Nobody's Fool

into the room, the other generally gets up and leaves.”
    Sully tried to imagine this and couldn’t. The only two women he’dever had much to do with—Vera and Ruth—were both fighters. Their styles differed: Vera always jabbing, nicking you, two steps forward, one step back, relentless, tap-tap-tapping, right between the eyes; Ruth lunging at you, bullying, enjoying the clinches, not above throwing low blows. He guessed he preferred either to silence.
    â€œShe blames you for everything, you know?”
    Sully found this hard to believe. He’d always been under the impression that Charlotte liked him. “Charlotte does?”
    â€œNo, Mom.”
    â€œOh,” Sully said, relieved. He thrust his hands deeper into his coat pockets, one of which, he noticed, had a hole. Rooting around in the lining and feeling something foreign there, he extracted the rubber alligator he had bought from Mrs. Harold and then forgotten about. Peter studied the alligator without surprise or interest. Strangenesswise, the evening had already been too rich. Why shouldn’t his father have an alligator in his pocket?
    Sully sniffed the alligator, which reeked powerfully of the same foul stench that had been pursuing him all night. “I think this son of a bitch shit in my pocket,” he said.
    Peter wrinkled his nose and stepped back.
    Sully returned the alligator to his pocket. “I don’t hate your mother,” he said for the record.
    â€œThat’s good of you,” said Peter.
    They drove back to Vera’s house, parked at the curb right where Sully had fallen asleep. Neither man made a quick move to get out of the car. “You want to hear a good one,” Peter finally said. Sully wasn’t sure, but he said yes.
    â€œI had fun tonight,” Peter told him, adding, “Poor Mom. It’s her worst fear. That your life has been fun.”
    â€œTell her not to worry.”
    The garage door opened then and Ralph emerged slowly, peering into the street at the strange car. Peter rolled down the window and called to him quietly, “It’s just me, Pop.”
    â€œThat your dad with you?” Ralph wondered.
    Sully got out, waved.
    Ralph sauntered down the drive to where they were parked. “What’s that?” he wanted to know, pointing at the snowblower in back of the ElCamino. Having successfully swiped it back from Carl Roebuck, Sully had all but forgotten the snowblower. Which fit in with one of his theories about life, that you missed what you didn’t have far more than you appreciated what you did have. It was for this reason he’d always felt that owning things was overrated. All you were doing was alleviating the disappointment of not owning them.
    â€œIt’s the snowblower I promised you,” Sully said. “Come have a look.”
    Ralph approached dubiously. “It’s a beauty,” he said when he’d had a chance to examine it under the street lamp. “I can’t afford it, though, Sully.”
    â€œSure, you can,” Sully told him. “I got it for nothing.”
    â€œIt’s true,” Peter said, surprising Sully, who hadn’t expected such easy complicity. He’d half expected Vera’s stern moral training to reassert itself, for Peter to confess to Ralph that the snowblower was stolen. Instead, there he was, grinning mischievously beneath the halo of lamplight.
    â€œI might want to borrow it sometimes,” Sully warned. “Like every time it snows real hard.”
    â€œSure,” Ralph said.
    Together the three men unloaded the snowblower, put it safely into Ralph’s garage, where, unless Carl Roebuck conducted a house-to-house search, it would be safe for a while. The three men stood in the dark garage, staring at the stolen snowblower.
    â€œAwful good of you, Sully,” Ralph said. “I’m sure Vera’d want me to thank you for her too.”
    â€œIf you’re sure.” Sully grinned. “Tell her she’s welcome.”
    â€œWhere is she?” Peter said, his voice confidential, as if a normal tone of voice might possess the power to conjure her into their midst.
    â€œAsleep, finally,” Ralph said, as if he shared his stepson’s fear.
    â€œSome day, huh?” Sully said.
    They all agreed it had been a humdinger.
    â€œCharlotte didn’t call, did she?” Peter said.
    Ralph shook his head. “I still can’t believe she