Chapter 96

I started to leave my cell phone at the house, and while I saw that Katie and Chris were calling regularly, I never seemed to have time to call them back. As Spring drew nigh, there seemed always to be time to sit out on the porch with Bertie and Ford and drink beer, and always time to lie on the couch in the family room and watch TBS sitcoms, but when Katie rang my parents’ number, I told my mom to tell her I was doing fine and I’d give her a call when I had the chance.

One morning on the way to the store, sitting next to him in his truck and nursing a mild but annoying hangover, I told Bertie, “Dude, I can see why you’re starting to pick up some weight. Is this really all you ever do around here, sit on the porch and drink beer?”

“You know a better way to piss away an evening around here?” he asked me. “I notice you’re keeping up pretty well.”