A Little Fishing
by Jack Swenson
Len and I sit on Harpo's porch, drink beer and gab. It's hot, even for July. Len and I joke and laugh, and Harpo stares off into the middle distance.
I'm in the city for just a few days, then I'm going up north to visit my folks, then it's back to California. I can't stay, I tell Harpo's wife when I first get there. My girlfriend misses me. "What about your wife?" she asks.
Len wants to say hello to the hippie girl who lives next door. The girl is outside lugging around a big gardening can, watering the plants. Harpo calls out her name. She looks up, waves and grins. "Ask her over," Len says.
Len gets up and goes outside. Pretty soon he's back with girl, leading her by the hand. She's a pretty girl. Tall, freckle-faced, gawky. She sits down, and Len fetches her a beer. Len whispers sweet nothings into her ear. The girl giggles.
Harpo sits and looks at something I can't see. I drink beer and ask him questions. I ask him how they found the cancer. Backache, he says. He went to see a doctor.
When Harpo's wife comes home from work, I stand up and give her a big hug. The neighbor girl is long gone. So is Len. After dinner I help Alice with the dishes. "He hasn't got much zip," I say. "No," she says. She's going to take him up to the lake this weekend. Maybe do a little fishing.
Before I leave, we go out to the garage behind the house and Harpo shows me his Packard. He's going to restore the old car, he says. The engine's shot, but otherwise it's in good shape. I get in the back seat and sit there for a minute. It's perfect. Like new. It smells like dust.
The next day I stop by on my way out of town. Harpo stands next to my spanking new red BMW 2002, and we shake hands. "See ya," I say. "Maybe," Harpo replies.
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Author's Note
For Gary M. Gone but not forgotten.
Again, Jack, so much captured so compactly. The long-time friendship between the men, a certain stage and phase of life, the detail that the narrator has both wife and girlfriend. The ending. Just lovely.
Opening up the door, and I walk in - "Harpo sits and looks at something I can't see. I drink beer and ask him questions. I ask him how they found the cancer. Backache, he says. He went to see a doctor." Great style, form & ease, Jack. Nice work.
Another good one Jack!
Well done, Jack. Excellent job capturing the characters and their relationships with your usual keen sense of language.
You have a lot going on here beneath the surface, Jack. Powerful and compact, forcing the reader to think. Good job.
Oh, Jack, you do it every time. You manage to get that "slice of life" but your voice and language pulls it out of the everyday and into the realm of dramatic
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the friendship, the intimacy here, is palpable. And yet it doesn't feel like I'm eavesdropping, rather like I might just sit and drink a beer with them too. The ending is subtle yet powerful.
Thank you all. This story cost me a lot, so I am very glad you like it. And look who's on the list above! Superstars!