She was standing next to the bed folding a blanket, arms outstretched, its middle held between her chin and her chest. She said, “Grab the end.” I helped fold the blanket, which she threw across the foot of the bed before climbing back under the sheet. “Too hot.” She was wearing white pajamas with blue piping, her knee taped and wrapped. A radio next to the bed played at a murmur: a minor ayatollah was explaining to the world that God had not made America; he had made all the other countries but he had not made America.
“I came to see how you were getting along.”
“Did you.” She smiled at me. “Good then, they’re turning me loose.”
“Well, you said stop back.”
“That’s right, I did. And you did. Very nice to have a visitor. And I need a lift to my car, if you’re up for that.” I nodded.
“The eye’s better?”
“Yup. Can you see if you can get the Venetian blind to work?” I got up and sorted out the tangled runners.
“Are you rested?”
“Evidently, I am!”
I found Jocelyn comely but a bit unnerving; she seemed to be one jump ahead of me in conversation. “You can’t watch the news anymore unless you’re a fan of ethnic cleansing. I love the sports channel, but they just had someone named Stone Cold Steve Austin beating someone up. I’m a baseball fan. I love the radio. In fact, when I get to my car the first thing I’ll do is turn on that radio.”
“I love baseball too.” I hated baseball, but I wasn’t ready to close that door. I noticed that the blacks were leaving the sport. Only whitey could stand around all day like that. I don’t have any idea why I said I liked it: I don’t know dick about baseball.
“Was I in a fog when you were last here? Dr. Aldridge told me you were a doctor. I didn’t realize that.” She was gathering her belongings, tossing them into a day pack and a purse.
“I’m a general practitioner at a hospital south of here. I might have been more help where you crashed, but I was afraid to move you by myself.”
“There’s nothing left of the airplane. Nice airplane, too. Beautiful old Piper Pawnee. It’s no excuse, but flying right on the deck in this damn country to avoid chemical drift, well, you’re just going to hit stuff.”
“When you say ‘this country’—I thought you were from around here.”
“I’m based out of Snyder, Texas, or I was. No airplane. Did you hear what the Cubs did yesterday?”
“I didn’t, but why would you be way up here from Snyder, Texas?”
“Well, it’s a job where you have to travel according to the season if you want to make a living at it. Still pays peanuts. My first love was horses. When I was a girl, I went around with two canes pretending I had four legs so I could be more like my horse. Don’t let me forget the radio. A doctor. Has that been a nice life?”
“I had a kind of foster father who was a doctor. I might have been trying to please him. It was a decision I made when I was very immature, but its effects have been long-lasting.” We were really sailing along now! I would have done well to realize that unchecked impulses were not far behind me. Filling in the biographies, it was so good and there was definite excitement in the air. “I gather this is not the easiest country to be a…”
“Ag pilot. That’s what we call ourselves, ag pilots. Well, mostly I’ve sprayed in flatter country. I sprayed peas in Michigan, not too bad if you don’t hit a tree. Cotton in Texas, citrus in Florida and California, rice in Texas, sprayed cotton big time around Snyder. That’s where cotton went to get away from the boll weevil. Then the boll weevil followed it there. But yeah, it’s not the safest job in the world.”
“The risk of crashes…”
“The chemicals. You mix a lot of chemicals. The chemicals get in the cockpit, too. I mean, we’re not really part of the environmental movement, if you know what I mean. That bothers me. I’ve done other kinds of flying. I could go back to that if I got another airplane. You’re lucky. It’s all in your head…”
“I guess. What little there is.”
“The trouble is, most flying jobs are boring. For a long time I towed banners, and that was just awful. South Florida. Flying almost at stall speed pulling a big long one that says BEST BUY or FIND IT IN THE YELLOW PAGES or FLAT LINE SPORTS BAR, that sort of thing. Ten hours sitting an arm’s length from the exhaust pipes relieving yourself in adult diapers. And I’ve pulled some doozies. The worst one was HOT CHICKEN WINGS AT HOOTERS EVERY WEDNESDAY. We had to do it as a combination billboard and letter banner because they wanted to include a girl with large breasts on the billboard portion. When we stacked it on the ATV to launch it, the pile was so big I never believed we’d get the whole thing airborne. Seriously, my choice is to be down in the trees and power poles, jumping hedges, landing and taking off on dirt roads. You could say that’s where the romance is.” I didn’t know what she was supposed to be doing. Now she wanted to go get her car.
Everything about her had a dangerous iridescence, doubtless for me alone; for Jocelyn, a simple question, as for all women, could be sorcery. Thoughts went through my mind like “fumbling for the keys” and “lost highway.” I said, “I’ll wait for you in the lobby.”
“Take this.” She handed me the day pack. “I’ll wind her up here. I’ve already logged out with the staff, but I’ve got to get a move on. I’m meant to be at the Billings Airport by one.” I didn’t get the chance to ask her where she was flying. I supposed back to Texas. I almost got the feeling she was flying the coop, and I wished I’d had a chance to consult first with Dr. Aldridge, who had gazed upon her with inappropriately hungry eyes.
There were two decrepit old fellows waiting for their appointment; no nurse was at the desk and I sat down to wait, and listened. They were having some kind of a disagreement, in high-pitched, annoyed voices.
“I honestly did the best I could to make a happy home.”
“You did like hell. You boozed your way right into the spin dry, you did. Lost your family, you fuckin’ idiot.”
“Now, now, that’s just your slant.”