This country. A driveway. My neighbor Dale owns a truck, and I have discovered who actually defends this nation.
Monday, a family down the street moved. Dale's truck. Wednesday, a tree limb fell on Mrs. Carter's fence. Dale's truck. Friday it snowed, and an unspoken signal traveled the block, and Dale appeared with a plow blade like a one-man cavalry.
No one pays him. No one drafts him. He is summoned by need alone.
"Dale," I asked, "who do you serve?"
"What?"
"Who commands the truck?"
He thought about it. "Whoever's stuck, I guess."
WHOEVER IS STUCK. Eight hundred years of military philosophy in my bloodline, and this man in a hoodie has perfected it: a standing army of one, sworn to the realm of Whoever Is Stuck.
In my land, a lord keeps soldiers for his own gate. Dale keeps a truck for everyone's gate.
I offered him my loyalty. He offered me a beer. We were both confused by the other's gift and accepted anyway. That is diplomacy.
I asked what I could do to repay the block's debt to him. He said, "Help me load a couch Saturday."
I have never trained harder for anything.
The couch was heavy. I was not strong enough. I want to say I was. I was not. Dale carried his end and most of mine and said "good lift" anyway, which is the kindest lie in the language.
A man with a truck does not ask who needs him. He has already backed into the driveway.
I cannot buy a truck yet. So I have become the man who shows up when the truck does. Every truck needs a vanguard. Dale has not approved this title. Dale does not need to.