Little Frogs in a Ditch
By Tim Gautreaux, first published in Gentlemen's Quarterly
After his grandson gets fired from yet another job, an old man watches the boy resort to a deceitful scheme in order to make money, causing tension to run rampant through the household.
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Plot Summary
After Lenny gets fired from his job at the laundry, his grandfather chastises him, saying that perhaps he could keep a job if he worked on his attitude. Lenny disagrees, saying that he doesn’t need a laundry job because he’s meant to be a salesman, and he announces that he’s going to make money to fix his grandfather’s car by selling pigeons. However, his grandfather knows that Lenny simply wants to use the car for himself. Two days later, Lenny’s girlfriend Annie comes over to Lenny’s grandfather’s house, and Lenny tells her about his plan to sell homing pigeons for $10, which he has already made a sign for. A man named Perry Lejeune stops by to inquire about the pigeons, and Lenny begins to explain how to train pigeons to know how to return to their owner’s home after being set free. Annie and Lenny’s grandfather scowl as they watch, knowing that Lenny doesn’t actually know what he’s talking about. In twelve days, Lenny sells twenty-six pigeons and makes enough money to fix his grandfather’s car. The two get into an argument as Lenny’s grandfather accuses him of being a crook, and the old man says that he understands why Lenny’s parents got rid of him and that he should get out of his house, too. Lenny becomes sad at the comment and watches his grandfather free his remaining pigeons from the cage. In the morning, the old man checks on Lenny, who is sleeping in the car, and tells him he can come back if he gets a new job and confesses his sins at church. Annie stops by, too, and the three of them see Perry Lejeune, his nephew, and his pigeon on the way to the park. The nephew mentions how diligently they have been working to train the pigeon, and Lenny feels bad, saying that if the pigeon doesn’t come back, they can have a refund. That night, Perry Lejeune comes by Lenny’s grandfather’s house to say the pigeon didn’t come back. Lejeune and Lenny’s grandfather go outside to look for the pigeon in the sky, and Annie yells at Lenny for scamming Lejeune and his nephew. Annie says that she understands why his parents left him, which again upsets Lenny, and he slaps her across the face. Lenny’s grandfather, who later finds that he can’t sleep, goes to see Lejeune, who says that he always knew the pigeon wouldn’t come back. It seems that Lejeune actually never let the pigeon go, and he explains that he simply wanted to show his nephew that things won’t always work out. Lejeune gives the pigeon back to Lenny’s grandfather, and the two say goodbye.