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dead bulbs, checked out all the electricity and opened

and cleaned a drain in the sink. He had to readjust the

inside of the toilet, because when the water valve was

turned to on, it wouldn't stop running. He corrected a

leak in the sink faucet as well.

"You're a plumber, an electrician and a

carpenter built into one person," I said. "Have you

done this kind of work for someone?"

"I told you. I take care of our property. I had to

learn how to do all these things because my father left

us. Some of it I did learn from plumbers and

electricians who came around before I could handle

things myself, and some of it I learned from manuals.

Our property is one of the older ones in this area, so a

lot breaks down."

"I was told it was once a chicken farm?" "Not chickens, eggs," he said. "The coops are

still standing, but we don't use th

em for anything. It's

a big property on Dunn Road as soon as you make the

turn off Stark. We just keep up the house."

"Well, that shouldn't be so much work." He smiled. "Sometimes I think my mother

breaks things deliberately so have to stay around to fix

them:'

"Really? Why is she like that?"

"Maybe she's just lonely," he said.

"She has no friends of her own?"

"Just people involved with the church, but they

aren't friends the way you and I would think of

friends."

"She never met anyone else? Any other man?" I