Henry was hot and tired. He had been working in his yard since early morning and felt sweaty and grimy by four o’clock. “A cold beer would sure taste good right now,” he thought. But when he opened the refrigerator, he realized that he had finished off his last six pack with his neighbor the night before. Reluctantly, he fired up the old green VW bus and headed down to a nearby convenience store. Just as he rounded the corner, he spotted an elderly man limping barefoot down the side of the road. “Need a ride?” he yelled as he pulled up beside him.
“I sure do appreciate it,” mumbled the old gentleman.
“Where are your shoes? The pavement is so hot it will take the hide right off the bottoms of your feet!” commented Henry.
“Shoes? Thought I forgot something,” replied the man.
“Oboy!” thought Henry.
They rode in silence for a few minutes before the man spoke up. “Where are we going?” he asked.
“I am on my way to the beer store. Where are you going?” questioned Henry.
“Sounds good to me!” The man smiled.
Turned out the elderly man was named Walter “something” (he couldn’t recall the rest of it), but Henry figured that was good enough. When they got to the store, Henry asked if he needed something, but Walter reassured him that he was fine. When Henry got back with the beer, Walter asked him if they were going fishing. “Guess we could!” Henry said. So they went back to the house and got some poles and fish bait. “Where shall we go?” questioned Henry. When Walter just shrugged, Henry drove to a nearby dock.
They threw the lines out and sat down. Henry took a beer out of the ice chest, then offered one to Walter. “What’s this?” Walter inquired.
“You never drank Old Milwaukee?” asked Henry.
“Sounds good!” grinned Walter, as he popped it open. A few minutes later, Henry got a bite. He pulled in a nice sized fish and put it in the fish box.
Walter wanted another beer, so they each got one and sat back down. Walter went to telling fish stories, each one better than the last. Finally, Henry burst out laughing when he told the tale of the fish who swam to shore, walked over to a tree, climbed it, then flew away.
When they had caught a mess, Henry suggested they head back to his house and cook them up. “Always taste better when they’re fresh,” he said.
“Let’s go!” added Walter.
When they got back to the house, Elmer, a neighbor, walked up. “Looks like you got a fish fry coming up. Need help cleaning them?” he said with a sly grin.
“Got any beer?” asked Walter. So the three went around back to the fish sink and went to work. Pretty soon they had a huge pile of filets and another pile of empty beer cans.
Henry got out the iron frying pan and some cooking oil.
“Got any grits to go with it?” Elmer wanted to know.
They searched the kitchen cabinets, but didn’t find any grits. “I got some over at my place. I’ll run go get them,” he suggested.
Walter sat in a rocking chair, smiling and drinking beer. “Know how to make hush puppies?” he asked.
“Guess I could use a little practice!!” Henry admitted. So he got out the cornmeal.
About that time, Elmer got back with the grits and his nephew, Sam. “He ain’t had supper yet, so I thought I’d bring him along,” he explained. “He also had a case of beer he needed help drinking,” he went on.
“Sounds good to me!” Walter exclaimed. Pretty soon, they all sat down to their meal. “Do I live here?” asked Walter.
“Uh oh!” said Henry.
“Where do you live?” asked Elmer.
“Not too sure,” explained Walter.
“I seen him a few roads down, sitting on a porch,” Sam announced.
“Who’s porch?” inquired Walter. “Got any ice cream?” he added.
So Henry got them all a bowl of ice cream. Then, everybody got sleepy. Pretty soon, Henry dozed off on the couch while watching the evening news, then Walter fell asleep in the rocking chair. Elmer was about to nod off, when Sam shook him awake and told him it was time to go. So those two took off, leaving the rest to their dreams.
When morning rolled around, Henry found Walter in the kitchen, looking for a beer. “Hold up! It is eight thirty in the morning and too early to drink beer!” scolded Henry.
“Got any hot chocolate?” asked Walter. So Henry fixed them both a hot chocolate with marshmallows melting on top. Then, Henry decided to fetch some eggs from the hen house and make them both a proper breakfast. After that, they watched an old western on television. “I sure do miss listening to Gene Autry.” Walter exclaimed.
Henry got up and found his Gene Autry record and put it on the record player. Walter had begun to sing along with the record, when Sam came knocking on the door.
“Everybody’s out looking for Walter!” he exclaimed.
“I’m right here,” said Walter.
A little while later, Walter’s daughter and grandson came to get him. “Grandpa, we were worried!” cried his young grandson.
“You are supposed to stay home!” admonished his daughter.
“Do you like Gene Autry?” asked Walter. They finally got him out to the car, with Henry right behind them. Walter stuck his hand out the back window and waved goodbye.
“You’ve got to stay home from now on! I’m getting tired of looking all over town for you” chided his daughter angrily.
“Doggone it!” he sighed, “I was starting to like these afternoon strolls!”
