. . . o’Calley give him a good knock on his Head that put him down on the Floor . . .
SENYORA GARZA WENT AND GOT US some blankets, Papa said, and me and Annie and Marcellus and o’Fritz all leaned up a’gainst one another and went on off to sleep on that Bench even if they was People a’walking round all over the place but then, he said, I closed my Eyes and Why they was Shimmery People ever wheres you looked too and they was all going round whispering in all them Real People’s ear. Oh they was Mexkin Shimmerys and White Shimmerys and Black Shimmerys and Baby Shimmerys and Old Man and Old Woman Shimmerys and it was like they had a Secret they was trying to get over to ever body else but No ever body else was too busy with what they was already a’doing and didn’t wanna listen. But, Papa said, I wanted to hear what they got to say so I waved one a’them Old Shimmery Men over and said What’s that yall a’whispering in ever bodys Ear but don’t no body wanna hear it. Oh we just going round trying to give Good Advice is all. Well I might like to hear some my self, Papa said, if you got any for me. Okay, the Old Shimmery Man said, Here’s some You listening. Yes Sir I am, Papa said. Do Right and Risk the Consequences, the Old Shimmery Man said, Good Advice don’t get no bettern that does it. My o’Amigo Calley Pearsall says o’Sam Houston said that first, Papa said. Well Yes, the Old Man said, o’Sam Houston did say it First but he got it from us one Night. Who are yall any how, Papa said, I been here two three times and ain’t never seen yall before. Yes Sir we always here cause this is a Holy Place and People come here to talk to they self bout some Problem or other. Yes Sir that’s xactly what my o’Amigo Calley Pearsall says too, Papa said. Yes Sir but it’s us a’doing the Answering even if they think they just talking to they Self. That’s our Job, he said. And it ain’t easy. Like just fore the War we went round whispering A House Divided Can Not Stand Mister but No Sir didn’t no body wanna hear it and you seen what happened next when they went to warring bout it. Some time you just wanna shake em til they Head falls off on the Ground don’t you, he said. Was it o’Robert Lee said that bout the House, Papa said, but the Old Shimmery Man said No Sir it was o’Abe Lincoln said it but I been tole he got it out the Good Book one day when he was a’looking for something to say to the People. I made up one my self one time, Papa said. I’d like to hear it, the Old Shimmery Man said, I bet it’s a good one ain’t it. Don’t Never Just Set There Mister, Papa said. That’s it. Don’t Never Just Set There Mister huh, the Old Man said. You sure you didn’t take that one off a’some body else. No Sir it come to me just like that out the sky one night, Papa said, and I grabbed it for my Family Motto. Well it’s a good one, the man said. You don’t mine I might pass it on to some body else round here needs to hear it. Maybe you got a’nother one for me you wanna whisper in my Ear fore I wake up, Papa said. How bout that. Okay here’s One just specially for you, the Old Shimmery Man said then cupped his Hands round my Ear and whispered some thing in it but then I waked up and couldn’t remember a Word he said.
NEXT MORNING, Papa said, we went back down the street to have some Eggs and Beans at Senyora Garza’s Place and Why that o’Loonie and Possum and that little One-Eyed Bear was already a’having em some thing to Eat out there on the Board Walk and Annie said Well I ain’t surprised. Senyora Garza’d feed a Frog if it hopped up and stuck out it’s tongue. Then we went on in and there was o’Calley a’setting at the Bar with Senyora Garza a’bringing him Pan Cakes and Pela Rosa a’pouring on the Molasses. Well yall up Bright and Early this morning ain’t you, he said, I didn’t spect to see you til some time round Christmas. You reckon they’s one a’them Pan Cakes for me, Marcellus said. I wouldn’t ask cep I’m hungry. Well you and that little Dog set you self down, Senyora Garza said. Yall come to the right place if you hungry and got Forty Dollars on you to pay for it. She’s just joking you, Annie said, Why I never seen her charge moren Ten Dollars in my Life. Oh ever body laughed at that, Papa said, But not me cause I knowed my o’Amigo Calley Pearsall was a’Staying and I was a’Going. I’m gonna miss you Mister Pearsall I said, Papa said, I hope you ain’t gonna forget me. No Sir, o’Calley said, you already got your Roots in so deep I don’t believe I could pull you out with both Hands and a Mule. Oh and then, Papa said, we just naturally give each other a big Hug and wadn’t Shy bout it one bit neither. You ever need me Why I’ll come a’running, he said, you remember that. Yes Sir I will, Papa said, And I will too. Course we may come a’running any how just to say Hidy he said then Pela Rosa give Annie a Hug a’her own and they both went to crying bout Parting. They ain’t nothing bettern having a Friend is they, Senyora Garza said, then give o’Marcellus a Hug cause they wadn’t no body else a’Hugging on him. Oh and then, Papa said, o’Marcellus give her a good long Hug back and all but went to crying his self. I can’t help it, he said, I been a’missing my o’Granny Jeffey and Miz Choat both. But after that, Papa said, couldn’t no body eat they Pan Cakes no more cep o’Fritz cause we was all so Sad bout leaving and I reckon just wanted to go on and get it over with quicks we could. So, he said, we went on out the Door to where Sister and o’Edward was a’waiting and got on. How far we going, Annie said and I said, Not far as you might think Annie but far enough you gonna know you been on a Trip when we get there. I don’t care how far it is, Annie said and give me a squeeze round my middle. Then me and o’Calley give each other a little Tip a’our John B’s Adios and we Bumped on off down the Street but not fore we passed that o’Loonie and Possum and that little One Eyed Bear all a’setting out there on the Board Walk a’Crying and a’Howling they Good Byes like it was the End a’the World.
LIFE’S A FUNNY O’DOG ain’t it Marcellus said when we went a’riding on out a’San Antoneya, Papa said. Started out, Marcellus said, o’Pelo Blanco wanted to Hang you Dead from a Tree but then turned round and saved your Life in the Devil’s Sinkhole when he took o’Arlon down under the Quache with his self. Well I hope o’Pelo saved his own Soul a’doing it, Papa said, Be a shame if he don’t get some thing out a’it his self. We can ask my o’Granny Jeffey bout it, Marcellus said. She always a’talking Back and Forth to Dead People any how. I reckon some body gonna know. Your o’Granny talks to Dead People, Annie said. Why I never heared such a thing. Yes she does, Papa said, They ain’t nothing to it for o’Jeffey. I’d like to hear what o’Arlon got to say for his self after what all he done, Marcellus said, I’d like to hear that. I don’t care if I don’t never hear nothing more bout o’Arlon the whole rest a’my Life, Papa said, I already heared all I wanna hear. What you reckon made him so Bad, Marcellus said, Maybe he just come in the World like that huh. Some People do, Annie said, like them two Men come up on my Mother that day and done her Bad. Now Annie, Papa said, I thought you wadn’t supposted to talk bout that no more. Some time I can’t help it, she said. My Daddy didn’t never get over it neither and hanged his self off that Oak Tree down there by the Creek. You talk bout it all you want then Annie, Papa said, we got time. No I’ll quit it now, she said, I don’t wanna hear it no more my self. So, Papa said, we just rode long not no body hardly saying nothing for a good long while but then, he said, we started seeing other People a’going long in the same Direction we was a’going in and some of em was a’going on Horseback and some of em was a’going on Foot but they was all a’going the same Direction we was so, Papa said, I hollered at a Old Man and his Wife a’riding pass on they o’Horse Where yall a’going Mister and the Man hollered back We wanna say Hello to our Little Son one more time fore it’s too late. Is he a’going off on a Trip today, Annie said, Is that Why. He went off on his Trip bout forty seven years ago, the Old Man said, and been Dead in the Ground ever since. Oh I’m sorry, Annie said, I didn’t know you was talking bout a Long Time a’go. No you didn’t know that or nothing else neither, the Old Woman said, but you gonna know it soon nough you ever lose one a’your own like I did mine. Yes Ma’am you gonna know it then. She just talking, the Old Man said, she don’t mean nothing by it. Hadn’t a’been for o’Jeffey a’talking back and forth tween Her and our Dead Boy she�
��d a’lost her mine over it long time ago. O’Jeffey, Marcellus said, Why that’s my o’Granny you a’talking bout there Mister. Well I don’t know bout that, the Old Man said, but what I hear is o’Jeffey’s Sick and Dying and most likely won’t last the Day out. Oh and when o’Marcellus heared that water come up in his Eye and he said Granny Granny Granny then give o’Edward his heels and run on off down the Road fast as he could go and so did me and Annie and o’Fritz on Sister.
AND WHEN WE GOT THERE, Papa said, Why there was o’Jeffey in her Bed out there under the Shade Tree in her Front Yard where some body’d a’took her and Oh, he said, they was People all lined up and a’crying to get a Last Word from some body or other on the Other Side fore o’Jeffey passed on over her self and couldn’t do it no more. Come on Marcellus said and we run over there to o’Jeffey in her Bed but her Eyes was shut down tight and she wadn’t hardly breathing no more. Granny, Marcellus said. Granny Granny Granny. Then of a sudden, Papa said, Why o’Jeffey opened one Eye to a little crack and give us a Squint. Shhhh, she said. Oh and o’Marcellus bout went to pieces cause his o’Granny was still a’live and breathing. Oh Granny I thought you was Dead, he said, but you was just playing Possum wadn’t you but she put her hand up to Marcellus’ cheek and give him a little Pet. No Hon, she said, I ain’t playing Possum. Why I already got one Foot over on the other side and bout to slide the other one on over too. Ain’t gonna be but just a minute or two more, she said. You scared Granny, Marcellus said. I reckon I’d be scared. Oh Lawd no I ain’t scared, o’Jeffey said. Why that’s where we all come when we was borned ain’t it. Course, she said, they gonna wanna see what all Bad Habits I put in my Sack when I was over here fore they let me back in. But Don’t Worry they’s always some body to help you climb up the Ladder if you ain’t been too Bad, she said, You ain’t never just all by you self here or there neither one. The Ladder, Papa said, now where’d this Ladder come from you talking bout. The one goes up to the Big Mister’s House, o’Jeffey said, that Ladder. Why Granny you ain’t never said nothing bout no Big Mister before, Marcellus said. Well I guess it’s just the closer I get the more I remember is all, o’Jeffey said. The Big Mister ain’t nobody but all the Good People they ever was all rolled up into One any how, she said, and only way to get rolled up into One with em is to climb up that Ladder you self and Jump in but the only way you ever gonna climb up that Ladder is to help some body else climb up it too and for ever Step you don’t help some body else climb up it Why you gonna lose a Step back you self. Oh and then of a sudden, Papa said, o’Jeffey raised her self up on her bed and pointed her Finger out cross all them other People to where Mister and Miz Choat was a’coming with Little Bird and Oh he was a’pointing his Finger straight back at o’Jeffey same as she was at him.
FIRST THING MIZ CHOAT DONE, Papa said, was bend down and give o’Jeffey a Kiss on her Head. Oh Jeffey, she said, Oh Jeffey Oh Jeffey what we ever gonna do with out you. Don’t worry, o’Jeffey said, Don’t one Door close shut but what a’nother one opens up down the Hall, then she give me a look and said, Ain’t that what your o’Amigo Calley says. And then, Papa said, Why o’Jeffey reached up and took a’holt a’Bird’s Finger and give it a little Squeeze and then he took a’holt a’her Finger and give it a little Squeeze back. They talking, Marcellus said, They just a’talking back and forth ain’t they. Then, Papa said, ever body come in close to catch a Word or two a’what they was saying but No they wadn’t using no Words tween em you could hear cause Bird hadn’t never said not even one Word in all his whole Life. But then, he said, o’Jeffey give Bird one last Squeeze on his Finger and closed her Eyes down tight For Ever and when she did, Papa said, Why of a sudden Bird opened his Eyes first time he ever did in his Life and looked round at all the People a’standing there Crying and then he turned his little sideways Face to me and said the first words he ever did say in the World. They’s some body over here wants to talk to you he said and Oh when them words come out his mouth Why ever body drawed way back cause it wadn’t no little Boy Voice said em. Who’s that a’doing the talking out Bird’s mouth, Mister Choat said and Marcellus said, Why that’s my o’Granny Jeffey her self a’doing the talking. I knowed it was o’Jeffey too, Papa said, so I said Who you a’talking to over there wants to talk to me and she said I never seen him before but he’s a’holding up one White Domino and says to tell you That’s just how close he come. Oh it was o’Pelo Blanco was who it was, Papa said, and it bout made me cry I was so Happy to know he wadn’t gonna have to set on no Flat Rock down in Hell from now til Kingdom Come. Tell him Hidy, Papa said, and tell him I’m glad to hear from him again. Well you ain’t gonna be so glad when you hear what he got to say to you, o’Jeffey said out from Little Bird’s mouth. Yes Ma’am I’m listening, Papa said. Go on and tell me. He says they building a’Hanging Stand out there in front a’the Alamo over in San Antoneya cause they gonna hang a Man from it Saturday Noon when ever bodys in town to watch. What’d that Man do they gonna hang him for it, Papa said. This Man I’m talking to here, o’Jeffey said, says that Man lost his temper and Killed a’nother man out there in the street where ever body seen it and now he’s setting in the Jail House a’twirling his spur Ching e Ching e ChingChingChing cause they ain’t nothing he can do to take it back and wouldn’t never any how even if he could. Oh I bout fell down Dead from the Surprise, Papa said, cause now I knowed it was my o’Friend Calley Pearsall they was gonna hang and not no other. I gotta get back to San Antoneya I said, Papa said, and jumped up on Sister like I had Bed Springs in my Feet and so did Annie and Fritz behind me. Let’s go Annie said and throwed her arms round my middle and squeezed tight to hang on and Oh, Papa said, I give Sister my heels and Lit a Shuck on out a’there like a Ball a’Greeced Lighting. Don’t worry Mister Pearsall, I hollered, I’m Coming I’m Coming I’m Coming . . .
. . . o’Jeffey give Bird one last Squeeze on his Finger and closed her Eyes down tight For Ever . . .
And thus ends
THE DEVIL’S SINKHOLE
Book Two of The Papa Stories
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Once again (as they did on The Devil’s Backbone) my pals Steve Harrigan and Bill Broyles set their own work aside to read an early draft of this book and give good and perceptive advice. So did my longtime friend Connie Todd, and I am hugely grateful to all three for their wise counsel and friendship. That is true of other friends as well: George and Bonnie Siddons . . . Pat and Keith Carter . . . Julie Speed . . . Barbara Morgan . . . Van Ramsey . . . Dyson Lovell . . . Rolf Larson . . . and Jack Watson.
And thank you most kindly to my publisher Dave Hamrick who has championed these Papa Stories from the very beginning—as has my editor Casey Kittrell, who looks after Papa as if he were a member of his own family. Thank you, Dave. Thank you, Casey.
And thanks also to all the other good people over there at UT Press who have made the publishing of this book such a fun and congenial journey: Ellen McKie . . . Lynne Chapman . . . Jan McInroy . . . Colleen Ellis . . . Brian Contine . . . Brenda Jo Hoggatt . . . and Dawn Bishop.
Eternal thanks also to Joe Ciardiello for his fine illustrations that add life to these stories as well as information. Thank you, Joe.
I’ve always been blessed with bright and spunky office mates, none more so than Kate Bowie (now Carruth). Kate has that rare ability to make you feel good about what you’re writing. Nothing was ever too silly or too odd or too sad for her, and her enthusiasm for these stories was a daily inspiration. That’s true of Joe Pat Davis too, who took Kate’s place when she moved on and quickly became an indispensable part of all things Papa, just as Kate had been. Thank you, Kate. Thank you, Joe Pat.
And certainly—and always—I thank my dear wife, Sally, for being such a treasured part of this and all my other pursuits. I’m a lucky boy. Thank you, Sally. And love . . .
Bill Wittliff
Austin, Texas
November 16, 2015
inkhole
The Devil's Sinkhole Page 23
