Haruf, Kent - Our Souls at Night by Haruf Kent

Author:Haruf, Kent [Haruf, Kent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: prose_contemporary
Publisher: Knopf
Published: 2015-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

20

The next day Louis took Jamie to the old Holt hardware store on Main Street and bought him a leather glove and one for himself and another for Addie and also three hard rubber balls and a small bat. At the counter he asked Jamie which of the caps on the display rack he wanted and the boy chose one in purple and black and the little stooped man at the register adjusted the back of the cap for him and the boy pulled it down and looked up at them with a serious look on his face.

Looks okay to me, Louis said.

That cap’ll keep you from getting burned up out here in this sun, the little man said. Rudy was his name, Louis knew him from years ago. It was a wonder he was still working, a wonder that he was still alive. The other manager, a tall man named Bob, had died years ago. And the woman who owned the store had gone back to Denver after her mother died.

They returned to Louis’s house and Louis showed him how to turn his glove in the right way to catch a ball and they played catch in the shade between Addie’s house and Ruth’s. The boy wasn’t any good at first but got a little better after a while and then he wanted to try hitting with the bat. He finally hit one and Louis praised him extravagantly and they hit some more and then played catch again and the boy was improving now.

Addie came out from the house and watched. Can you stop now? I’ve got lunch ready. What have you got there? A baseball glove?

And I got this new cap.

I see you em; margin-top: 3em; margin-bottom: 2em; text-align: H5 about his handhave. Did you thank Louis?

No.

You’d better, don’t you think?

Thank you, Louis.

You’re welcome.

We got a glove for you too, Jamie said.

Oh, I don’t know how.

You have to learn, Grandma. I did.

—

That night in bed after Jamie was asleep between them Louis said, This boy needs a dog.

What makes you say that?

He needs someone or something to play with besides his phone and an old man and an old woman doddering around.

Thank you very much, Addie said.

But I’m serious, he does need a dog. What if we drive over to Phillips tomorrow and look at the humane shelter.

I don’t want a puppy around here. I don’t have the energy for a puppy.

No, a full-grown dog. One that’s house-trained already. A nice small older dog.

I don’t know. I don’t know if I want the bother.

I’ll keep it at my house. Jamie can come over and they can play there.

Do you want a dog around all the time? You surprise me.

I don’t mind. It’s been too long since I’ve had a dog.

I guess it’s up to you. I wouldn’t have thought of it myself.

—

After breakfast they drove out north of Holt on the narrow blacktop state highway past the fields of irrigated corn and the dryland wheat and turned west

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