It seemed there hadn’t been anything new to do for several days now, and summer was almost over. Just the thought of the end of summer was hard to accept in itself. That thought was more than enough to make you agitated with a dreaded panic of time running out. There was no way to ignore the reality that it was now August, and not only did that mean the end of summer, but it was the hottest time of year, and Lord knows, around here, you can’t just beat the devil out of this heat with a stick. It will win every time.
We were by no means lazy, and it’s not like we didn’t already spend hours on end thinking long and hard about things to do, but by the day's end, we still came up with next to nothing. Even the creeks had become too murky and dried up to swim in. And with little money, we were, for the most part, stuck inside.
Most Summers, we could usually find an odd job here and there for pocket money, maybe a few quarters banging out tire rims at Crumley’s store, but we knew the situation was nearing a dreadful dire state when even crazy old man Wayne, who every summer would pay us a lousy fifty cents a bail, split four ways when bailing his lousy hay for him, even though it was too damn hot to be outside, and God knows that old ‘coot’ would work a mule to death on any Sunday and Christmas even if lightning was striking down.
I pretty much grew up with this heat and have as much respect for it as the next person, but for some people, it affects us a lot worse than others, and that’s when this ruckus started that finally gave us the final jolt, causing us to get up and out of the house. It was clear that our leaving for sure had less to do with our anxious boredom, but more likely, it was the unforeseen mad commotion when Billy’s big sister took a loaded rifle and shot at her own relentless barking dog right through the heart of the front screen door. Luckily she was half blind and missed the damn dog, but the bullet left a perfect hole in the screen that Billy poked and twisted his finger in as we left nervously, laughing and tripping over each other.
“Damn Janette, you are crazy, girl!” chuckles Billy as he ducks while pushing me off the front porch spilling an entire full cup of Kool-Aid. I was clenched and tensed all the way down the gravel drive, weaving and giggling nervously until I was sure I was far enough away not to get shot in the ass. She would never actually shoot at us (I don’t think), but my body still got all goosed up and jittery in anticipation, anyway.
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