“What’re your plans for this weekend?”

“Huh?”

We were in Pete’s truck, halfway back home from a job that was too far away. Pete had been silent since he started driving, as was usual. I was looking out the window.

“What’re you doing this weekend?” he asked.

“Well,” I said, “I was gonna make these Adirondack chairs….”

“If you want, you can work for me on Sunday.”

“Well, i was gonna make-”

“My mother’s sister bought a new house.”

“Your aunt?”

“What else?” He glared at me.

“Wouldn’t she be a hundred or so?”

He glared at me again. “She’s my mother’s younger sister, numbnuts.”

“Odd name for a woman.”

He was silent again.

“Well?” I said after a couple of minutes.

“I’m not talking to you if you can’t be serious for a minute.”

I was surprised. Normally, Pete was the one who was never really serious. Or so I assumed. I didn’t think it was possible he was actually serious with all the stuff he regularly said.

“Ok. What do you want me to do on Sunday?”

“She bought some closet things-”

“Closet things?”

“The stupid shelf things that people get and put in their closets. Anyway, there are some things to install in her new house and a couple of little things to fix. Aren’t you interested?”

I said nothing.

“You’ll get paid. It’ll be a few hours on Sunday.”

“Sure, Pete.

“Good.”

He went back to driving in silence. I looked out the window and thought about Adirondack chairs. The guy who designed that chair made the original one from seven boards. I couldn’t figure out how he did it. I guess they were big boards. Or it was a lousy chair.

When the truck stopped, I turned to Pete and said, “Ok. When are you gonna get me on Sunday?”

He looked at me blankly. “I’m not going. I can’t stand being in the same room as her. What? Did you think I’d need you to come with me to screw some baskets up in a closet?”

I later discovered that Pete’s aunt was quite pleasant. No wonder he didn’t like her.