"Well I'm glad ta see you decided to come back home." Jesse sang as Luke came into the kitchen, handing him the sack of flour he had picked up. "Did ya get yer affairs in order?"
Luke looked at his uncle's smiling face, hating that he was going to disappoint him again. "Not exactly Uncle Jesse. Looks like I'm going to have to spend a couple of days out of town. I just came home to get a little sleep and pack up a few things I'm gonna need."
"Oh." Jesse replied, trying to smile as he poured the flour into a bowl and mixed it with the other ingredients to form a stiff batter.
Luke knew what Jesse was thinking. "I'm alright, Uncle Jesse. In a couple of days maybe this'll be all over. Just hang in with me till then."
Jesse continued to stir as he looked at his nephew. "I just want you to know if yer ready to talk about it, I'm here."
Luke patted Jesse on the shoulder reassuringly. "I appreciate that, Jesse. I'm gonna go get my stuff together, if that's alright with you."
Jesse simply nodded in response as he watched his nephew trudge toward his bedroom. The mood Luke was in was eerily familiar. They happened quite frequently after he had returned home from the Marines. That had to be it, Jesse concluded, Luke was reminiscing about his time in the marines. But surely Luke knew he could talk to him. He was a veteran himself.
After a while, Jesse, Luke, and Daisy were seated around the table, saying grace.
"This sure does look good, Uncle Jesse!" Daisy exclaimed, helping herself to a mouthful of dumplings.
"That it does!" Jesse agreed. "Can you imagine the fit Bo'd be havin' right now if he knew what we's eating?"
"A rather big fit, I'd say!" Daisy laughed. "He's probably still stuck at that race track with nothing but a bag of popcorn or a cheap hotdog for supper!"
"Yer probably right. That's another thing I don't like about them races. Nothin' to eat but junk food. 'least it's his last day there. We'll get a good meal in him tomorrow."
Jesse and Daisy paused to eat a bit before Daisy looked at Luke. "Somethin' the matter, Luke? You haven't touched a bite."
"Huh?' Luke replied, coming out of the haze of his thoughts. "Oh, sorry. Just not hungry I guess."
It wasn't like Luke to skip a meal. "See I told ya you looked a little peaked this afternoon." Jesse confirmed.
"I ain't sick Jesse, not physically anyway." Luke said, immediately sorry that he had added the last bit.
"Uh huh." Jesse simply replied. "Listen here, Luke. You're a grown man, and ya gotta right to do what you think is best. But I wish ya would talk to me. Don't do no good to keep anything bottled up inside."
Luke sat with his head down, willing himself not to look at Jesse, because if he did he was afraid he might reveal everything. With the bug still unaccounted for, to mention the situation would be to jeopardize Bo's life. And Luke knew that the burden he carried on his young shoulders was a very heavy one, one that might be too much to lay on Jesse.
"All I can tell ya'll…." Luke began, upset apparent in his voice, "……is that I love you both very much. I do have a problem, but it's nothing I can't take care of for myself. There are some things…………" Luke paused to take a deep breath. "…….some things that might happen within the next couple of days that you won't understand. But in the end, it'll all make sense to you. I can guarantee you that."
Uncle Jesse looked at Luke in shock. After a few moments, he turned to Daisy. "Um Daisy, why don't you take your plate to your room, finish up your dumplin's in there. I know you been dying to start on that new Alice Tritwell novel."
Daisy wasn't dumb. She knew that Jesse wanted to talk to Luke alone. "You're right Uncle Jesse. I believe I'll do that."
After Daisy had cleared the room, Jesse turned to Luke again. "Luke, I still don't know what's goin' on with ya, but I have to admit, yer startin' to scare me. That little speech you gave, it almost sounded like, well………" Jesse abruptly stopped talking, unsure if he should continue.
"Well what, Jesse?" Luke asked.
Jesse arched his eyebrows. "Well, it sounded ta me like maybe you's thinkin' about, maybe….I dunno…..hurtin' yourself."
"Hurtin' myself?" Luke shook his head. "If you're sayin' you scared I might commit suicide, don't be. It ain't nothin' like that."
Jesse wished he knew that for certain. "Well, yer actin' just like you used to when you returned from the service. I know what 'che saw out there when you's fightin'. I know because I saw the same thing back in my day. You get these awful images in yer head and they don't never leave ya. Never. After some time you can stow 'em away in the back of yer mind and they'll stay put there for a long time. Then one day for no apparent reason they come rushin' forward again, those images of your best friends layin' next to ya dead. And it plays with yer emotions, makes ya think about doin' crazy stuff." Jesse looked at Luke. "Just tell me one more time you ain't gonna do nothin' crazy and I'll leave ya alone."
Luke didn't have the energy to convince his Uncle that he had been thinking neither about war or suicide. "I promise I'm not even thinking about suicide, Jesse." Luke replied, purposely omitting the part about not doing anything crazy. Because what he had in mind would fit into that category just fine.
Jesse smiled and looked at his nephew. "That does make me feel better. Just don't worry me and get me too scared, 'cause if ya do, I might hafta call Bo home early. He seems to be the only one that can straighten' yah out sometimes."
"No, Uncle Jesse!" Luke exclaimed, almost jumping out of his seat.
Jesse was a bit taken aback. "What in tarnation got into ya? All I said was I might call Bo."
Luke mentally forced himself to calm down as he sat again. "I know, I just….don't want him to have to come home early on accounta you're worried about me. He's looked forward to spendin' some buddy time with Billy Kay for a long time."
"Oh." Uncle Jesse replied simply, accepting the explanation. He then looked around the table and sighed. "Well, I need to git out to the barn and feed Maudine. Make me feel good and finish up them vittles before ya do any packin', ya hear?"
"I will, Uncle Jesse." Luke assured him as Jesse rose from the table and went to the nail where his trusty red hat hung. He turned to make sure Luke was eating. Satisfied to see that he was, he put the hat on his head and went out the door.
It wasn't long after Jesse had put some water in Maudine's trough and filled her bin with hay that he heard the screen door to the house slam shut. He went around the corner and looked as Luke was closing the trunk of the General Lee.
"Finish ye dumplin's?" Jesse called out.
"Yes sir!" Luke shouted back as he jogged over to the barn.
"What'd you put in the trunk?"
"Just the stuff I need for my trip, Jesse."
"You packed in a big hurry. You ain't plannin' on leavin' tonite, are ya?"
"I know I said I was gonna sleep, but I really gotta get on the road." Luke looked down. "I'm sorry I can't explain it better."
"I reckon ya got yer reasons." Jesse nodded.
"Just don't forget what I told ya, Jesse."
"What's that, Luke?"
"That I love ya. I love ya a lot. And I'm sorry."
Jesse frowned. "Sorry for what?"
"For anything I do that might disappoint you."
Without waiting for his reaction, Luke raced to the General and jumped in, racing for town and leaving a confused old man behind. "What could you do that would disappoint me, Luke?" He said out loud, although there was no one to hear but Maudine.
Sadly, Jesse would get his answer a couple of hours later, when Cooter came to his house and opened the door.
"Uncle Jesse! Uncle Jesse!" Cooter yelled, not knowing as he stood just on the side of the door that separated the living room and kitchen that Jesse was just out of sight around the corner.
Jesse stood in front of him, a finger trying to soothe one of his ringing ears. "What in tarnation are ya tryin' to do Cooter? Render me deaf?" He asked as Daisy walked up behind her uncle.
"I'm sorry Uncle Jesse, but ya gotta come quick. It's Luke!"
"Luke? Whatsa matter with him?" Jesse asked as Daisy put her hand over her heart.
"I……"Cooter began, not sure he had the bravery to continue now that he had his audience.
"Well what? Out with it!"
"I saw him in town, and he had a gun. Jesse…………..from what I saw…….. I think Luke is planning to rob Boss Hoggs bank!"
Jesse quickly jerked his head up to look at the gun rack that was over the door.
It was empty.
Friends and neighbors, I sure didn't see that one comin', did you?