NE-DO-BA (Friends)
Man Nor Beast -
Old Joe used to put me in his lap and take a big chew off his tobacco. "Whelp" he'd say, "your Daddy wasn't afraid of man nor beast". I'd smile cause I knew the story that was coming ... "Your Daddy, he didn't have much in the way of money ... he was working for that power company like he is now, but he was working outside hanging off of the sides of the dam ... tough cuss, he was" and Old Joe would spit in his rusty Maxwell House coffee can.
"Whelp, your Daddy was always alooking for ways to get money to buy shoes for your big feet ... and he started selling some nice shiny tools, like wrenches and pliers and such, to the people in town. Gave em good deals, he did. Well, them boss men at the dam heard about it, and got thinking about where your Daddy might be getting them tools. Cause everyone knows that he ain't got no money. Bet that Besaw is lightfingered, one of them said. So, they decided to watch at night, to see if your Daddy came back to the dam to steal their tools" ... Old Joe gummed on another hunk of that tobacco .. and I knew I had to be patient, cause if I got squirming too much, Old Joe would just chew and chew and chew ...
"So, them dam bosses hid in the trees and waited. Sure enough, here comes your Dad. Yup, them boss men said, told you so, can't trust them Indians - thieves they are! Well, they watched as your Daddy stripped down naked as a jaybird! Them men couldn't figure out what was up! And your Daddy walked straight down that water, till he went in right over his head! And mind you, he wasn't aswimming, his feet touched the ground every step of the way. Oh, he was gone under the water for a goodly amount of time ... and them boss men was thinking the crazy SOB had done drowned his self ... and up rises your father like Lazarus out of the tomb, adripping water and mud, and carrying a pair of wrenches! You see, he went in at night, and walked to the bottom of that lake and picked up all the tools that the men lost in the water working off the side of that dam ... Them old dam bosses just couldn't believe their eyes, and decided probably no one else would either, and said if Besaw is that foolish, he can keep all them tools! And that's the story of how you got your new shoes and your new coat" ... Then Old Joe would spit, and give me a kiss on the head with his tobacco stained lips ...
Years later ... My father never knew his father. A couple of years ago, I located some of his father's family. They kindly allowed me to visit them, and I asked one of the new found cousins, "What was my grandfather like?" ... "Well", he said, "your grandfather wasn't afraid of man nor beast ... let me tell you a story ... World War II, it was, August 8th, 1944 ... " |
