Planting His Dream

by Andrew Grey

  “I like them.”

  “They’ll only be eight inches high and wide enough to be steady. I was thinking we could make four of them, each two feet long. That way they won’t be heavy and you could move them around or remove one from a section if you have bigger things to sell.”

  “I like that,” Foster said with a grin.

  “Great.” Javi began adding measurements and making some calculations. “This is what you’re going to need to make the shelves. I’d use solid wood rather than plywood. It’ll stand up to the moisture better and will look nicer.”

  The office door opened and his mother poked her head in. “Are you about done? It’s getting late.”

  Foster checked the time and groaned. “Thanks, Mom. We’re almost done. I’ll get the supplies, and hopefully while we’re cutting tomorrow, the building will be set up and we can get to work.” He was excited about this project.

  “Do you need help with the other chores?” Javi asked.

  Foster needed all the help he could get. The problem was that the money he had to pay for that help was in short supply. There would be some coming in from the sale of the crops, but in the end, after expenses, he would only get a few thousand dollars. The farm needed more cash flow, and that was why he was doing all of the other projects, but…. “Yes, I need help,” he admitted.

  “Then come on. Let’s get these chores done so you can do your milking,” Javi said, and Foster sighed. He couldn’t afford to pay Javi for his time, and he was embarrassed to tell him. He’d used up what money he had and what he was expecting had to go toward taxes and to make sure they had enough to make expenses. The milk provided a steady inflow, but….

  All these things ran though his head until a headache began to take root. His grandmother was right—he needed to find a partner, someone who could help him, because running the farm on his own like this was wearing him out.

  “Okay.” He had no choice at the moment. The work had to get done, and he’d have to find a way to pay Javi.

  “Then let’s go,” Javi said and led him outside. “What do we need to do first?”

  “Get feed in the barn for the cows for while they’re being milked.”

  “Foster,” his mother called from the back door. “There’s a storm coming. Warnings are being issued. We should get the herd inside.”

  “Thanks,” he called as she joined them.

  “Javi and I will get the feed, and then you can let in the herd,” she said. “It’s a tight fit, but we can do it.”

  “Is the barn really big enough?” Javi asked.

  “Yes. We usually milk part of the herd at a time because it’s easier, but the barn is big enough.” Foster led the way upstairs and tossed down a bale of hay. “Put some in each feeder. Two flakes of the bale,” he called down through the opening, waiting for Javi before tossing down a few more bales. Javi and Foster’s mother got the feed in each stall, then they called the herd and guided each cow into her stall.

  Wind whipped through the open doors, and Foster ran to close them as soon as the last cow was inside. His mother clipped each cow into her stall using a cord similar to a heavy-duty leash.

  “Where’s Grandma?”

  “She got home just as I was coming to get you. She’s closing up the house.”

  Foster dug into his pocket and pulled out the keys to his truck. “Can you drive?” Foster asked Javi, who nodded. “Take my truck, go get your family, and bring them here. This storm could be bad, and they’ll have more shelter here than out in that field.” He handed him the keys. “Tell them to get here right away. They’re probably already hunkering down.”

  “Thanks,” Javi said and hurried out. Foster went back to work getting the cows settled. They stamped and mooed loudly, clearly not liking the weather any more than Foster did.

  Foster stepped outside, looking up at the sky. Dark clouds raced overhead, with darker, more ominous formations to the southwest. Lightning flashed, followed by more. Foster kept watching as the clouds got lower to the ground. He didn’t like the look one bit as more lightning flashed and near-constant thunder rumbled through the air with enough force that he could feel as well as hear it.

  His grandmother stepped outside, and he hurried over to her. “I got all the windows closed,” she said. “This looks like a whopper.”

  “Yeah. Did you turn on the television? What are they saying?”

  “Severe thunderstorm warning and tornado watch, with lots of wind and chance of hail.”

  God, that was not what he needed at all. The crops were just starting to grow well and hail would shred them. Enough of it would beat them to the ground. “I sent Javi to get his family. They need better shelter than that van out in the field.” He turned toward the sky once again, worrying about Javi’s family. He hoped they got here soon.

  Foster closed his eyes and proved his grandfather right by saying a little prayer for everything to be okay before hurrying back to the barn. His mother had already started milking. It was more difficult with the barn so full, so it took more time. Foster helped and they got all the milkers going. The cows stomped and moved more than normal, so they had to be careful they weren’t kicked or stepped on.

  “It’s all right, girls,” Foster said, keeping up a steady stream of soothing talk even as a crack of thunder nearly had him jumping out of his skin. “I’ll be right back,” he said and hurried out of the barn. He wondered where Javi was and breathed a sigh of relief when the truck pulled into the drive.

  “Where’s the van?” Foster asked when Javi’s mother and siblings got out.

  “Dad went into town an hour ago,” Javi said, slamming the door. “The things are in the back.”

  “Let’s get them in the toolshed. The sky is going to open up any second.” He raced to the back, pulled down the tailgate, and unloaded the cookstove, then handed it to Ricky. He grabbed the canvas awning that had been thrown in the back, trying not to drag it on the ground. Javi opened the shed door, and Foster put the awning on the wooden floor and hurried back for the poles while the others got the remaining things.

  “Take them inside. Grandma is in the house, and she’ll get you settled.”

  “Gracias,” Javi’s mother said with a worried smile. The wind continued whipping around as the first huge drops of rain hit the ground. Foster got in the truck and quickly parked it in a sheltered location as the sky opened up. He got out and dashed to the barn, getting soaked within seconds. Some drops bounced on the ground. Hail. Foster watched for a second, said another prayer, and then hurried in to help his mother.

  “What happened?” she asked when she saw him.

  “It’s horizontal out there,” Foster told her, speaking loudly to be heard over the rain on the roof, shivering from his wet clothes. “Let’s get this done.”

  Lightning flashed and the scent of ozone filled the air as thunder crashed full volume right behind it. “That was close,” his mother said as she continued working. “Try to put it out of your mind and continue with the work. The herd is tense enough, and you need to calm them.” The words and her tone were in complete disagreement. She spoke as gently as she would to any of the cows.

  “Javi’s family is in the house with Grandma. I don’t know where Mr. Ramos is.” Foster went to work. “He said he was going to town and left them with just an awning for shelter.”

  “Foster,” Javi said. “Is there anything I can do to help?” He strode over to where Foster was working.

  “Hose down the troughs to make sure we stay as clean as possible. Hopefully this will blow over and we’ll be able to put them out again. Otherwise we’ll be up to our ears in manure.” His mother grinned, and Javi grabbed a shovel. If they had to stay inside, Foster was worried about having enough hay for all the cows. He had counted on keeping the herd out in the warmer weather.

  “Thank you,” Foster told Javi as he continued the milking process. The rain didn’t let up, and it wasn’t until they came to the end of the milking process that the
drumming on the roof began to lessen. They kept the girls inside, and Foster checked the milk and then peered outside. It was still raining lightly and everything was soaked and dripping. Since he was already wet, he stepped outside and looked around. The house seemed okay, and so did the other buildings. Javi went to check on his family as Foster continued looking to assess any damage. He checked the side of the house where the garden was and stopped in his tracks. One of the huge trees at the edge of the property lay in a heap across the road, completely blocking it. Limbs were scattered all over the yard like parts of the tree had exploded, sending wooden shrapnel everywhere.

  Foster was exhausted and there was more work that had to be done. The road needed to be cleared and the limbs picked up and cut to pieces.

  “I’ll call the county,” his mother said. “They can clear the road.”

  “Will they?” It was their tree, after all.

  “Yes.” She patted him on the shoulder and went inside. “Now come inside and get into dry clothes.”

  He sighed and trudged through the rain and mud. His mother met him with a towel in the mudroom, and he stripped off most of his wet things, covered up, and then hurried through the surprisingly quiet house to his room, where he changed and then came back down.

  Javi and his family sat in the living room, eyes wide, all looking out through the windows as though watching for their van to appear. “They saw the tree come down. Lightning hit it,” Javi told Foster. “It looked like it burst apart.”

  Foster nodded. “There are limbs everywhere.” Including in the garden they had worked so hard to put in. All he could do was hope that not too much damage had been done.

  “Come on,” Javi told Ricky and Daniela. “Let’s go clean this up.”

  “I’ll make some dinner,” his grandmother said.

  Foster had barely had a chance to feel his backside in a chair and he was up again.

  “There are boots in the mudroom. See what will fit everyone,” his mother said as they trooped through the kitchen. She stopped Foster with a touch on the shoulder. “I’m going to try to speak to their mother.”

  “As far as I know, she speaks Spanish.”

  She patted his shoulder. “She also speaks Mother.” She smiled and walked toward the living room, her touch sliding away.

  Foster went to the mudroom and helped Javi, Daniela, and Ricky find boots that fit. Most were his old ones, and some were his mother’s. Once they had boots, Foster led them outside. The rain had stopped, but water dripped everywhere.

  He led them around the side. “Let’s pick up the limbs that we can and pile them there.” He took them over to a section of the yard near one of the pastures. “Ricky and Daniela, you concentrate on the area of grass. If a limb is too big, call us. Javi and I are going to try to get the limbs off the garden.”

  Ricky saluted, and Daniela smacked him lightly. “Don’t be smart. He helped us.” Daniela turned to him. “Ricky would rather draw all of us working.”

  “And you’d rather be inside reading,” Ricky said.

  “I have notebooks inside, and some books. If you help, I’ll see that both of you get what you want.” Foster wasn’t above bribery. “And we’ll all have a huge dinner.”

  Daniela nudged her brother, and they walked off, grabbing the first branches they came to. Foster led Javi to the garden and began carefully lifting branches off the tender plants. “It looks like only the part nearest the tree was affected,” Javi said. “The rest is leaves.” He picked up branches and walked them over to the growing pile.

  What worried Foster most was the strawberry patch. Parts were covered with branches. He began pulling them away, layer upon layer, lifting some large branches off the plants. “Some of the plants got crushed,” he said, but thankfully most were only covered with leaves and would recover.

  After working an hour, they were able to get the branches off to the side. Foster thought they’d come through all right, all things considered. “What about your father?” he asked Javi as they hauled the last of the branches to the pile.

  “I don’t know. He should know we’ll be here when he doesn’t find us at the field.” Javi looked toward the road. “He should damn well know that everyone was vulnerable during something like that. The only real shelter we have is the van, and he had it.” Javi paled as he paused. “What if you hadn’t sent me? What would they have done? The wind would have taken the awning, and they would have been stuck in the middle of a field with no shelter at all.” The anger in Javi’s voice was unmistakable.

  Foster wondered if there was a logical explanation. There had to be. “What if something happened to him?” he offered, throwing the last branch on the pile.

  “What will you do with all this?” Ricky asked as he and Daniela stared at the huge pile.

  “I have a chain saw, and it’ll all be cut up.”

  “What about all that?” Daniela asked, pointing at the heap of green lying over the road.

  “Come on inside,” his mother called. “Dinner is almost ready.”

  “Thanks,” Foster said and waved. He hoped the county would indeed come to clear it away, or after dinner he’d be working until dark to shift the tree. “Let’s go. You all deserve a huge meal, and I appreciate all your help.”

  They walked inside and took off their wet boots, then his grandmother shooed the kids into the bathroom to wash up.

  “A tree fell on one of Mr. Dulles’s outbuildings,” she told Foster. “Crushed it to matchsticks. There are other trees down as well. The emergency management office at the county said they’d get to the tree tonight. They’re working their way this way. If we can help, they’d appreciate it.”

  Foster nodded and took his seat. Mrs. Ramos helped serve, working with his mother like they were old friends. “I think we came through okay.” Foster turned to his grandmother. “I took some of Grandpa’s advice.”

  “Of course you did, dear. It’s what farmers do in the face of adversity.” Once they’d all sat down, his grandmother led everyone around the table in a short prayer.

  IT WAS dark by the time Foster heard the beeping of the county trucks backing up near the farm. Javi’s dad hadn’t made an appearance, and their entire family was becoming worried. Foster’s mother and grandmother were figuring out sleeping arrangements. It had already been designated that Javi would be bunking in with him. Grandma Katie and his mother were doubling up so Mrs. Ramos could have Grandma Katie’s room for the night, and the guest room was going to be used by Daniela, with Ricky bunking on the sofa. The house was going to be fuller than Foster could remember, and it was nice in a worried and strange sort of way.

  Foster had been half asleep when he heard the trucks, but he got out of his chair and pulled on a pair of boots, then headed out to meet the county workers. “How does it look?” Foster asked as he approached.

  “This is the worst so far,” one of the men grumbled.

  “I have a chain saw and can help,” Foster offered, stifling a yawn.

  “Much appreciated. Do you want the logs?”

  “That would be awesome.” He could use them during the winter to offset heating costs. “Let me get my saw, and we’ll get started.” Foster hurried back to the toolshed, turning on the light and making sure the gas tank was full and the chain had oil. He grabbed a pair of gloves and rejoined the men, who were already at work. Foster took a position away from the others and began sawing away branches, chopping the thicker portions into sizes that would fit in the woodstove. One of the men fed the remaining branches into a huge chipper.

  The pile of wood grew as the tree was slowly cut down to size. It took two hours, but eventually all that was left of the old oak tree was a stacked pile of wood that Foster would move when it was light and a scattering of leaves and sawdust, along with a stump.

  Foster thanked the guys for all their help before dragging himself into the nearly silent house.

  “The others are all in bed,” his mother said as Foster flopped down into one
of the kitchen chairs. She got him a plate, and Foster ate without thinking. His energy tank was extremely empty, and all he wanted was to go to bed.

  “Where’s Javi?” he asked.

  “Upstairs. He offered to go help, but I thought it best that he stay here and make sure the rest of the family was comfortable.” She sipped from her mug. “That family is coming apart. His mother doesn’t know what to do. She says her husband has been drinking more and more, and they have less and less, no matter how much they make.”

  “She told you all that?” Foster said.

  His mother nodded. “It took some time, but between her basic English and my college Spanish a lifetime ago, we got our ideas across. She doesn’t know what to do if he doesn’t show up again.”

  “Does she really think he’s gone?”

  His mother shook her head. “She’s worried and scared.”

  “We’ll need to make some calls in the morning. Someone will have seen or know something. For now we can give them a good night’s sleep. It isn’t like we’ll be able to pick tomorrow with this rain. The fields will be too soft. But we have to pick on Wednesday or we’ll lose part of the crop.”

  “I think they need work and the money that comes with it.” He could tell his mother was at as big a loss as he was regarding what to do. They would have to go to bed and figure things out in the morning. Hopefully Mr. Ramos would return from wherever he’d gone, and they would all be able to get some answers.

  Foster finished eating in silence, and his mother took care of the dishes. “I’m going up to bed.” He groaned as he stood. “I’d better check the herd first.”

  “I did while you were working. Ricky helped me feed them, and they’re fine. So go on to bed. The girls are fine, and they’ve settled down now that the storm has passed. We’ll give the pastures some time to dry in the morning before turning them out into the upper areas.” She shooed him out of the kitchen, and Foster walked quietly through the dark living room where Ricky was asleep, curled on the sofa.