the endless rain - 27. packy again

by nick nelson

part twenty-seven of twenty-eight

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the day was fading and a light rain began to fall as mr eggwhistle headed back to the city. he passed a couple of cornfields, then a wooded area, then a long stretch of nothing at all, and was just about to come to the main highway when he saw a solitary figure trudging along on the other side of the road., but headed in the same direction as himself. it was johnny. mr eggwhistle stopped. when johnny saw him, he walked across the road and got into the car. they continued down the road for a while without speaking. “so how have you been?” mr eggwhistle finally asked. “all right.” “you remember me, don’t you?” “sort of.” “back in indiana. i had a little tailor shop across from mr packer’s general store. you used to run errands for mr packer, and sometimes for me. you had one of the first bicycles in the state, and you were johnny the errand boy.” “i remember the bike. that was a good bike.” “i am sure it was. now, i understand you and mister packer have a little disagreement going on.” “a little disagreement! he owes me. i just want what’s rightfully mine.” “of course you do. i tell you what, why don’t we drive into town and i will see if i can find mr packer and see what i can do to straighten this situation out. it can’t hurt to try.” johnny shrugged. “i guess not. you can try.” * mr eggwhistle found packy in his usual spot in the back booth at ruby’s, doing his crossword puzzle. there was nobody else in the place, except florence, behind the counter, and al, in the kitchen. mr eggwhistle slipped into the booth across from packy. “remember me?” “can’t say that i do,” packy did not look up from the crossword puzzle. “where should i remember you from?” “well, that is neither here nor there. how about this fellow?” mr eggwhistle took a picture of johnny out of his wallet and put it on the counter. packy glanced at it. “no, i don’t recognize him either.” “he says he was talking to you just the other night.” “i can’t remember everybody that comes pestering me. that’s my problem, people always pestering me. how about you. people slays pestering you?” “not particularly. well, i tried, i guess i will be on my way.” “stick around, try the breakfast special. with the sausage. it’s pretty good.” * when mr eggwhistle got back to his car, the rain had stopped, but the street was still wet. johnny was gone. 28.the endless rain