WE CARRIED THAT POOR O’DEAD PANTHER up the Hill a’ways and buried him there under this Big Oak Tree, Papa said, even if they wadn’t much left to bury after all them Dog Bites and Bullet Holes and then, he said, that little Wild Woman come over there and give o’Calley’s Hand a Squeeze I reckon to say Thank You Mister and then she did me too. Better find you Jar a’Bee Honey, Calley said, she got Dog Bites all Up and Down her you see em. Yes Sir I do, Papa said. And you ain’t so Pretty you self with that Big Fat Lip you got Looks like you got a German Pork Sausage stuck in your mouth and that one Eye bout swole shut on you too ain’t it, Calley said, We gonna have to Doctor on you too I reckon. Yes Sir I said and run got the Bee Honey and o’Calley went to dabbing some on Ever Body’s Dog Bites and Rock Bumps cluding his own. I’m gonna put some a’this Honey on your Lip here, Calley said, but don’t go to Licking it off or your Face gonna stay like this your whole Life and not even o’Robert E. Bob Lee gonna know you. Mister Lee don’t know me any how, Papa said. You just being that Funny o’Dog again ain’t you. I’m trying, Calley said, Yes Sir I am god dam sure trying. Then, Papa said, o’Calley give me a Look to Look over to where Little Missey was a’setting with her Travelling Bundle in her Lap and a’petting her Friend’s Hump a’Dirt with the other. I bet she wishes she just stayed at Home don’t you, Papa said. Her Home’s with us now, Calley said. She ain’t got no other Friend in the World I know of. You reckon that’s why she follered us to here, Papa said. Well People need People in they Life, Calley said, and she don’t have no body else in hers does she. That’s sad ain’t it, Papa said, not to have no Friend in Your Life. I don’t know, o’Calley said, I ain’t never not had no Friend in mine less you wanna count them five years they had me in that place wadn’t very Friendly to start with. Where was that I said, Papa said, but o’Calley just shook his head No he wadn’t gonna tell me. I reckon Mister and Miz Choat’ll give Little Missey a Home same way they done me and Herman and Bird and Marcellus and ever body else comes a’Long. Well they might I reckon, Calley said. No Sir they will, Papa said, you don’t have to worry bout that. No I don’t worry bout that, Calley said. What I worry bout is getting her Here to There that’s what I worry bout. You seen how them Boys sicced they Dogs on her didn’t you. Oh Yes Sir I did, Papa said. Well we gonna have to cut cross the Country with her, he said, Stay way clear a’People such as that best we can so it don’t happen again. That like to a’scared me to Death, Papa said, I didn’t have no Idea what was gonna Happen. Her o’Friend is Dead, Calley said, That’s what Happened and now we gotta make sure the same thing don’t happen to her too. You think it might, Papa said. Well I think it might could, Calley said, if we ain’t careful with her. And then he went to putting new Bullets in his big o’Pistola, Papa said, where them other Bullets he most likely shot off at them two Men tried to skin that o’Panther usted to be.
NEXT MORNING LITTLE MISSEY WAS GONE, Papa said, and so was o’Fritz but we didn’t have no Idea where to. Where you reckon she went I said, and Calley said, Don’t Worry she’ll be back. Well I don’t know how you know that, Papa said. I know it cause Lookee Here, o’Calley said then throwed his Blanket back to show me her Travelling Bundle was there under it. She sneaked it under the covers with me last night for Safe Keeping I reckon, Calley said, fore she run off. I figgur she’d a’just took it with her if she wadn’t coming Back to get it don’t you. Yes Sir me too, Papa said. Course that don’t mean we ain’t worried bout half to Death a’what she and o’Fritz might a’got into out there in the World some wheres all by they self, Calley said, ain’t that right. Yes Sir I’m worried too, Papa said. Yes Sir I sure am. And that ain’t all we got to worry bout neither is it Mister Pearsall, I said. Well it’s enough ain’t it, Calley said, I didn’t know they was some thing else we need to be a’Worrying bout. Well Yes Sir they is, Papa said. You gonna tell me bout it or you just gonna keep it to you self, Calley said. I don’t generally like Surprises this early in the Morning. I think they’s Some Body a’follering us, Papa said. Why you think that Calley said, and I said, Cause I can see em a’sneaking in and out the Trees over yonder cross the River and they all a’pointing they Guns at us. Oh and then Calley seen em too and said Well Yes Sir that is dam sure a Surprise here so early in the Morning ain’t it.
Oh and then here they come a’Spuring they Horse and a’Splashing cross the River at us. I don’t know but could be me they a’looking for cause a’what I done yesterday when them Men went to shooting at me. And Oh that scared me when he said it, Papa said, and I said May be you oughta just Jump and Run like you Pants is on Fire Mister Pearsall while you still able to. No Little Missey put me in charge a’her o’Travelling Bundle here and I wouldn’t never want her to think I’d slip a Duty on her when she gets back and sees me Gone.
OH AND THEN, Papa said, Here them Men come on cross the River and pulled they Horse up to us and the Man in Charge give me a good long Look and said We a’looking for a Boy this Morning. Well, Calley said, I got one right here but he ain’t for Sale. No body give a Laugh at that, Papa said, but then the Man in Charge said My name is William Wayne Shettles and I am Superintendent up yonder at the Gatesville Correctional. Yes Sir I believe you, Calley said. You got a Voice on you biggern any Man I ever did hear in my Life cep maybe o’Preacher Seymore up in Johnson City. Had us a Boy over there at the Correctional stabbed a Guard dead with this little Hand Stabber he made out a’piece a’pointy Wire and a Broomstick handle then run off on us fore we could grab him. A Regular little Horse Turd that Boy, he said, and Thank you for the compliment to my Voice. Oh I knowed right then when he said it the Boy he was a’looking for wadn’t no body but Arlon, Papa said. This Boy I’m a’talking bout here is Arlon Clavic, he said, murdered him another Man over yonder in Kendalia here a while ago and wadn’t never nothing but a Sack a’Trouble his Whole Life any how. Here, he said, I got a Pitchur right here and then, Papa said, Why he pulled out a Hand Bill they made out a’that Likeness a’me and Arlon and Fritz was took on a piece a’Tin that time he was talking bout over in Kendalia just fore Arlon stabbed that Man to Death with that little Cook Knife he stole off Mister Armke. This is him right here, the Superintendent said, and pointed to Arlon in the Pitchur but course Calley seen the other Boy too and knowed it was me right off and it was Fritz there in the middle but he was licking his Hiney when the Man made the Pitchur and just come out a Smudge to where you couldn’t hardly see was he a Dog or a Pig or a Possum or What. And a’course, Papa said, I was a’wearing my o’Flop Hat back in them Days and didn’t look no wheres near what I looked like now with my Lip swole up like a Pork Sausage and a’wearing my new John B Stetson Hat. Who’s this other Boy here in the Pitchur, Calley said. No we don’t have no Idear Who, the Superintendent said, but he don’t look like he’d amount to much does he. Oh and that hurt my Feelings when he said it, Papa said, but then Calley said Well I’ve learned in my Life them that don’t look like much is usually the Ones you gotta look out for cause some times they the Most they ever was. Then he looked at me, Papa said, and said Now ain’t that right Mister. Well some times it is and some times it ain’t I reckon I said, Papa said. You’re both Right and I believe you bout it, the Superintendent said, but that ain’t the One we a’looking for any how. No Sir, Calley said, I reckon we was just having us a Conversation here wadn’t we. They’s just this one more thing the Superintendent Shettles said, Papa said, and then he give o’Calley this long look like he was seeing some thing else bout him he hadn’t never seen here just a minute ago. By the way, he said, you ain’t the Fella whupped them two Men back in San Antoneya to a Fare-thee-Well over a Dead Panther are you, he said. Well I ain’t a’saying I am and I ain’t a’saying I ain’t, Calley said. Well Sir what are you a’saying then, Superintendent Shettles said, and o’Calley give him a little Smile and said Well I reckon I’m a’saying if I was you Mister I just wouldn’t Ask. Oh and then the Superintendent give Calley a Look to size him up and said Well No Sir I wouldn’t never. The only reason I even broug
ht it up is to mention them Two Men is a’getting ready to go a’looking for Who Ever it Was whupped em and Who Ever it Was whupped em might wanna know bout it. Yes Sir Good to know, Calley said, and I thank you for warning o’Who Ever it Was if I ever run cross him to tell him. They’s just one more thing Mister Shettles said, Papa said. Yes Sir what’s that, Calley said, we’re late for some thing and got to get on down the Road here in a minute. I was just wondering Was it down at the Joske Store yall got them John Bs. Yes Sir it was down at the Joske Store for a Fact, Calley said, you oughta go down there and get you one you self. I’d have to rob me a Bank or two to do it, the Superintendent said, they ain’t giving em away today are they. Didn’t these two here, Calley said. Yall go hear What that o’Red Face Man had to say for his self bout the Devil burning his Face off for him last night. Was you there too, Calley said. Yes Sir I was, Superintendent Shettles said, and it sure got me to thinking bout my own Faults. Well we all gotta do better if we can I reckon, Calley said, fore its too late. Already too late for this Bad Boy we a’hunting here, the Superintendent said, First Thing that come to my mine when I looked him in the Face back at the Correctional was Why here I am a’looking in the Eye a’the o’Devil his self ain’t I and listen here Mister the Shivvers just went to running all up and down my Leg and in and out my Boot like a bunch a’god dam Poison Snakes bout to bite me Dead.
I RECKON THAT WAS YOUR FRIEND he was a’talking bout wadn’t it, Calley said when Superintedent Shettles and his Men rode on off. Arlon wadn’t really never no Friend a’mine, Papa said, but Yes Sir that’s who he was a’talking bout I reckon. Want my advice, Calley said. Stay way a’way from that little Pecker Wood Son of a Bitch. It’s a wonder you ain’t already tainted just by being in that Pitchur with him. I thought that o’Superintendent was gonna see it was me there for sure didn’t you, Papa said. I reckon this Fat Lip’s what saved me. No Sir it’s that John B what saved you, Calley said. Wouldn’t nobody in the World think a Boy wearing him a John B Stetson Hat like that could ever be no body but a good Citizen. Where’d you get the Money for em any how, Papa said. Oh I’m still spending Money that come out a’o’Jug Ears Saddle Bags way back there when he was bout to do you and Little Lalo Bad Harm and I had to shoot him for it remember. I still got some Money come out a’his Saddle Bag my self, Papa said. I could a’bought my own John B you know it. I know it, Calley said, but I wanted your First Good Hat in your Life to be my Treat. The Man at the Joske Store said it was gonna last me a Lifetime, Papa said. Might be a little early in your Life to go a’saying that, Calley said, All depends on how you Live it I reckon. I ain’t scared a’dying, Papa said, cause I know they ain’t no body ever really Dies any how. Well you’re way a’head a’me on that one, Calley said, I don’t know it. You ain’t never seen the Shimmery People huh, Papa said. Oh I reckon I seen one or two Shimmery People in my Life, Calley said, but these wadn’t the same Shimmery People you a’talking bout here. Who was they, Papa said. Well one of em was this Fella I was having this Fight with bout some thing or other, Calley said. and he hit me cross my Head with a wagon rench and bout took my Ear off and then ever time I looked at him for a Day or two after that he was just a’Shimmering in his tracks. How bout the other one, Papa said. The other one, Calley said, Well the other one was this o’Gal a’trying to Spark me one night when I wadn’t but a’couple a’years oldern you are now. Spark you, Papa said. It’s what some People call it, Calley said. Spark you. I don’t have no idea what that is, Papa said. Well that’s cause you ain’t never been Sparked yet, Calley said, After you been Sparked oncet or twiced is when you know what it means to get Sparked. After that you don’t never forget it neither, he said, and pretty soon you just go a’riding round the Country looking to get Sparked oncet or twiced more but they ain’t nothing in the World gonna ruin a Good Man quickern that less it’s Whiskey, he said. Whiskey’s worsen Sparking when it comes to Ruining a Good Man. Whiskey huh, Papa said. You know this o’Gal I’m a’talking bout here, Calley said. Yes Sir, Papa said. Well I thought she wanted to give me a Spark but what she really wanted was to get me down Drunk and the Sparking was just the Bait to do it with so I took me a’Drink a’her Whiskey and then another one and then some more and Oh then ever body and ever thing in the World just went to Shimmering on me like all them Shimmery People you a’talking bout but when I come a’wake next morning, he said, Why them o’Shimmery People was all gone and that o’Gal was gone and Why my Money was all gone too and all I had left on me was this big o’Head Ache kep me down on my bed for bout two days and I decided I was just gonna have to quit it for Life. The Sparking and the Whiskey both huh Mister Pearsall, Papa said. Well No, Calley said, not both.
OH AND THEN HERE COME O’FRITZ just a’running out the Brush and went to barking at us to Come On Come On so we jumped Double on o’Firefoot and run after him and then here in a minute Why we seen Little Missey a’stumbling long toward us from Town with some thing so Big and Heavy in her Arm it was bout to turn her over. What is it she got there I said, Papa said, and o’Calley blocked the Sun out his Eye with his John B so he could see better and said Well Bessa my Coola if it ain’t one a’them poor o’Shot Up Dogs from Town is what it is. Is it Dead, Papa said. She ain’t just walking round with a Dead Dog in her Arm is she. But by then o’Calley was already off o’Firefoot, he said, and a’taking that o’Dog in his own Arm. He ain’t Dead, Calley said, It’s that o’Flop Eared Dog bit that Man when he went after Little Missey with his knife. Oh and it was, Papa said. And they was Bullet Holes all in him where that Man shot him and he couldn’t hardly breathe neither just kinda whisper Ssss Ssss Ssss like he was trying to tell you a Secret bout some thing. You and o’Firefoot run go get the Bee Honey, Calley said, and be dam Quick bout it or we gonna be digging us a’nother Hole here in just a minute. And bring Little Missey’s Bundle, he said, we don’t want her worrying bout that too. So me and o’Firefoot run up there and got the Bee Honey and her Travelling Bundle both quick as we could and when we got back why o’Fritz was a’trying to Lick that o’Dog’s Bullet Holes Dry and Little Missey and Mister Pearsall both was a’petting on him and she took her Bundle from me and started a’Singing that o’Dog a Little Song bout some thing or other but, Papa said, I didn’t have no Idea what. How is he doing I said. I don’t know he gonna Live or Not, Calley said, but I can tell you for sure his Dancing Days is over for a’while. What’d she do, Papa said, Drag him outta the Dead Dog Pile. Calley twirled his Spur Ching e Ching e ChingChingChing and said Well She lost one Friend, he said, But now Look she gone and found her a’new One ain’t she. And then I looked over there, Papa said, and Little Missey was a’putting Dabs a’Honey on her Finger and a’poking it down them Bullet Holes. He don’t look so Good to me, I said, I can’t tell he’s gonna Live or Not. Well we just gonna have to stay here with him til we see which one, Calley said. That’s how I vote on it Mister. Yes Sir me too, Papa said. Course we gonna have to go find us a Bee Tree to Rob too cause a’the way we a’going through what little Honey we got left.
SO THERE WE WAS, Papa said, Two Dogs Two Horses Two Men and one little o’Wild Woman didn’t care bout nothing in the World cep saving that Poor o’Shot Up Flop Eared Dog that here just a’little while ago was a’trying to Eat her up long with all them others. What we gonna name him if he Lives I said, Papa said, and o’Calley said Well he probably already got him a Name he just ain’t tole us yet is all. How’s he gonna tell us, Papa said, he ain’t even hardly breathing. Well you gotta ask him nice, Calley said, and listen to what he says back to you. You a’teasing me again ain’t you I said but Calley went over there and set down by Little Missey and that o’Dog and said Scuse me Little Missey your Dog got a Name that you know of but No she didn’t even look up at him Just kep a’dabbing Bee Honey on. You know I don’t believe neither one of em got a Name, Calley said, Ain’t that the Saddest thing you ever heared in your Life. How you gonna get a’long if you ain’t got a Name some body can call you by. Well we been a’calling her Littl
e Missey, Papa said, I reckon that’s a Name ain’t it. Yes Sir that is a Name, Calley said then leaned down close to her and said Hidy Little Missey how you like your name. But she just went on with her Dabbing and didn’t even look up at him, Papa said. I think she likes it okay, Calley said. Cause if a Woman don’t like some thing Why she god dam sure gonna tell you bout it ain’t she. Then, Papa said, o’Calley give that poor o’Dog a Look and said How bout you Mister you got a Name or you just want us to give you one. And then, he said, Calley reached over to give him a little Scruff on his Head to be Friendly bout it but when he did why that o’Dog we thought was bout Dead reached up with his Teeth and give him a good hard Bite on his Hand and o’Calley jumped back on his Bottom and hollered SonofaBitch SonofaBitch and then said If Little Missey didn’t like him so much, I believe I’d just chunk him in the River for his Sass and he wouldn’t need no Name. But right then, Papa said, Why that o’Dog lifted his Head up and give Ever Body this Sad I’m Sorry Look like that was the First Friendly Hand ever reached out to him in his Life and Now he was Sorry bout Biting it and bout ever thing else Bad he ever done in his Life too. And then, he said, o’Fritz give him a Lick and then Little Missey give him a Pet and then I did too and all that o’Dog done was close his Eyes down for a Nap. Give him a Pet Mister Pearsall I said, Papa said, he ain’t gonna Bite you now that he’s a’sleeping I don’t reckon. No Sir Thank you, Calley said, I like just setting here a’keeping my Hand to my self in case he’s playing Possum on me again. So we named him Possum, Papa said, cause we couldn’t think a’nothing better.
The Devil's Sinkhole Page 10
