and I pictured the land as one big kingdom. The tall pines became noble kings and bushy 74
m i c h a e l m o r r i s
stalks of saw grass turned into queens dressed in ball gowns. Bright green palmetto stalks fanned out across the edge of the beach to guard their fortress.
That inlet where sea and fresh water connected made my nerves feel healed right down to the wiry ends that our science book illustrated. A place where the past could be buried deeper than the bot-tomless mud floor we walked across.
When we had made it to the prickly brown grass, Josh sat down on a patch of sand and poked his finger at the crabs. The sound of their claws rubbing against the tin pail reminded me of fingernails on a chalkboard. “Beau, I need to know. When is school letting out?”
“Next Wednesday. Brandon, you got one to your left.”
Hunching over the murky water, I was as still as a trained bird dog. The pinchers on the crab below were wider than his body. He paused when I lifted the pole, and his eyes never flinched as the net came down. “He’s mine now,” I yelled. Flailing in the net with his underside facing us, the crab displayed a pearl white belly that glistened in the sun.
“Can we have crab claws for Thanksgiving?” Josh asked.
“We’ll see if we can’t get you some,” Beau poked my arm with the side of his pole.
“Yeah, Josh, you should ask your mama to fix you some crab,” I added.
“What y’all doing for Thanksgiving?” Beau never turned to look at me as we treaded back through the mud.
“Just stay here I guess.”
“Brandon, are you a orphan like Superman was?”
“Shut up, Josh.” Beau shook his head at his brother.
“Well, that’s what mama said he was.”
Trying to ignore their words, I stared at the mud that churned with our steps. If only the sound of sloshing water could have been louder.
“Don’t pay no attention to him. He’s just a first grader. He don’t know nothing.”
Slow Way Home
75
“I do too. I asked mama how come he don’t live with his own mama and daddy and that’s what she said.”
Jerking the bucket from my hand, Beau held it over Josh’s head.
“If you don’t shut your mouth, I’ll throw ever one of these crabs on your head and they’ll pinch it shut.”
Josh’s eyes were big only for a second. He squinted at Beau and twisted his mouth. A spray of spat shot out of his mouth and landed on Beau’s T-shirt. Before Beau could grab him, Josh was running and splashing water all the way to the bridge.
Beau waited until Josh had made it to the base of the bridge before he said anything. “Johnny ain’t my real daddy.”
I stopped, but he kept moving forward, never looking back.
When I caught up with him, he was looking down as if reading words from the water’s surface.
“My daddy left when I was just a baby. I don’t remember him too good. Except for this one time. He sat me up in a kitchen cabinet to see if I would fit in there. I remember him laughing real loud. I can’t see him, but I can still hear him.”
“What about Johnny?”
“He married my mama when I was just two years old. Josh don’t know nothing about it but I just wanted . . . Hey, don’t say nothing.
Okay?”
Beau didn’t know that he was dealing with the master of secrets and part of me wanted to toss the script, but by then it had all become a habit. “I won’t. I didn’t know my daddy neither.”
Beau glanced over at me and nodded. “How about your mama?”
Telling Beau about her travels to Canada working the pipeline and about a trip she made to Hawaii, I felt closer to her than ever.
As we moved towards the bridge, it seemed taller than a sky-scraper. Barnacles clung to the wide pilings that held it in the air.
“How’d she . . . you know, pass?”
“She got killed over in Africa. Doing work in that Peace Corps thing Miss Travick told us about.”
76
m i c h a e l m o r r i s
“What, a lion get a hold of her?”
“No, worse. A big fat rhino. People
m i c h a e l m o r r i s
stalks of saw grass turned into queens dressed in ball gowns. Bright green palmetto stalks fanned out across the edge of the beach to guard their fortress.
That inlet where sea and fresh water connected made my nerves feel healed right down to the wiry ends that our science book illustrated. A place where the past could be buried deeper than the bot-tomless mud floor we walked across.
When we had made it to the prickly brown grass, Josh sat down on a patch of sand and poked his finger at the crabs. The sound of their claws rubbing against the tin pail reminded me of fingernails on a chalkboard. “Beau, I need to know. When is school letting out?”
“Next Wednesday. Brandon, you got one to your left.”
Hunching over the murky water, I was as still as a trained bird dog. The pinchers on the crab below were wider than his body. He paused when I lifted the pole, and his eyes never flinched as the net came down. “He’s mine now,” I yelled. Flailing in the net with his underside facing us, the crab displayed a pearl white belly that glistened in the sun.
“Can we have crab claws for Thanksgiving?” Josh asked.
“We’ll see if we can’t get you some,” Beau poked my arm with the side of his pole.
“Yeah, Josh, you should ask your mama to fix you some crab,” I added.
“What y’all doing for Thanksgiving?” Beau never turned to look at me as we treaded back through the mud.
“Just stay here I guess.”
“Brandon, are you a orphan like Superman was?”
“Shut up, Josh.” Beau shook his head at his brother.
“Well, that’s what mama said he was.”
Trying to ignore their words, I stared at the mud that churned with our steps. If only the sound of sloshing water could have been louder.
“Don’t pay no attention to him. He’s just a first grader. He don’t know nothing.”
Slow Way Home
75
“I do too. I asked mama how come he don’t live with his own mama and daddy and that’s what she said.”
Jerking the bucket from my hand, Beau held it over Josh’s head.
“If you don’t shut your mouth, I’ll throw ever one of these crabs on your head and they’ll pinch it shut.”
Josh’s eyes were big only for a second. He squinted at Beau and twisted his mouth. A spray of spat shot out of his mouth and landed on Beau’s T-shirt. Before Beau could grab him, Josh was running and splashing water all the way to the bridge.
Beau waited until Josh had made it to the base of the bridge before he said anything. “Johnny ain’t my real daddy.”
I stopped, but he kept moving forward, never looking back.
When I caught up with him, he was looking down as if reading words from the water’s surface.
“My daddy left when I was just a baby. I don’t remember him too good. Except for this one time. He sat me up in a kitchen cabinet to see if I would fit in there. I remember him laughing real loud. I can’t see him, but I can still hear him.”
“What about Johnny?”
“He married my mama when I was just two years old. Josh don’t know nothing about it but I just wanted . . . Hey, don’t say nothing.
Okay?”
Beau didn’t know that he was dealing with the master of secrets and part of me wanted to toss the script, but by then it had all become a habit. “I won’t. I didn’t know my daddy neither.”
Beau glanced over at me and nodded. “How about your mama?”
Telling Beau about her travels to Canada working the pipeline and about a trip she made to Hawaii, I felt closer to her than ever.
As we moved towards the bridge, it seemed taller than a sky-scraper. Barnacles clung to the wide pilings that held it in the air.
“How’d she . . . you know, pass?”
“She got killed over in Africa. Doing work in that Peace Corps thing Miss Travick told us about.”
76
m i c h a e l m o r r i s
“What, a lion get a hold of her?”
“No, worse. A big fat rhino. People
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