562
FRANK CONROY
"I can't remember where I am. We'd better stop at the admin–
istration building."
Outside, the lead gray afternoon slipped almost imperceptibly
into twilight. Very gradually the earth moved towards night and
every darkening shadow was noted as I sat eating. Guy sipped
his
coffee and lighted a Pall Mall. My mother arranged the kerosene
lamp so she could see to do the dishes.
"Frank, get me some water."
Through the door and into the twilight, the bucket against my
thigh. There was a path beaten through the snow, a dark line curving
through the drifts to the well. The low sky was empty, uniformly
leaden. Stands of trees spread pools of darkness, as
if
night came up
from their sunken roots. At the well I tied a rope to the handle of
the bucket and dropped it into the darkness upside down, holding
the line. The trick was not to hit the sides. I heard a muffled splash.
Leaning over the deep hole, with the faintest hint of warmer air
rising against my face, I hauled the bucket hand over hand until it
rose suddenly into view, the dim sky shimmering within like some
luminous oil. Back to the house with the water. Absolute silence
except for the sounds of my own movement, absolute stillness except
for a wavering line of smoke from the stovepipe.
While Mother did the dishes Guy and I sat at the table. He sipped
at his second cup of coffee. I fished a dime out of my pocket. "Could
you get me a couple of Baby Ruth bars?"
Guy sucked his teeth and reached for a wooden pick. "The
stuff is poison. It rots your teeth."
"Oh Guy, I know. It won't take you a second. There's a stand
in the administration building."
"You're so finicky about food and you go and eat that stuff.
Can you imagine the crap in those mass-produced candy bars? Dead
roaches and mouse shit and somebody's nose-pickings."
"Guy, for heaven's sake," my mother laughed.
"Well he won't touch a piece of perfectly good meat and then
he'll eat that junk."
"It'll only take you a second." I pushed the dime across the
table.
"I know the trouble with you. You're too lazy to chew your
food. You wash everything down
with
milk." He glanced at the
