thought the wood would go to sealing up the big glass door, but that never happened. The man took a piece of plywood and a few scraps of 2x4 around to the front before heading over to the house next door. This put Jimmy into a panic. The house, where the boys had set up their silent vigil inside no longer felt safe at all.
What if he is checking all of the houses? Was that some kind of battle belt he was wearing? If he goes in a circle, are we going to be next? Or, will we be last in line?
It was quite the relief to see the man reappear carrying a large pane of glass. Jimmy calmed back down, again confident that their hide-a-way was not going to be invaded. The tree swaying to and fro in the steady breeze kept Jimmy from noticing the man up on the roof earlier than he did. Only when the man walked up to the peak, and from behind the tree in Jimmy’s sightline, did he finally see him. The man turned slowly, stopping when he seemed to be staring right at the second story window that Jimmy sat behind. Sitting on the chair’s back put Jimmy eye level with the man and, he thought, in plain view. But the man turned away before Jimmy yelled out to warn his brother to run. The blue sunglasses the man wore must have hid what his eyes were truly focusing on. Jimmy slid down to sit on the chair correctly, his backside approving of the move, and settled in to watch the man build a glass cabinet on the roof that had a water barrel inside of it. The man worked hard and fast, leaving the roof after filling the barrel with buckets of water.
It was around lunch time, and Jimmy was thinking of going down to the basement to see if George and Chase were awake yet. Despite the hunger pangs, he did not leave his post. After hearing a loud splashing sound, Jimmy stood up very slowly. Much to his chagrin, Jimmy was staring at the man again, who was now naked and carrying buckets of water along the side of his house. Jimmy was in complete disbelief as he watched the man fill the buckets from a rain barrel, pausing every now and then to tilt his head up towards the sun.
The man looked absolutely crazed. Who else but a fool smiles at the sun while walking around naked? This guy had to be off his rocker.
Chase was on watch around the time the man was working on something in the corner of his yard, which was blocked from view by the leaning, moss-covered fence. Chase said that after the man worked a while in the corner, he dug a hole in the yard of the burnt house, threw some small bags into it and covered the cavity back over with some clumps of grass. Around this same time, George and Jimmy were in the basement, discussing the man’s sanity while fretting over their own food situation.
The trio only had one can of stewed tomato and one can of green beans left between them. Both cans were well past their freshness dates and looked more than questionable. In fact, the contents of the smaller can was only discerned by the ‘G.B.’ written on it in faded indelible marker. Once opened, the tomato’s seemed fine, and even though the green beans had a strong metallic tinge to them, they had none of the tell-tale odors of rot.
George ate half of each can and sent Jimmy upstairs to share the remainder with Chase. Jimmy ate one of the last four remaining tomatoes and one large bite of green beans on the way up to see his brother. Chase was given the last of the food as ‘his share’. While Chase wrinkled his nose and tried to eat, Jimmy watched as the man came out and threw a baggie into the hole left by the burnt house.
Jimmy and Chase sat together for several hours without seeing the man again, and without discussing the fact that they were out of food. As the sun began to set, George came up demanding to speak alone with Jimmy. Chase was left to continue the watch without George even acknowledging the amount of time that the younger brother had already spent in the sparse room. Jimmy and George sat in the dim basement for a couple of