never did show up. Daddy kept waiting on him. We had the planters on and the fertilizer loaded up. Finally he said, Well damn, surely to God he ain’t drunk on a Saturday morning. So he went down there to see about him.
“Hugh Jean had a wife one time. I think her name was Sally. I don’t even remember her. Hugh Jean killed her one Saturday night, Daddy said. With a razor. He went to the pen a long time before Daddy did. Got out after he did. Same crime I guess of a different color. Man how come y’all like knives so much?
“But he didn’t have anybody else by then. Daddy and Mama let him move on the place to help. Daddy’d beenknowing him a long time. He was pretty old then. He just lived by himself. He’d get drunk on the weekends and cry for Sally. No telling how long she’d been dead then. Say Lord send her back. Hugh Jean’ll take care of her this time Lord if you’ll just send her back. Mama couldn’t stand it. She didn’t want us around him when he was drinking. Boy you can remember a lot of stuff when you get to thinking about it. You sure can. Man I remember so much from back then.
“Here, let me get you another beer. This is nice, just us talking. Well. He was dead when Daddy found him. I walked close enough to see a little and then he made me go back. I kept watching, though. He was down on his knees by the front of the plow like he was working on it, Hugh Jean was. Old Joe was still standing in the traces. They’d broke up about half the garden. He didn’t raise much. Some tomatoes and a few peas. A little okry. Enough stuff to get him through the winter. Hell, we raised hogs back then. Daddy and Hugh Jean did. I don’t know, man. It was like they took care of each other. Daddy would go down there on the weekends sometimes and drink with him. He made a little whiskey down there. Mama didn’t like that either. She thought it was going to get Daddy back in trouble again. But they never did get caught making it. Hell I make a little once in a while myself. I run me off a little batch once or twice a year, make enough to last me a while. I used to sit up in the woods with Hugh Jean and watch it come out a drop at a time. He taught me how to make it. Daddy knew he was doingit. I’ve thought about that a lot. He had a certain kind of relationship with Hugh Jean, and after he died it seemed like things were never the same. I don’t know why. He never would let any black people live on the place after that.
“What he did was beat that fucking mule to death. Yep. Saw my daddy do that. God. He pulled Hugh Jean out of the way and took his shirt off and covered his face up. And I heard him talking to that mule. Said You son of a bitch I’m fixing to beat your fucking brains out. Oh he hurt that son of a bitch before he died. Took a sledgehammer handle to him. I saw some bad shit over there but my daddy beating that mule to death was one of the worst things I ever saw. It took him about thirty minutes. Mama got Max and ran in the house and locked the door. I stood there and watched it. He made sure the sumbitch suffered before he died. And he damn sure suffered. Tied his head to a post and then he went to work on him. He had blood all over him when he come back.
“This is some morbid shit, ain’t it? Well hell. The mule killed his friend, so he killed the mule. But slowly, so the mule would know why it was happening. Not that you would have ever got him to admit that Hugh Jean was his friend. Hell no. The best he ever said was that Hugh Jean was a good hand.
“But I remember that funeral. Me and Daddy were the only white people in there. It was so strange. They didn’t bury him for a week. They had to wait and let all his kin-folks from up North get down. They wouldn’t bury himuntil everybody was there. What am I telling you for, hell, you know.
“Yeah, hold on, let me get my lighter. Here. You ready for a drink? All right.
“Naw but you know, Daddy wanted me to go. He said I might not get
“Hugh Jean had a wife one time. I think her name was Sally. I don’t even remember her. Hugh Jean killed her one Saturday night, Daddy said. With a razor. He went to the pen a long time before Daddy did. Got out after he did. Same crime I guess of a different color. Man how come y’all like knives so much?
“But he didn’t have anybody else by then. Daddy and Mama let him move on the place to help. Daddy’d beenknowing him a long time. He was pretty old then. He just lived by himself. He’d get drunk on the weekends and cry for Sally. No telling how long she’d been dead then. Say Lord send her back. Hugh Jean’ll take care of her this time Lord if you’ll just send her back. Mama couldn’t stand it. She didn’t want us around him when he was drinking. Boy you can remember a lot of stuff when you get to thinking about it. You sure can. Man I remember so much from back then.
“Here, let me get you another beer. This is nice, just us talking. Well. He was dead when Daddy found him. I walked close enough to see a little and then he made me go back. I kept watching, though. He was down on his knees by the front of the plow like he was working on it, Hugh Jean was. Old Joe was still standing in the traces. They’d broke up about half the garden. He didn’t raise much. Some tomatoes and a few peas. A little okry. Enough stuff to get him through the winter. Hell, we raised hogs back then. Daddy and Hugh Jean did. I don’t know, man. It was like they took care of each other. Daddy would go down there on the weekends sometimes and drink with him. He made a little whiskey down there. Mama didn’t like that either. She thought it was going to get Daddy back in trouble again. But they never did get caught making it. Hell I make a little once in a while myself. I run me off a little batch once or twice a year, make enough to last me a while. I used to sit up in the woods with Hugh Jean and watch it come out a drop at a time. He taught me how to make it. Daddy knew he was doingit. I’ve thought about that a lot. He had a certain kind of relationship with Hugh Jean, and after he died it seemed like things were never the same. I don’t know why. He never would let any black people live on the place after that.
“What he did was beat that fucking mule to death. Yep. Saw my daddy do that. God. He pulled Hugh Jean out of the way and took his shirt off and covered his face up. And I heard him talking to that mule. Said You son of a bitch I’m fixing to beat your fucking brains out. Oh he hurt that son of a bitch before he died. Took a sledgehammer handle to him. I saw some bad shit over there but my daddy beating that mule to death was one of the worst things I ever saw. It took him about thirty minutes. Mama got Max and ran in the house and locked the door. I stood there and watched it. He made sure the sumbitch suffered before he died. And he damn sure suffered. Tied his head to a post and then he went to work on him. He had blood all over him when he come back.
“This is some morbid shit, ain’t it? Well hell. The mule killed his friend, so he killed the mule. But slowly, so the mule would know why it was happening. Not that you would have ever got him to admit that Hugh Jean was his friend. Hell no. The best he ever said was that Hugh Jean was a good hand.
“But I remember that funeral. Me and Daddy were the only white people in there. It was so strange. They didn’t bury him for a week. They had to wait and let all his kin-folks from up North get down. They wouldn’t bury himuntil everybody was there. What am I telling you for, hell, you know.
“Yeah, hold on, let me get my lighter. Here. You ready for a drink? All right.
“Naw but you know, Daddy wanted me to go. He said I might not get
Similar Books
