He nodded and made a show of goin’ out to the bins, like he was some kinda hero or somethin’. Greenleaf to watch the augur for a bit while he and I put the cows back, if it weren’t too much of a bother. My dad was none too pleased and started sayin’ those words he made me promise never to say. I swore a little under my breath as I ran back out to dad. His eyes sparkled a bit and I could see he was enjoyin’ givin’ us the bad news. “Came to let ya know that yer daddy’s cows got out,” he said.
Greenleaf, came shootin’ up the driveway in his truck.ĭad sent me out to meet him and he got right to the point, no shootin’ shit or anythin’. Sometimes dad’d have me standing on the ladder of the wagon, watching to make sure everythin’ was smooth sailing, but just as we set it up, one of the neighbors, Mr. That’s not the hard part of farmin’, not really, you just get the augur set up and let it be. We were movin’ some of the grain from the bins to the gravity wagon. While he searched for a hidin’ place, I followed my dad out to the grain bins.ĭad had me help him set up the augur. His eyes lit up and he bounded out the door, shoutin’ at me to count to a hundred and no peekin’, don’t you even dare. Bein’ as there’s so many more places to hide and all.” Just be careful.” I paused and then added, “And you’ll have to give me a little more time to find you. “How ‘bout no boundaries, Charlie? You can hide wherever you want.
‘Course there was, we had three barns at least to tuck himself away in. Charlie rarely went to these places anyway, but he always huffed when we set the boundaries – “That just ain’t fair, there’s not enough places to hide,” he’d pout. We also had to stay away from the road, the bins, and the ol’ chicken coop, which was perpetually in danger of fallin’ to pieces. Normally, we weren’t to go in the fields or the grove. Livin’ on a farm, we had to set boundaries when we played games like this. ‘Course, the first words out of his mouth were, “regular boundaries?” He really loves hide ‘n’ seek, so I knew I had ‘im. “Hey, Charlie, how about we play hide ‘n’ seek? I’ll even count first.”Ĭharlie’s eyes went wide. I sighed and started to rack my brains, lookin’ for something to keep the little booger busy while I helped dad move corn. “Momma said you gotta watch me!” he shrieked.ĭad was gettin’ real irritated and he’s a pain to work with when he gets like that. Charlie was runnin’ ‘round at my feet, pissin’ an’ moanin’ about me not playin’ with him. So I got ready to help out, pullin’ on my overalls and straightenin’ my John Deere cap. He just gets underfoot and sends dad cussin’. When it’s harvestin’ season, dad don’t like Charlie out in the fields with us. Charlie tries to help out, but he’s still so small, a real runt if’n I ever saw one. I guess momma hadn’t heard him that mornin’ at the breakfast table, ‘cause she stuck me with Charlie.Ĭharlie’s four years younger than me, makin’ him eight and me twelve. “I need you out in the fields with me, Tony,” he’d said. It was harvestin’ season, and dad was movin’ grain. Sometimes I go, too, but that day I had to stay home. Nana had a bad fall and momma goes to see her once a day at least. Momma went off to visit our nana out at the hospital.
She calls it “lookin’ after.” That’s all well and good, but I also hate lookin’ after Charlie. Can’t ‘sit your own family, that’s what she says. Well, momma says it ain’t really babysittin’, considerin’ that it’s my younger brother I gotta watch.