“Is it still a school?” Henry asked.

“Oh, no. About ten years ago they built a new grade school, middle school and high school just outside of town, there.” Jessie motioned her hand to the east. “This is the administration building for the school district now.” She shrugged. “Kind of sad, you know? It was a great little school…a nice place to learn.”

Perhaps it was how she said it, or maybe it was the look on her face when she did, but the statement brought a smile to Henry’s face, and as they continued on their way down the main street, he couldn’t help but glance back at the building that held so many fond memories for the woman walking next to him.

They made their way past the town park with its raised and stately red-and-white gazebo in its middle and children running and playing on its lawn. They crossed the street and headed back the way they came, past the old bank built of stone that had once been robbed by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid—to date, the town’s only claim to fame. “It only had seventy-five dollars in it at the time,” Jessie told Henry. “Not a terribly profitable day for them, I expect.”

Two doors down from the bank was Hansen’s Sewing Shop where Jessie stopped to pick up the bolt of cloth for Mrs. Rodriguez. They spent the better part of a half-hour in the shop, visiting with Joli Hansen, the seventy-five-year-old and not quite five-foot-tall shop owner. She was a colorful old woman with a long, tight braid that hung down the middle of her back, who wasn’t afraid to curse, and who liked to watch professional football while drinking beer from a can. From what Henry could gather in the short time they were there, her favorite team was the Green Bay Packers, because Vince Lombardi, the team’s coach during the 1960’s, “never took no crap from nobody.”

“She’s a lesbian,” Jessie said matter-of-factly as they left the shop.

To say the least, the statement surprised Henry. Even at that, he wasn’t sure what surprised him more, hearing Jessie say the word lesbian, or the fact that the little woman behind the counter may have actually been one. As far as Henry knew, he had never met a lesbian before, and while he never gave much thought as to what one might look like, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t have pictured Joli Hanson. “Why do you say that?” he asked. “Just because she likes football? Hell, I’ve known women that liked football, and they weren’t…um…”

“Lesbians?” Jessie said looking into Henry’s quickly blushing face. “No, Henry, it’s not because she likes football. She told me. That’s how I know.”

“Why would she do that?” Henry asked, looking back toward the store and a little shaken by the conversation. “I mean…don’t folks usually keep that sort of thing to themselves?”

“You know Henry…you really need to get out more.”

The pair continued down the street and came upon the local movie theater, which caused Henry to stop and stare at the show bill that hung inside the window next to the front door. He then went back a few steps and looked up at the marquee rimmed in yellow lights.