“Sorry I heard about you?”
“Sorry for what you heard about me.”
“It’s all right now, ain’t it? It was just a sin. Breezy says that sin is somethin’ we all want to do, but we’re scared what folks will say about us. You wasn’t scared, I guess.”
Len’s mouth sagged a little. Perhaps he never expected to hear this from the mouth of a little boy. He glanced sharply at Breezy, who seemed to be choking over his tobacco.
“No,” said Len softly, “I reckon I wasn’t scared, Larry, and I’m glad that you think it’s all right now. I don’t know of anybody I’d rather have feel thataway.”
“That’s fine,” said Larry. “The kids say you’ve got pots and pots of money buried somewhere, and you came back to dig it up.”
Len blinked rapidly, shook his head at Breezy, and walked back to the doorway, where he looked out at the street.
Larry walked over to him and touched his hand.
“You ain’t mad, are you?” he asked.
Len turned impulsively and took the earnest little face between his two big hands.