Lou was leaning against the machine, rereading the manual, when Joey slammed open the screen door and, blinking against the glare, bounded into the bright early afternoon sun. He looked dressed for a safari—tan khaki shorts, knee-high socks, and a wide-brimmed sun hat. Lou was pleased to see that he had been taking good care of his surgically repaired hand.

“Hey, big guy,” Lou said, “that wound dressing looks great.”

Joey’s freckled face crinkled in a broad grin. “Millie and Tommy, the head chef, drove me back yesterday to have the thumb checked again. It looks really scary, all black and blue and greenish, but Dr. Kurdi says it’s doing terrific and that it’s going to work as good as my other one. So, what’s that thing?”

“It’s a device to help me locate other termite mounds,” Lou said, pausing before adding, “if there are any others.”

“Well, I hope you pumped up the tires real good, because it’s a few miles’ walk from here to the mound—maybe four.”

Lou sighed, pulled off his Nationals cap to wipe sweat from his brow, and looked out at the shimmering heat rising up off the road.

“Four miles, eh? Can’t we just drive there?”

“I only know how to get there by walking,” Joey said.

“Do we need a map?”

“Wouldn’t know where to look on it. The directions are all up here.” He tapped his forehead with his good hand. “One of the things I really enjoy doing is exploring the cornfields.”

“And you think you can find the mound by walking?” Lou grunted as he pushed the cart hard enough to build up some momentum.

Joey marched ahead as they passed the Dorm and then left the vinyl-sided apartments behind.

“I spent two years walking every bit of the cornfields,” Joey said, loud enough not to have to turn his head. “Acres and acres and acres. That’s how I found my special termites. I know these fields like the back of my hand.” He held up his heavily bandaged arm and laughed.

Lou imagined how difficult it was going to be pushing the contraption through the deeply furrowed fields.

So much for AA’s golden admonition not to project.

He recalled Joey’s obsession with knot tying and Millie’s acknowledgment that he got fixated on certain things. As Lou trudged along, grateful for all the hours he spent training in the ring and on the bags, he hoped Joey’s navigation obsession also included the shortest and easiest route to get to where they wanted to be.