Buddies Page 9

  Joey Frank screamed frantically toward the Tolbert’s house for someone, anyone to please come help, but apparently he wasn’t heard because no one came. He turned Ernie over onto his back.

  He then switched his hands back and forth under Ernie’s head to keep it off the ground, while he wriggled the jacket he was wearing off. He folded it with one hand, and put it under his buddies’ bloody head.

  Joey Frank jumped up, and ran horrified, as fast as his legs could carry him, toward Doctor Black’s office. When he arrived there, he bolted through the front door, ran past a lady and a child seated in the waiting room. He ran over to the examination room with which he was familiar, because of Gloria’s many visits there. He opened the door where Doctor Black was busy with a patient. Joey Frank was out of breath when he cried out from the doorway, pleading, “Doc Black, you gotta come quick. My buddy Ernie’s hurt real bad. He’s been shot. Somebody went an’ shot him back there at the Tolbert’s house. He’s a-bleedin’ real bad from his head an’ his nose. Oh,please, hurry, Doc, I’m afraid he’s a-gonna _ _ _ that he’s a-

  gonna _ _ _.”

  Joey Frank burst out crying, unable to say the horrible word he was thinking. His buddy was dying.

  By this time Doctor Black had rushed over to Joey Frank, leaving the wounded man with his hand partly wrapped with gauze. He said to the hysterical boy, “Young man, you’re covered with blood. Are you hurt?”

  “Oh, no sir, Doc, I ain’t hurt a bit. This here’s Ernie’s blood on me,” Joey Frank cried.

  Doctor Black rushed back over to his patient. The gentleman had finished wrapping the gauze around his hand; realizing the doctor was in desperate need elsewhere.

  The doctor grabbed his medical bag, apologizing to the patient that he had to leave. He hurried back to Joey Frank and said, “Follow me.” They rushed outside, climbed into the doctor’s buggy, and away they went, not wasting anytime to get to the Tolbert’s home.

  When they arrived, shouting still could be heard coming from inside the house.

  Ernie’s eyes were closed, and his head lay in a pool of blood on Joey Frank’s jacket. The gory residue from the nosebleed had covered his mouth and neck; indicating he had lost a considerable amount of blood.

  Doctor Black knelt down beside his seemingly lifeless body, and Joey Frank watched through tears as the Doctor unbuttoned Ernie’s shirt.

  The Doctor reached into his medical bag that was by his side, and took out a stethoscope. He affixed the instrument’s hearing devices in his ears and put the scope on Ernie’s chest. He listened for a moment looking down into his face, and then he took it away and let it dangle around his neck.

  The doctor gently turned Ernie’s head to the side to look at the wound on the back of his head. He reached into his medical bag again to remove a roll of gauze. He gently lifted up Ernie’s bloody head and began to wrap a thick layer of the bandage around it. When Doctor Black had finished this procedure, he asked Joey Frank to give him a hand in getting Ernie into the buggy. The job wasn’t an easy one, but they managed to lift his helpless body and get it into the one-seated carriage. Joey Frank slid in close by his buddy and put his arm around him to let his wounded head, rest against his shoulder.

  As they were leaving the Tolbert’s yard, they continued to hear loud angry voices coming from inside the magnificent house. The enraged people still had not noticed there had been a tragedy just outside their window.

  As Doctor Black drove back to his office, he was careful to veer away from potholes in the road. Any jolt could very possibly start Ernie hemorrhaging. When they arrived at the Doctor’s office, they saw the gentleman whom Doctor Black had left behind with the wounded hand. He was kindly standing outside so he could explain to anyone that might come in, that the doctor was out on an emergency. The nice gentleman helped Joey Frank and the Doctor get Ernie out of the buggy and into the examination room. Doctor Black immediately began attending his patient. The thoughtful gentleman stepped outside the room, but Joey Frank would not leave Ernie’s side. He stood by the examination bed and watched as the doctor undid Ernie’s suspenders and removed his bloody shirt with its tobacco-stained sleeves. He unbuttoned the top part of Ernie’s union suit, worked it down from his arms and onto his waistline.

  Joey Frank wiped his teary eyes with his bloodstained hands that streaked his worried face as he looked on. He was full of questions of concern for his buddy. He whimpered to the Doctor, “He’s gonna be alright, ain’t he Doc? What’cha hittin’ him on the knees with that thang for? Are you tryin’ to wake’m up? He might git mad at you for hittin’ him like that, Doc Black. He may not wanna wake up right now. Ernie can be stubborn as a ole mule sometimes.”

  After Doctor Black finished his examination and treated the wound on the back of Ernie’s head, he spread a sheet over his naked chest. He turned to Joey Frank and said, “Son, I think your friend is going to be alright, but it’s going to take some time. He’s lost a great deal of blood, and he is in a coma. The coma prevents him from waking up and talking to us.”

  “What’s a coma, Doc? I ain’t never heard of sech.”

  “Young man, when a person goes into a coma, it means that he has gone into a deep sleep. That deep sleep can be caused by an injury, among other things. In Ernie’s case he is in this coma, or deep sleep, because of the bullet that has injured his head. He could wake up in a few minutes, or it could take hours, maybe days, or even weeks. We just don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see; comas are very unpredictable things.”

  “Can I stay here with Ernie ‘til he wakes up, Doc? I got somethin’ of his’n, that he’s gonna want real bad, an’ if he don’t have it, he’ll git awful fussy.”

  “Son, as I have just explained to you, that could take some time. You can leave whatever you have for your friend with me, and I will see that he gets it when he wakes up.”

  “Thank you, Doc. It’ll make’m happy.”

  Joey Frank reached down into the pocket of his breeches and took out the object, and handed it to Doctor Black. The Doctor asked, “What is this, son?”

  “It’s Ernie’s chewin’ tobacker. It slipped outta his mouth back yonder at the Tolbert’s house, when he went an’ fell. I picked it up ‘cause it wuz all he had.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Ernie was in the coma for six long days. When he awoke, he couldn’t see. Ernie was blind.

  Doctor Black explained to the Brown family that the bullet had damaged the optic nerve in Ernie’s eyes, and in order for him to see again, he would need an operation soon. If the surgery were to be performed, it would have to be done in Atlanta by a team of neurologists, and it would be very expensive.

  Ernie’s father would have to sell their farm in order to pay for the return of Ernie’s vision. The place had been in the Brown family for three generations, and therefore; it was going to be a grievous situation to give up the only place the Brown’s had ever called home.

  Joey Frank couldn’t stand the thought that Ernie might move away from the place he was born with all the memories of the hills and hollows of which he had roamed every inch. He couldn’t stand the thought of his buddy being forced to move so far away that they would seldom see each other or even worse, never see each other ever again. The two had been like brothers most of their lives, and if they should be kept apart, then it would be a total disaster for the both of them.

  The Tolbert name was kept clean as a slate. Sheriff Jamison ruled Ernie’s shooting as accidental. Rene Tolbert lied to the lawman, saying she was cleaning the gun when it discharged. She claimed the boys had no business on her property, and were there without her permission. No charges were filed against the wealthy widow.

  The secret of the baby had not leaked out, because Joey Frank, Ernie and Hank Eller were the only persons outside the Tolbert family who knew about it. The two boys had promised each other never to tell
anyone for fear that their parents might forbid them from ever getting together again. That would mean no more roaming the hills and going to Ruby Creek together. They knew the consequences of not telling their secret, could never be worse than that.

  During the week Joey Frank worked hard in the fields, getting the ground prepared to plant the cotton crop and the vegetable garden. On Saturday he would go visit Ernie, and usually they would sit under a shade tree in the backyard eating green apples. Ernie would always have Joey Frank halve the apples and check to make sure there wasn’t a worm inside. He would warn him saying, “Joey Frank Cooper, you’d better eyeball that apple now, an’ see that there ain’t no worm dancin’ around in it. You just better not let me go an’ eat one of them dang thangs.”

  Ernie’s blindness didn’t seem to get him down. He was full of willpower and as stubborn as a herd of wild goats. Although there had been times that he flew mad over things because of his handicap, the anger only lasted for a short while.

  On one occasion when Joey Frank was visiting Ernie, Mrs. Brown came out to the shade tree where they were sitting. She brought them a slice of fresh baked pie that she had made. She gave Ernie his slice and told him that it was apple pie. Ernie quickly snapped at his Mama saying, “I know its apple. Just ‘cause I cain’t see don’t mean there’s somethin’ wrong with my dang nose, too.”

  The days were inching by and Ernie’s chances of regaining his eyesight hung by a thread. Mr. Brown was having no luck selling the farm, and they all knew that was the only way the eye surgery was possible.

  There had been some prospective buyers that caused the family’s hopes to build that Ernie would soon be able to have the operation. All prospects turned out negative, and their hearts sank once more. They worried, wondering if the surgery would ever take place.

  Joey Frank began to worry also when he learned the Browns’ weren’t having any luck selling their farm. Although he worked hard in the fields all day, his tired body couldn’t rest at night for fear the Browns weren’t going to get the money needed for his buddy’s operation. As he tossed and turned in his bed, he tried to think of a way he could raise money to help pay for the surgery. He had four dollars and sixty cents to his name that he had saved from selling eggs to buy shoes. The money wasn’t a drop in the bucket compared to the five hundred dollars that was required to perform the operation, but Joey Frank wanted to give it to the Brown family in a sincere desire to help.

  The days had become long and hot out in the open fields. Mama and Joey Frank worked hard from sunup until darkness began to set in, thinning out the crowded cotton plants and chopping down the unwanted grasses. All the beautiful work they were turning out amazed their neighboring farmers, and when they would drop by they bragged on the crop. They told Joey Frank how smart he was and he was the “spittin’ image” of his Pa. Joey Frank believed now more than ever that Mama and he were accomplishing what they had hoped for. He felt that if the rains fell normally and the boll weevils were kept under control, then they would have plenty and wouldn’t have to struggle.

  Mama gave her permission for Joey Frank to give his four dollars and sixty cents to Mr. Brown toward Ernie’s eye surgery. Mr. Brown was very grateful, and Joey Frank saw tears come into his eyes when he reached into a cabinet to get a halfgallon glass jar with change in it. He unscrewed the lid and dropped Joey Frank’s money inside, telling him that if he didn’t come up with all the money for the operation then he would return the four dollars and sixty cents to him.

  One morning after breakfast Mama asked Joey Frank to go to the little storage building outside to get her quilting frame and bring it inside. She explained that she, Gloria, and Widow Simson were going to try their luck at making quilts to sell, to help the Browns. She said that the women folk were going to donate their discarded clothes for the material and the men folks were to furnish the cotton for padding. Mama added, Widow Simson’s son, had promised to buy the first three quilts for his boarding house in Ruby Creek for five dollars each. Hearing this news made Joey Frank feel good; he told Mama not to waste a minute away from quilting and to make as many quilts as she possibly could. He told her not to worry about going to the field to help with the crop; that it was well under control and he could easily handle the work.

  In five days Mama, Gloria, and Widow Simson had completed the three quilts for the Widow’s son. Mama would give the fifteen dollars to Joey Frank so he could take it to the Browns on his next visit.

  Although the cotton crop was in good condition, there still wasn’t much leisure time left for Joey Frank. There were some of the garden vegetables ready for picking now. They needed to be gathered, canned, and stored away for use during the long winter months ahead. He picked the green beans and red plump tomatoes. Mama stayed up late at night and prepared them to be canned early the next morning. She could get this done before Widow Simson arrived to begin a full day of quilting.

  As Joey Frank dug up the new potatoes, he put them into the dugout behind the house. Pa had fixed it there to keep the vegetables from freezing in the cold winter.

  One evening Joey Frank came home from the field, his heart sank at the bad news Mama had to tell him. She said the donated clothes and scraps for the quilts were running out. If they had enough to finish the two quilts they were working on they would be lucky.

  Joey Frank asked, “Do you thank the ladies at church might donate more material?”

  “They have probably given all they can spare, and it would be unworthy to ask for more,” Mama replied

  Gloria’s heart ached for Joey Frank when she looked at his forlorn face after Mama had told him the bad news. She went quickly to her room and in a few moments returned with a large cardboard box in her arms. She went over to Joey Frank’s chair on the front porch, set the box down before him and said, “Brother, I want you the take these to Ruby Creek an’ sell’m to help pay for Ernie’s operation.”

  Joey Frank looked at Mama sitting next to him with an inquisitive look, not able to imagine what Gloria had in the box that he might sell to help pay for Ernie’s surgery. He reached down, opened the box lid, and looked inside to see all of Gloria’s rag dolls she had saved and cherished over the years. Joey Frank realized how much Gloria loved all her dolls. He knew it took lots of courage for her to be willing to part with them, especially the one she called Henrietta.

  Mama had made Henrietta from scraps to give to Gloria on Christmas night when she was two years old. One day Gloria cut off Henrietta’s hair of red yarn, thinking it would grow back. When Joey Frank told her it would never grow back, Gloria pitched a tantrum. Mama had to replace Henrietta’s hair with shredded corn shucks, since she was all out of yarn.

  Joey Frank reached down into the box of dolls, took out Henrietta, and almost cried when he looked at her. Her mouth and cheeks that Mama had painted deep red with pokeberry juice had almost faded away, and most of her corn shuck hair had fallen out. One of her feet was missing, and she could use a new dress.

  He put Henrietta back into the box and closed the lid, thinking she shouldn’t have to leave the one that loved her so much. He thanked Gloria for being concerned about Ernie’s eye surgery and told her they would wait before selling the dolls; hopefully there would be some other ways money could be raised for the operation.

  Early Saturday morning Joey Frank went over to Ernie’s home and spent most of the day with him. As he walked home that evening, he noticed a large poster in black letters tacked to a big tree by the roadside. He went over to the tree and read the poster out loud. “Five thousand dollers re-ward now offered for the killer of Banker Tolbert.”

  Joey Frank’s blood began to boil. He reached up, ripped the poster away from the tree and tore it into shreds. He threw the pieces of paper down onto the ground, and stomped them over and over again. He gritted his teeth and with the toes of his brogans he ground the particles down into the red clay. Tears came
to his eyes, and he cried out audibly, “They didn’t nobody kill you, you danged ole fool. You went an’ killed yore crazy self a-tryin’ to kill me an’ Ernie. I’m fed up with you a-gittin’ by with sech. Yore the dang cause of Ernie a-bein’ blind the way he is. You may be dead, you old rascal, but you ain’t gonna git by with foolin’ folks the way you been doin’. ‘Cause I’m gonna turn around here right now; an’ I’m going to Ruby Creek to tell Shurff Jamison the truth about yore dang hide.”

  Joey Frank looked up through teary eyes toward the sun. He thought he would have enough time to get to Ruby Creek andback before dark. He squatted down and tightened the laces on his brogans. He stood up and wiped the tears away from the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand; then off he went in a trot toward Ruby Creek.

  Joey Frank was exhausted when he reached the little town. As he was walking down Main Street toward the sheriff’s office, he discovered he had lost a heel from one of Ernie’s brogans that he was wearing. He had become so emotional over the reward poster that he didn’t think about taking a rock to knock the tacks back into the soles as Ernie had told him to do. He planned to be sure to look for the heel on his way back home.

  Soon, he had reached the sheriff’s office. Out of anger toward Banker Tolbert and the hurting for Ernie, he opened the door and stepped inside to reveal the Tolbert secret that he couldn’t keep any longer.

  Sheriff Jamison sat alone in the office with his feet propped upon his desk. The tall, husky, dark-complexioned lawman with a black mustache and a cigar between his teeth, kept his position when he spoke to Joey Frank “Good evening, young fellow,” he said, “What can I do for you today?”

  Joey Frank walked over to the desk. He cleared his throat before saying, “Uh, Shurff Jamison, my name is Joey Frank Cooper, an’ I’m a-needin to tell you somethin’ that I thank you oughta know, but can I have a drank of water before I commence?”