"An' we gonna live off the fatta the lan'," Lennie finished."And don't forget the rabbits, George. I gets to tend to the rabbits." Lennie smiled dreamily, as the warmth of the fire surrounded us.
"That's right, Lennie," George said happily,"you get to tend to the rabbits. All the cute soft bunnies you'll ever need."
I stared at them, aghast. "Two grown men...and they dream of gettin' rabbits..." I shook my head slowly, in disbelief. "Don't you want, you know, to do something with your life?" I asked them.
George and Lennie looked blankly at me. "Moose," Lennie said suspiciously,"it's about the rabbits. Don't you want them rabbits?"
"Yea, Moose," George agreed."How can you not like the rabbits? For Chrissake, how can you not want all the rabbits you need, living on your own land, farming your alfalfa patch in a log cabin? Your like a little baby. Jesus, can't you see? It's all about the rabbits."
Slowly, I let out a breath of amazement. They were crazy, that's what they were. They were dropped on the head as babies and grew up to be two crazy, insane man children. "Well, then. Where you gonna get the money for the rabbits?" I pointed out.
"Work on a ranch north a' here, up in Salinas," George recited, at the same time as Lennie exhorted,"Buck barley!"
" They got a nice set up in Salinas," George remarked." We gonna work for our fifty and found, and at the end a' the month, we gonna get our pay and find another ranch to work at. Then we gonna do it again, until we get enough to buy the land and them rabbits. Like we did in Weed--" George cut himself off suddenly.
" What happened in Weed?" I questioned.
"Lennie...well, you know how he is...He sorta..." George trailed off, eyeing Lennie." He sorta grabbed a girl's dress, and got in a misunderstanding with the police."
Lennie nodded thoughtfully."Rape," he said simply.
"Ah..." I tried my best to feign indifference."That...must be tough, with the confusion and all that." I coughed. "Well, nice camping with you guys. Enjoy your life. Dream big, have fun with your rabbits and your ranch. I got to go back to my job in the city."I scooped up my camping gear and walked away from the campfire. I suddenly added as I left," You know, you can probably make a couple thousand bucks if you actually get a real job."
George and Lennie glanced at each other dumbly, before George said,"Nah, how can you get no rabbits if you don't work on a farm?"
I facepalmed, walked off to my better life, and left the two mice and men to the mercy of John Steinbeck.
The King
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