Page 8 of Finding Basil
“Of course,” he said with a dry laugh.
“Listen, it’s an old house. The contract specifically listed as is. I’m sorry, though. I know this is all a lot.”
Buyer’s remorse was growing. “Listen, you can make up for it if you help with something else. I need someone to teach me how to…farm.”
“Oh, wow. Um…that isn’t as easily found. Let me ask around, and I’ll get back to you on that.”
“I’ll be waiting for your call.”
He spent the evening drinking and looking at videos on how to start a small farm. After the tenth one, he was pretty discouraged about it, knowing he would put in more time and energy than he’d planned.
Instead of watching the sun rise every morning, he’d be in the fields. Instead of taking a break from things, he’d be physically working harder than he ever had. Not that he was opposed to hard work, but the whole point of the small town was a slower pace and the time to enjoy life more.
Still, it would be a waste to let those fields go. It could be something that could pay for all the problems with the house.
He finished his third Scotch and lay on the ugly couch to sleep. So far, he hadn’t tried the bed upstairs, wondering if he shouldn’t replace that first.
It was just dawn when he was awoken to the pounding on the door. He sat up fast, which led to a nasty pounding of his head. “Fuck.”
After picking up his phone, Herb saw it was five thirty in the morning and wondered who had the death wish to wake someone that early in the day.
He swung the door open angrily, hoping to convey his annoyance at the early caller, but when he saw an old woman standing on the other side of the screen door, his anger calmed. At least for a second or two.
“Who the hell are you?” she demanded. “I know everyone in this town, and you ain’t one of ‘em. You squattin’?”
“Squatting? No, I’m not squatting. I bought this property and moved in yesterday.”
She was thin as a skeleton, but her darkly tanned skin looked as tough as shoe leather. Her beady green eyes glared as if she was waiting for him to say one lie she could pounceon and turn him over to the cops.
“Bought it from who?”
“I don’t remember the name. Cordelia Meadows was the broker.”
“Hmph. That one. Well, at least that good for nothing Denny smartened up and sold the place. That boy was more worthless than tits on a boar hog.”
She pushed her way inside the house, and Herb was too shocked to even consider stopping her. She looked around with her hands on her hips, her flannel shirt and worn jeans baggy on her thin frame. “He never did get rid o’ that horrid goddamn couch. I told Martha all her taste was in her mouth the second she found it at that new furniture store. No wonder the place folded in less than two years.”
“Miss…who are you?”
“Miss,” she said and then cackled. “I ain’t been a miss since nineteen sixty-seven. That was the year I got married. Fifteen and dumber than a box o’ rocks.”
She thrust her hand to him and said, “I’m Lila Dormer, your neighbor.”
Smiling finally, Herb shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Herb Buffet.”
“Herb Buffet? My word, your parents didn’t like you much, did they?” she asked, then cackled again.
“It’s a family name, Herb. Anyway, um, I was just going to make some coffee. Would you like some?”
“Nah, had mine already. I need to get to work. You ain’t gonna let those fields go to the trees, are ya? Damn shame. That damn grandson of Martha and Eddie, he didn’t know his ass from his elbow. Tried to make a go of it and gave up quick.”
“I…I’m thinking of trying my hand at growing some things. I’m not a farmer, or haven’t been one before, so I’m not sure where to begin.”
“Farming starts with good soil, which ya got, a strong back,” she said, then walked around him. He was glad he was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants, as her gaze made him feel naked. “Looks like ya got that too. After that, a brain in your head and someseed will get ya started, but I’m sure you may have figured out there is a lot more to it than that. You got the start, though, besides the seeds.”
“Could you, uh, maybe give me some…help?”
“I got my own place. I don’t have the time, but I know some folks who might be able to give you a few tips.”
