The Summer Son Read Online Free PDF Page A

many holes as he could each day, until the work was gone. Once this place was drilled out, everybody would pull out and chase the next job. I gathered from the conversation that too many rigs had congregated, scrapping it out over too few holes. Dad aimed to expand the field. I also knew that nobody could hang with his endurance. I had seen many a workday extended for one more hole, then one more, then one more, with my father pushing as deep into the clock as possible before the coming of night severed his ambition.
    While Dad and Jerry talked shop, Marie and Denise chatted, and the scraps I heard told me I wanted no part of it. Girl talk made no sense to me.
    “Jerry, I won the spelling bee at Garfield,” I broke in.
    My brother nodded at me and said, “That’s great,” and then he dove right back in with Dad.
    Denise leaned over to me and whispered, “That’s really cool. I can’t spell.” That made me smile.
     
     
    The food came, and the chatter stopped. We tore into our burgers, and for a while, all that could be heard at our table was chewing and soda being sucked through straws.
    Between bites, I tried again with Dad.
    “Dad?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Where’s my motorcycle?”
    “Up at the ranch. We’ll get it when we’re on break.”
    “When’s that?”
    “A couple of weeks.”
    “Two weeks?”
    “Mitch, just eat.”
    I glanced at Marie, and she gave me a smile and then nodded at my food. I picked up a french fry and chomped it.
    When the plates were cleared, Jerry asked if I wanted to go with him and Denise to a convenience store down the street.
    “Yeah,” I said. “I also need to call Mom and let her know I’m here. She wants to talk to you, too.”
    “Great,” Jerry said. He shook his head.
    Dad handed Jerry his calling card. “Five minutes,” he said. “No more.”
    Then Dad turned to me.
    “You hurry back,” he said. “We get going early, so you’re going to need some sleep. You’re coming out with us, right?”
    “Yeah.”
    “And you,” Dad barked at Jerry. “Ease off on that rutting. I need your strength.”
    Marie jabbed Dad in the ribs with her elbow. Denise looked like she wished she could burst into flames.
     
     
    “Yes, Mom.”
    “No, Mom.”
    “It was fine.”
    “Yes, he was at the gate.”
    “Yes.”
    “He’s right here. I will. OK. I love you too.”
    I handed the phone to Jerry, who went through a similar ritual. Are you OK? Do you need anything? Are you eating well? Watch out for your brother. Be careful. I love you.
    His duty done, Jerry hung up the phone.
    “Twenty questions,” he said.
    “Yeah.”
    “It’s good to see you, Mitch. Really. You’ve grown.”
    “So have you.”
    I waited, but he didn’t have anything more to offer.
    “Do you like it here with Dad?” I asked.
    “I knew it wasn’t going to be easy working for the old man, and it hasn’t been. In a year, he’s gone through four other guys.”
    I had seen enough of Dad’s dealing with employees to guess that the partings hadn’t been amicable, a fact that Jerry confirmed for me.
    “Jesus, Mitch, the last one, up in Rock Springs, that was bad. Dad rode the guy about everything. He couldn’t do anything right. Too damn slow. Didn’t know the tools. Didn’t pay attention. Hell, Dad even told him once that he didn’t eat the right way. That last day, he’d finally had enough, I guess. He took a swing at Dad.”
    I winced. “Really? What happened?”
    “You know. Dad beat the shit out of him. Broke his nose. I had to pull him off the guy. I thought he might kill him.”
    I shuddered, and then I changed the subject.
    “Where did you meet her?” I nodded at Denise, who was on the other side of the store, looking at eight-tracks.
    Jerry smiled. “Nice, eh?”
    That was one way to put it. Denise—her long hair blonde, her tanned legs sprouting out of short cut-off jeans—was perhaps the prettiest girl I had ever seen.
    “Yeah.”
    “Met her right here. She just graduated from