The Company Man stood up from his chair and headed toward the back door. He walked past Beverly without making eye contact and walked out the front door. He spent a few minutes walking south on the (now dry) Kentucky Bluegrass field. He came to the vandalized part. He relaxed his shoulders and exhaled and stared straight into the air. Beverly and Mr. Kurtis watched him from the window.

“Bev, what’s he doing? Can you tell?” Mr. Kurtis asked.

“I don’t know. He’s just looking up,” Bev said.

A few moments passed. Mr. Kurtis turned to sit down at his desk.

“I got work to do,” Mr. Kurtis said. “Let me know if he does anything else.”

Bev stared at The Company Man. His shoulders were slack, and he was staring straight into the air. The light from the sun grew dimmer as a large mass of clouds rolled over it. His neck started to slowly loll over to the left, farther and farther down, until the once taut and straight back was a slumped and loping thing. His right arm reached down into the mud tracks in the grass with no artistry and The Company Man pulled up a handful of sloppy dirt from the ground.

“Oh, my,” Bev said.

“What?” Mr. Kurtis said.

The Company Man took a step forward, dirt in hand. He sunk his black shoes into the soft dirt below, staining his white socks. He took the handful of soggy dirt and wiped it on his forehead, face, and mouth.

“OH, dear. Oh, my,” Bev said.

“What? Bev. Bev, what is it?” Mr. Kurtis said.

“I don’t think he works for the insurance company,” Bev said.

“What?”

Mr. Kurtis pushed himself away from his desk, stood up with a groan, and headed to the window. He spotted The Company Man, caked in dirt, pointing his finger to the southwest. He watched in a mixture of confusion and fear for a few moments before The Company Man started walking to the southwest. Mr. Kurtis clambered into his pick-up truck and started driving down Supplemental Highway QQ in order to cut off The Company Man.

The Company Man had no urgency in his gait. He walked straight as the crow flies. His stare was fixated on the woods to the southwest. Mr. Kurtis rolled down his window as he approached him.

“Buddy, who the fuck are you?” Mr. Kurtis asked.

“I’m your guest,” The Company Man said. “That’s what you said.”

“What?”

“Be your guest. That’s what you said.”

“Real funny.”

“Yes. Funny. I agree,” The Company Man said.

“You ain’t from the insurance company,” Mr. Kurtis said.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. The insurance company was supposed to pay me out for the lost sod. You just rubbed yourself in dirt and left. What the fuck did you do that for?” Mr. Kurtis said.

“Ah, yes. Payment. How many mortgages do you want?”

“What?”