"Dad, you have no idea how much you're embarrassin' me, embarrassin' your family."
"I think'a do, Sandra Jean. But it don't matter; it's none o'your business."
"Stacey and Erin're so ashamed you're living with their classmate they haven't been out with their friends since the 4th of July."
"They oughta spend a little more time at home. 'Specially since they're goin' off to college soon."
"Dammit, Dad, can ya only think 'bout yourself?"
"No, I can think about lotsa things. I think about you all plenty. I think about Frankie in Iraq."
"And what would he say about this?"
"Got an e-mail this mornin'. Said: 'Way to go, Grandpa. My whole platoon things you're th' bomb, 'cause you're still gettin' it done.'"
There was an icy pause. "You could have remarried," she said at last.
"To who? Nobody been intrested till now."
A loud gasp came over the line, followed by exasperation. "Surely you're not going to marry that poor kid?"
"She's not a kid, she's eighteen."
"You know what I mean. She could get. . .she could get. . ."
"No, she couldn't. She's on th' Pill."
"Dad," she wailed. "That's far more than I wanna know."
"Well, Sandra Jean, I'm sorry, but you asked."
Another icy pause. "Dad, you could get your heart broken so bad. What if she walks out?"
"Then I'm alone agin. Been there a lot, not afraid of it. I know she won't stay long. She jest needs time to get her act together. Not gettin' any dumb ideas 'bout marryin' her, or happily ever after, or any shit like that. I'm jest takin' it one day at a time."
"Dad, don't you care what people think? What people are saying at the Legion?"
"I don't take her to the Legion."
"They are talkin' about it."
"So what? I don't care. My friends're amazed, and Rosie Brown was so jealous last Friday night you coulda read a book from the glow."
"Rosie Brown would make you a good companion."
"She's a frigid bitch, Sandy, always has been. No fuckin' way."
"Language, Dad. Holy cow."
"Don't ya think I don't know those words."
"I know full well you do, anda don't want to hear it from you."
He sighed heavily. "Look, I'm fine, Kammie's fine, and it's a beautiful day. Chill."
"What if her parents find out?"
"Sandy, how dumb are you? Don't you know your girls' friends? Kammie's mom OD'd the day after Christmas last year, and if her dad showed up, I'd shoot the bastard for walkin' out on her when she was three. She was livin' in a trailer park next to Meth cookers by herself, sleepin' with a baseball bat, scared to death. She's better off with me."
"And you're a lot better off with her, I'm sure," she said with a sarcastic tone in her voice.
"Duh. Twenty five years by myself is a bit much. Got some catchin' up to do, now my Jackson's got some action."
"Shit, Dad, you're so gross."
"Look, Sandy, just chill. I know: by the time she's old enough to appreciate me, I'll be dead. Don't matter. This'll be over someday and you'll be respectable again. Folks that don't talk to you now aren't yer friends. I gotta run."
"All right, Dad, but this isn't the end of it."
"I hope not, Sandra Jean, I hope not. Bye."
"Bye."
Keith Watson flipped his cell phone shut and settled down to watch the hummingbirds at his deck feeder. They were circling in the bright morning light, one valiantly trying to protect his ground against five others trying to sneak a nip of nectar. He was a weathered man with chiseled features of 57, hobbled by a wound received in the jungles of Vietnam, and living in a house on the shore of the Lake of the Ozarks. His long dark hair was pulled back into a pony tail, and his wrinkled face was clean shaven. A clean white t-shirt and jeans awkwardly draped his body, his almost useless feet in white socks. A walker sat next to his rocking chair to help him get around the house, but he sat watching _Mike and Mike in the Morning_ totally at peace with the universe.
A new cell phone tower stood on his lot, so between that rental income and his pension, he was comfortable again. He could afford Kammie at this time of his life, and she needed respite from a life of troubles, as far as he could tell.
The front door banged open and shut. The staccato burst of keys hitting the counter and light steps flitting down the hallway warned him he was not alone. Kammie Smith came into the kitchen part of the great room of the A frame house, her arms full of fresh produce. She was short and well proportioned: her long blond hair was gathered on top of her head, and she wore a blue halter top, white short shorts and sandals.
"Hi, studpuppy. How's it hangin'?" she intoned over the counter.
"Good, Sweetness" he replied over his shoulder. "How's the Farmer's market."
"Wonderful. I got some fresh sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans and taters."
"Great. Harry Kerns gave me some deer meat at the Legion last night, so we'll eat good tonight."
"You bet." She bounced around and sat on his lap, giving him a big, open mouthed kiss that lasted several seconds. "Ya miss me?"
He hugged her and smiled. "Yup."
"I think you're glad to see me. Somethin's stirrin' down there." She wiggled in encouragement and giggled at the response.
"Well, ya never leave me alone, so it's no wonder I can't get it down."