"May I ask why you are resigning? Is it because of disciplinary procedures against you?"

"No."

"Then what is the reason for your resignation?"

"To pursue a career."

"To pursue a career?"

He looked at me. I was less than 8 months from my 50th birthday. I knew what he was thinking.

"May I ask what your 'career' will be?"

"Well, sir, I'll tell you. The trapping season in the bayou only lasts from December through February. I've already lost a month."

"A month? But you've been here eleven years."

"All right, then, I've wasted eleven years. I can pick up 10 to 20 grand for 3 months trapping at Bayou La Fourche."

"What do you do?"

"Trap Muskrats, nutria, mink, otter . . . coon. All I need is a pirogue. I give 20 percent of my take for use of the land. I get paid a buck and a quarter for muskrat skins, 3 bucks for mink, 4 bucks for 'bo mink,' a buck and a half for nutria and 25 bucks for otter. I sell the muskrat carcass, which is about a foot long, for 5 cents to a cat food factory. I get 25 cents for the skinned body of the nutria. I raise pigs, chickens and ducks. I catch catfish. There's nothing to it. I—"

"Never mind, Mr. Chinaski, that will be sufficient."