The Glacier Read Online Free Page A

little memos about which interstate gets to run through whose family farm.
    Jonah scribbles notes into his notebook, overhearing their conversation on his radio.
    SUE
    (radio)
    All right, Gunner, I get the point. Now shut it.
    GUNNER
    (radio)
    No, you do not get the point. The point is that—
    SUE
    That’s enough!
    Sue shouts from inside the truck, muffled like an angry bumblebee in a glass jar.
    Out in the field, Jonah looks up from his notebook—
    And Gunner fires right back at Sue.
    GUNNER
    Hey! I was from here! And I think I oughta know what I’m talking about. I was from here and now it’s all one big fucking cemetery.
    SUE
    I know where you were from! What I’m wondering is if it’s possible for you to keep your fat mouth shut for two fucking seconds!
    Gunner moves aggressively toward the truck.
    GUNNER
    Well those are pretty big words coming out of a little girl, mister.
    Sue fumbles with his paperwork and locks the door just as Gunner reaches out to grab the handle.
    Gunner leans into the window and talks low, muffled and filtered by the truck window.
    GUNNER
    Sissy. You’re always sitting in the truck with the heat on. Why don’t you come out here with the elements and do a man’s job for a change.
    Gunner glares at Sue with wild animal eyes, steaming on the glass with his snout like a bear on a tourist vehicle. Sue watches Gunner, almost intimately, from behind the safety of the aquarium. He parts his lips as if to say something but then stops himself.
    GUNNER
    That’s what I thought.
    Gunner turns his bear ass around and walks away from the truck. Sue gets in one last dig, calmly speaking over the distance of the radio.
    SUE
    (radio)
    Fuck off, Gunner.
    Gunner turns and hurls his paper coffee cup at Sue. It explodes coffee all over the truck window.
    GUNNER
    Church coffee!!
    Sue looks out from inside the truck window, coffee running down the glass.
    Gunner goes back to the scope on the surveyor’s gun and sights up Jonah in the crosshairs. Jonah stands across the site, quietly writing in his notebook. Gunner observes him and then speaks to Sue over the radio again.
    GUNNER
    (radio)
    What in the hell is this guy always writing down?
    But Jonah can hear him over the radio. He looks across the field at Gunner, directly down the scope of the surveyor gun as if they’re looking eye to eye through a telescope.
    Gunner pulls quickly away from the scope and snaps off his radio.
    GUNNER
    Dammit.
    He walks back over to the truck and speaks to Sue. From opposite sides of the window their conversation sounds muffled and bubbled.
    GUNNER
    Roll down the window.
    SUE
    Leave me alone, Gunner.
    GUNNER
    I need to talk to you.
    Sue thinks it over.
    SUE
    All right, back away from the truck.
    GUNNER
    Oh, come on.
    SUE
    Go on. Back away.
    GUNNER
    Jesus Christ.
    SUE
    Well go on.
    Gunner backs up a few steps. Sue cracks the window.
    GUNNER
    What is he always writing down?
    SUE
    Who?!
    GUNNER
    Him.
    Sue squints over his dash and across the field at Jonah.
    SUE
    I don’t know. I never noticed.
    GUNNER
    Well I have. The guy never says shit and every second he gets he’s always writing something down in that little notebook.
    SUE
    So what?
    GUNNER
    So I don’t trust him, that’s what.
    SUE
    Oh, will you quit being paranoid.
    GUNNER
    I’m not being paranoid. I’m observing is all, and what I’m observing is one more thing I don’t need in my workday.
    SUE
    Gunner, we are not going to invent problems where there aren’t any, so just lighten up.
    GUNNER
    Now that is just exactly what they want us to do. Just go along with the whole goddamn thing.
    SUE
    What whole thing? What are you talking about?
    Gunner looks back out at Jonah. Jonah gestures with his hands as if to ask, “What’s going on?” Gunner looks over at the new houses, searching for an answer.
    SUE
    Can we get back to work now?
    GUNNER
    It’s just something I think you should know