Page 35 of Our Own Light
“Smells . . . uhm . . . interesting.”
Floyd hid a burgeoning smile behind his tumbler. “Drink up, city boy.”
“Wow, one sip and you’re already insulting me.”
“‘City boy’ is an insult?”
“If ‘Jesus Christ’ is a swear word, then ‘city boy’ has to be an insult.”
Floyd snorted. “Whatever you say,” he paused and raised his tumbler back up to his lips before slyly tacking on the supposed insult. “City boy.”
With a shake of his head, Ollie clucked his tongue in mock disapproval.
“Here I thought you were a perfect gentleman,” he said before swiftly throwing back a huge swig of his moonshine, which immediately had him making one of the most bizarre faces Floyd had ever seen. After Oliver swallowed, he started sputtering and coughing. “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!”
“All three, huh?”
“Yes, all three.” Ollie smacked his lips. “Why’d you let me have half of it all at once like that? It feels like my stomach is on fire.”
Floyd started cackling. “Sorry.”
“Phew,” Ollie shook his head kind of violently. “I need some time to recover now.”
If Ollie wanted time to recover, Floyd had no problem sitting back and relaxing. Ollie could relax, too. Or talk. Or continue to make funny comments about the moonshine. Whatever he wanted. Floyd was just happy that they were spending time together.
Ollie cleared his throat in a very showy manner. Floyd cocked an eyebrow in response. Knowing Ollie, he was probably fixing to say something funny.
But then Floyd watched Ollie sit forward to rest his forearms on his knees, and his expression turned serious. Floyd crossed one leg over the other, waiting to hear what he had to say.
“Floyd, I want to talk to you about something,” Oliver said.
“What is it?”
“Nothing bad. Or nothing bad about you. Just...” Ollie paused for a while, which wasn’t really like him. It had Floyd a little worried. “I really appreciate that you told me so much about your life in McDowell. I’ve talked about New York a little, but I’ve never really talked about anything... real. Like my family.”
“Doesn’t bother me.”
“No, I know I shouldn’t feel obligated to tell you, but I, well, I want us to be honest with each other.” Ollie set his tumbler down on the porch floor and married his hands together. “I left home because I wasn’t interested in a future that was planned for me. I mean, maybe there were other reasons, too, but they’d probably seem silly to you. Anyway, I was supposed to take over my family’s railroad someday. Or network of railroads. Our family owns a few small lines out in Ohio. It was the plan that I’d move back there once I finished college. But, of course, I never completed my coursework. I couldn’t make myself want it. So, yes, before you ask, I have a lot of money. I’d have had even more if I had stayed in New York or had moved back to Cleveland—you know, from taking over the railroad lines. Still, I have plenty, so if you ever need my help—”
“Don’t,” Floyd said. “I won’t ever be borrowing from you, Ollie.”
Floyd tried to smile to let Ollie know he wasn’t upset by the suggestion but had a bit of trouble looking happy. It was strange to learn that Ollie had come from that kind of money. Jealousy started burning inside him, making Floyd feel like maybe his stomach juices had spilled out somehow, and so he tried to force the feeling away with some more moonshine, which thankfully burned even stronger, vanishing that silly envy in seconds.
Ollie said, “I know you probably think that I’m... that I’ve lost my head coming out here. But, Floyd, it is so nice to be somewhere new, to have moved to a place where no one knows who I am or who my family is, or who I was supposed to be.” Hearing those words—that sentiment—from Ollie, Floyd was finding it a bit hard to breathe. “Well, you know what that’s like, right?”
Floyd managed a nod. He knew it well.
Oliver picked up his tumbler and smelled the moonshine again.
“I’ll try a smaller sip this time,” Ollie said before bringing it to his lips and taking a swig. “Jeez, that’s strong. At least the cocktails I had in New York were watered down. Probably to cheat me out of money, but, Jesus, I kind of appreciate that now.”
Thankfully, Ollie’s humor had lifted the weight that had come to settle on Floyd’s chest earlier. He could breathe easy again.
“Well, me and Effie would never cheat you, Ollie. If you ask for moonshine, we’ll serve you moonshine. Ain’t my fault you can’t pace yourself.”
“It’s one punch after another with you tonight, isn’t it?” Ollie teased. “God, it’s like you’re Jack Dempsey and I’m Bill Brennan.”
“Am I supposed to know them people?”