Chapter 2, cont...

***

Andrew finally rolled out of bed as Dad and I were fixing ourselves some sandwiches for lunch. “Aaagh,” he sighed, stretching his arms and rubbing his eyes obnoxiously. “Wanna whip one of those up for me?”
“No, not really,” I said.
“That’s cool,” he said, laughing and yawning at the same time. “I’m gonna run down to Mac’s Market and grab some decent coffee, anyway. Oh – Caleb, I meant to ask you… The boys and I are gonna play some pick-up ball around 4:00, are you in?”
“Andrew, we milk at 4:00. And Dad has to deliver this afternoon – you already promised you would help.”
“Shit,” he said. “And to think, I almost forgot why this place annoyed me so much.” He grabbed his jacket from the back of a chair and let the door slam behind him.

***

Dad loaded up the milk truck and left around 2:00, and Andrew, much to his own dismay, cancelled his pick-up game and agreed (for the second time) to help me with evening chores.
“I hope you appreciate this,” he said as we were walking to the barn.
“Dude,” I said. “You’re not doing me any favors. I do this every day, I just don’t complain.”
“Whatever, you’re just pissed cause you can’t stand up to Dad, and I stopped letting him run my life five years ago when I decided to go to school.”
“Andrew, he needs me in order to run this farm. And he needs to run this farm in order to survive.”
“But Caleb, do you have any idea how much money he could make if he sold this place?!”
“SOLD this place?! This is our home! This is where Mom is! God, Andrew, what happened to you?”
“I grew up. I moved on.”
“I can grow up without forgetting where I came from. Besides, I don’t mind staying here and working on the farm, Andrew. I like the routine. It’s good, honest, hard work. And I’m in love with Eliza.”
“Yeah, Eliza’s great, Caleb, but… What if she wants more? All she wants is for you to go to school and play ball because that’s what you should be doing. She doesn’t want you to keep catering to Dad. And she sure as hell doesn’t want you sticking around this stupid town for her.”
“I know, I --- how do you know?”
“She told me last night, when I brought her home. She wants you to get out and do something. She doesn’t want anything holding you back, and I know for sure that she’d want to be the last thing stopping you. Caleb, just think about how proud she’d be to see you playing, when she comes to your games with all her cute little soccer friends… I’m sure she loves helping you with farm chores as much as I do, but…”
“All right, Andrew, I’ve got it. Anyway… Are you gonna hunt with us in the morning, or what?”
“The only turkey I’d like to bag is the old man.”
“Shut up.”
“You tell me you never thought about it? You never thought about him gone? Selling this shithole and getting a real life?” he asked.
“Well, maybe I’ve thought about it, but…”
“I’m serious, Caleb. Do me a favor: tell me what he does for you. Has he come to watch one of your basketball games? Has he ever once asked you how school was, or even considered what you wanted to do with your life? He uses you, he treats Eliza like shit – how long do you think she’s gonna put up with it if you hang around here? At least I had Mom to help me out, but Caleb, you’re on your own, buddy. You’ve got to decide what you really want here. I can help you for one more day, but that’s all I can stand, man.”
“Help me? What do you mean, ‘help me’?”
“Tomorrow morning --- are you listening?”
“Yeah.”
“Tomorrow morning… When you and Dad walk down the knoll to push the deer, I’ll set up on the ridge. I’ll pretend to stumble, lose my balance, and – oops! – BANG – New life. You go to school, play ball, make Eliza happy, and we get this albatross from around our neck.”
I forced half a laugh before I had to stop to figure out if he was joking or not. I shook my head and headed back to the house, the images of Andrew’s plan haunting me.

***