The Stone of Blood (29 page)

“It looked like a bunch of rats comin’ out!” Mitch said as he laughed.

“All you’d have to do, I mean, they knew that car! You’d pull that car in that alley, and they’d be there with the money to buy that moonshine!” Dad said. “Never did have no, we didn’t take no guns with us.” He continued. “Because if we ever …if they ever got caught they wasn’t gonna put up no fight with the revenuers. They were just gonna go to jail.”

“Daddy spent, I don’t know if it was sixty days or ninety days in jail one time for moonshine. He spent it right up here in the Old Jail House. And that was I guess …that was back before I was ever born.” Dad related about the grandfather I never knew. “Or it might’ve been right after me, you know when I was still small. I don’t remember it. That was back when I could remember some things. I can remember a few things back when I was little, but I can’t remember a whole lot.”

“I remember carryin’ that damned moonshine up that damned hill! With little bitty damned legs tryin’ to carry that! I was real slim.” Dad said.

“Short legged.” Mama interjected.

“Short legged, yeah and tryin’ to climb over that damned rock wall.” Dad continued. “We didn’t have no damned steps you know? And gallon jugs of moonshine!” He declared. “Yeah, gallon jugs of moonshine and carryin’ it plumb to the top of that goddamned hill! And then we had to go back up there and carry it down!”

“I think I’d let mine roll back down. Catch!” Mitch said all kind of funny like.

“It was big old rocks, this big! It was all kinds of rocks. And if you ever hit one.” Dad said.

“I wonder if it was anything like that hill of ours.” Sara questioned.

“I never did like to climb a damned hill.” Dad said.

“But then you get to come back down.” Mitch stated.

“Huh?” Dad wondered.

“Just think when you get to come back down though.” Mitch commented.

“Yeah, but you had to make the trip to go back up. If you made six trips up hidin’ it, you’d make twelve comin’ back!” Dad said.

“How does that work out?” asked Mitch.

“Cause carryin’ two gallons goin’ up is easier than carryin’ two gallons comin’ down.” Dad answered. “Because it’s faster than when you’re goin’ up most of the time, you don’t watch your step you know, you don’t slip as much.”

“I like goin’ up Mitch and them’s hill, its fun! But goin’ down it hurts my legs.” My sister Anna said. “Especially, when there was that bush that uh, cut my legs so much.”

“What bush?” asked Mitch.

“That blackberry bush.” Anna replied.

“Where?” Mitch questioned further. “Back in the woods?”

“No along that side of the fence by the pond.” Anna replied. “Goin’ down.”

“Oh …you mean way back there?” Mitch stated as a question. “I thought you meant more by the house down this way.”

“We used to have uh, a little bridge across a creek. Down there its …we just had a …no the creek wasn’t as bad. It wasn’t about as wide as this is.” Dad said holding his hands apart about four feet apart. “It was a little walkin’ bridge, you know? We’d park the cars over on this side and you had to walk across to get to the house. We had one of these old rain barrels. And we’d sit it down in that creek and fill it up with water and then take baths in it.” He continued. “We’d get down in there and play in that water. And you ever seen this, this type clay in a little creek you know that we used to use it as putty? And hell, you could use it for anything. You could make statues with it. We used to play in that stuff all the time!”

“You had a ball, huh?” Mitch asked.

“You could take that stuff and put it in there and it would set up just like concrete. And there wouldn’t be no damned water seep thru it either.” answered my dad.

“Hummm.” Mitch acknowledged.

“I thought about gettin’ some of it and putting it in that window up there.” Dad said.

“You could put it around your cistern out there.” Mitch stated.

“I never thought about puttin’ it around that cistern. But if we get city water this time we won’t need it.” Dad replied.

“Boy I hope we do.” Sara stated.

“Yes I hope so too.” Dad stated. “It would be nice, if we did. If I knew definitely for sure that we’re gonna get it I’d dig my lines and have it all ready. But you never know. About the time you was to dig it you probably wouldn’t get it so…”

“And it would get filled up with water.” Mama interjected.

“That man down there at work, the one that’s on the City Council, he said we were gonna get it. But he said he didn’t know when. You know he said we was gonna get it this summer. But he didn’t know …he didn’t know
when
this summer.” Dad continued. “I just wonder if they put them meters where they want them or put em’ where you want them? Do they have a water meter that they read or we read?”

“They’ve got one that sits down by the road I think.” Mitch answered.

“I was thinkin’ there was one down by the road. I just wondered if there was a meter that they put next to the house.” Dad stated.

“Just down by the road I think.” Richard replied. “Down the road …a little black thing …a little post.”

“I hope that’s where it’s at cause I don’t want no meter up in front of this house. Because I’m gonna have to come in right there.” Dad answered.

“Are they gonna put another house down there?” Sara asked.

“Huh?” Dad asked and the acknowledged. “Yeah.”

“You know where those two brick houses are? Are they gonna build another house there?” Sara asked further.

“They’ve already got it staked off. They done got the, see… they’ve got city water to that house.” Dad replied.

“There’s gonna be an awful lot of new houses comin’ up there.” Mitch stated.

“Yep, I’ve …I’ve been lookin’ for Benny to sell over here.” Dad said.

“What this spot across here? I thought he said he was supposed to sell it last year but that it held too much water.” Sara said.

“Yeah, I hope that’s why they don’t ever sell it.” Dad replied. “But you know all they’d have to do is come in here with loads of dirt and fill in those ten acres. It would be a whole lot of dirt. I just hope they never sell it.” Dad continued. “See …he had that big field over there sub tested for a subdivision. But it held too much water!”

“Where they plant the corn?” Mitch asked.

“Yes.” Dad replied. “I’d rather see him rent this out to somebody to cut hay off of it or corn or somethin’ …anything to keep from getting’ any houses up here.”

“Yep.” Mitch said in agreement.

“That’s one of the best things about us being up a little further on the hill …people won’t be so close.” Sara said.

“I think we’ve got enough back in here really.” Dad said.

“Yep …me too!” Mitch said.

“You know …this close to me.” Dad related.

“Yeah, I think we’ve got enough on this whole street. It’s just enough for everybody to know each other.” Mitch said.

Somewhere along about the time the conversation turned from my dad hidin’ moonshine from the revenuers, and right up to where the conversation turned to the hayfields and the cornfields across the road …I must have fallen asleep!

I stretched and I yawned, and then I politely excused myself from the conversations and made my way up the stairs to my room; where I lay down exhausted!

But you know …it seemed like I hadn’t even closed my eyes for a minute! I mean, it seemed like it was only a minute …when my sister was standin’ there beside me …wakin’ me up!

It was already mornin’! And the sun was already up!

And I guessed then, as I stretched and yawned …that time was only relevant if you were aware of its passin’.

Sevente
en

Sunlight Rising Upon the Wate
rs

S
unlight rising upon the waters brought with it a sense of calm; where water colored clouds in shades of soft pinks and bright yellows danced amidst the reflections of the dawns lavender sky.

I sat there on my front porch swing rockin’ back and forth and lookin’ out across the fields and meadows and over Mr. Roberts’s ponds. And I couldn’t help but feel, that out of all of the places in the whole entire world, my God had envisioned
this place
and
this time
just for me, and for my bein’ in it! And for that I was very thankful for His Grace.

Now I didn’t know when I was sittin’ there if I was actually lookin’ forward to goin’ back to school or nothin’ or if maybe I was just lookin’ forward to gettin’ back to some kind of normality. Cause everything that I had ever known of in my whole entire life was changin’; like a part of me was no longer gonna be a kid any more. And if that was what it was like to be grown up then I didn’t want any part in it!