When Shontyl arrived at school the Monday after The Dad’s
arrival, she told everyone, including the excitable Amy, that he was firmly
ensconced in her guest bedroom, his enormous recliner wedged beside the bed
he will most assuredly not use. Amy clapped
her hands like a back-up singer in a Pentecostal gospel band and said, “I can’t
wait to take him out to eat!”
A few
days later, Amy told Shontyl that she had stopped by her house when she saw The
Dad’s truck in the driveway. “I thought
it would be a great time to stop by and say ‘Hey’ to Odis. I feel like I know him, from reading the
book.”
The conversation
as reported by Amy:
When
she arrived, The Dad was sitting on the front porch. The Dad looked at her, saying nothing. “Hi!” she said, “I’m Amy. I work with Shontyl at the Boy’s Ranch. I wanted to come by and introduce myself.”
The Dad
said, “Who the hell are you?”
Amy
laughed and said, “Oh, you’re so funny.
I loved the book about you.”
The Dad
continued to sit quietly, staring.
Amy
said, “I’d love to take you out to eat sometime so we can talk. I’ll bet you have lots of stories!”
The Dad
said, “I don’t know you. I’m not goin’
nowhere with you.”
Amy laughed
and said, “You’re so funny, Odis! I’ll
see you soon. We’ll plan a dinner at Rooster’s
(a local restaurant)!”
The Dad
said, “What the hell?”
Shontyl
was perplexed. The Dad had said nothing
about this interaction. When she got
home that night, she asked him, “Did my friend Amy come by and talk to you?”
The Dad
said, “Is that her name? Yeah, some
woman came by the other day. She called
me Odis. She was real nice. She said she wanted to buy me dinner. Is Rooster’s good? When are we goin’?”
He’s an
enigma, y’all, wrapped in bacon, sittin’ on the front porch, dreaming of gravy.
No comments:
Post a Comment