Blackberries grow like crazy around here I worry I’m tricking people by making them pay for something they can just reach out for It’s like selling dandelions Or flies We sell the blackberries in a box that we make with a paper plate some ninja like folding moves and a few staples The tomatoes we sell in brown lunch bags Rudy folds the tops down carefully The dahlia bouquets stand in water in tomato soup cans Customers can take the soup cans if they want but usually they don’t I love dahlias Rudy sighs He’s staring into a pink flower that’s like a cheerleader’s pom-pom or a sea anemone They’re so silly and Rudy leafs through the giant book he carries with him everywhere He found it a month ago in the attic when we first moved to 2
the farmhouse It’s a kind of dictionary called a thesaurus elegant That’s it They’re the only thing that’s both silly and elegant Hee-HAW Rumpley my donkey brays from his spot in the field in front of our house I give Rudy a look No Rudy protests Rumpley is not silly he’s awkward And he’s not elegant Rudy ruffles the pages of his thesaurus he’s dignified Rudy’s my little brother He’s eight I’m nine We moved to the country at the start of summer When we lived in the city we’d add water to a can of pink slush from the grocery store set up a card table on the sidewalk and call it a lemonade stand In those days we didn’t have dirt under our nails We never scavenged in barns 3
or pushed each other into bushes or lay in bed at night running our fingers across the thorn scratches on our arms and legs Our skin was clean and we only took baths once a week These days we need baths nearly every night These days if we wanted to sell lemonade I think we’d start with actual lemons A dented pickup truck rumbles up in front of our stand The driver hops out leaving his keys in the ignition and his door open His radio is playing a country song that my dad likes you and me go fishing in the dark down by the river in the full moonlight The man is wearing the regular outfit around here jeans work boots 4
white T-shirt under a plaid jacket and baseball hat bill in front Hi boys Your tomatoes look all right Nice blackberries too You’re clean pickers Cyrus isn’t Rudy blurts I shrug Who cares about a few stems in their berries The man squats down until he’s eye level with me It’s important son Like getting good grades I get good grades Well not in the picking department The man stands He glances at something in the back of his truck Boys I’ve driven past your stand a few times now I’ve been wondering would you help me out Sure I say Maybe Rudy says He’s more scared of the world than I am He also gets hurt less 5
