Spencerville

August.”
    “I’m really learning something. You planted all this?”
    “No, Charlie, it was planted about May. I got here in August. You don’t think corn would get this high in two months.”
    “I don’t have a clue. So this isn’t yours?”
    “The land is mine. It’s contracted. Rented.”
    “I got it. They pay you in corn or money?”
    “Money.” Keith made his way to the Indian burial mound, and they climbed atop it.
    Charlie looked out over the fields. “This is the heartland, Keith. This is what we defended for all those years.”
    “From sea to shining sea.”
    “You miss the job?”
    “No.”
    Charlie took a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket. “Can I smoke here?”
    “Why not?”
    He blew a stream of smoke into the air and pointed off in the distance. “What kind of corn is that?”
    “That’s soybean.”
    “Like in soy sauce?”
    “Yup. There’s a Japanese-owned processing plant not far from here.”
    “You mean to tell me there are Japanese
here?
”
    “Why not? They can’t ship a million acres of American farmland to Japan.”
    He thought a moment, then said, “That’s… scary.”
    “Don’t be xenophobic.”
    “Hey, comes with the job.” He smoked for a while, then said, “Keith, they want you back.”
    Keith already knew that. He said, “Forget it.”
    “They sent me to bring you back.”
    “They told me to leave. So you go back and tell them I’m gone.”
    “Don’t give me a hard time, Keith. I had a bumpy flight. They told me not to come back without you.”
    “Charlie, they can’t just say you’re out, then change their minds.”
    “They can say whatever they want. But they also want to extend an apology for any inconvenience this may have caused you. They acted hastily, without due consideration of the developing situation in the East. You remember where that is. Will you accept their apology?”
    “Of course. Good-bye. When’s your flight?”
    “They offer a civilian contract for five years. You’ll get your thirty in and full retirement pay.”
    “No.”
    “And a promotion. A military promotion. One-star general. How’s that sound to you, Colonel?”
    “Your timing’s bad.”
    “This is a White House job, Keith. Very high visibility. You could be the next Alexander Haig. I mean, he thought he was president, but this job has such potential that you could actually run for president like people wanted Haig to do. The country is ready for a general as president again. I just read a secret poll about that. Think about it.”
    “Okay. Let me think a second. No.”
    “Everybody wants to be president.”
    “I want to be a farmer.”
    “That’s the point. The public will love it. A tall, good-looking, honest man of the soil. You know the story of Cincinnatus?”
    “I told
you
the story.”
    “Right. So your country needs you again. Time to step up to the plate and stop shoveling shit.”
    Keith wasn’t sure about that mixed metaphor. He replied, “You know, if I were president, the first thing I’d do is fire you.”
    “That’s very pretty, Keith. Not very statesmanlike.”
    “Charlie, stop jerking me around. You wear thin.”
    “I’m not jerking you around. Forget president. After your White House job, you could come back here and run for Congress, then live in Washington. Best of both worlds. You could do something for your country
and
your community.” Adair ground out his cigarette. “Come on, let’s walk.”
    They walked between the rows of corn. Adair said, “Look, Keith, the president’s got it in his mind that he’d like you to be on his staff. You owe him the courtesy of a personal reply. You got to do face time with this. So, even if you don’t want the job, you have to tell him in person to fuck off.”
    “He told me to fuck off by letter.”
    “It wasn’t him.”
    “Whoever it was, it doesn’t matter. If someone screwed up, it’s not my problem. You know I’m right.”
    “It’s dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.”
    Keith stopped walking. “Is that a threat?”
    “No. Just good advice, my friend.”
    They resumed their walk. Charlie said, “Will you like it here this time next year?”
    “If I don’t, I’ll move on.”
    “Look, Keith, maybe you could rusticate out here and maybe be happy, and you could have stayed pissed off at those guys. But now that I brought you sincere apologies and an offer, you’re not going to be at peace with yourself. So I fucked up your day and your