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
It’s like this the man says I’ve got worms Rudy and I shoot each other a look We had worms a year ago An awful tasting tablespoon of medicine cleared them up It was a few days before I realized we’d drunk worm poison Wigglers the man says They’re itchy Rudy says Really itchy I add The man gives us a worried look I mean Eisenia fetida The Californian earthworm Red wigglers Rudy and I don’t know what to say Look the man continues I bought a pound of the worms a month ago to help break down my compost pile They eat up all the compost and then they excrete Excrete Rudy riffles through his thesaurus Oh 6
