Buddies Page 10

  “Sure you can, Joey Frank,” the sheriff said, removing his feet from the desk. “I happen to have a fresh bucket.”

  He went over to a little stand there in the office, dipped Joey Frank out a cup of water and brought it back to him. He said, “Please take a seat, young fellow; you look like you’re exhausted.”

  “Yes sir, I am.” Joey Frank said, taking the chair in front of the sheriff’s desk. “I run all the way here about it, ‘cause I gotta git home before dark.”

  Joey Frank drank all the cool water from the cup, and the kind sheriff offered him more, but he thanked him and said he had had enough.

  “Shurff Jamison, now I’ll tell you, what I come here to tell you,”

  “Go right ahead, Joey Frank, and take your time,” the sheriff said as he relaxed in his chair behind his desk.

  Joey Frank told the entire story to the lawman, who listened with great concern. He left out nothing; from the day he and Ernie discovered the baby until the day Ernie got shot.

  Sheriff Jamison took a match from his vest pocket. He reached down and struck it on the sole of his boots and relit his cigar. He leaned forward in his chair and placed his elbows on the desk. He asked, “Joey Frank, do you think that you can remember well enough where the baby was buried that you might take me there?”

  “Oh, yes sir, I remember where the place is. I won’t never forgit it. It ain’t too far from here, just over the road apiece.”

  Sheriff Jamison reached into his vest pocket; looked at his watch and he said, “Joey Frank, it’s a good hour or more before dark. If you’ll go with me, and show me where the baby is buried; then I’ll carry you home from there before dark.”

  “Yes sir, I’ll go with you. I’ll show you where it is.”

  “Good, young fellow. Then we’ll get started,” the sheriff said, reaching for his hat on the desk.

  Sheriff Jamison and Joey Frank went outside to the Sheriff’s horse that was tied to a hitching post in front of his office. They climbed upon the stallion and went galloping down

  Main Street through town and on out to the country; as Joey Frank gave the lawman directions.

  When they came upon the place that looked familiar to Joey Frank he pointed it out to Sheriff Jamison. Although the area looked somewhat different than before, it had weeds grown over it and there were leaves on the trees and bushes. This was unmistakable the place that had stuck in Joey Frank’s memory.

  Sheriff Jamison stopped his horse by the roadside, and they climbed down. The sheriff walked his stallion over to the edge of the woods and tied him to a tree.

  Joey Frank led the way to the baby’s grave. They pushed back bushes; tree limbs and trampled down briars that tore into their clothes, as they made their way into the woods.

  When Joey Frank thought he was near the scene where Ernie and he had witnessed the baby’s burial; he stopped and looked around the area. After a moment he spotted the little grave with its mound covered with patches of fresh moss and dead leaves. He said, pointing for the sheriff to look, “There it is, Shurff Jamison, right over yonder ‘twixt them two big trees.”

  The sheriff and Joey Frank went over to the grave. The lawman squatted down to rake back some of the dead leaves and acorns. He scratched up a handful of the new soil and he gradually let it slide through his fingers back on the grave.

  Sheriff Jamison viewed the area with a grim face. After awhile he said, “Joey Frank, if you and your friend Ernie hadn’t skipped school that day, then it’s doubtful this baby would ever be known about.”

  The sheriff stood up and dusted the debris from his hands. He said, “There’s nothin’ that I can do out here this late, young fellow. It’ll have to wait ‘til mornin’. I best be getting you on toward home. It’s not gonna be long ‘til dark. And we don’t want your folks to be worried.”

  “Shurff Jamison, will this baby always be buried way out here from nowhere?”

  “Only if this is Tolbert land, Joey Frank. A person has the right to bury his folks on his property if he wishes to. If this is not Tolbert land, and I don’t much think it is, then the baby’s remains will be moved to a cemetery.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The baby was no longer a secret, but it was the main topic of conversation on the lips of the townspeople.

  There were no charges brought against Rene Tolbert or her daughter Alice, since there was no foul play involved. The baby was stillborn and was buried in the woods, to spare the Tolbert name any shame.

  Miss Rene was very furious, blaming the dead baby’s father, Hank Eller, with all her troubles. She was beginning to let her true colors show; now that the people of Ruby Creek had learned the Tolbert family wasn’t all lily-white as they were thought to be in prior years.

  One day on Main Street in front of onlookers Miss Rene cursed loudly and promised Sheriff Jamison she would kill Hank Eller if she ever caught him near her home again. The sheriff told Hank of Miss Rene’s threat, and Hank laughed about it, saying that he was glad that Rene Tolbert was eating some of the garbage that she had dished out to everyone else.

  The people had stopped talking about changing the little town’s name to Tolbert Creek in honor of the “great banker” who wasn’t so great anymore, since they had learned he had tried to kill two innocent boys in an effort to keep them quiet.

  If the ghost of the bawd named Ruby was actually in the old saloon building and heard the town might change its name, she could rest in peace now. More than likely the little town would continue to bear her name, forever.

  Since the Tolbert scandal had been revealed, Miss Rene gave the baby a decent burial. Her remains were placed beside Banker Tolbert’s in the Baptist Church Cemetery at Ruby Creek. Her little headstone with an angel kneeling in prayer read: “Baby Tolbert. Born February 14, 1912. Born into this world but not to suffer.”

  Mama was disappointed that Joey Frank didn’t confide in her about the baby and the fifty dollars that Banker Tolbert had given him. When he explained his feelings about her taking a job away from home, then she was proud of such dedication from her thirteen-year-old son.

  Ernie’s parents didn’t hold any ill feelings toward anyone. Their only concern was for their son’s eyesight to be restored. Many charitable people who had learned of the Brown family’s misfortune gave what money they could spare toward the operation. The total amount in the glass jar was now sixty-eight dollars, making it four hundred and thirty-eight dollars away from the required goal.

  Joey Frank continued to visit Ernie on Saturdays. On one of the visits he led Ernie through the woods and the fields to the river. That was the first time they had gone fishing since the accident. Ernie could easily bait his own hook and take the fish off, but Joey Frank kindly offered to help.

  Ernie blew up, and told him bluntly that he didn’t need his help. “If I need yore help, Joey Frank Cooper, then I’ll ast for it.” he said. “Now hush up, bait yore own dang hook an’ quit worryin’ about mine.”

  “What’cha wanna git all mad for, Ernie? Just ‘cause I offered to help you? That ain’t no way to be.”

  “I ain’t mad, Joey Frank, I’m just tired a-folks offerin’ to help me an’ a-feelin’ sorry for me, that’s all.”

  Joey Frank looked over at Ernie, staring out toward the river at nothing. He wasn’t altogether sure, but he thought that he saw him wipe a tear from the corner of his eye.

  “Ernie, folks ain’t feelin’ sorry for you,” Joey Frank said. “They just wanna help you out a little ‘til you git the hang of thangs. Heck, let’m help you ‘cause it ain’t gonna be too much longer ‘til you can see agin, an’ ever’body’s gonna be after you to help them”.

  Ernie turned his head slightly to the side away from Joey Frank and said, “I don’t guess I’ll ever be able to see agin, Joey Frank. I hear my Pa an’ Mama a-talkin’ sometimes when they don’t
thank I hear’m. Pa cain’t sell the farm an’ there ain’t no other way they can git the money for my operation.”

  The tears were obvious on the side of Ernie’s face now. He turned his head further around, hoping that Joey Frank wouldn’t detect them. He quickly wiped his eyes and the sides of his face with his hand, and then he turned his head back around and spit into the river. He went on to say, “Shucks, Joey Frank, it won’t be so bad that I’m gonna be blind. Heck, there’s two thangs that’s gonna make me happy that I cain’t see.”

  “Oh yeah! What two thangs, Ernie?”

  “Well, I won’t hafta go back to school an’ learn about that dumb ole war anymore, an’ somebody besides me is gonna hafta tote wood in for the heater to keep that sweet little Johnny McGraw all good an’ warm”.

  Joey Frank realized that Ernie was trying to fool him. He went along with his act, faking a laugh, saying “Yeah, that’s somethin’ to be glad about Ernie, but I just hope I ain’t gonna hafta be the one that totes all that wood in for the sweet thang to keep warm. That’s one heap of a job for a fella.”

  “Well, you just better be a-gittin’ ready, Joey Frank Cooper, ‘cause it’s a-comin’ for shore. Yore gonna be the very one that’ll hafta to do it, an’ you’ll hafta do it all by yoreself too ‘cause I won’t be there to help you. That sweet little Johnny McGraw won’t he helpin’ out none ‘cause he might git dirt on them fine clothes of his’n.”

  Suddenly Joey Frank felt sick all over. His fishing pole gave a jerk, but he didn’t bother to bring it in. He didn’t care if the biggest fish in the river had swallowed the hook. He felt so bewildered for his buddy.

  Joey Frank laid the pole down, not caring to fish. He lay back on the ground and put his hands under his head. He looked up at the sky, and his mind began to wander. He thought of Johnny McGraw and his family. They owned the dry goods store in Ruby Creek and it was a very progressive business. Money was no object for him and his family. They owned a spacious home outside of town with a bathroom. Johnny could take a warm bath and change into different clothes everyday if he wanted to. He didn’t have to walk to school either. Mr. McGraw always brought Johnny to school in his new buggy and dropped him off right at the school door. He had never in his life had to wade through water puddles in the cold winter to get to school as Joey Frank and Ernie had done.

  As Joey Frank continued to look up at the blue sky, he thought of Rene Tolbert with all her money and luxuries. She knew very well what kind of conditions the Brown family endured, yet she had not offered to contribute the first penny towards Ernie’s eye surgery.

  He thought about his Pa and a story that he had told him about the young outlaw, Jesse James, who was given credit for robbing from the rich to give to the poor.

  As Joey Frank was remembering the story, he couldn’t see anything wrong with Jesse’s robbing from the rich folk to give to the poor, especially if the poor were in a predicament like the Brown family.

  Ernie interrupted Joey Frank’s thoughts when he asked, “Have you got a bite yit, Joey Frank?”

  “I ain’t yit, Ernie,” he answered as if he had been fishing all along. “I reckin they all takin’ a nap or off a-visitin’ down stream somewhere.”

  Joey Frank couldn’t bring himself to pick up his pole again. He continued to lie back on the riverbank deep in thought. Every now and then, he would look over at Ernie holding on to his fishing pole staring out toward the river, and his heart ached for him. He wanted to cry; he wanted to scream. He felt so guilty because he had been the one who caused Ernie to go to Rene Tolbert’s home in the first place. He felt that if he hadn’t thrown the words “chicken blood” in his buddy’s face he wouldn’t be blind today.

  Tears had filled Joey Frank’s eyes by now, and they wouldn’t stop coming. They were big, hot tears that had been building up for a long time because he wouldn’t let himself breakdown. He wanted to stay strong for Ernie. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing, he finally gave in to them, saying to himself, “Heck, go on an’ cry, Joey Frank Cooper. Let it all out, an’ git it over with. Ernie’s blind an’ cain’t see you makin’ a big baby outta yoreself. You better be careful though an’ not make no noise, ‘cause he’ll ketch on that yore cryin’ an’ you’ll never hear the end of it.”

  After Joey Frank had finished silently crying, he got up, not bothering to wipe away the tears from his face that Ernie wasn’t able to see. He picked up his fishing pole and pulled the line from the water to check his bait. He put a fresh worm on the hook and dropped it back into the water. He was going to try to be his normal self now.

  “Did you git one, Joey Frank?”

  “No, I wuz just puttin’ frash bait on my hook.”

  “We must be in a bad spot. Do you wanna change places?”

  “We will if you want to, Ernie.”

  “You sound like yore head is commencin’ to stop up Joey Frank. Are you ketchin’ a cold?”

  “I may be; you know them thangs’ll sprang on you before you know it.”

  “Yeah, they will. My Mama says that goin’ barefooted on rainy days will cause a fella to come down with a cold. You oughta wear them ole brogans of mine when it’s a-rainin’. Heck, I ain’t gonna need’m anymore. What little I’m gonna be a-walkin,’ not goin’ to school an’ all, or workin’ in the fields, my new shoes will last me for no tellin’ how long.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  The Widow Simson and Mama gathered enough scraps and old clothes together from their belongings to complete the two quilts. They had worried they wouldn’t get to finish them since all the material the ladies at church donated had run short.

  Mama and Joey Frank carried the completed quilts to Ruby Creek. Mr. McGraw agreed to try to sell them in his dry goods store. Mama asked Mr. McGraw if he could get at least five dollars each for the quilts, however if he couldn’t, then get whatever he could for them.

  Joey Frank stayed up with the work that had to be done to the cotton crop and Mama helped also now that the quilting project had ended. She worked alongside him, wearing her flowered bonnet and an old cotton dress with long sleeves to protect her fair skin from the hot sun and wind.

  Late in the evening Mama’s feet became heavy and hurt after carrying around the old pair of oversized boots that she wore laced with twine. She never complained after a hard day of work, but Joey Frank did.

  One night after he had gone to bed, he felt ashamed that he had complained of his back and shoulders hurting, “If anybody needed to complain about ailments, then it oughta be Ernie Brown an’ not me for shore.” He thought as he stared out into the darkness. “I’ll git over what ails me, but Ernie may never git over a-bein’ blind if his Pa cain’t git the money for his operation.” Joey Frank couldn’t get to sleep because his thoughts continued to dwell on Ernie and his eye surgery.

  The outlaw Jesse James crossed his mind again, and he mused, “I wonder what that fella Jesse James would a-done if he had a buddy like Ernie an’ he got shot an’ went blind an’ didn’t have no money for a operation? I bet if Pa wuz livin’ he’d say he’d a-robbed a bank. Rob from the rich folks an’ give to the poor folks…”

  Joey Frank turned around in his bed to face the cool breeze from the open window. Thoughts kept pouring into his mind as he looked out at the moonlit night. “I wonder if I could rob a bank? If I did do sech, then I’d hafta do it all by myself ‘cause Ernie couldn’t help me. I wonder if I’m ole anuff to rob a bank? Shucks, I guess I am; Pa said Jesse James wuz just a young fella when he first started a-robbin’m. The way he talked, he wudn’t much older than me; just a few years, maybe two or three. I could use Pa’s pistol, but shucks, I won’t shoot nobody for shore. I won’t even load the thang. Miss Rene won’t know the dif’rents. I’d just skeer her into givin’ me the money. Gosh; what if I got caught though, an’ had to go off to jail an’ leave Mama an’ Gloria. Mama would hafta tend the cotton crop an’
look after Gloria all by herself…but then maybe I wud’nt git caught. I bet I can outrun anybody in that bank. Ernie could always do about ever’thang better than me, but he couldn’t never outrun me. Them folks in the bank won’t know who I wuz for shore. ‘Cause I’d wear one of Pa’s old hats an’ pull it a-way down on my head an’ put a bandanna over my face like Pa said Jesse James did, when he robbed. Nobody couldn’t see nothin’ except my eyes.”

  Joey Frank had grown sleepy now, and he could hardly keep his eyes from closing. He had to put his thoughts to rest until morning when he could think more clearly.

  Joey Frank carried all the eggs he had gathered during the week to Ruby Creek to sell to the merchants there. The two dollars and twenty-five cents that was collected could’ve been used to pay down on a pair of brogans he so desperately needed, however earlier he had gotten permission from Mama to give it to the Browns for Ernie’s surgery. With every penny that Mr. Brown put into the jar, he marked the amount down on the paper pasted around the base of the half-gallon jar. After he added the two dollars and twenty-five cents that Joey Frank had given, he said the total amount was now seventy-four dollars.

  Ernie was beginning to change. Joey Frank could never recall when his buddy refused an opportunity to go fishing. He didn’t want to go walking out into the open fields anymore; he wouldn’t give in and allow Joey Frank to walk him to the blacksmith’s shop to visit with Mr. Pearson.

  Ernie would sit idly for hours on the front porch of his home and whittle on sticks with his pocketknife while staring out into open space. His olive skin from the touch of Indian blood, as well as his tan from the hard work in the hot summer sun and blistering winds was now growing pale. His cheekbones were sharp under his dark-circled eyes from all the weight loss. In the past Ernie could never get enough to eat, and Joey Frank wondered if he might be hollow inside.