Jimmy
05-30-2007, 11:15 PM
____________One of the few things I remember my father telling me before he got stepped on by that cow was this, "Ham, for the love of Tom, don't ever lose track of your sister, and don't you let her get knocked up by those damn Terwilliger boys." Just a few hours later he was getting some milk from the basement, dropped his pocket watch, bent down to get it and smoosh. Ham and Eggs Van Zandt were orphans.
___________I don't blame the cows, it'd be foolish to. I don't even know which one of them did it, for Tom's sake. The four of them were all standing in a circle around my Dad when I found him. Blood was all over their hooves and hay, so no process of elimination would work. What was I supposed to do, kill them all? That'd be suicide for an entire neighborhood.
___________"Eggs needs the milk." Dad would say. Another of my dad's daily speeches was of the strict need for my little sister to have as much calicum, as he called it, as possible. Every day with the "Egg's a girl, she needs calcium." I never asked why, because I didn't need to be hit. Since he died, I've started making the milk available to all the women I know. no reason Eggs should get special treatment if all girls need the calcium.
___________I always thought of my Dad's last words to me when I was milking the cows. It was either think about my father or deal with the smell. Dad was a prick at times, but he wasn't in the same league as cow flop. You can't pack four large cattle in the basement of a house and not expect a smell. The whole house stunk, but it was worst down here.
___________I guess it was also a punishment of sorts, thinking of my Dad. Those words haunted me, just as surely as the Ice Sage haunts the block south of Freebis Avenue.
___________"Unca' Ham, Mommy wants you to come the fuck upstairs!"
___________My eyes looked up to the hole in the ceiling, and I shouted, "Damn it Moses, what'd I tell you about coming so close to the hole?!"
___________I saw the boy's shadow move away from the opening. "But Mommy said..."
___________"Don't matter what Mommy said, you mind me, boy!" I hated to yell at my nephew, but Moses needed to learn. If he got injured, I can't help him. I don't trust Mrs. Gibson to help our injured eiher. Not after what happened with Mr. Gibson. "You tell her I'll be up in a minute!" I heard the boy's footfalls echo as he ran away.
___________I stood up, pail in hand and walked towards the ropes, thinking about my father again. "Don't let her get knocked up by the Terwillger boys." He'd said. Sorry Dad, sometimes life doesn't work out the way you want it to. I was tying the pail's handle to one of the ropes hanging when Moses yelled down to me again.
__________"Mommy says to hurry your fat ass up the ropes now, Unca' Ham!"
__________I sighed and replied, "On my way now, boy."
__________"I stayed away from the goddamn hole this time, Unca' Ham!" He called.
__________"I know buddy, and I'm proud of you." I said. "Your mother, on the other hand..." I mumbled, trailing off. Grasping another rope, I began to pull myself up. The cows mooed their send off until tomorrow. I didn't bother to say goodbye.
__________Eventually my father's murderer, counted among their number, would be on my dinner plate, but not today. Not even tomorrow. Dad had made me promise to only slaughter a cow when I got married. As the only single man in my developement, pickings were slim to none. I was going to have to wait until one of the little ones came of age, or until a newcomer arrived.
__________Fat chance of that though. We hadn't gotten a new person since 2023 when that trio of near frozen circus clowns showed up. Even then, only one had survived. Councilman Pogo proved to be an indispensable addition to our ranks though. I'm glad I voted for him.
_________Poking my head over the edge of the opening I saw Moses picking his nose. "Moses Terwilliger, what'd i tell you about that?!"
_________"Bout what?" He answered, finger still up his nose.
_________I pulled my body up and out of the basement. "Picking your nose, shit for brains." I said and began hauling up the milk bucket.
_________"He's only 4, Ham. Lay off." I heard my sister say as she entered the living room from the kitchen. "I remember you picked yours until you were 17." Eggs politely pulled her son's hand away from his face. "That's enough Mo." She said and smiled. The little fella smiled back. He had his mother's dimples, his father's eyes and his grandfather's mouth. Not the physical feature, but the ability to spout swear words. We'd tried to stop him about a year before, but it was pointless. The kid just loved to curse.
________""What was so important you sent the boy to get me?" I asked, standing up. I always felt better this way. The only thing I had over my sister was a height taller than her's by half a head. She had everything else. A family, respect and joy. All I had was some damn cows that I inherited from my dad. I wonder if the cows knew that by killing him, they'd have to deal with me. Maybe, as I said, Dad was a prick.
I'll post more if anyone wants to read more. Thanks.
___________I don't blame the cows, it'd be foolish to. I don't even know which one of them did it, for Tom's sake. The four of them were all standing in a circle around my Dad when I found him. Blood was all over their hooves and hay, so no process of elimination would work. What was I supposed to do, kill them all? That'd be suicide for an entire neighborhood.
___________"Eggs needs the milk." Dad would say. Another of my dad's daily speeches was of the strict need for my little sister to have as much calicum, as he called it, as possible. Every day with the "Egg's a girl, she needs calcium." I never asked why, because I didn't need to be hit. Since he died, I've started making the milk available to all the women I know. no reason Eggs should get special treatment if all girls need the calcium.
___________I always thought of my Dad's last words to me when I was milking the cows. It was either think about my father or deal with the smell. Dad was a prick at times, but he wasn't in the same league as cow flop. You can't pack four large cattle in the basement of a house and not expect a smell. The whole house stunk, but it was worst down here.
___________I guess it was also a punishment of sorts, thinking of my Dad. Those words haunted me, just as surely as the Ice Sage haunts the block south of Freebis Avenue.
___________"Unca' Ham, Mommy wants you to come the fuck upstairs!"
___________My eyes looked up to the hole in the ceiling, and I shouted, "Damn it Moses, what'd I tell you about coming so close to the hole?!"
___________I saw the boy's shadow move away from the opening. "But Mommy said..."
___________"Don't matter what Mommy said, you mind me, boy!" I hated to yell at my nephew, but Moses needed to learn. If he got injured, I can't help him. I don't trust Mrs. Gibson to help our injured eiher. Not after what happened with Mr. Gibson. "You tell her I'll be up in a minute!" I heard the boy's footfalls echo as he ran away.
___________I stood up, pail in hand and walked towards the ropes, thinking about my father again. "Don't let her get knocked up by the Terwillger boys." He'd said. Sorry Dad, sometimes life doesn't work out the way you want it to. I was tying the pail's handle to one of the ropes hanging when Moses yelled down to me again.
__________"Mommy says to hurry your fat ass up the ropes now, Unca' Ham!"
__________I sighed and replied, "On my way now, boy."
__________"I stayed away from the goddamn hole this time, Unca' Ham!" He called.
__________"I know buddy, and I'm proud of you." I said. "Your mother, on the other hand..." I mumbled, trailing off. Grasping another rope, I began to pull myself up. The cows mooed their send off until tomorrow. I didn't bother to say goodbye.
__________Eventually my father's murderer, counted among their number, would be on my dinner plate, but not today. Not even tomorrow. Dad had made me promise to only slaughter a cow when I got married. As the only single man in my developement, pickings were slim to none. I was going to have to wait until one of the little ones came of age, or until a newcomer arrived.
__________Fat chance of that though. We hadn't gotten a new person since 2023 when that trio of near frozen circus clowns showed up. Even then, only one had survived. Councilman Pogo proved to be an indispensable addition to our ranks though. I'm glad I voted for him.
_________Poking my head over the edge of the opening I saw Moses picking his nose. "Moses Terwilliger, what'd i tell you about that?!"
_________"Bout what?" He answered, finger still up his nose.
_________I pulled my body up and out of the basement. "Picking your nose, shit for brains." I said and began hauling up the milk bucket.
_________"He's only 4, Ham. Lay off." I heard my sister say as she entered the living room from the kitchen. "I remember you picked yours until you were 17." Eggs politely pulled her son's hand away from his face. "That's enough Mo." She said and smiled. The little fella smiled back. He had his mother's dimples, his father's eyes and his grandfather's mouth. Not the physical feature, but the ability to spout swear words. We'd tried to stop him about a year before, but it was pointless. The kid just loved to curse.
________""What was so important you sent the boy to get me?" I asked, standing up. I always felt better this way. The only thing I had over my sister was a height taller than her's by half a head. She had everything else. A family, respect and joy. All I had was some damn cows that I inherited from my dad. I wonder if the cows knew that by killing him, they'd have to deal with me. Maybe, as I said, Dad was a prick.
I'll post more if anyone wants to read more. Thanks.