Sugar and Wine

Chapter 2

"Evelyn will bring us some pie and coffee in a little while if you want to stay. Don't want to keep you from nothin'."

Glancing around the gloomy plywood walls of the diminutive room adjoining the kitchen, Justin utters, "Oh, I'd love to stay and have some pie and coffee if it's not too inconvenient. Mrs. Arnold's cooking is the best. Wish I could cook that well. I really don't want to be anymore trouble--."

"Don't bother me, none. You can stay here of a night if you want. You might not like staying up there in that old farmhouse on your own. It's kinda different when you're used to the city life. It can get kinda quiet here. It can get to be very deserted."

"Yeah, it's nice, though. Peaceful. Gives me time to think. Helps me relax."

"It can get lonely all the way out here too sometimes. I'm glad Evelyn's with me. After my sons moved to Charlotte to work in the banks well I thought this place might dry up, but we've been able to keep things a going. You grandparent's old place does well, too. Got a good crop, this year. You know if you ever get tired of playing around with numbers you might want to learn how to take care of the fields or something. Heck, you could probably do both around here. There's a few farmers still left in Union County that could probably use some book keeping or whatever. You could run the old farm and do some accountin' on the side or something like that."

"I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Arnold," Justin says shifting around trying to accommodate his now very full belly.

"Say, Mr. Arnold. You've always lived up here on this farm, haven't you?"

"Sure have. This place belonged to my Mom and Father and before that my Father's parents, and his Father's parents. When they started out we owned about forty acres or more which was a lot in those days. My Great Grandfather sold several acres off when times were tough."

"Yeah, I've heard that my Grandparent's did the same thing."

"They didn't do much back then 'cept stick close to the farm. We do the same here even today. Some folks go down to the coast to Myrtle Beach to see some of those country singers and such. The misses and I don't care for much stuff like that. I guess we're doing good to have a satellite dish, and all."

"Yeah, there's not much TV reception out here otherwise," Justin says looking at the aged player piano standing in the corner of the musty smelling room.

"My Grandma's old player piano is like that one you have there in the corner. It's still sitting in the parlor room back at the farmhouse."

"Does it work, Justin? Can you play it?"

"I don't think so, Mr. Arnold. You know I don't really know. I don't know much about music, especially not pianos. I can't play anything on a piano except 'Chopsticks' and I don't do that very well."

"You don't have to know much to play one of those player pianos. Just sit down and start banging on the keys. I think a player piano should play by itself if it still works. You might need a key or a crank or somethin' though to get it to play by itself."

"Yeah, I'll have to try that sometime. Look into it. A couple of years ago I tried looking to see if the instructions were still around in the house somewhere, but I didn't look very hard."

Mr. Arnold leans his head back around the corner straining to see inside the kitchen. "She outta be done cleanin' in a few minutes now. I can hear the dishwasher starting. She loves that thing. Best Christmas present I ever got her, or so she tells me. This year maybe I'll replace that old freezer out back on the porch. If the boys make it up from Charlotte at Thanksgiving we might go up to Virginia and do some huntin', and fill that old freezer full of venison. That makes the winters not seem so harsh. You ever do any huntin'?"