Buddies Page 12

  Miss Rene glared at him with a startled, yet malicious look. Her voice was hard when she said, “What in the name of heaven are you doing here dressed like that and what do you want?”

  Joey Frank wished that Ernie were here with him to answer Miss Rene’s question. Her sharp dark eyes with a demanding look made his skin crawl, because she looked even meaner than Banker Tolbert did in the portrait that Ernie and he had seen when they had gone to the Tolbert’s home.

  Joey Frank spoke to Miss Rene, but in his mind he could see Ernie plainly standing before her. He began to speak the words to Miss Rene that he could hear his buddy saying, “Ma’am, I’m dressed like this ‘cause I’m a-robbin’ you.”

  “Robbing me?” Miss Rene spoke hatefully again, “Just what kind of a silly joke is this? I happen to be a very busy lady, and I don’t have any time to play games with you. Now put that toy pistol back into your dirty trousers, and get out of here right now.”

  “Ma’am, this here pistol ain’t no toy. It’ll blast a hole in a rabbit big anuff for a fella’s fist to go through. Now I need four hundred an’ twenty-six dollers from you, an’ then I’ll be on my way outta here. I’d like it all in bills if you don’t mind. No pocket change, please, ‘cause I got holes in these here pockets of mine.”

  “Four hundred and twenty six dollars,” Miss Rene said in surprise. “I’ve never heard of a bank robber asking for a specific amount of money before. I always thought they robbed for all they could get.”

  Joey Frank could still see a vision of Ernie in his mind standing bravely at Miss Rene’s desk with his jaw struck out with a wad of chewing tobacco. He continued to quote the words to Miss Rene that he could hear him saying, “Ma’am, I’ll take all you wanna give me, but all I need is four hundred an’ twenty six dollers that I’m a-figgerin’ on a-payin’ you back someday.”

  Miss Rene raved as she pulled open the drawer to her desk, “Well, I have never in my life.I can’t believe this.I simply can’t believe that this is happening. Pay me back?”

  Miss Rene counted out exactly four hundred and twenty-six dollars from some bills she had taken from the drawer. She handed the money out to Joey Frank with her hateful look, and then she put the remaining bills back into the drawer and pushed it closed. She looked at Joey Frank and said, “You’re certainly awfully young to be a bank robber. You’ll be caught before you get out the front door; then off to jail you’re going and spend years over a measly four hundred and twenty-six dollars.”

  “If yore a-thankin’ that, ma’am, then you better show me where yore back door is, ‘cause I don’t need to get caught for shore”. He put the money in the pocket of his breeches while speaking the words he could see and hear Ernie saying “I need to hang on to this here money, an’ I’m gonna. Now will you please show me where yore back door is? An’ I’ll be a-goin’.”

  Miss Rene snatched up a ring of keys that lay on her disk, and got up form her chair without a word.

  Joey Frank followed her over to a back door of the office. When she located the right key on the ring, she stuck it into the lock and opened the door. She stepped out into a hallway, and Joey Frank followed her to a large steel door at the end of the building. Miss Rene picked a key from the ring and unlocked the solid metal barrier that was so heavy on it’s hinges that it made squeaking sounds as she pulled it open.

  Joey Frank asked her to step outside the door to see if anyone was in sight. He warned her that if she saw someone to keep silent, or he would shoot her. She did as she was told and gave her head the nod that she saw no one.

  Joey Frank stepped outside the door with Miss Rene and gave a quick look around to make sure that no one was in sight. He told Miss Rene to pull the big door closed and lock it, then give him the keys. She obeyed him without a question. Joey Frank knew that it was going to take Miss Rene awhile to get through the alley to Main Street where obviously everyone was. That would give him enough time to get a head start out of Ruby Creek before she would start yelling “robbery” to the top of her lungs.

  He told Miss Rene before he left that she could find her keys behind the livery stable in a horse trough. He put the pistol in his front pocket, and then he turned from the dumbfounded widow and ran as fast as his feet would carry him. He pulled the bandana down from his face and listened to hear Miss Rene’s screams, but he heard none.

  When Joey Frank reached the livery stable, which wasn’t very far away, he threw the ring of keys over the wood-railed fence into a horse trough. He then started running as fast as he could once more, dodging town at every angle.

  He knew his way very well through the open fields and thick woods that Ernie and he had roamed so often throughout the years. Joey Frank ran until he felt that he was out of danger, then he stopped to rest at a little creek that was so secluded from the world that only Ernie, he, and the animals knew of its whereabouts. He knelt to his knees at the edge of the stream and dipped his hands down into the cool water and splashed it against his hot face. At that moment Joey Frank discovered he was no longer wearing his Pa’s old hat.

  He had lost it somewhere along the way while he was running so hard.

  He felt like crying, because he wanted so much to save the hat along with Pa’s shoes. He wanted to go back and look for it, but he couldn’t take the chance on getting caught. By now everyone in Ruby Creek probably knew that Miss Rene had been robbed, and Sheriff Jamison could be rounding up every available man he could get to go out and search for him.

  Joey Frank knew he was safe where he was, so he would go another day and backtrack the way he came to look for the much-treasured hat. He reached down into the pocket of his breeches to make sure he hadn’t lost the money. Although he had watched Miss Rene count out the bills, he wanted to count them again to make sure it was all there.

  He unfolded the roll of money and counted the bills one by one, stacking them on the mossy ground beside him. He had twenty-one twenty’s, one five, and a one dollar bill. Miss Rene had not short-changed him. It was all there—all of the four hundred and twenty six dollars for Ernie’s operation.

  There was still plenty of time before dusk when Joey Frank arrived at his home. Mama and Gloria had not yet returned, so he was relieved. He rushed to his bedroom to put the gun and bandanna in their place, and then he changed into Ernie’s shoes. He fixed his shirt and suspenders the way he normally wore them. He took the money out of his front pocket and put it under the mattress on his bed. He walked from his bedroom to the kitchen to get the milk pail and went outside to do his evening chores, as if nothing had happened.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Sunday morning Joey Frank lied to Mama saying he didn’t feel well and he wanted to stay home from church. His plans were to take the money to Ernie’s home. He thought the sooner the Browns got the money; the sooner Ernie would be able to see.

  Mr. and Mrs. Brown attended church regularly, and he hoped they wouldn’t be home today. Ernie would be there, of course, because he seldom ever left his room anymore. Joey Frank planned to be very careful not to let anyone hear him when he arrived. He would leave the money without Ernie or his parents ever knowing where it came from. He was sure they would use the money for the operation, assuming it came from a “Good Samaritan” for that purpose.

  After Mama and Gloria left the house for church, Joey Frank watched them leave from the doorway until they had gone out of sight down the little winding road. He ran to his bedroom got the money from under his mattress, stuck it into his front pocket, and rushed from the house to go to Ernie’s.

  It would take awhile longer to go the back way to the Browns’ home through the fields and woods. Joey Frank decided to take that route rather than the road, so he wouldn’t be seen by anyone. He didn’t want someone to tell Mama that he was seen walking the roads and goofing off during church hours.

  There were some people around Ruby Creek who could spread new
s quicker than a fast-moving locomotive. Joey Frank remembered his Pa saying that Miss Mattie Hogan had everybody beat when it came to spreading gossip. He said her tongue was long enough to out-talk the whole state of Georgia and then some. Pa told Joey Frank that when God was working on Miss Mattie’s tongue, he must have got an important message and forgot to “let up” on the molding.

  Soon Joey Frank was in view of Ernie’s home, and he could see Mr. Browns’ wagon was gone from its usual place, making it certain that he and Mrs. Brown had gone to church. The families’ old dog, the Browns called “Ringeye” was lying by the closed door on the front porch. The animal knew Joey Frank well, so he didn’t worry about him making a fuss when he saw him.

  Ringeye was crippled and never ventured too far from the Browns’ home.

  As Joey Frank crept up the steps, Ringeye got up and hobbled over to greet him. Joey Frank gave him a little pat on the head, so he lay back down to rest.

  Joey Frank looked around the porch for a place to put the money where Ernie’s parents would be sure to find it when they arrived from church. He didn’t think the flowerpots would be a good place, because Mrs. Brown wouldn’t water her petunias on Sunday. He didn’t like the idea of putting it on the porch swing or the chairs, because the wind could blow it away.

  He looked at the door jam with a crack that was big enough to stick the money into. He thought that would be the ideal place, because as the Browns reached for the doorknob, the money would be right at their fingertips. There was no way they could miss seeing it.

  Joey Frank took the roll of bills from his pocket, and stuck them securely into the crack of the door. Although Rene Tolbert had not offered to give a penny toward Ernie’s eye surgery, the money that had been forcefully taken from her was now in its proper place. If everything went well with theoperation, then Ernie Brown would surely see again. It would be only a few more days that he would have to endure the awful darkness, caused by the Widow Tolbert, which made him withdraw from his happy world.

  Joey Frank Cooper had become a one-time bank robber, and without his realizing it, he had become the young hero he wanted to be. If his love for Ernie Brown could be measured in the hero that he was, then there would be love so strong it could rip open the earth and bury whatever might stand in the way of Ernie regaining his eyesight.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Mama told Joey Frank, “You missed a powerful sermon at church and I think it was one of the best that Reverend Leroy Michaels has ever preached. The topic was ‘Money Is The Root Of All Evil’. The Reverend told the congregation that he believed that God Almighty had spoken to him to preach on that subject because of what happened to Rene Tolbert. The Reverend poured out his heart and cried as he spoke of the Widow’s ordeal the day before a lone gunman walked into her office at the bank and demanded money. He said her Maker was surely standing by her when the young man shoved a pistol into her face and cocked the hammer. The poor Widow Tolbert begged the young man not to shoot her, giving him all the money she had in the desk drawer.” Mama went on, “The Reverend Michaels asked the congregation to pray, and pray hard that, the gunman wouldn’t return and harm the widow as he threatened, if she reported the robbery. He asked the Lord to have mercy on the young man and to forgive him as he did the thief that hanged on the cross beside Him.”

  Joey Frank didn’t tell Mama what he was thinking, that Reverend Michaels shouldn’t have preached a sermon on Rene Tolbert. He certainly shouldn’t have repeated the unverified information that had got out by some rumormonger like old Miss Mattie Hogan. He believed that the Reverend should have kept his mouth shut about the wealthy and highly recognized widow, and preached his sermon on the Good Book alone.

  Joey Frank would like to tell the congregation to start bringing their dogs to church with them. After the sermon they heard today, they needed to tie them to their wagons to keep Satan frightened away as they traveled back home.

  Reverend Michaels wasn’t one of Joey Frank’s favorite people anyway, and he hadn’t been since the time it was Mama and Pa’s turn to feed him on a Sunday. It was a tradition the church had long ago adopted. He would never forget the day when Mama chose the nicest chicken from the yard and fried it for dinner. Joey Frank and Gloria dearly loved the meat, but it wasn’t put onto the table very often. Reason being, they needed the hens for laying eggs so they could sell them for much needed money.

  It was proper and a rule at the Cooper’s home that when the preacher was over for Sunday dinner, he and the grownups would eat first. Joey Frank remembered that Mama and Pa, being proper, ate the two drumsticks of the delicious-smelling fowl, while Reverend Michaels, smacked his lips and ate the whole rest of the chicken. Reverend Michaels didn’t care if anyone else got dinner.

  Gloria cried after the Reverend left, because she knew better than to let him see her cry. Joey Frank was so angry he felt like cursing, because Gloria and he had to eat the chicken-flavored gravy and biscuits that were leftover.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  In a few days the hens had once more laid enough eggs for Joey Frank to sell to the merchants in Ruby Creek, and finally buy a pair of shoes. The eggs brought enough money to buy a pair of high-topped brogans with an extra set of laces at McGraw’s General Store.

  Joey Frank looked over the selection of shoes that smelled of new leather and picked out a pair to purchase. He started over to the checkout counter to pay for them, but he stopped when he got even with the glass case with all the chewing tobacco inside. As he looked in, he thought of Ernie and the many times that he had walked up to that glass unit, craving a chew of tobacco, but didn’t have a penny in his pocket to buy it.

  Joey Frank thought about the day that Ernie was craving a chew so bad that he stuck his hand with a thorn and ran into the General Store. He told Mr. McGraw that a hornet had stung him, showing him the hand that had turned red from the jab.

  Ernie asked Mr. McGraw if he would please spare him a piece of chewing tobacco to put on the sting to draw out the poison. He had told the proprietor that in the past when the hornets stung him, he got deathly sick, and therefore, the poison needed to be drawn out quickly. He explained that Brown Mule tobacco was the best brand to do the job quickly, because it was the strongest of all, just as the name implied. Mr. McGraw fell for Ernie’s scheme, and he satisfied his habit by giving him a cut of his favorite.

  As Joey Frank stood looking at all the tobacco, he wondered if Ernie might not be craving a chew now. He knew Ernie wouldn’t be able to use the thorn scheme because of his predicament. He realized Mr. Brown didn’t have any money to spare toward his habit, especially since the accident had brought on so many medicine and medical bills. Ernie’s father did well to clothe and keep food on the table for his family.

  Joey Frank wished now that he had gotten a few more dollars when he robbed Miss Rene, but at the time he was only thinking of Ernie’s eyesight and nothing else. The more he looked at the tobacco, the more he became convinced that Ernie might be in need of a chew. He couldn’t bring himself to go over to the checkout counter and pay Mr. McGraw for the shoes he so desperately needed; instead he took them back, put them on the shelf in their place. He then went to the checkout counter and spent all the egg money for Ernie’s favorite brand of chewing tobacco.

  Before leaving Ruby Creek, Joey Frank sat down on the loiterers’ bench outside the General Store to eat an apple that Mr. McGraw had given him. There were two old gentlemen seated there, and they were discussing what they had heard about the bank robbery. One said the robber had cleaned out the bank so Miss Rene would have to close it. The other man said he heard that Miss Rene had put a slug in the robber’s shoulder as he was fleeing her office. His reliable source said the wounded outlaw went across the street to Doctor Black’s office and held him at gunpoint until he removed the bullet.

  There wasn’t anything the two old gentlemen chatted about that was anywhere near the tru
th about how Miss Rene was robbed. Joey Frank got tired of listening to the wild talesand left Ruby Creek to go and visit with Ernie for a while. He decided to go the way he had gone after he robbed Miss Rene, so he could look for Pa’s hat. He felt sure he would find it, because he doubted if anyone would have bothered to pick the old thing up since it was dirty and weather-beaten.

  When he reached the Bank on Main Street, he turned onto the alley that ran between it and a shoe shop. When he got to the end of the alley, where he had left Miss Rene standing at the bank’s back door, he began his search for the hat. He took his time as he walked the way he had run that day, combing the ground carefully, hoping to spot the much-treasured keepsake.

  He looked in the tall grasses he had run through, and the signs were still there where he trampled them down. He looked in a gully he had jumped, thinking he may have lost it there. When finally he reached the little creek where he had discovered it was no longer on his head; he had little hope of ever finding it.

  Joey Frank wondered how he would ever explain to Mama the disappearance of Pa’s hat, after she learned it was missing. He hoped she wouldn’t look for it in the near future, not until he could come back another day to search some more. Hopefully he could find it, and put it back where it belonged.

  Joey Frank was disappointed to find no one, when he arrived at the Browns’ home. The only sign of life at the small farmhouse was Ringeye, who was lying on the front porch and a few chickens that were scratching at the edge of the yard. All the windows had their outside shutters closed, and the front door was secured by a heavy lock.

  A five-gallon lard bucket used for Ringeye’s water was completely full, and there was more than the usual amount of table scraps left for him.

  Joey Frank felt sure the Brown family had left for Atlanta. He was sad that he’d missed seeing Ernie before he went away and couldn’t give him the chewing tobacco. He however, was going to look forward to the day when Ernie would be home and could see once more.