Games Of Fools

ke lukewarm water, making you wonder if the sun had an off day. The sky was bleached, stretched pale with cotton clouds that didn't quite know whethe

color of sun-worn timber and dust, standing silent and loyal beside a large maize field. His shirt was linen, faded green with a tear on the sleeve, the buttons mismatched from years of repairs. H

surface bore marks of both function and affection: knife scars, water rings, and sun-bleached patches. On it sat a jug of freshly processed guava juice,

gravelly and warm, "when are

s skin was sun-baked, etched with the kind of wrinkles that only laughter, wisdom, and years on a tractor could carve.

left in the city for me. I couldn't even come

, matter-of-fact. "That'

usly,

st giving you an answer." Mr. Kirby

ed back, eyes drifting to the sky. "Anyway,

I think if you stopped being a cruddy drunk, you might actu

ll over him, like wate

know what you're thinking. But alcohol won't take you anywhere, son. You've

oked at him. "S

ur childhood friend's dad when he got drunk? Fell into a ditch last Thursday. Neighbor fou

he wind lifted Jake'

ivational book I know. Nobody-not books, audios, videos, whatever-really motivates you much. Life and you, yourself, does. One day,

He stared at the horizon, where the clouds had begun to part slightly, re

"I'm off. Look after the farm till

stency, Mr. Kirby still trusted him with the business. Jake h

-

ing lazy cows, Jake, with his buddy Devin-a fellow farmworker and

smelled of sweat, sawdust, and spilled beer. A ceiling fan clunked overhead like it was counting its last days.

t corner, right before a wide ceiling-to-floor glass wall tha

ith a moustache still nego

d, grinning. "The

d, tugging off his jacket and han

Luka winked an

ked than usual," Devin s

eople like moths to a flame. Pherr

about all that and focus on drinki

ty mug. "Now that's

rge mugs, foam spilling l

n they talked. And when Jake

, nothing comes. Then you drink so you stop feeling like a failure,

ith that damn restaurant I barely see her. We liv

ose little lemon p

y. "But she never has time to s

ks. More

e was too far gone to ask names. Devin waved them in, and they joined the

ner, a thick-browed man n

arty's over. I ain't dragging

ckup truck like groceries and driven

-

ripe with liquor and regrets. His thoughts floated somewher

re what he w

hing had

on

-

xt Mor

ins of Jake's room, slicing across his face like a blade of pure regret. His head pou

found himself staring at a half-empty

," he mu

ame at th

voice was firm. "Yo

" Jake c

in, arms crossed. He took one look at the bot

. I could lecture. But I think you

temples. "Yeah

d. "Your mother used to say that a man isn't define

dn't an

tinued. "You can keep doing this to yo

The words stung, but

he said

im on the shoulder, and le

iling, feeling the weight of his

g had to

maybe, today was