He made his decision in April.
Mr. Hale offered him the promotion. Regional Vice President of Community Banking. An office in Des Moines with a view of the river. A raise of forty thousand dollars a year.
Brandon turned it down.
He rented a little white house on Oak Street. Three blocks from the bank. Two blocks from me. It had a backyard with a sunny patch that was perfect for tomatoes.
He planted his first garden that May. I came over and showed him how. He made a lot of mistakes. He planted the tomatoes too close together. He forgot to water the peppers. Rabbits ate all his lettuce.
He didn’t give up.
He did one more thing that spring.
He took down the old photograph by the door. The one of George and me in 1968, holding shovels in the empty lot. He took it down, and he had it cleaned, and he had it put in a new frame. A good one. Solid oak.
