The cows crowded the milking parlor gate, bellowing to be let in. Mitch gave Billy a proper rub down, then went inside the parlor, flicked on the fluorescent lights, and breathed in the soothing smells of manure, urine, and iodine. The cows fidgeted impatiently to be drained, their swollen udders dragging close to the ground. Mitch went to work and fell into the ritual of wiping down the rubbery teats with orange antiseptic and attaching the cups, moving from cow to cow. The ritual comforted him.
After milking and feeding, Mitch retired to the couch in the living room. If he could figure a way to save the farm, Sid would have to forgive him. Forty thousand. And that was just the start. They’d need a lot more to keep the farm running through the summer until harvest. He’d think of something.
* * *
Mitch woke to the smell of bacon. Chris was at the table working on a pile of scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, toast, and bacon. Through a mouthful of food, he asked, “What’s with the ratty old van? And what’s an Odyssey School?”
“Hey, watch how you talk about my pride and joy.”
Chris pointed at the platters of food, enough for a family of four. “Might as well dig in before they toss us off the farm.”
Mitch was suddenly ravenous. He had never eaten yesterday. “Why don’t you take care of chores and I’ll work on the fields?”
“If they’re taking the farm, why bother?”
“That’s not happening.”
Chris frowned. “What you got planned?”
“When you finish with chores, go check on Dad.”
“Getting pretty bossy there, big brother.”
“Don’t tell him I’m here.”
“Sure, whatever, boss man.”
* * *
Mitch got a good look at the farm in the daylight. The side of the house was still blackened from the fire. The bare field across from the house was half-plowed. The massive John Deere 8200 tractor and twenty-foot disc plow waited in the field where Chris left off. Mitch trotted to the tractor. He grasped the cold metal rails, pulled himself into the cab, and settled into the cushioned seat. He was reuniting with an old friend. The tractor roared to life, spewing black smoke from the tall stack. He engaged the transmission and headed down the row, the discs of the plow churning the ground. The loamy scent of freshly tilled soil floated into the cab. The tractor chugged toward the end of the field bordering the woods. Mitch sucked in a deep breath and sighed. The majestic oak still stood guard over the burned-out trees and brush. Steel cables that once supported his tree house swayed in the morning breeze.
His thoughts turned to Jennie. If Nic was right and she still loved him, there was hope. Tomorrow he’d go see her. Then he’d go to the bank to see about a loan extension for the farm.
Mitch plowed until well after dark. When he finally pulled himself away from the comforting solitude of working the soil, Billy met him on the porch, licking his hand as if he had never been gone.
He rinsed off the sweat and grime in the mudroom and headed to the kitchen. Chris was at the sink scrubbing a cast-iron frying pan. Mitch pulled a chair over to his old spot at the table and assembled a BLT from the tomatoes, lettuce, toast, and bacon Chris had left out for him. His mouth watered as he slathered on the mayo.
Chris dried his hands on the soiled dish towel. “So, what’s your grand plan?”
“No grand plan. Just catch up the mortgage payments, get the fields planted, and get Dad well.”
“Why didn’t I think of that?”
Mitch took a huge bite of the sandwich and washed it down with cold milk. “How was Dad today?”
“Ornery as ever. I had to check in at the billing department. The insurance will pay for physical therapy but not for him to stay at the clinic for more than thirty days. After that, he has to come home.” Chris plunked a chair backward next to Mitch and hung his arms over it. “Who’s gonna stay with him when he comes home? I gotta work the farm.”
“Don’t suppose you’ve seen Jen around?”
“She stopped in to see Dad while I was there. She’s a nurse now. Works right there at UW in the cancer unit.”
“Say anything about me?”
“Told Dad and me she’d help with anything, just let her know.”
“Chris, she say anything about me?”
“When we came down to see you in the hospital, she cried all the way back to Milroy.” He went back to the sink. “You still going with that smoking hot chick in Milwaukee?”
“I’m gonna go lie down.”
* * *
Mitch gave up on sleep and was back plowing at three in the morning using the powerful lights of the tractor to illuminate the fields.
Jennie must love him. She had cried over him all the way back to Milroy. He’d tell her that it was over with Nic. They’d get a nice house on the far south side of Milwaukee and raise a family. She could come back to Milroy as much as she wanted; it was only a one-hour drive. And he could make trades to be off during the planting and harvesting seasons to help with the farm.
By the time he came in for breakfast, he was giddy. Mitch wolfed down a bowl of Cheerios and headed to town.
* * *
Jennie’s black Ford F-150 pickup was parked in front of her apartment. Before knocking, he took a few seconds to calm his nerves. She answered the door in sagging camo pajama bottoms and a loose-fitting Green Bay Packer T-shirt. The right side of her face was rosy and creased.
Mitch went blank.
Her jaw dropped. “Jesus, it’s you.”
“I get you up?”
“I see you’re as perceptive as ever. Sorry, that was mean. And sorry about your dad. That’s tough.” She hugged him.
“Oww.”
“What?”
“Burned my back in a fire three days ago.”
“Yeah, I heard. Whole town’s proud of our hero.”
“You too?”
“C’mon in. Let me see your back.”
Her apartment smelled like a bakery, triggering memories of cinnamon buns, sex, and early morning talks.
“Sit. I’ll make coffee.” She went to the counter, and he went to the card table. A pair of men’s slacks hung from a folding chair. Mitch stood at the table staring at the pants, breathless, feeling like someone punched him in the gut.
Jennie lifted the slacks off the chair and tossed them in a clothes hamper.
“Here, sit,” she said. “Take off your shirt.”
Jen, I love you. Tell her now. He lifted off the shirt.
“It’s oozing. You need to change that dressing every day. Mitch, you hear me? You need to change it every day.”
“Yeah, every day.” The words came out flat.
“You have ointment?”
“In Milwaukee.”
“I can take care of it at the hospital when you visit your dad today if it’s after three. I’m on second shift.”
“He doesn’t want to see me.”
“That’s crazy talk.”
Mitch stared at the clothes hamper.
“Look, Mitch. I don’t know what—”
“He staying here?” Mitch rose to face her.
She clamped her arms over her chest and tilted her head. “She staying with you?”
The inches between them became an impassable ravine.
“Mitch, why did you come?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t know either.”
Chapter 43
The bank president said the farm’s been falling farther and farther behind on payments over the last year. The board of trustees was forced to file foreclosure papers six months ago. As much as he would have liked to help, he couldn’t override their votes. In two months, on June 10th, the farm would be sold off at auction. If Mitch could come up with the back payments before then, they’d call off the auction and foreclosure.
First Jennie, now the bank. He could leave this all behind again. All he had to do was head back to Milwaukee.
At the farm, he headed to the John Deere
and went to work on the field, struggling for ideas. He thought of how Brother Williams said hope and faith can overcome impossible odds, but Mitch was running on empty. He plowed through the afternoon and into the early evening, going numb with exhaustion.
Chris met him on the porch. “So, what’s the plan?”
The blood drained from Mitch’s face. “The bank’s selling the farm off in sixty days.”
“All I know is farming.” Chris’s voice cracked. “What me and Dad gonna do?”
Mitch coughed to clear the knot. “You and Dad can stay with me in Milwaukee.”
“I don’t think Dad would go.”
“I can’t blame him for hating me.”
“You need to see something.” Chris led him to Sid’s sparse bedroom. Against the back wall was a queen-sized bed with a solid walnut headboard. Across from it, an antique dresser covered in a thick layer of dust.
Mitch sneezed. “Smells pretty funky.”
“This is what you need to see.”
Chris pulled open the top drawer of the dresser. Inside was a copy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper with the story of Mitch’s heroic attempt to rescue Jasmine and another edition with the follow-up story. There was also the issue covering the Odyssey School and how Mitch got the fire department involved. At the top of the pile was the program Chris brought back from Mitch’s graduation from the Fire Academy featuring a portrait of the recruit class. Mitch stared at Jamal and LaMont’s beaming faces. Rot in hell, DeAndre.
“I don’t get it. Why would Dad want these?” Mitch asked.
“That’s not all. C’mon out to the shed.”
He followed Chris across the yard with Billy trotting behind.
Chris swung the wide doors of the rebuilt shed open. He flicked on a flashlight and shined it on an antique red Massey Ferguson tractor.
Mitch gasped. “My old tractor?”
“After you left, Dad went to the auctions and swap meets. He found parts to rebuild it and had it painted.”
Mitch took the flashlight from Chris and ran his hand over the smooth red fenders. The pile of charred metal bound for the scrapheap had been resurrected. “I don’t get it.”
“Go ahead. Start her up. Runs great. Dad put a lot of work into her.”
He crawled onto the polished metal seat and hit the ignition. The rhythmic chuk—chuk—chuk was the sound of hope.
* * *
Mitch worked the fields through the night trying to understand what the hell all this meant. “Things aren’t always what they seem; assumptions bite you in the ass,” Crusher liked to say. It was sure true about Ralph. Was he wrong about Sid all this time? And about what?
The newspaper articles got him thinking back on the last year. So many times, he was tempted to give up. Fighting fires with a veteran crew taught him you don’t give up. Ever! An unrelenting fire might force a change in tactics, but the Red Devil was always snuffed out, defeated. He was not going to give up on Sid and the farm.
Mitch returned to the house before sunrise and had a stack of pancakes and sausages waiting for Chris when he came downstairs.
“What’s the occasion?” Chris asked. He mounded a plate with hot cakes and slathered them with butter and maple syrup and dove in, shoveling forkfuls into his mouth while moaning. “Who taught you to cook?”
“Always have sex with your food?”
“Never heard you come in last night.”
“Got an idea. I should be finished with the fields by Sunday. Monday I’ll drive to Milwaukee. I need to get some things. It’s weird wearing your underwear. Kind of tight for me down there.” He grinned. “I’ll put in for a leave of absence from the department. At least enough time to get us through planting season.”
“What about Dad?”
“I’ll get a loan from the Credit Union in Milwaukee to cover the back payments and enough for seed and feed. Now that I’ve got my year on, my credit should be good.”
“But what about Dad?”
“I should get back in the field.”
“Wait. Jen told me I need to change your dressing every day.”
Jen.
Chapter 44
First stop in Milwaukee was Orchard Manor to check on Kyle. Mitch told him about the farm and how he’d be working there and wouldn’t be able to visit for a while. Kyle’s head did nonstop figure eights while Mitch talked.
Next stop was the Milwaukee Fire Department Bureau of Administration where he asked to see the Deputy Chief in charge of personnel. This was the same chief who berated Lieutenant Laubner for nearly losing his crew in the fire. The chief didn’t hesitate to grant Mitch as much family leave as he needed but explained family leave was unpaid. He told him his job would be waiting for him whenever he was ready to come back. The chief informed him he’d be receiving the department’s highest commendation, The Class A Award for Heroism, at the awards banquet in the fall.
On the way to the elevator, Mitch noticed Laubner seated at a desk in the back corner of the outer office. Laubner narrowed his eyes at him. Mitch gave him a one-fingered salute.
Next stop was the credit union. The plan was coming together.
Mitch waited across the desk from the slick branch manager while the man clicked away on his keyboard. The manager’s eyebrows knit together. “Haven’t you ever bought anything on credit?”
“My dad always made me save for things I wanted.”
“Without a credit history, we can’t grant an unsecured loan for sixty-thousand dollars.”
“How much can you loan me?”
“We could go as much as ten thousand since you’re on the fire department. But you’ve only been employed for a year.”
So much for Dad’s great advice. “I’ll take the ten grand.”
Mitch had been so sure of his plan. Now what?
He headed to Miss Bernie’s to get his things. Before he got up to his flat, Miss Bernie stepped into the hallway. “Mitch Garner, don’t you dare take another step. We been worried sick over your daddy.”
“I really need to get back to Milroy.”
“Get yourself down here.”
He had no energy to argue.
“My Lord, Mitch, your daddy pass?”
“No. Things got complicated.”
“From that look on your face, I thought he surely did. How bad the stroke?”
“Not bad, but it’ll be a while before he can work.”
Miss Bernie’s face clouded. “This an awful time to add to your troubles. I’m terrible worried about Jasmine. She cut herself on the wrist.”
A jolt shot up his spine. “You mean, she tried to…”
“The other night she was washing dishes. She been wearing long sleeves all week in this crazy heat. I could see she trying to hide something. I pulled her hand out the water and there on her wrist was cuts.” Miss Bernie exhaled loudly. “I ask her what that was all about. She pull her hand away and ran to her room. Well, I follow her in and kept at her. That child clam up tight. Didn’t know what to do, so I call Brother Williams.”
“Did you call 911?”
“The cuts were healed. Just red marks. Brother Williams, he come over and she don’t talk to him neither so he called that woman who works with them troubled girls. She gets here and spends a good hour in there with Jasmine.”
“How was Alexus handling all this?”
“That woman told us Jasmine wasn’t trying to hurt herself. Told us some young girls suffering with shame and miseries do this cutting on themselves. Says this gives them relief. Never heard of such a thing.”
“What are we supposed to do now?”
“They got her on some pills.” Miss Bernie sighed. “Poor Alexus can’t figure why her sister so sad all the time. I don’t know what to tell the child.”
“I should be here.”
“You got family needs you. Me and Brother Williams will look after Jasmine.”
“I wish I knew…”
“Lord knows, we all do. We surely do. Now go. Tak
e care that farm and your daddy.”
* * *
Mitch got back to the farm after dark. He found Chris in the barn loading the hay wagon. Evening milking was done and the cows were waiting in the pasture for the hay.
Chris wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his yellow cloth glove. “Any luck?”
“Take a break. The cows can wait.” The brothers sat on the rear gate of the wagon. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. I got a loan for ten thousand dollars from the credit union.”
“That’s not enough.”
“I stopped by the Hillenbrands and asked John if he could order extra seed so we can get started with planting. We’ll pay him back after harvest.”
Chris wrinkled his sweaty brow. “Dad won’t be happy. Kills him to ask for help. Kind of like someone else I know.”
“Yeah, I’m working on that.” Mitch grinned. “Anyway, screw Dad. He’ll lose the farm over his stupid pride. John had no idea we were in trouble.”
“What should I tell Dad?”
“The seed’ll be delivered tomorrow. I’ll start in on the planting. You take care of chores and milking.”
“What about back payments? And Dad? What do we do with him when he comes home? That’s only three weeks away.”
“Don’t know. I do know if we don’t get the crops in there’s no hope. Remember the movie Field of Dreams where they said ‘build it and they will come’. That’s what we’re doing.”
“Now you’re hearing voices?”
If you only knew. “Let’s get the crops in for now.”
“We’ll be planting corn for the bank.”
“See Jen today?”
“Yeah, she stopped in to check on Dad. She’s the only one can make him smile.”
Mitch envisioned her contagious smile, the type of smile you can’t resist smiling back at. Every time he thought of her his stomach knotted. “Yup, she’s good with that.”
“So what do we do about Dad and the back payments?”
“Pray.”
“Think it’ll do any good?”
“Some think so.”
Chapter 45
The gnarled wicker chair creaked in protest to Mitch’s fierce rocking. Billy lay curled at his feet. They waited on the screened porch for Chris and Jennie to bring Sid home. Mitch had stayed away from the hospital the last month to avoid angering Sid.
Beneath the Flames Page 24