Me and Charley

27. The Farm Tour and a Path to Peace

We made short work of our breakfast and everyone but Dolores and Mrs. Duffy scattered to take care of various chores. Charley needed to get into his walking gear, so Donny, he and I went back to our room. I laid the braces out on the bed, then pulled Charley's socks onto his feet and legs.

Donny asked, "Can't you move your legs at all?"

Charley replied, "Well this one a little," as he drew his left thigh up as far as he could, maybe halfway, and let it flop sideways onto the bed. "Pull it back out for me, willya?" Charley said.

Donny paled, his eyes opened wide and he didn't move. I recalled my first reaction to the thought of touching Charley's legs.

Charley said, "You gonna stand there all day? Whatcha waiting for?"

Donny drew a deep breath and ever so gently pulled Charley's leg straight. He asked, "You mean you can't even wiggle your toes?"

"Nope," Charley said.

"Oh," said Donny. "That's hard."

"Hey," Charley said, "it ain't nothin' to me. I mean, what use is it, wigglin' your toes?"

Donny' toes wiggled on the floor as he said, "Just feels good, I guess. I dunno. Hey, can I help with this one?"

Charley said, "Whaddya think, Trey?"

"Sure, why not?" I said.

Charley pulled his thigh up with his hands and held it. "OK, Donny, slip the brace under there." He did and Charley let his leg back down.

Charley and I were finished with other brace. I resisted the urge to take over from Donny.

"Your leg's cold," Donny said.

"Yeah," said Charley, "like I toldja, they're always cold. Slip my foot into my shoe. Make sure the sock is perfectly smooth."

Donny said, "Those are strange shoes. And they're so beat up."

"Yeah," Charley said. "They're made to support my feet, and I wear 'em most all the time 'cept for church and stuff like that."

Donny said, "Yeah, I seen them nice black ones at church. Trey, if we're goin' in the barn you gotta wear work boots. We got a buncha used ones. Let's hope there's a pair in there that'll fit you."

I asked, "Is your mom runnin' a shoe store?"

"Nah," Donny replied. "She keeps all the outgrown ones in a box in the mud room and when we outgrow what we've got we hunt in there for a pair that fits."

"So," I said, "they're all hand-me-downs. They must be pretty worn by the time they get to you."

"Well broke in," Donny said. "That's how Mom puts it."

Donny fished around in a drawer and tossed me a pair of thick white cotton socks and took out another for himself. "May as well put 'em on now," he said. We did so while Charley got to his feet.

Atop the dresser was a baseball-type cap decorated with a cow in profile and "DUFFY FARMS" printed beneath the cow. Donny put it on and said, "We've got a stack of these. Now let's find you some work boots, town boy."

"Hey," I objected, "I don't live in town."

"May as well," Donny retorted. We passed through the kitchen to the door where Charley's father and the others had come in for breakfast. It smelled more strongly of barn.

Charley asked, "Is this the mud room?"

"Yeah," Donny replied.

"Not much mud here," Charley said.