“Before that, there was my boy, having to bail his ass out of jail. Getting him back into rehab. Starts off on the meth. Get that taken care of, and next thing you know, he’s dating a Spanish gal. Shit, she’s a human being, good girl. Everyone’s so uptight about how you address them and their nationality, you know. I kept calling her a Mexican and she kept saying she’s Spanish, but anyway she don’t pay me no mind—I’m old. Regardless, he goes off and gets on the heroin. She comes crying and beating on my door late one night, says he got busted. So I bail his ass out. Again. Next thing I know, he’s lost his job, can’t pay his rent. She’s waitressing, but it ain’t quite enough, and now the two of them is shacking with me. But she’s a good girl. Cleans and cooks, works, and keeps his ass lined out. And she helped me quite a bit when I was laid up for a week. She got him a job working with her at the Beef O’Brady’s in Corydon. And so far, so good.”

“Damn, I hope he stays clean.”

“Me too,” Archie says. Sips his whiskey and asks, “Who’s your compadres? You running with the Outlaws motorcycle club or some shit?”

“Naw, you remember ol’ Hank used to be a traveling salesman?”

“Yeah, his daddy had a farm down in Walnut Valley, right?”

“That’s him. This here’s his son.”

“Hunter? Damn, boy, you done growed the fuck up.”

“One and only,” Hunter says. Offers a hand. “How are you doing, Archie?”

Archie shakes his hand. “Well, you just heard my troubles.”

“Archie here flew choppers in Nam,” Sid tells him.

“No shit. Appreciate your service, Archie. I was a helicopter mechanic over in Iraq.”

“I be damn. What was that like?”

“Lot of sand, lot of heat, and a whole lot of shit.”

“I bet. How’s your daddy doing? Ain’t seen him in years.”

The two seconds’ silence seems to last forever before Hunter says, “Why I’m here. I thought me and my buddies would stop in and see Sid on our way out west. He recently passed away. Lived out in California for the past fifteen years.”

“Get old, you move to the heat, keep the circulation flowing. I hate to hear that. Your daddy was a good guy. Hell, we drank together quite a few times.”

“Appreciate that.”

“Well, we best be getting over here. Good seeing you, Archie,” Sid tells him.

“Nice meeting you,” Hunter says.

“Take care of yourself, Hunter. Keep safe on your travels, and try to keep Sid here in line.”

“I’ll do my best.”