Shay didn’t get much chance to talk at first, since they were hauling stuff down from Shay’s room – a lot of stuff, more than they’d brought to the place the previous fall. It took a while, and they pretty well filled the minivan in the process, making John glad that Candice had suggested taking the seats out. How Shay could get that much stuff in a twelve by twelve room, have room for his roommate and that much more stuff, and still have room to walk around was a mystery to John, although he remembered his room being pretty well packed in college years ago.

By the time Shay’s room was cleaned out it was well after noon. While Shay seemed anxious to get on the road, John decided they might as well get lunch before they got started for home. They stopped at a family restaurant on the edge of town before getting on the Interstate, and in a booth in the back had their first real chance to sit down and talk. “So,” John said as he waited for the waitress to bring water and menus, “You sorry to be leaving this place for the summer?”

“Not really,” Shay admitted. “I can stand the break. I’m really looking forward to getting down to Cedar Point, because I think I can pick up a few useful things there. I finally bit the bullet yesterday and declared Park/Rec for a major, and business as a minor. That’ll at least give me something to fall back on if I can’t find something in the parks and recreation field when I graduate.”

“Well, if all else fails, I don’t think Joe is going to want to be doing the tax season hassle much longer, at least as hard as he did it this year. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some room for you in the business by the time that happens.”

“Well, yeah, maybe,” Shay replied unenthusiastically. “I’m not real sure how bad I want to do that, and well, I’d like to see a little more of the world than Spearfish Lake.”

“Oh, I can understand that,” John replied sympathetically. “I was the same way, I didn’t really want to go back home after college, either. It was just the way things worked that eventually brought me back to Spearfish Lake, and, tell the truth, it was about the last thing I expected. But it worked out well, so I guess I don’t have any room to complain. So when do you head down to Cedar Point?”

“About three weeks,” Shay said. “Bethany and I have to get there a little early for training and to get things set up. I don’t have any idea what I’m going to be doing, and neither does she.”

“Do you have any plans for anything for the next three weeks other than lying around the house and spending every minute you can with her?”

“That about covers it,” Shay grinned. “Like I said, I’m ready for a break.”

“Well, if you’d like to make a few bucks, I have something for you to do.”

“Not at the office, I hope.”

“No, nothing like that. Just for a little background, the Lufkin estate finally got through probate a few days ago, so the house is finally Janice’s to do what she wants with.”

“And she’d be just as happy to burn it to the ground,” Shay nodded understandingly.

“That about sums it up,” John grinned. “She really couldn’t care less, and I don’t blame her one damn bit. Anyway, I’m the administrator for the estate, and she basically told me to deal with it and not bother her with the details. While I agree it would be an improvement to the neighborhood to burn it down, there really is some value in the house. The claims against the estate turned out to be a lot less than I imagined, so if it sells at a decent price, then she’ll have some money in the bank.”

“Good deal.”

“Yeah, she’s going to be able to use the money, but I don’t blame her for not wanting to deal with the issues. Here’s the deal. You and I were there back around Christmas, and I’ve only been over there a couple times since, just to make sure it’s still there.”

“So it’s still just as bad a mess.”

“Right, and it needs to at least be cleaned out and have some of the damage repaired before we try to sell it. It’s still not worked out all the way, but it looks like there’s going to be a settlement that will cover most of the cost of fixing the damage the drug task force caused, and that’ll add to the sale price. Anyway, what I was thinking is that you and maybe a couple of your friends might like to take on the job of getting all the shit out of there, and maybe doing some of the repairs. I figure on getting a twenty-yard dumpster and having it set in the driveway. There’s probably some stuff there that could go to the resale store or Goodwill or something.”

“Well, it’s not that big a job, if there are three or four guys involved,” Shay said as the rather busy waitress finally showed up, left the menus, and talked for a moment about the specials of the day. As soon as she left, Shay continued, “My only question is whether we’d get paid for it, or what.”

“Oh, Janice will pay you, except that I’ll write the checks and she won’t want to hear anything about what’s going on, unless you should happen to find a few more pictures of her mother. According to her there are still some missing. We’re probably talking minimum wage, since hauling shit out to the dumpster isn’t what you call a skilled job, but it would be a few bucks in your pocket.”

“Well, yeah, I guess,” Shay replied. “Zeke might be up for it, he likes doing that kind of odd job, and Bethany might want to pitch in. I’m sure I could find someone else, especially since it probably would only take a couple days. How about the repairs? I’m not real strong on that.”

“Let’s get the crap out of there and see,” John shrugged. “I talked to Randy over at Clark Construction. He doesn’t think the place is all that bad, but it’s a smaller project than he wants to take on at this time of year. He said he could set me up with someone who could do the repair work in their spare time. But actually doing it will require cleaning the place out first.”

“That’s probably the best way to do it,” Shay nodded. “So how about the cars?”

“Sold. Pat was willing to sell them on consignment out at the agency, but your mother and I decided we didn’t want Janice to see them around town. So Josh and Cody and I took them down to the auto auction in Camden right after we got things through probate. Frankly, we got more money out of them than I thought we would.”

“Well, that settles that. So am I going to be able to take the Escort down to Cedar Point, and back here next fall?”

“That’s the plan. We’ve still got to figure out what to do to replace it, since we really can’t get along with only one car anymore, what with Cody and Janice running all over the place too. Right at the moment we’re talking about a small pickup, since it’s a pain in the butt to have to borrow Josh’s every time we need to move something. It doesn’t happen that often, but your mother thinks it would be useful for the store and her dogsledding. There’s a GMC Sonoma sitting out at Pat’s for a reasonable price and seems to be in pretty good shape. I wouldn’t be surprised if we wind up buying it.”

“It’d be useful cleaning up the house, too,” Shay pointed out.

“That hadn’t escaped me, although like you said it’d only be for a few days. I’ll tell you what, though, I don’t know how we’ve gotten along in Spearfish Lake as long as we have without a four-wheel-drive pickup. Hell, everybody seems to have them.”

“Goes with the territory, I guess. You about have to have one if you’re going to be cool around the high school. Speaking of that, how’s that going with Cody and Janice?”

“There hasn’t been the trouble that we were all sort of expecting, except for some crap back the beginning of the semester. That mostly came from some anti-gun-nut parents and seems to have died down. We’re all grateful for that, too. Let me tell you, though, Janice surprised the hell out of everybody when she made the honor roll at the end of the third quarter, after essentially flunking the first quarter. If that doesn’t tell you something, I don’t know what will.”

“That’s great! I got the impression back over break that she was a pretty smart kid.”

“Yes, and one who was just plain being wasted where she was; there’s no other way to say it. I’ll admit, Cody has pushed her a little, but once he pushes she stays pushed, and Cody has to scramble to keep up with her, so his grades have improved, too.”

“So she’s getting along pretty well, then?”

“As you haven’t seen her since Christmas, you’re going to be amazed. She has made a hell of an improvement since she’s been with us, although she still has issues, like that business about the house, and some other things.” John stopped for a moment, considering what to say next. Yes, Janice still had some issues; he was pretty well aware of them and they went far beyond the house. But for the most part they weren’t things that Shay had any business knowing, especially since he was still going out with that gossip Bethany. The best thing to do was not get into them any more than he needed.

“She’s put on the weight that she, well, I can’t say lost since she probably never got near it in the first place. I mean, she has really filled out nicely,” John continued, and realized he’d better not say the next thing that came to mind, which was that back at Christmas Candice hadn’t even bothered to buy Janice a bra, since she didn’t need one – she was that underweight. However, since Christmas a lot of the weight that she’d gained had gone to the right places. While she was never going to be as big in the chest as Candice, Janice needed a bra now – it was just another sign of how well the girl had thrived in the Archer household. He took a deep breath, and changed the subject slightly again. “Your mother has been working with her on her appearance, and she’s really turned into a good-looking girl. I don’t think she’ll ever be as good looking as your mother, but I’m prejudiced.”

“So are they still, uh, sleeping together?”

“Haven’t missed a night,” John smiled. Even though months had passed it was still hard to imagine his seventeen-year-old son and his seventeen-year-old girlfriend sleeping in the same bed every night, and not going any further than a good-night kiss. Candice had told him, of course, about Janice’s statement that she was ready to have sex with Cody whenever he asked – and she’d recently confirmed it. But Candice had also told him about Cody’s reservations, and as far as he knew Cody hadn’t revised his opinion any. Thinking back to when he was that age, John couldn’t help but wonder if he would have had the fortitude to stick to his guns like that with a girl that good looking ready, willing, and available. But all that was something that Shay didn’t need to know, either. The wrong word at the wrong time, perhaps teasing or something, might upset a delicate but workable balance between Cody and Janice.

“And as far as I know,” he continued, trying to send a message that this was a touchy area without saying anything about it, “nothing’s happening in that department. Actually I think it’s more habit and being comfortable with it for them than it is for Cody to protect her from nightmares anymore, but according to both of them they don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.” Now, change the subject a little again, he thought. “By the way, you get your old room back so there’ll be someplace for you to stash all that stuff in the van. Janice wasn’t using it for anything more than a closet, and we decided the little bedroom would do for that.”

“Well, that’s good to know. I was sort of worried about where I was going to put everything. So does Cody still keep the P226 on the bedside stand?”

“Well, that’s changed a little. He doesn’t keep it on the stand anymore, but inside it, and loaded at that. Part of that is because there’s a P229 in the nightstand on her side of the bed.”

“What?”

“Long story. You know that Cody got her shooting so she’d get some idea in her head that she could protect herself, especially in her dreams. Well, after she got her cast off she tried out the P226. It really was a little bit too much for her because she still had the weak arm, but Cody said she did pretty well with it and enjoyed imagining she was shooting at her father and her brother.”

“I can understand that, from what I’ve heard.”

“I can, too,” John grinned. “I’m not real clear on what happened after that, but about a month later Cody came back from the range and said there was a guy who had a P229 he wanted to sell, and that he’d figured out a trade-around to get it. That’s a little smaller version of the P226, a little easier for a woman to handle. Cody tells me that cops often use them as a second gun. Let me tell you, since he made the deal I have warm visions of those jokers who broke into the house last winter trying to break into their room when the two of them are in bed together.”

“Uh, yeah,” Shay laughed. “That is kind of a nice image, isn’t it? So what’s happening with that?”

“Oh, hell, that’s turned into one of those things that the lawyers are trying to drag out forever. The jokers managed to raise bail, but they’ve stayed the hell out of town. The prosecutor is still standing firm on the charges, but there’s been some attempts at plea bargaining going on, so it remains to be seen what’s going to come out of it, and we don’t expect it anytime soon. I sort of wish they would try to break into Cody and Janice’s room while the two of them are there. It could save the county the trouble of the prosecution and the state Department of Corrections a hell of a lot of money, but there’s been enough trouble over the last time that I really don’t want it to happen again.”

“So did they ever get the bad apples out of the drug task force?”

“I haven’t really paid a hell of a lot of attention to it. About half the counties and a lot of the cities pulled out of it after the beating the agency took in the media after the Record-Herald story came out, and Spearfish County and Spearfish Lake were among them. My understanding is that they canned the commander and put a real hard-nose in his place, and about the first thing he did was can about two thirds of the people on the force. That may do the job for now, but it’s something they’ll have to stay after or that same cowboy stuff will start up again.”

At that point the waitress finally showed up to take their order. It seemed to John that in spite of the place being as busy as it was, it was taking her an awful long time to get anything done. He made a mental note to not stop at the place again – not that it might be an issue, since he probably wouldn’t be taking Shay to college or picking him up again. Shay wasn’t his little boy any longer, and it was hard to get comfortable with that thought. In a year and a few months, Cody and Janice would most likely be gone, too; the house was really going to seem empty then. It didn’t seem very long ago that both the boys were babies. They’d been in elementary school when he and Candice moved back to Spearfish Lake, and that seemed like yesterday.

While John and Shay waited for their order to arrive – and it seemed to drag on endlessly – the talk turned to Shay’s college experiences and his decision to get into the Park/Rec program. It wasn’t something where there were lots and lots of jobs available and many of those few were seasonal or not high paying. But if he could make something out of it, it could be an interesting program with lots of outdoor time, and perhaps not a lot of sitting at a desk.

John thought that must be something that Shay got from his mother, who had proved to be a rather serious outdoor person in the last few years. While she mostly worked inside at the store, it was an outdoor-oriented job and she managed to spend some time outside herself. He’d always been happy with a desk job; the outdoor stuff was fine when the weather was nice and the bugs not bad, but there was a limit to how much he liked it. Up until they moved to Spearfish Lake, he’d tended to think of his wife mostly as a desk worker, but somehow a deeply hidden outdoorswoman had blossomed right after they moved. He’d never have expected his wife would run the Iditarod dogsled race a thousand miles across Alaska, much less do it twice – and there was beginning to be talk of her doing it again next winter! Although it was often a pain in the neck that made home life irregular, he couldn’t help but be proud of what she’d accomplished.

Cody was a part of that too. While John knew Cody was kicking around the idea of doing pre-law in college, he was also interested in being a policeman, in spite of the hassles they’d had with the police back before Christmas. It was probably another case of Candice’s influence, at least the desire to not be stuck behind a desk. Though John knew Cody had talked to Matt Schindenwulfe about a law career, the impression he got was that law enforcement was winning the battle with his younger son.

John and Shay were back on the road in the loaded minivan before their topic drifted back to Cody and Jan again. “You know,” Shay said. “When Mom and I were going home right about here back at Christmas, she said that she didn’t have any idea of what Janice wanted to do, and that she probably hadn’t even considered it what with all the other shit she’d had to deal with. Any progress on that?”

“Quite a bit,” John replied. “She hasn’t come close to making up her mind, but nursing keeps coming up in the discussion. I think Janice got more out of that first aid class she and Cody took last winter than Cody did. At least she’s thinking about it, which we all consider an improvement. Cody refuses to push her about it, and wants her to make up her own mind.”

That was something else to not bring up to Shay, he realized. Carole Hunt had told him early on about her characterization of Janice’s willingness to essentially be Cody’s slave. It was a very shocking thing to initially contemplate, but like Candice, he’d come to more or less agree with her. Janice still obeyed Cody’s orders willingly and happily, even if it wasn’t something she preferred to do. As far as John knew, Cody didn’t know about the characterization and never seemed to take advantage of her willingness to comply. Whenever possible, he appeared to be forcing Janice to make her own decisions, rather than deciding something for her – for example, he pointedly stayed out of her considering a nursing career. That showed a lot of understanding and maturity on his part, but it was still unsettling to consider.

“Might not be a bad idea,” Shay opined. “I know a couple nursing students, though, and it’s not an easy course.”

“I’ve looked into it a little, and it’s not,” John agreed. “It may be a good idea for her, even though nothing has been decided yet. She’s still got some issues to work out, and Cody is among those issues. But for the most part, I still think they’re good for each other.”

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.