wandering hillbilly

life of buddy don, chaptur 4:
lil gurl in a pink dress

by time we got to the tanners homeplace, the sun dun cum up n twuz the next day so corse everbidy wuz awakin up n gettin dressd up fer church. i wuz bone tard n mr. joe bob tanner new it but manners is manners n i kindly had to say mornin to all the gurls n comment pone how thay dun growd up so n all, witch twuz lucky everbidy wuz innerduced since thay all dun changd up a site since whenever i last wint to church, witch that wuz two years ago. i caint recall all thar names to this day, but i remember two of em like twuz yesterdy.

furst'n wuz myra jane, witch she wuz neerly my age n weed been a'knowin each other since kids n i cud see she wuz still kindly sweet on me. whenever we sed mornin she give me a hug n seemt lack she helt it a bit long but i figgert dint meen much, witch i wuz rong as ye'll see direkly.

tuthern wuz shurl lin who wurnt morn 4 years ol. whenever she herd thay wuz cumpny, she cum a'runnin n wonted to hug my neck. i had to hole her off fer a secont tho i wuz genlmun bout it. whut dint nobidy else no wuz how the site of shurl lin made me shiver, as if twuz a ghost i wuz a'seein.

she wuz a'warin a pink dress with a par of paten lether shoos n white sox. her har wuz almos red n a lil brown n twuz dun up in ribns. n she wuz a'carryin a white bible. i cudnt keep frum askin cud she read that thar bible n she laft n sed, 'corse not, not yet, im only 4,' n i sed she'd do well to study't, witch wuz funny when i thank about it now but lil did i no whut i wuz a fixin to git my ownself into.

corse thay wuz runnin late so miz tanner tole me i cud sleep in myras bed n thayd be back by dark n i cud take a bath ifn i needed to, witch wuz a hint cawz im shure she cud smell whuther i needed to or not. so i tuck the hint n nearly dozed off in the bath tub n then i got out n wunderd whut shud i whar to bed but reckond i hadnt wore pee jays fer years n went nekkid.

but fer quite a spell i cudnt sleep, spite of how tard i wuz. i cudnt git sumthin out of my mine.

see, thirteen years before, when i wuz five i met my true love, witch that wuz my furst cuzin persilla. t'appened this away.

counta my daddy bein a speshul agent in the fbi we wuz livin up in bawstun whenever i wuz bout to be born, witch corse my mama cum home to tennessee to make sartin i wuz born in the rite state. she leff me behine fer a while n returnt to bawstun but purty soon my grandie tuck me up in the train, so we lived up thar fer a few years.

round chrismus time of the year i turnt 5 we wuz back home in tennessee n tendin the fambly chissmus at grandies. twuz my furst time at the fambly chrismus n i barly new innbidy. after dinner we all wint into the livin room n sang sum hims n then my cuzin persilla stood up n red frum the bible. sum kinda way i hadnt met her yet but whenever i lay eyes on her that furst time, twuz as if i dun been pokt by a arrow in my hart. she wuz 4 n she wuz dresst jus lack shurl lin.

dint seem fair she'd been tawt to reed before me, witch i cum to fine out she dun tawt her ownself tho i dint no it then. we playd in ant liza gails room after everbidy dun opend thar presents n we turnt out the lite n she ast me fer a kiss n i tole her she cud have it ifn she wud promise we wud git married when we wuz all growd up n she promisd n we kissd, witch twuz the furst time i ever felt that.

we playd whenever we wuz together until one day durin dinner at grandies persilla upn tole everbidy we wuz gone git mard n thay cummenced to fussin n fitin. purty soon i sed sumthin to make my daddy mad n i got whupd. n then she sed we wuz in love n caint nobidy stop us n that got her sent to bed without deessert. n whupt to, i bet.

so happent that her daddy n mama wuz a gettin a deevorse n one day thay wuz no persilla nor menshun of her nor her bruther neethur. i figgerd persilla n me, we dun cawzed tall n i new id be goin to hell whenever i died n twurried me sum.

n whenever she wuz furst gone, i thawt n thawt about her n wunderd how we wuz a'gonna git mard ifn we cudnt fine one nuther but after a while seem lack the memry faded. so ye kin magin the affeck whenver i saw shurl lin n how twuz a panefull minder to my hart bout whut it wuz hungry fer that it aint never had.

caint member falln asleep but i member dreemin i wuz a kissin persilla n she ast did i wanna play doctor n shud she get undressd n i put my hand down thar n seemd lack sumbidy spilt sumthin n then i woke up.

thar in the bed with me wuz myra jane, nekkid as a jay burd n trine a kiss me n askin did i wont a tuch it n fack is i did have a strong urge to do jes that n i probly wudda dun it ceptin one thang, witch that wuz the memry of persilla. wuznt i in love n ifn i wuz shud i be wantin to tuch it?

i tride to get up but she helt on so i ast her to let me go n she sed, 'shee!' n 'be quite!' n i sed, 'turn roun n lemme up,' cawz i still dint have inny pee jays on. n thin myra jane tuck aholt of me down thar n that made me holler out loud.

that brought mr. joe bob tanner a runnin n he turnt on the lite n i reckon whut he saw lookt wurs'n twuz but i cudnt blame him a bit fer throwin me out, witch thats jes whut he dun.

so i tuck my duffl n went lookin fer a place to camp fer the nite n i larnt rite away that californy aint lack reel places with trees n mountins. fack is the hills is nekkid dust n brown grass n wharever the tanners homeplace wuz thay wuz nothin but lil houses n pink brick walls fars the eye cud see.

my daddy dun tawt me to take direckshuns frum the sun so i did n cided id hed west till i cum to a place to camp.

i walkt till after dark n foun a place lookt lack thay oncet wuz a river thar but by then twuz only sand. i clart me a spot n set up my camp. i wuz sprized whenever the moon cum up at how cold it got so i bilt me a lil far.

i partly wonted to wurry over how thangs wuz hedded in a bad diereckshun, n thay wuz but all i cud thank bout wuz a lil gurl in a pink dress.

whar cud she be?