WELL THEN, PAPA SAID, How bout I go see what all them Buzzerds is a’looking for my self then. I don’t see how that’d hurt any And I can take o’Fritz and Possum long with me in case some thing tries to come up on me when I ain’t Looking. Maybe I oughta go long my self, o’Wasskum said. Twos bettern One when Trouble comes a’knocking they say. Trouble don’t always knock Mister, Calley said. You got to keep a Sharp Eye ever step a’the way you know it. Why don’t you just come Long with us Mister Pearsall, the o’Artist said, I don’t know what we gonna do for Advice if you ain’t there to give it. No Sir, o’Calley said, You don’t want me long on this Trip. I might have to throw you in the Cactuses for your Sass and they wouldn’t be a thing you could do bout it cep just set there and Holler. Then, Papa said, o’Calley looked at me and said You be Careful out there I don’t want nothing happening to you. Can you remember that, he said. Yes Sir I can, Papa said, then me and o’Wasskum went over there to give Little Missey a Goodbye and she give us each a Shiny Rock for a Gift and said some thing but we didn’t have no Idea what. She’s saying yall go on, Calley said, You just wasting Time. So, Papa said, I whistled up o’Fritz and Possum to go but No o’Possum just set down there side a’Little Missey and wouldn’t go. What’s a matter with o’Possum he don’t wanna go with us, o’Wasskum said. Well for one thing, o’Calley said, he got shot full a’Holes here just the other day and ain’t over it yet. Or, he said, if it ain’t that Why may be he’s just waiting for better Company to come long fore he goes a’walking off in the Cactuses some wheres you ever think bout that. Now yall go on and get back here quicks you can, he said, we got other Fish to Fry.
So, Papa said, o’Fritz jumped up on o’Edward front a’me and a’way we did go follering them circling Buzzerds. Where you reckon they a’leading us to, o’Wasskum said and I said Well I don’t have no Idea where but then, Papa said, o’Possum started Howling back yonder with Little Missey like they was some thing Bad a’coming and he just wouldn’t quit.
Well it’s a Storm a’Coming ain’t it . . .
BUT WE RID ON, Papa said, and next thing we talked bout was What if o’Pelo and Pela Rosa was up there but Pela wouldn’t come back with us to Mister Pearsall cause she give her Word to o’Pelo she wouldn’t never Leave him. Well they ain’t nothing to do bout it then, o’Wasskum said. Cep just tip our Hat and go on back and tell him I reckon. Oh and then of a sudden a Buzzerd come a’swooping by and dropped some thing out his mouth in a Puddle and made the water Splash up. What is that thing, o’Wasskum said. So, Papa said, I got down on both my Hands and Knees and went to fishing round in the Mud Hole til I found it and Oh what it was, he said, was some body’s o’Ear and I had to squeeze it tight to keep Fritz from biting it out my Hand he wanted it so Bad. I seen a’lot a’things in Texas, o’Wasskum said, but I believe this is the First Time I ever seen a Ear drop down out the Sky on me like that. Yes Sir me too, Papa said. Here you want it. No you the one found it I reckon you the one oughta keep it, o’Wasskum said. Or may be we oughta take it back to who ever it come off of like a good Citizen. Then I put that o’Ear in my Pocket so Fritz wouldn’t get it and said I got some Good News for o’Calley this ain’t Pela Rosa’s Ear cause it’s too Big and it ain’t o’Pelo’s Ear neither cause his was bout burned off in the Fire and this one ain’t even been scorched. So who you reckon it belongs to, o’Wasskum said. I don’t have no Idea, Papa said, some o’One Eared Man I reckon. Oh and then, he said, we looked way up yonder and they was some o’One Eared Man a’setting in the middle a’the Road a’trying to swat bout a’hunderd Buzzerds off his Head but wadn’t having much Luck a’doing it. They bout to eat him a’live ain’t they, o’Wasskum said, but No then I seen that o’One Eared Man wadn’t a’live at all but was just a’swatting and a’jumping like that cause a’the way them Buzzerds was a’Pulling and a’Pecking on him. You know him, o’Wasskum said. I don’t know they’s nough a’him left to tell, Papa said, But we bumped on over there any how and shooed them Buzzerds off to take a Look and Oh, Papa said, they was a’nother Man over there by a Cactuses and Oh them Nasty o’Birds already bout Eat him down to the Bone sames this other Fella.
IT’S THEM TWO MEN run us under the Table the other Day ain’t it, o’Wasskum said. Yes Sir I said, Papa said, same ones was looking to get back Even with Mister Pearsall after he give em that whupping for killing Little Missey’s Poor o’Panther and then shooting o’Possum to Boot. How you reckon they come to this Sad End here, o’Wasskum said and I said, I don’t know but I reckon it was o’Arlon shot em like he been a’shooting ever body else round here and you and me too if we ain’t careful. Well, Mister Yancy said, why don’t you give this Fella his Ear back and let’s go on and plant em over there some wheres out from under these Trees so we don’t have to dig out the Roots. You reckon his Momma and Daddy gonna miss him, Papa said. They probably already been a’missing him a Long time, o’Wasskum said, like maybe mine been a’missing me but I don’t think so. That made you Sad didn’t it Mister Yancy, Papa said, to talk bout your Folks not a’missing you that way. May be a little I don’t know, he said, Let’s not talk bout it okay. So, Papa said, we went on and planted them Men out from under them Trees like Mister Yancy said but fore we did we seen this Pitchur fell out one of em’s Pocket on the ground but they wadn’t nough left to tell which one othern it was a Man and a Woman and a little Baby there tween em when they was all Young and Happy. I’d guess that was his Family when they was all Young and the Sun was still a’shining on em, o’Wasskum said. But that was a long time ago wadn’t it. Wonder what happened to that Man to get him from There in the Pitchur to Here on the Ground Dead, Papa said. Life, o’Wasskum said, Life’s what done it to him. That’s bout what it done to me too when you found me up that Tree you know it. Didn’t have no Friends didn’t have no Family didn’t have no Future that I could tell. Far as I could see, he said, the Sun bout give out a’Shining on me for ever and wadn’t never gonna Shine on me again. Yes Sir, o’Wasskum said, if you want the Truth Mister I was bout to the End a’my Rope that day and a’sliding down fast. I’m sorry Mister Yancy, Papa said, I didn’t know you was a’feeling so Low when you was up that Tree. Well I was, o’Wasskum said, and now that you know it you can just call me Wasskum sted a’Mister Yancy cause I wouldn’t tell no body else that cep a Good Friend but I wouldn’t want you to go telling it to No Body else if you Please. No Sir I won’t Wasskum, Papa said. Okay then, Wasskum said. Okay Wasskum I said, Papa said, and Next to Mister Pearsall and o’Fritz and Mister and Miz Choat and Bird and Marcellus and o’Jeffey and o’Edward and a’course Annie and Mister and Miz Pegleg why I figgured o’Wasskum was bout the Best Friend I ever did have in my Life.
CALLEY AND O’POSSUM COME OUT TO SEE US when we got back to camp, Papa said, but Little Missey was over there a’Painting Circles and Squiggly Lines on her Travelling Bundle with o’Wasskum’s Paints on her Finger. Then, he said, we told Calley bout seeing them two Dead Men and how it must a’been o’Arlon murdered em when they was coming to murder him for whupping em back in San Antoneya that day. Well I reckon o’Arlon done me a Favor then didn’t he, Calley said, even if he wadn’t even trying to and didn’t know nothing bout it. Least he done one Good Thing in his Life, Papa said, and went on off to sleep.
That night, he said, I waked up and Why there was Little Missey a’setting side me and a’holding my Hand. They some thing you wanna tell me I said, Papa said, but No she was just setting there sound a’sleep. Then, he said, here come Fritz and o’Possum and they made a Dog Pile on top a’me to where you couldn’t hardly even breathe. I reckon yall just been a’missing me too huh, Papa said. But No they was already to Sleep they self and didn’t say nothing back and then I seen Mister and Miz Pegleg a’standing there and I said Yall come on if you want to and after they climbed up on me Why then I seen Little Missey’s poor o’Blind Panther a’standing over there all by his self in the Dark and I whistled him on over and Oh Boy Hidy here he come even if he couldn’t see a Lick. And then, Papa s
aid, some other little scrappy Dog come up out the Dark and set down right there in that same place and give me a Look like he ain’t had nothing to eat in a good long while so I give him a little Whistle too and here he come and Oh then it come to me he was Mister Pearsall’s little Dog the Tonks stole out from under the Porch that night and put in the Cook Pot for they Suppers when o’Calley was just a Little Boy. It was bout then, Papa said, when here come some body else and give me a big Wet Lick on my Ear and Oh I give out a Whoop cause it was the little Bay Mare my mean o’Daddy shot and killed that night cause she wouldn’t Gentle like he wanted her to. Oh they was Dogs and Cows and Horses and Coyotes and Foxes and Baby Rabbits and Armadillas and Possums and Coons wearing a mask and Snakes and Birds and Bugs a’piling up on me all Night Long. Oh and then, he said, here come some Bare Foot Black People wadn’t hardly wearing Nothing and they piled on top a’me too long with bout four hunderd and nine a’some other colors and that’s when it come to me they wadn’t even a part of my Dream but splashed over on mine from Little Missey’s and the only way I could figgur it, Papa said, was We all come out a’the same Big Pile in the First Place and all we was trying to do now was get on back Home together if we could.
WE LEFT NEXT MORNING, Papa said, and Oh we was glad to be a’leaving that part a’the Country what with o’Arlon a’going round a’Murdering some body or other ever time you looked. He’ll get his Turn, o’Calley said. It don’t run just one way forever. Then bout two miles down the Road, Papa said, why here come Pepe and Peto with a Wagon Load a’them Little Mesquite Saint Lalos. Yall must be selling them Little Lalos like Hot Cakes, o’Wasskum said, Last I seen you had a whole Table of em. We chunked em all at them Bad Men was trying to get you the other Day and had to go back Home and get some more fore we run out, Pepe said. Ever Body in San Antoneya all wants a Little Saint Lalo cause he’s the One brought all the Mexkins over from Mexico to Texas in the First Place. Well No that ain’t xactly Right, o’Calley said, Some maybe but not All. They’s too many to be All, he said. Then, Papa said, we looked over there and Little Missey was up in they Wagon a’crying over the Little Saint Lalos. She usted to live in a Cave had a Lalo in it, Calley said, I reckon seeing these here just made her Home Sick. Oh and that made em so Sad to hear it they put they Hats to they Heart and said Tell her to pick one out she Likes and we give it to her for a Gift. She could use her a Dress too, Peto said, she ain’t hardly got nothing on you know it. We bought her a Nice Dress that Day in San Antoneya, o’Wasskum said, but she don’t never want to wear it. Yes Womens is funny that way, Peto said. I don’t understand them too much my self. They say the Man can understand the Woman ain’t even been born yet and his o’Momma and Papa is already Dead somewheres, Pepe said. Oh that one makes me laugh cause it is so True you know it, Peto said. Yes that one makes me laugh too, Pepe said. But I wouldn’t never tell it to my Wife would you. No I wouldn’t never tell it to my Wife neither, Peto said, then they both had em a good laugh bout it, Papa said, and so did we. Yall be careful a’that Boy Arlon Clavic going round the Country a’Murdering People, Calley said. I hear he’s partial to shooting Mexkins and Murdered him a few here just the other day when they was out there a’working in they Field. Yes, Peto said, they’s always some body going round shooting Mexkins in Texas ain’t they. Or a’chopping they Big Toe off, he said, then give me a Look bout it, Papa said, cause I was the one chopped his Big Toe off for him long time ago when we was all a’working on the Farm for my mean o’Daddy. Maybe you oughta get your Wood Carver carved all these little Saint Lalos here to carve you out a New Toe, I said, if you a’missing your Old One so Bad. Oh and they went to laughing bout that too, Papa said, and Pepe said Yes he would do that but he didn’t have no Idea how to put a Wood Toe back on to where the other one got chopped off from. Then Mister Pearsall come out his pocket with some Money and said he wanted to buy a’nother couple a’them Little Saint Lalos for a Gift to the Choats when we got there and another one to set up there on the Wagon seat with Pepe and Peto to protect em from that little Son of a Bitch Arlon Clavic a’riding round the country a’shooting Mexkins and ever body else he comes a’cross.
I COULDN’T GET ANNIE OSTER OUT MY MINE, Papa said. I’d close my Eyes and there she’d be in my mine, he said, or I’d come a’wake in the morning and Why there she’d already be a’waiting for me in my Head and then there she’d be all day long too. Some times I talked to her like she was really there, Papa said. I’d say Annie I’m sorry I storied to you bout that o’Gal Wasskum said’d take all her clothes off for a Nickle. The Truth is I never even seen that o’Gal in my Life and didn’t have no Idea would she take a Nickle for it or was it more or lessn that. Then, he said, I told her all bout o’Calley and Pela Rosa and how she run off with that o’Red Face Man cause she give him her Word she would and that’s what saved my o’Amigo’s Life when o’Pelo was gonna Hang us both in the Cave where we got to be Friends with Little Missey. Course I was just thinking all these things in my Head, Papa said, and didn’t have no idea was they getting to Annie or not so one Day me and Fritz eased o’Edward up to Calley and Little Missey there on o’Firefoot and I said Mister Pearsall where you reckon Thoughts go after you done with thinking em and he said Why they just go to floating round in the Air all over the place til they find the People them Thoughts was Thought bout. I been thinking bout Annie Oster, Papa said. Yes Sir, Calley said, you been a’thinking bout Annie Oster cause You just might be in Love with her ain’t that Right. Well it might be, Papa said, I don’t know. I reckon Ever Body thinks the Thoughts a’who they are, Calley said. Big People think Big Thoughts. Little People think Little Thoughts. Bad People think Bad Thoughts. And you take some body like o’Wasskum over there Why he thinks Artist Thoughts but they ain’t really no such Thing as a Artist Thought you can put your Finger on. I was just asking if these Thoughts I been a’thinking bout Annie is a’getting to her or not when I’m a’thinking em, Papa said, that’s all. Yes Sir I’d say they are a’getting to her, Calley said. That’s why you always got to be careful what you a’thinking cause a Thought is as much Real as a Bullet or a Kiss is and you the one responsible for Where they go and What they do to Some Body else when they get there.
OH, Papa said, we talked and Joked and laughed like that all cross the Country and didn’t never get tired of it cause it was like Some Body a’traveling round with they own Family if they had one in they Life and that’s what I wanted moren any thing in mine. They’s another Time later on in my Life I had One but then I Lost it and Oh Listen Here it broke my Heart in Two and Me long with it. Ever body got they Good Stories and they got they Bad Stories in pretty much Equal Measure o’Calley used to say but the thing to remember he said is Not neither one of em stays round for ever. If you ain’t careful, he said, The Good Ones gonna turn into Bad Ones but the Bad Ones just might turn into Good Ones too but here’s the thing you always got to remember bout it Mister, Calley said, You the One in the Saddle on the Horse you a’riding in Life and you the One a’telling that Horse which Way you want it to go. So what’d I just say, he said. You just said I said, Papa said, ever body got they Good Stories and they got they Bad Stories. That’s right, Calley said, so you ought not to go round feeling Special when you got a Good One a’going and at the same time you don’t never wanna feel like you being Picked On when you got a Bad One a’going and now What else’d I just say, he said. Well it gets fuzzy on me after that, Papa said, I reckon you gonna have to tell me again. Well you the one in the Saddle a’riding your Horse through Life ain’t you, Calley said, Don’t that put you in Charge a’where you a’going. Yes Sir, Papa said, and I reckon I’d just have to climb down off that o’Horse if he wadn’t a’going in the Right Direction I wanted to go in wouldn’t I. No Sir, Calley said, just give him a little kick in his Fat Behind to change Direction is all. Cause it’s your Job to tell your Horse which way you want it to go. Yes Sir I said, Papa said, Cause now I seen xactly what o’Calley was trying to say and that was Ever Body is a’riding the
y own Horse in Life and got to tell it which Direction to go and if we don’t like where it’s a’going Well then we just got to kick it’s o’Butt and make it go somewheres else til we like Where it’s a’going. Course, Calley said, you don’t never want to get to liking Where it’s a’going too much even if it is a’going in the Right Direction cause Things gonna go to getting Boring on you if you just a’riding round being Happy all the time and that’s bout Bad as getting Shot at or Hanged.
WE RODE ON CROSS THE RIVER, Papa said, then come on into Town where they had the County Court House right there on the Square and course the Town and County both was named Blanco for the River and Oh, he said, they was having a big Horse Sale that Saturday Morning when we come a’riding in and o’Calley give me a smile and said I reckon you bout due a Horse a’your own less you and o’Edward got married and didn’t never tell no body. I’d have to pay you back I said, Papa said, but I don’t have no idea where I’m gonna get the Money. What’s that I been a’telling you bout what ever it is you a’looking for in this World, Calley said. You said, I said, Why it’s a’looking for you too ain’t it. Yes Sir that’s right, Calley said, so I ain’t a’gonna Worry bout a’getting my Money back cause I know it’s out there somewheres just a’waiting to jump back in my Pocket when I ain’t even Looking. Well I thank you, Papa said, I reckon Mister Choat’ll be glad to get o’Edward back won’t he. But fore I could finish saying that, he said, Why I looked way cross the Square and they was this Little Bay Mare a’looking back at me from over there and she looked just like the Little Bay Mare my mean o’Daddy shot and killed that Night way back all them years ago and that’s why my Momma run off the next day and I didn’t never see her again. You ain’t gonna tell me you already see One you like are you, Calley said. That One right over yonder I said, Papa said, then pointed my Finger cross the Square to the Little Bay Mare a’standing there a’looking back at me. She’s a pretty One ain’t she, Papa said. Oh, Calley said, she’s bout the Prettiest o’Granma I ever seen in my Life, he said, and they’s some thing a’little Funny bout the way she holds her Ears up too you see it. Yes Sir she keeps em pointed up all the time, Papa said, and I reckon I know Why too. Now then you want me to do the Bargaining for you, Calley said, or you wanna do it you self. I’ll do it for my self I reckon, Papa said, but Thank You any how. Okay, Calley said, Just remember you don’t wanna let the Man see how much you really want that Horse cause you gonna have a hard time getting a Good Price if you do. Okay I said, Papa said, and then we all went over there together like we was some o’Inyin Tribe or some thing on the Move.
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