Like Jake and Me (2 page)

“Here, I’ll help you stack the wood!” said Alex.

“Watch it!” Jake came down on one knee and set the wood by the side of the woodstove. Then he said kindly, “You’ve really got to watch it, Alex. I can’t see where I’m going with so big a load.”

Alex wiggled his tooth with his tongue. “I just wanted to help you,” he said. He went to Jake and put his hand on Jake’s shoulder. Then he leaned around and looked under his Stetson hat. There was bark in
Jake’s beard. “You look like a cowboy in the movies.”

“I have news for you,” said Jake. “I
am
a cowboy. A real one.” He unsnapped his jacket. On his belt buckle was a silver longhorn steer. “Or was one.” He looked over at Alex.

Alex shoved his tooth forward with his tongue.

“Why don’t you just pull out that tooth?” Jake asked him.

“Too chicken,” said Alex. He closed his mouth.

“Well, everybody’s chicken of something,” said Jake. He
opened his jacket pocket and took out a wooden match. He chewed on the end of it and looked out the windows behind the stove. He could see Virginia, still standing beneath the tree. Her hands were folded under her belly.

Jake balled up newspaper and broke some sticks. He had giant hands. He filled the woodstove with the wadded paper and the sticks and pushed in a couple of logs.

“Can I light the fire?” Alex asked.

“Maybe another time,” said Jake. He struck the match on his rodeo belt buckle. He lit the paper and threw the match into the fire.

Just then Alex noticed that there was a wolf spider on the back of Jake’s neck. There were fuzzy babies holding on to her body. “Did you know wolf spiders carry their babies around?” said Alex.

“Says who?” asked Jake.

“My dad,” said Alex. He moved his tooth out as far as it would go. “He’s an entomologist, remember?”

“I remember,” said Jake.

“Dad says they only bite you if you bother them, or if you’re squashing them,” said Alex. “But still, I never mess with wolf spiders.” He pulled his tooth back in with his tongue.

“Is that what he says, huh,” said Jake. He jammed another log into the stove, then looked out again at Virginia. She was gazing at the landscape. The hills were fading. The farms were fading. The cypress trees were turning black.

“I think she’s pretty,” said Alex, looking at the spider.

“I do, too,” said Jake, looking at Virginia.

“It’s a nice design on her back,” said Alex, examining the spider.

“Yep!” said Jake. He admired the reindeer coat, which he’d loaned to Virginia.

“Her belly sure is big!” said Alex.

“It has to be big, to carry the babies,” said Jake.

“She’s got an awful lot of babies there,” said Alex.

Jake laughed. Virginia was shaped something like a pear.

“And boy! Are her legs woolly!” said Alex.

Jake looked at Virginia’s leg warmers. “Itchy” said Jake. He rubbed his neck. The spider crawled over his collar.

“She’s in your coat!” said Alex. He backed away a step.

“We can share it,” said Jake. He liked to see Virginia bundled up. “It’s big enough for both of us. She’s got to stay warm.” Jake stood up.

“You sure are brave,” said Alex. “I like wolf spiders, but I wouldn’t have let that one into my coat. That’s the biggest, hairiest wolf spider I’ve ever seen.”

Jake froze. “Wolf spider! Where?”

“In your coat getting warm,” said Alex.

Jake stared at Alex. “What wolf spider?”

“The one we were talking about, with the babies!” said Alex. “And the furry legs.”

“Wolf spider!” Jake moaned. “I thought we were talking
about Virginia!” He was holding his shoulders up around his ears.

“You never told me you were scared of spiders,” said Alex.

“You never asked me,” said Jake in a high voice. “Help!”

“How?” asked Alex.

“Get my jacket off!”

Alex took hold of Jake’s jacket sleeve as Jake eased his arm out. Cautiously, Alex took the jacket from Jake’s shoulders. Alex looked in the coat.

“No spider, Jake,” said Alex. “I think she went into your shirt.”

“My shirt?” asked Jake. “You think?”

“Maybe,” said Alex.

Jake gasped. “Inside? I hope not!”

“Feel anything furry crawling on you?” asked Alex.

“Anything
furry
crawling on me?” Jake shuddered. “No!”

“Try to get your shirt off without squashing her,” said Alex. “Remember, we don’t want to hurt her. She’s a mama.”

“With babies,” added Jake.
“Eek!”

“And,” said Alex, “she’ll bite!”

“Bite? Yes, I know!” said Jake. “Come out on the porch and help me! I don’t want her to get loose in the house!”

Jake walked stiffly to the door. Alex opened it. They walked out onto the porch. The sky was thick gray and salmon colored, with blue windows through the clouds.

“Feel anything?” asked Alex.

“Something …, ” said Jake. He unsnapped the snaps on his sleeves, then the ones down the front. He opened his shirt. On his chest was a tattoo of an eagle that was either taking off or landing. He let the shirt drop to the floor.

“No spider, back or front,” reported Alex.

They shook out the shirt.

“Maybe your jeans,” said Alex.

“Maybe she got into your jeans!”

“Not my
jeans!”
said Jake. He quickly undid his rodeo belt.

“Your boots!” said Alex. “First you have to take off your boots!”

“Right!” said Jake. He sat down on the boards. Each boot had a yellow rose and the name
Jake
stitched on the side. “Could you help?” he asked.

“Okay,” said Alex. He grappled with one boot and got it off. He checked it. He pulled off and checked the sock. No spider. He tugged on the other boot.

“You’ve got to pull harder,” said Jake, as Alex pulled and struggled. “Harder!”

The boot came off and smacked Alex in the mouth. “Ouch!” Alex put his tongue in the gap. “Knocked my tooth out!” He looked in the boot. “It’s in the boot!”

“Yikes!” said Jake.

“Not the spider,” said Alex. “My tooth.” He rolled it out of the boot and into his hand to examine it.

“Dang,” said Jake. “Then hurry up.” Alex dropped the tooth back into the boot. Jake climbed out of his jeans and looked down each leg. He hopped on one foot to get the other sock off.

“She won’t be in your sock,” said Alex. “But maybe—”

“Don’t tell me,” said Jake. “Not my shorts!”

Alex stared at Jake’s shorts. There were pictures of mallard ducks on them. “Your shorts,” said Alex.

“I’m afraid to look,” said Jake. He thought he felt something creeping just below his belly button.

“Someone’s coming!” said Alex. “Quick! Give me your hat! I’ll hold it up and you can stand behind it.”

“Help!” said Jake in a small voice. He gave Alex the hat and quickly stepped out of his shorts. He brushed himself off in the front.

“Okay in the back,” said Alex, peering over the brim of the hat.

Jake turned his shorts inside out, then right side in again. No spider. When he bent over to put them on, he backed into his hat, and the raven feather poked him. Jake howled and jumped up and spun around in midair.