Tamarack River Ghost: A Novel

38. Surprise Present

224 Surprise Present 38 Fred and Oscar arrived at Christo’s about the same time on this warm late-May morning. They found their way to their reserved table that looked out on the Tamarack River, now back to its normal flow after the spring breakup and the rush of melt-water coming down from the snow pack in the north. So far, neither had said anything, not even so much as a “good morning” to the waitress. After sipping his coffee, Oscar finally broke the silence. “Little ornery this morning, I see.” “Who’s ornery?” “You are, Fred. You’re ornery this morning.” “What about yourself? I don’t hear much happiness coming out of you.” “It’s a nice day. Nice May day.” “Well, at least we got that going for us,” said Fred as he sipped coffee and looked off toward the river. “Always good to have nice weather in May. It lets farmers get their corn in the ground in a timely fashion.” “Timely fashion. Where in hell did you come onto those words? Those are pretty fancy words for an old farmer like yourself.” “Heard the county agent on the radio this morning. Ben Wesley said farmers were planting their corn in a timely fashion,” said Oscar. “Oh,” said Fred. “Yup, I always listen to the county agent’s radio program. You don’t have to pay one cent for it, and besides that there’s none of that goofy advertising that clutters up most newspapers, such as the Ames County Argus and the old Farm Country News.” 225 Surprise Present “I sure miss Farm Country News,” said Fred. “Just like my old dog, Rex, that newspaper had become a member of the family.” “Geez, Fred, no damn old newspaper can be the member of a family. The thing ain’t alive. Ain’t alive like a person, or a horse or a dog. The thing is just ground-up trees made into paper. That’s all it is. Just ground up wood.” “Trees were once alive,” muttered Fred. Oscar shook his head and held out his near-empty cup of coffee for the waitress to fill when she walked by. “Bought myself a present,” Oscar said after a long pause. “Ain’t your birthday. Ain’t Christmas either. Why’d you do that? “Just thought I would. Seemed like the right thing to do.” “You gonna tell me what it is? What present you bought?” “Nope, I ain’t.” “You’re not gonna tell me.” “Nope.” Oscar took a long sip of his coffee and smiled. “But if you stop by my place on your way home, I’ll show it to you. You’ll be the first person outside of myself to see what I bought. You got time to stop by on your way home?” “Might be able to work it into my schedule. Pretty busy these days. Got my garden to plant, got strawberries to hoe, gotta put away my icefishing gear. Got lots to do. Busy time. May’s a busy time.” “You think you’d be able to work a visit at my place into your schedule?” “Might be able to do that. Might be able to put off some of these jobs that are demanding my attention. Kinda curious, I must say. Kinda curious about what present you bought for yourself. Especially knowing that you squeeze every nickel before you spend it.” Fred grinned when he said it. A short time later, the two old men were standing in Oscar’s kitchen, where a little table had been pushed next to the wall. Oscar’s new present stood on the table. “So where’s that new present you bought for yourself—that big mystery present?” asked Fred. “You blind, Fred? There she is, sitting right in front of you.” “You mean that TV sittin’ on that little table? You broke up my morning’s busy schedule to look at a damn TV?” 226 Surprise Present “Fred, look a little closer, that ain’t no TV. Looks like a TV, but it’s a lot more than a TV. Does a lot more than a TV does.” “You didn’t go off and buy a computer, did you? You showin’ me a computer?” “Yup, that’s what I did. Bought myself a new computer. Fellow delivered it yesterday. Set it up for me and started me usin...