Nobody's Fool

remember?”
    Rub’s anger was instantly replaced by fear, and he slowed down. “It was both of us broke those blocks, not just me.”
    â€œI know that, Rub,” Sully said, grinning.
    â€œYou were the one hit that pothole, not me.”
    â€œTrue.”
    â€œI never even loaded those blocks.”
    â€œYou’re getting all worked up,” Sully pointed out. In fact, fear had caused Rub’s face to go bright red. “Carl’s not such a bad guy, is all I’m saying. Even if he knew you broke all those blocks, I bet he’d forgive you.”
    â€œShhhh,” Rub said. “There he is.”
    Carl Roebuck had come out on the front porch and was watching the two of them approach him. Just as they arrived, Peter returned in the El Camino. When he got out, he refused to meet Sully’s eye, which meant he’d gotten a clearer account of what had transpired from Will. But he fell into step behind Rub as they entered through the gate and proceeded up the walkway together, Carl Roebuck shaking his head at them the whole way. “Sullivan Enterprises,” Carl snorted. “Moe, Larry and Curly.” He held the screen door open. “I don’t suppose any of you has ever laid a hardwood floor?”
    â€œI was once laid
on
a hardwood floor,” Sully said.
    â€œHow was it?” Carl wondered.
    â€œI don’t remember.”
    â€œIt smells like about ten generations of dead Sullivans in here,” Carl observed when they went inside.
    â€œI don’t smell anything,” Rub said, his brow knit with concentration. Everyone looked at him and grinned. “Well, I don’t,” Rub insisted angrily.
    Carl squatted and ran his thumb along the floor, removing its thick skin of dust. Beneath, the wood still had some of its sheen.
    â€œHow many square feet would you say?”
    â€œUp and down?”
    Carl nodded. “We’re going to lose one room upstairs to water damage. I don’t suppose you knew there’s a hole in the roof?”
    Sully said he didn’t.
    â€œHow about the furniture?”
    â€œWhat furniture?” Sully said.
    â€œThere’s a roomful of furniture, Schmucko,” Carl Roebuck said. “There’s a sofa that’s in better condition than the piece of shit in your own living room. There’s a bed and a dresser. All kinds of shit. You can hardly get the bedroom door open.”
    â€œGood,” Sully said. He had, in fact, some vague recollection of all this. When his father died, somebody had told him he should have an auction, but he’d declined, at least for the present, and hired a couple boys to shove all the furniture into one of the upstairs bedrooms, telling himself that he’d deal with it all later, which he knew he wouldn’t. And hadn’t.
    Carl Roebuck shook his head. “You could have saved this house,” he said. “You could have rented it. You could have sold it and put the money in your pocket and let someone else take care of it.”
    â€œI didn’t want the money.”
    Carl turned to Peter. “He didn’t want the money.”
    Peter shrugged. It was clear that he would have liked to disavow any relationship.
    â€œYou know what, Rub?” Carl said.
    Rub started. He was seldom acknowledged in Carl Roebuck’s presence. “What,” Rub said.
    â€œYou aren’t the dumbest man in Bath. Don’t let anybody tell you you are.”
    â€œOkay,” Rub said.
    â€œSo what are you saying?” Sully said. “Do you want these floors or not?”
    â€œThat depends upon what extortionary amount you have in mind to charge me.”
    â€œI tell you what,” Sully said. “You can have the wood for free. Just pay us for the labor.”
    â€œBy the hour, I suppose.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    Carl
snorted
. “If I pay the three of you by the hour, the wood’s not free. You’ll still be working on it in May.”
    â€œYou want me to give you an estimate on a job I haven’t done before, right?” Sully said. “That strikes you as fair?”
    To everyone’s surprise, Peter, who had been examining the baseboards along one wall, spoke up. “A thousand dollars,” he said.
    All three men looked at him.
    â€œIt’ll take three men about a week,” he said. “A day or two to tear up the floors here. We’ll lose about every fourth board even if we’re