The Devil's Sinkhole

by Bill Wittliff

  Yes sir it was o’Arlon they had . . .

  WHY IT WAS O’PELO BLANCO was who it was, Papa said, and he had Mister Benton Yancy a’hobbling long side a’him but didn’t look like Mister Yancy could take but maybe just one more step fore he dropped down Dead on the ground. Father, o’Wasskum hollered, Father Father Father then run over there to him fast as he could and when me and Calley and Fritz and Possum got over there Why o’Wasskum was already a’holding his Daddy in his arms and just a’crying like a Baby. That Boy put his Knife in me and tried to Murder me, Mister Yancy said. You was right bout him being a Criminal and I’m sorry I said you wadn’t. Yes Sir, Calley said, you oughta be Sorry a’talking like that to your own Son when you didn’t know nothing bout it. I said I’m sorry Mister, Mister Yancy said, I take it all back and ever other Bad Thing I ever said to you in my Life. You go on and be a Artist if you want to and I won’t say one Word against it, he said. I got all the time in the World to be a Artist, Wasskum said, only thing I got to do now is get you to a Doctor. Put some Bee Honey on it I said, Papa said, but they was Blood Bubbles just a’bubbling out his Chest where Arlon went and stabbed him. I don’t think that Man is going to Live too much longer you know it, o’Pelo said. You want me to say some Words over him before he dies. We want you to just be Quiet you god dam o’Red Face Story Stealing Son of a Bitch, Calley said. Here let me Help You Mister Yancy he said and tried to wipe the Bubbles off with his Bandana but they still come a’Bubbling up. I’m taking you to a Doctor Daddy, Wasskum said. I don’t wanna go to a Doctor, Mister Yancy said, I wanna stay here with you Son. He ain’t staying here, Calley said, He just tole you he’s a’taking you to a Doctor so get you self up on that Horse Mister or you ain’t gonna make it in time. You’re just Right as you can be Mister Pearsall, Mister Yancy said, Now if you’ll just help me a’board we’ll be a’way and a Pleasure to meet you Sir. He give Calley and me both a Hand Shake, Papa said, then we ooched him up on his Horse and o’Wasskum climbed up behind him and put his Arms round his Daddy to hold him on tight so he wouldn’t fall off on they Trip. Good Luck, Calley said, Good Luck to you both. And I said the same thing, Papa said, then give em a salute like we was all in the Navy. Then here in a minute, he said, o’Wasskum turned round and blowed o’Possum a little Kiss Good Bye and o’Possum went to crying bout it then give each one a’us a Look Good Bye his self and went a’trotting off after o’Wasskum and his Daddy and now, Papa said, It was o’Fritz went to crying cause there went his o’Friend Possum and he didn’t reckon he was ever gonna see him again in his Life.

  OH AND THEN, Papa said, Why o’Calley took a’holt a’o’Pelo and give him the Snake Eyes. Where’s Pela at, he said, you better not a’done nothing to her Mister then o’Pelo give him his own Snake Eyes back and said Her and this other Girl is a’Singing and Dancing for Coins in Senyora Garza’s Place over in San Antoneya and they’s both a’getting Rich at it. Where’d this Other Girl come from, Calley said, I didn’t even know Pela knowed one. Oh she just come a’running down the Street one day cause her o’Granny up and died on her and she needed a Friend. I don’t know how I knowed it, Papa said, but I knowed it was Annie he was a’talking bout and she was running down the street cause she was a’looking for me. Was her name Annie I said, Papa said, Annie Oster. I don’t have no Idea was it or not, o’Pelo said. You’d need to go ask her bout it you self. Then he put his Hand down his Pants and come out with his Pistol to see he had some Bullets in it. I’m on the trail to find that Bad Boy fore some body else does, he said. I figgur I do just one Great Big Good Thing it’s gonna be bettern doing all them Little Good Things I been a’doing to keep from setting on that Flat Rock down there in Hell. What bout Pela, Calley said, You didn’t just run off and leave her Singing and Dancing in San Antoneya did you. Yes Sir I did, o’Pelo said, I ain’t got time for no Woman. You mean you set Pela Free and give her Her Word back That what you mean. Well what was I gonna do with it, o’Pelo said. Sides that, he said, I figgur maybe they’ll count it in my Favor when they go to counting up all the Good Things I done. Then, Papa said, o’Pelo stuck his Pistol back down his Pants and went a’walking off South and Mister Pearsall said Even if he does catch that Boy I don’t believe it’s gonna be nough to make up for all them Bad Things he done in his Life but I do admire the Ugly o’Son of a Bitch for a’trying it don’t you and I said Yes Sir I do, Papa said.

  AIN’T YOU WORRIED o’Pelo’s gonna catch Arlon fore we do, Papa said, Maybe we oughta tied him to a Rock or some thing to slow him down some. No I ain’t worried, Calley said, Why o’Pelo don’t even know where to look. Mexico same as us, Papa said, ain’t that where o’Arlon’s a’going. Calley shaked his head No and said Not less he’s looking for six seven Bullets in his cabeza for murdering that Mexkin Family and they poor o’Dog that day out there in they Field. That’s one thing you might wanna put in your Sack to remember bout Mexkins, he said. They ain’t no body on Earth Loves they Family moren a’Mexkin does and if you do Bad Harm to One Why it’s like you done Bad Harm to the Whole Bunch and Listen Here Senyor they gonna get you back for it just sures o’Bobby Lee’s Momma whistles Dixie. Well if o’Arlon ain’t a’going to Mexico, Papa said, Where you reckon he is a’going. I know xactly where he’s a’going, Calley said, then pointed his Finger way out yonder in the Direction he was talking bout. Bout two three Days in that Direction yonder, he said, to where the o’Devil keeps all the Lost Souls they ever was in the World. The Devil’s Sinkhole o’Calley said then took his John B off and fanned his self with it cause of a sudden it was getting Hot round here just talking bout it. And then, Papa said, Why o’Fritz scooted back on his Hiney and went Heh Heh Heh but they wadn’t nothing Funny bout it this time. I think you went and scared o’Fritz with all this talk bout the Devil you know it I said, Papa said. Oh I don’t reckon o’Fritz got any thing to worry bout, Calley said, Why I doubt the o’Devil’d want him even if we was to tie a Bow round his Tail and stick a Flower in his Ear. You always got a Joke ain’t you Mister Pearsall, Papa said. The Devil’s Sinkhole ain’t no Joke if that’s what you thinking, Calley said. It ain’t just Some Place some body made up to scare the Little Chilrens with. No Sir, he said, it’s a real Place all right and it will scare the Hairs right off the Top a’your Head to where they go a’running off down the Road and don’t never even look back. You must a’been down in there you self huh Mister Pearsall, Papa said, to know so much bout it. No Sir, Calley said, ain’t no body ever gone down in there that ever come back out again that I know of. Well how you know so much then, Papa said. Well when I run out a’what I do know I just make up some more to go long with it and pretty much ever time it turns out that’s Right too. That don’t make no Sense, Papa said, How you figgur that. I can’t say I know, he said, I reckon I just know moren I know I know and then when I need to know some more why here it comes to me. It’s like this here, Calley said, I know Pela Rosa is a’waiting for me back in San Antoneya but what I don’t know is the Particulars of our Happy Life together after me and you put the Budge on that little Son of a Bitch Arlon Clavic for what he done to our Little Missey. So I just been making em up in my Head, he said. What Particulars tween you and Pela Rosa you talking bout, Papa said, but o’Calley said Oh No Sir not for you Mister.

  WELL IT’S JUST YOU AND ME AGAIN now ain’t it Amigo, Calley said, when me and him and o’Fritz went a’riding on off next morning to go find Arlon and stop his Bad Deeds. How long we been a’riding together like this any how he said and I said, Papa said, I don’t have no Idea how long Mister Pearsall but I’d reckon it is somewheres round seventeen twenty years if it’s a Day. Why how can that be he said, Papa said, Hell you ain’t even that Old you self yet are you. Well maybe I am and maybe I ain’t, Papa said, I don’t know. You don’t know how Old you are, Calley said and I said, No Sir I don’t know how Old I am. Well how Old was you on your last Birthday then, he said. When was that, Papa said. No body ever tole me it even come round. Maybe we just gonna have to give you a Birthday, Calley said
, Tell me One you like bettern all them others. Well I don’t know, Papa said. Why Hell just make one up then, Calley said, it ain’t ever body in the World gets to name they own Birthday. When was o’Genral Lee’s Birthday, I said. Oh I don’t know, Calley said, I think it was in January some time but I wadn’t there to know what Day. Well that’s the One I want if I get to name one for my self, Papa said. Okay, Calley said, we’ll just say your Birthday is January the Something til we know January the What how bout that. Okay, Papa said. So, Calley said, how old was you last January the Something and then went to laughing like I knowed more bout how old I was now’n I did a minute or two ago when it first come up. You always got a Joke ain’t you Mister Pearsall I said, Papa said, but then when o’Calley got over laughing bout that one too he said This ain’t no Joke what we’re a’going to do now you know it. You mean going to the Devil’s Sinkhole to catch o’Arlon. That is xactly what I mean, he said, you ain’t scared are you. Oh No Sir, I ain’t scared a’Lick I said, Papa said, but I had to reach down and give o’Fritz a’Pet so o’Calley wouldn’t see I was shaking so Bad I was bout to cry. Well by god I am, he said. Fact is I’m so scared I’m bout to Dirty my Pants and have to go buy me a’new Pair back at the Joske Store in San Antoneya. You ain’t scared, Papa said, you just Joking me again ain’t you. Why you the Bravest Man I ever did see in all my Life Mister Pearsall, I said. Brave don’t mean you ain’t scared, Calley said, No Sir he said, Brave means it don’t matter how god dam Scared you are you just gonna jump right over it and go do what you know in your Heart you gotta go do any how. Ain’t that how you see it too, he said and I said, Well I’m a’trying to see it that way Mister Pearsall. Well you ain’t turned round and gone Home have you, Calley said and I said, No Sir not yet I ain’t. O’Calley reached over and pulled o’Sister up and said You go on Home now if you want to I won’t never say nothing bout it. Oh and I might a’done just that, Papa said, but of a sudden here come that Copper Taste up in my mouth for what o’Arlon done to Little Missey and it was like some o’German Black Smith took a’holt a’my Ear and wadn’t never gonna let go til we put o’Arlon Clavic back down in Hell where he come from in the First Place. No Sir I ain’t a’going Home, Papa said, and give Sister my heels then here in a minute o’Calley and Firefoot catched up and Calley said Oh I do like to travel round with my Brave Friends. Then, Papa said, he give me a Smile and tipped his John B Stetson Hat like I was one a’them Brave Friends he been a’talking bout so I tipped my John B back at my o’Amigo and give him a Smile a’my own.

  AFTER BOUT A’NOTHER DAY AND A HALF, Papa said, Sister tole me she didn’t wanna go no further by jumping round all the time and trying to go back Home. Sister don’t wanna go no more I said, Papa said. Maybe you got your Momma’s Saddle on wrong and its a’pinching her, Calley said. No Sir I don’t never get my Saddle on wrong, Papa said, I think maybe she just don’t wanna go to the Devil’s Sinkhole is all. No Sir and not me neither, Calley said, but that’s Where we a’going any how ain’t it if we wanna catch that Boy and we dam sure do wanna catch him don’t we. Yes Sir we do, Papa said, I don’t see why o’Arlon had to go and do all them Bad Things any how do you. No Sir and I don’t reckon he could tell you neither, Calley said, even if we was all setting down at the table drinking us a glass a’Grape Juice together. Maybe he was just borned that way huh, Papa said, Maybe he didn’t never have no Choice bout it. Course I don’t claim to know for sure, Calley said, but No Sir I don’t believe the Big Lord God a’Mighty’d ever say You gonna be a Bad Man to one Fella and You gonna be a Good Man to another. No Sir, he said, I think he just says You Choose Mister then cuts us all a’loose in the World and gets out the Way. And then what happens, Papa said, after the Big Lord God All Mighty cuts us all a’loose. Why then we got to make up our own Mine and Choose what kind a’Life we gonna Live from then on out. Like for xample, he said, One Man might Choose him a Life a’setting out there on his Front Porch a’smoking his Pipe and Another One might Choose him a Life where he’s a’working on his Farm ever day and a’making some thing of his self. Where’d he get that Farm he’s a’working on, Papa said. Well I reckon he just Choosed it when the Big Lord God a’Mighty tole him It’s Your Turn to Choose Mister, Calley said. Just like that and he got him a Farm huh I said, Papa said, and o’Calley snapped his Finger and said Yes Sir just like that I reckon. So what’d you Choose when it come Your Turn to Choose Mister Pearsall, Papa said. Well, Calley said, First Thing was I wanted to be borned here in Texas like all my People was fore me and next thing was I wanted to have me a Good Horse and a Good Dog and I got o’Firefoot here the Best Horse they ever was in the World but the Tonks et my Little Dog that Night remember I tole you that Sad Story bout it. Yes Sir, Papa said, I do remember you did. After they got him out from under the Porch where he was a’sleeping ain’t that Right. And a’course, Calley said, I wanted all the Girls to like me but that wadn’t never no Problem that I could tell and still ain’t is it. How’d you go bout Choosing, Papa said. Oh best I recall I just made Pitchurs a’what I wanted in my Head, Calley said, and then all them things I made Pitchurs of in my Head just come to me Simple as Pie I reckon. Even fore you was borned you was already making up Pitchurs in you Head a’what you wanted in your Life huh, Papa said. Yes Sir I reckon I was, Calley said, how else you figgur I could a’done it. I don’t have no idea How Else, Papa said, I reckon you’d be the one to know bout that cause you was the one a’doing the Choosing wadn’t you. Well I just done it I reckon, Calley said. That was so Long ago I can’t hardly even remember it no more.

  THE CLOSER WE GOT to the Devil’s Sinkhole, Papa said, the more Hard it was to get Sister and o’Firefoot to go. And, he said, o’Fritz wadn’t Happy bout it neither. Our Amigos here is a’getting Persnickety bout our Trip ain’t they, Calley said, Maybe we oughta just left em at Home. Where’s that at, Papa said. It ain’t nowhere, Calley said, It’s just some thing Funny I said, he said. You got a Bad Habit a’listening too close you know it. I just meant we ain’t got no Home is all, Papa said. I know what you meant, Calley said, That’s what’s Funny bout what I just said. We ain’t got no Pet Buffalo neither but I didn’t say nothing bout that cause it don’t Pertain does it. Let’s just be quiet bout it here for a’minute okay, he said. Okay I said, Papa said, and then we didn’t none a’us talk no more and it was like we was a bunch a’little Mices a’riding cross the Country with our Mouth tied shut. Oh but then, he said, we all heared this Door Squeek and it bout scared us out our Pants. Who’s that Squeeking that Door, Papa said, but fore o’Calley could answer me back why they was a’nother hunderd Doors started a’Squeeking and then Oh the whole World went a’Squeeking like it was about to come off the Hinge. What is that I hollered, Papa said, and o’Calley put his Hands round his Mouth and hollered back It’s either all them poor lost Souls a’Crying cause they can’t get out the Devil’s Sinkhole or It’s bout nine hundered million and six Bats a’wanting to go catch they Suppers fore they go back to bed. Then of a sudden, Papa said, we looked and Way Way Way off out yonder come this Big Black Whirled Wind a’Bats just a’Squeeking and a’Screeching and a’Screaming up out the Ground and Calley said See what I told you Mister. Oh I didn’t like it worth a Lick, Papa said. They ain’t gonna try and eat us too are they I said. No you too Skinny and I’m too Pretty and I don’t reckon they’d want o’Fritz there even if we was to serve him on a plate with a big Red Apple a’sticking out his Mouth like them Romes usted to do back in the Olden Days. I don’t believe our Horse gonna go another step with all them Bats a’flying round out here, Papa said. Well we gonna have to go on without em then ain’t we, Calley said. So, Papa said, We grabbed our Ropes off our Saddle and went a’walking through the Cactuses and Mesquites toward where all them Bats was still a’Squeeking up out a’the Ground to go find they Suppers and Oh when we got to there, he said, Why the Devil’s Sinkhole was so big round you could just barely see the other side but Calley said You think it’s some thing how Wide it is just come over here and lookee
how Deep. So we crawled up to the Edge a’the Sinkhole and looked down in it and Oh it was so Deep you couldn’t no way see the Bottom and when o’Calley dropped a Rock in Why you almost never heared it hit the Bottom neither. Oh that’s Deep ain’t it Mister Pearsall, Papa said. Yes Sir Deep Deep Deep, Calley said, and they say if you listen real close some time you can hear all them Lost Souls at the Bottom just a’Hollering and a’Crying bout it. I don’t hear no Lost Soul a’Hollering and a’Crying, Papa said. Might help some if you’d just Hush and Listen a minute then, Calley said, Why don’t you try that. So, Papa said, I cupped my Hand round my Ear and me and o’Fritz leaned way out over the Sinkhole to listen but I didn’t hear no body. I don’t hear no Lost Soul down there Mister Pearsall, Papa said, I don’t know where you got that Story. Then, he said, I dropped another Rock down the Hole just for the Fun of it and grabbed o’Fritz to go but then Oh some body way down there Hollered STOP throwing them ROCKS on Me or I’m gonna come up there and wring your SKINNY NECK for You.