I COULDN’T GET OUT THE BED for my Head a’hurting so Bad that Day and not the Next Day neither, Papa said, but the next Day after that I come a’Live again and Ever Body walked me down to the end a’the Field where Gilbert Lee Choat and Miss Gusa and now Little Missey with the Bones a’her Little Son there in her Arms was all buried in the Ground up bove the Creek a’running so Pretty down below. I reckon she and her Boy glad to be here, Mister Choat said, where they got some Company. Yes Sir and we glad to have em too, Miz Choat said, I didn’t know Little Missey for long and didn’t never understand a Word she ever said but I almost come to think a’her as the Little Daughter I never did have. I hope Don’t no body try to dig her up outta here Marcellus said and then Miz Choat put her arm round him and said We wouldn’t never let no body do that Marcellus and then he said, Papa said, No Ma’am but they’s some People ain’t gonna like it she’s buried in White People Ground and gonna wanna come dig her up out a’it some Night when they ain’t no body looking. Now just hold your Horses there a minute, Miz Choat said, I don’t see where God put up a Sign any wheres round here says White People Ground only or Some Body Else Ground only or No Body Else’s Ground only or nothing else. No but Marcellus got a Point there don’t he, Mister Choat said, I mean they’s People do such a thing like that and we might even know one or two of em our self but I ain’t a’naming no Names. Your talking bout o’Lester What’s His Name ain’t you Mister Choat, Miz Choat said. I ain’t saying for sure but I might be talking bout o’Lester What’s His Name and I might be talking bout o’Buster What’s His Name runs the Dry Goods Store both, Mister Choat said, if I was a’naming Names which I ain’t. Well we can quit talking bout it any how, Papa said Miz Choat said, Cause they ain’t no body ever digging Little Missey up outta this Ground here long as I’m a’Live and got my Bird Gun handy. If I was to up and die, Marcellus said, You wouldn’t let no body dig me up outta here neither would you. Well your o’Granny Jeffey gonna want you next to her over yonder in the Colony Ground any how don’t you reckon Marcellus, Miz Choat said, so I doubt the question ever even gonna come up. Well I wanna be next to my Granny Jeffey but I wanna be next to yall too, Marcellus said. Well Hon, Miz Choat said, that might be hard to do. Maybe yall could come over there to the Colony and get buried in the Ground next to me, Marcellus said. Well Yes Sir that’s a Idea, Miz Choat said, but they’s Black People over there in the Colony might not like it White People being buried in the same Ground with them. You don’t think they’d try to dig you up outta there do you, Marcellus said. Well they might, Papa said Miz Choat said, You don’t never know do you what with Black People and White People both being bout the same on the inside.
THAT NIGHT AT SUPPERS, Papa said, I ask Did any body know which way Mister Pearsall and Mister Yancy and o’Possum went off in to catch o’Arlon and Miz Choat said South. South to Where I said, Papa said, and Mister Choat said South to Where Ever Body goes that done some thing Bad North a’there. That sounds like Mexico to me, Miz Choat said, less they catch him short a’there. Well if they don’t I will, Papa said, and I ain’t gonna stop til I do. Yes Sir I’m a’feeling the same bout it my self, Marcellus said. I didn’t know we was having Suppers here with the James Boys Frank and Jesse this evening did you Mister Choat, Miz Choat said. And here’s another thing Marcellus, she said, You ain’t a’going off no wheres whether you want to or not. Your o’Granny Jeffey’d skin you and me both a’Live and spit out the Seeds. Oh Marcellus was just bout to cry bout it, Papa said, and had to scrunch up his Face to keep from it and then Bird come over and took a’holt a’my Hand. Bird don’t want you to go neither you know it, Miz Choat said. I think he probably got more sense bout it’n you do. I’m a’going any how, Papa said, They ain’t no Other Way bout it. You wanna have a Mark on your Soul you killed some body when you meet you Maker, Miz Choat said, that the kind a’Mark you want on your Soul. I don’t care if I do, Papa said, not after what he done to Little Missey. I don’t care neither, Marcellus said. Well it don’t matter if you care or not Marcellus, Miz Choat said, you ain’t a’going no wheres any how. But this time, Papa said, Marcellus did start crying bout it and then Miz Choat did too and reached out both her Hands and took a’holt a’Marcellus in one and me in the other and then I looked over there, he said, and Why Mister Choat was just a’crying too and so was o’Fritz and then fore I knowed it I was too and Oh, Papa said, we just set there a’holding Hands and a’Crying like little Babies. I’m gonna count to Three, Miz Choat said, and when I get to Three I want all a’us to stop this Crying yall hear me But when she got to Three, Papa said, we just cried right on through it and kep a’going til I reckon we was at bout five hunderd and five and was just all wore out from it and couldn’t Cry no more. Well all that Crying makes us feel better now don’t it, Miz Choat said, then me and Marcellus went to warshing the Dishes but it was hard to do it cause Bird didn’t want me to go neither and wouldn’t let go my Hand. Don’t Worry Bird, I said, I’ll come back soons I can. Then, Papa said, he let go my Hand but now he wrapped both his little Arms round my Leg tight as he could and set down on my Foot and I had to limp and stumble round everwheres with him just a’hanging on like that til it was time for ever body to go to Bed and get some sleep.
DIDN’T NO BODY KNOW IT, Papa said, but me and Sister and o’Fritz all sneaked out late that Night and was long gone down the Road by the time the Moon come up to light our Way on South. Well here we go Amigos I told em, he said, but Where To I ain’t got no Idea in the World. All I know, I said, is we gonna find Bad Arlon One Way or the Other and when we do we gonna Fix him for what he done to Little Missey and it bout made me Cry to say it cause she ain’t never done nothing to No Body but now she was Gone Forever. But just to show you how this Trip started out, Papa said, Why the First Thing we seen next morning when the Sun come up was three sets a’Tracks out there in the Middle a’the Road and one set was Firefoot and one was o’Pete the Donkey and the other One was o’Possum and what they was all Three a’saying was This Way This Way This Way so, he said, I just pointed my o’John B Stetson Hat in that same Direction and a’way we went with o’Fritz a’going Heh Heh Heh cause he didn’t have no Idea the Danger we was maybe heading in and didn’t know no better any how. Course I didn’t neither, Papa said, or I might a’turned round my self and gone the other way too. But No I was set on getting o’Arlon for what he done and then it come to me they was some thing Different bout him when he come a’Jumping down out the Loff at me and that was His Eyes didn’t close DOWN when he blinked like ever body else but closed UP from Bottom to Top in sted like some o’Lizert you might find under a Rock some wheres. Closed UP, Papa said, Why it was like o’Arlon wadn’t even who he’d BEEN when I first come to know him no more but was Some Body ELSE now. Or some THING else, he said, and Oh it spooked me to think it cause What if I was Right and we was maybe even dealing with some o’Devil now and not o’Arlon Clavic no more at all and Oh, Papa said, I wished o’Calley’d been there to tell me which one it was fore it was too Late.
SO WE JUST KEP A’GOING in the Direction we was already a’going in, Papa said, and it wadn’t long and we was in the Mesquites and Cactuses far as you could see and the World went just flat as some o’Board you might find out yonder behind the Barn or some wheres but they wadn’t nothing to do bout it but just keep on a’going. Then bout two days later I reckon it was, Papa said, Why here come some o’Man a’wearing him a Navy Suit with a bunch of raggedy ribbons on it and a’carrying him a old rotten Flag on a Stick said Nothing Fancy It’s A Yancy on it and Oh he was bout all give out from his Travels and couldn’t barely keep from a’falling off his o’wore out Horse. You look like you could use you a Rest Mister I said, Papa said, and the Man said No I never felt no better in all my Life can you tell me where I am Please. Yes Sir, Papa said, you are in Texas same as me and this Horse and Little Dog here But I don’t know I can tell you xactly where in Texas that is. Oh Thank God the Man said then stepped down off his Horse and curled up on the Ground and
went right off to sleep like some Little Baby and it wadn’t til Bright and Early next morning he come a’wake again and I give him a drink a’water and some Bread I had for Breakfast. I never xpected to find the Good Samaritan out here in the Wilderness, he said, but here you are. No Sir I ain’t no Samaritan, Papa said, I don’t even know the Samaritans less they that Bunch lives over yonder pass Buckner Store on Snake Creek. But, Papa said, your Flag there reminds me of a Artist goes round the Country painting Pitchurs by the name a’Wasskum Yancy. Oh Good God in the Starry Heavens, the Man said, You a’talking about my own Son. You his Daddy huh, Papa said. Yes Sir that’s me, the Man said, Benton Yancy father of Wasskum Yancy. Can you tell me Where he is, he said. Him and my o’Amigo Calley Pearsall is off chasing a Murderer name a’Arlon Clavic, Papa said, and we are too. A Murderer, Mister Yancy said, Oh My God my Son Wasskum is off chasing a Murderer through the Wilds of Texas. Yes Sir I reckon he is, Papa said, less they done Caught and Hanged him from a Tree by now or he done shot em both Dead for trying one or the other. That Would Break his Mother’s Heart, Mister Yancy said, And mine too. I didn’t know to believe him or not bout that, Papa said, after what all Wasskum said bout him so I said What’s your Flag mean. A Yancy, Mister Yancy said, is a suit a’Long Under Wear has both Arms and Legs in it to keep you warm and a Two Button Drop Down Trap Door in the Back. Nothing Fancy you understand, he said, It’s a Yancy. But our Under Wears give you a lot a’Peace a’Mine when you in a Hurry if you take my meaning. Peace a’Mine that’s what we built our Name on. Course they’s another Company makes em too, Mister Yancy said, but they Buttons fall short cause they so hard to undo when you a’hurrying. You come to Philadelphia some time I’ll have our Manager walk you through the Mill and you can see how we do it yourself, he said. Thank you, Papa said. Alright then, Mister Yancy said, now where’s Wasskum. I don’t have no idea in the World, Papa said, we just a’going cross the Country to see if we can find em fore it’s too late and o’Arlon shoots em.
TELL ME SOME MORE BOUT MY SON Mister Yancy said when we was riding on off later that Morning, Papa said. Well he’s a’chasing Arlon Clavic the Thief and Murderer now but, I said, most a’the Time he’s a Artist and paints Pitchurs a’what he makes up in his Head from what he sees. He’ll have to leave such Notions behind when he goes to running the Mill, Mister Yancy said. He didn’t never say nothing bout running no Mill, Papa said, You sure he knows its coming up. My Great Grandfather knowed it and my Grandfather knowed it and my Father and me both knowed it Mister Yancy said. I don’t know why Wasskum wouldn’t Know it too. Well then maybe he does know it, Papa said, but maybe he don’t care nothing bout it and just wants to go round painting Pitchurs. You mean when he’s not chasing Thieves and Murderers, Mister Yancy said, and looked like he was Glad to say it. Well that just come up here the other day, Papa said, not none a’us do it all the Time. Notions pass, Mister Yancy said, Why when I was his age I wanted my Father to buy me a Great Sailing Ship and sail cross the Seven Seas on it. I been thinking bout being a Horn Man my self, Papa said, and play in a Dance Band if I can find one to let me play in it. Well that’s a Foolish Idea, Mister Yancy said, how ever would you make Money blowing a Horn. That never come to me to even think bout it, Papa said, I just want to do it cause it looks like Fun and I like the Sound comes out when ever bodys a’blowing they Horn all together. What does your Father have to say bout your Ambitions, he said. Nothing, Papa said, he’s a setting on a Flat Rock down in Hell and don’t get to talk much any more. And when I said that, he said, Why o’Fritz went to licking on his Behind and a’going Heh Heh Heh. Maybe when you come to visit the Mill, Mister Yancy said, we could have Mister Flaret create a uniform for your little Dog there. I doubt he’d wear it, Papa said, we put a Road Runner suit on him one time for the Bird Dance over at Fischer Hall and ever time he went to Lick his Hiney Why he poked it with his Beak and he ain’t never got over it yet but I like that Outfit you a’wearing he said. Thank you, Mister Yancy said, Flaret took his Idea for it from the Great Admirals. Seems like you oughta have you a Boat if you gonna go round wearing clothes like that, Papa said. Oh I’d like that, Mister Yancy said. Maybe when Wasskum is running the Mill I’ll live my Boyhood Dream and buy one. I had a Feeling o’Wasskum wadn’t never gonna wanna run that Mill in his Life, Papa said, so I said Maybe you oughta go on and live your Dream now while you still a’Dreaming it Mister Yancy. But, Papa said, fore he could answer me back Why here come two Men and a Boy and a Dog at us from way off out yonder in the Cactuses somewheres and the Boy looked to me like they had him tied Hand to Foot to where they wadn’t no way he was gonna get a’loose and run off on em and I knowed just xactly who it was too.
YES SIR IT WAS O’ARLON THEY HAD, Papa said, and by the Look a’Wasskum he was the one catched him Why his Clothes and his face was so tore up you’d a’thought a Wild Cat been on him with all four Feets just a’going. But, he said, Mister Yancy just give me a Ugly Look bout it and said I thought you said my Son Wasskum was out after Thieves and Murderers but this ain’t nothing but a Child they got here. Hello Father, Wasskum said, I am surprised to see you. Just look at you, Mister Yancy said, Just look at you. Yes Sir do look at him, Calley said, This is the Man just saved my Life here a while ago and you either talk better to him then you are now or take you a Good Whupping for it One or the Other. Oh and then, Papa said, Mister Yancy give o’Calley a little wave a’his Hand like he was shooing a Fly off a Cow Flop and said Don’t interrupt me when I’m talking Mister Who Ever You Think You Are and Oh Calley come out the Saddle like a Duck on a June Bug and give that Man One Two Three quick Licks put him down to the Ground and said Calley Pearsall is who I think I am and now I reckon you know it too don’t you Mister. Then Wasskum tried to help his Daddy up on his Feet, Papa said, but No his Daddy wouldn’t have it and pushed him back and the other thing I seen at the same time, he said, was how o’Arlon’s Eye Lids was a’blinking Down Up Down Up cause I reckon he was thinking he might could turn this to his own use when the Time Come. Wash your Face and Pack your things, Mister Yancy said, and Let’s be off. I have a Life here now Father, Wasskum said, and don’t want no other. A Life doing What, his Father said, Painting Pitchurs. Yes Sir Painting Pitchurs or chasing Criminals or Sleeping out at Night under the stars or Skipping Rocks cross the Creek or What Ever the god dam Else I wanna do. You are a Yancy Young Sir, Mister Yancy hollered at him, a Yancy Yancy Yancy same as me. I don’t wanna be a Yancy, Wasskum said, and I don’t believe you wanna be a Yancy neither or you wouldn’t be wearing that Sailor Suit. Oh Mister Yancy was mad bout him saying that and hollered I am Robert Charles Benton Yancy of Philadelphia Pennsylvania United States of America Sir and I will wear any thing I decide I want to wear and they ain’t no body on this Earth got one thing to say bout it. I feel the same xact way Father, Wasskum said then went over there and started putting some Bee Honey on all them Scratches and Bruises he had on him and then, Papa said, I went over to o’Arlon and said Well you in a Fix now ain’t you Arlon. I been in a Fix all my Whole Life he said. It don’t mean nothing to me. They gonna Hang you and I’m gonna be a’Standing right there a’watching for what you done to Little Missey, I said. Watch all you want, Arlon said, I don’t care a Lick. I hope they give me the Quirt when they ready, Papa said. Why I’ll Quirt that Horse right out from under you then watch you Dance on the End a’the Rope til you can’t Dance a’nother step. Oh I could taste that copper Taste in my mouth, he said, and meant ever word of it. I wouldn’t go counting my Chickens fore they Hatch if I was you Mister, o’Arlon said then give me a’couple a’them Down Up Down Up Blinks and a Grin.
FRITZ AND O’POSSUM NEVER SAID NOTHING bout it to warn us that night, Papa said, but next morning Arlon and Mister Yancy was both gone and the Ropes that been a’holding Arlon tight was cut up and scattered all over the place. Your Daddy don’t have no idea in the World what he got his self into a’letting that Boy go, Calley said. Wouldn’t surprise me we find him out there somewheres in the Cactuses with a Kn
ife in his Heart or a Hole in his Head. I know it, Wasskum said, but he’s my Daddy and I gotta go find him. And us there right long with you Calley said ain’t that Right and I said Yes Sir that is Right, Papa said. So we saddled up, he said, and a’way we did go and I could tell o’Wasskum was scared to Death a’what we might find when we did find him. You Daddy and my mean o’Daddy was a’lot a’like I reckon I said, Papa said, Both of em just wants us to go Home and work ain’t that Right. Mine just wants me to be Him, Wasskum said. A Yancy always got some body else to do the Work and then the Yancy don’t have to do much sides count the Money and stick it down they Pocket. Old Karl put his Money in a Hole under the Burn Pile out there by the Barn, Papa said, and I reckon it’d still be there if we hadn’t a’found it after my Momma’s Horse Precious bout bit his Head off and killed him. We never had nothing like that in my Family, o’Wasskum said. I guess closest we ever come to it was when o’Commodore our Dog bit Father one day when he was trying to keep him from eating his new Pair a’shoes from Mayweathers in London. Maybe you’ll get you a pair a’Mayweathers some day you self, he said, even if they won’t last you moren a day or two in this Country you got round here. You love your Daddy, Wasskum said. Mister Pearsall’s my Daddy, Papa said. No I mean your real Daddy, he said. I never had no real Daddy, Papa said, Mister Pearsall’s the only Daddy I ever had and he’s good enough to last me I reckon. Do you love you Daddy I said, Papa said, and he said Yes Sir I do love my Daddy but all my Daddy knows in the World is how to be a Yancy and all I wanna know is How to be a Artist. What you gonna do when we find him, Papa said. Well if he’s still a’live after that Boy gets through with him I’m gonna tell him to just Go on back Home and leave me a’lone, he said. And what if he ain’t still a’Live, I said. O’Wasskum give it a good long thought then Oh his Eyes just went to shining and he said Well I reckon that’d just Break my Heart is What. And right then, Papa said, Calley hollered Yonder comes some body and Bessa my Coola look who it is.
The Devil's Sinkhole Page 19
