wandering hillbilly

life of buddy don, chaptur 71:
maisie

maisie was the baby of the fambly, witch she wuz whut daddy called a acksident n mama called a luv child. thang wuz, they wuznt plannin on havin a nuthern but mama cum up pregnunt sumhow n thats how maisie gut started. she wuz born in may of 1960. i wuz eight at the time. main thangs i member wuz how mama lost lots of blood n had to stay in the hospital fer a cuple extra weeks.

the day she cum home, i wuz playin baseball across the street with lil buddy, witch he had the same name as me but i wuz three years older. i wuz pitchin frum about ten feet away n he smacked a baseball right into my nose. i started in to bleedin lack a stuck pig n run home to tell about it but befor i could say nuthin, thar she wuz, maisie lynette, a tiny bundle in black ethyls arms, witch we called her black ethyl on a counta mama had a nuther frien name of ethyl only she wuz white ethyl.

maisie wuz everbidys favert frum the instunt she wuz born. since i wuz the oldest, i had to take care of my lil bruthers n sisters bout three times a week, n seem lack maisie always looked up to me. i wrote bout sum of that stuff back in chaptur 38 the short life of becky turner.

innywho, by the summer of 1977 maisie wuz cumin out to the farm purty reglar. she n i had us a closer relayshunship than ever after whut happened with becky turner n bout ever chants she gut, she wood git a ride out to the farm with me or susannah.

she had her a boyfrien for the longest, one of a set of twins, witch his fambly wuz one of the biggest in oak ridge. he wuz a short stocky fella name of kevin karnes n he wurked at big ed's pizza. they went together fer years in hi skool but whenever maisie gut to lackin to smoke theevil weed, they gut to fussin n fitin on a counta kevin dint wonta git hi n maisie felt odd whenever he woodnt git hi with her. so maisie gut to lookin fer folk that lacked to git hi n we had a bunch of em hangin roun the farm.

that summer we gut a long visit frum a cuple of our cousins frum up north in massachusetts n one of em wuz maisies age. he wuz a red hed name of john paul mize, witch everbidy always called him jp. he had im a car n twuz only natcherul that maisie wood show him roun n seem lack that hole summer whenever ye saw one of em, ye saw tuthern. then summer wuz over n he wuz gone n by then, maisie tole kevin she dint wonta go with him no more.

long bout the end of september, eli give me a call n sed we had to do sumthin bout maisie n i ast whut wuz the matter n he splained how she had dun cum up eggspecktin n he n brew had dun deecided twood half to be tuck care of. i ast did he mean he wonted her to git a aborshun, n he sed twuz thonly anser. i ast whut did maisie wont, but he sed that dint matter on a counta she wuz too young to know whut she wonted. i ast who wuz a'gone pay fer it n he sed the three bruthers. i sed i wood thank bout it n call him back.

in sted, i called up maisie n ast did she wonta go ridin on my motorsickle, witch virgil used it mosly, but he kep it wurkin n i used it now n then. so we tuck us a ride out to melton hill n set ourself down by the lake n burned a number n i ast her did she really wonta have a aborshun. n she cride n we talked n i ast whut did kevin thank. n that caught her by a nuff sprize that she ast whut did kevin half to do with it. n she reminded her how i had dun writ that letter bout how fathers should have rites when it cums to aborshun n all n she sed, mayhap by miss take, how kevin dint have nuthin to do with it.

twuz quite fer a long stretch. we watched the clouds floatin overhead n a boat go by n then i tride to ketch her eye but she woodnt let me. then i put my arm roun her sholder n pulled her a lil closer n sed, twuz pj? n whenever she gut to crine i knew twuz so. she finely gut her breath back n ast me never to tell nobidy n i sed i wood try but thangs lack that tended to wonta be known by folks. but i promissed i woodnt say nuthin.

n that gut us to talkin in a differnt way. she splained how she hadnt never luved nobidy the way she dun pj n fack is, i dont reckon she ever foun innybidy who she luved as well. but she sed thay wuznt no way she could risk havin a baby by her furst cousin n i couldnt go agin that.

so i called eli up n sed i agreed n he sed he dun knew that on a counta his mysticull will n i ast him did he know whut twuz that changed my mine n he sed i musta dun cum to my senses or sumthin since twernt rite fer her to have a baby outside of marrg. n he reminded me bout how mama had reackted to larnin bout a nuther cousin gittin pregnunt outside of marrg, witch that wuz krissy mize. n i sed mayhap he wuz rite.

i ast him whar wuz we a'gone git this thang dun, but he dint know n ast me wuznt thar places over by the universty that did such thangs n i sed i wood check. i ast suze whut she thought bout it n she sed she knew of a place that a frien of her had used so i tuck the number n give em a call. they sed it could be dun fer $175, so i set up a pointment fer doin it.

i called maisie n tole her i had found a place, witch twuz planned parnthood over near the ut campus, n she sed she owed me n i sed she dint. then i ast eli did he half the money, but he had dun spent his munthly check , witch that wood be octobers check n twernt but the 4th day of the munth, but he sed he had found a grate deal on sum of theevil weed. so i called brew n ast did he have the money, but he sed he was a lil short on a counta havin to repair his car, witch he had im this datsun sports car that had to be repaired bout ever time he gut paid.

i wuznt about to ast susannah fer no hep with nuthin that tuck money, so i went over to ut n ast whuther i wuz a'gone git a check fer my student loan n i splained how i had a verr importunt paymint to make n they sed dint make no nevermind whut i had. ifn twuz time fer the check, then i wood git it, n ifn twernt, i woodnt. so i ast when wood it be time fer the check, n the lady looked into her files n sed sumthin lack 'whaddya know? you have one ready.' n twuz fer $433 on a counta the hole loan fer the year wuz $1,300 broke down into three parts, one per quarter.

so susannah n i tuck maisie over to the planned parnthood n went in with her n waited till twuz over. n then we tuck her out to the farm n called mama to tell her she wood be stayin overnite with us n twuz a normal thang fer her to do by then n fack is, she stayed fer sevrul nites till she wuz feelin more lack herself.

i wuz a lil mad at my bruthers fer not heppin with the money, speshly since it seemed to me lack they had more disposbull incum than i did, but a funny thang happened. i cum home one day n found a five dollar bill with a note round it in my sock drawer. i wuz sprized, but i opened that note n read it. twuz from kevin. he sed he wonted to apologize fer lettin me take care of sumthin he shoulda dun tuck care of, but ifn i wood be payshunt, he wood pay ever penny plus ten percent. n he sed i wuznt to mentchun nuthin bout this to maisie on a counta he dint wont her to thank he wuz trine to git her back or innerfear with her life in innyway.

i wonted to tell him twernt his to pay, but i couldnt tell who wuz the father, so the next chants i dut, i went over to big eds n found him n tole him he dint half to pay no ten percent. he thanked me fer that n ast did i promiss i woodnt tell maisie bout it, n i give him my wurd. n fer the rest of that quarter, i wood find innywhar frum $5 to $20 with a note that sed how much he had dun paid n how much more he had to pay.

n thangs wuz fine till one day maisie cum over n saw one of them notes n ast wuznt that kevin ritin? n she wuz reachin to pick it up, but i grabbed it n sed no, twuz a luv note frum susannah.

that made her git real quite, so i ast whut wuz rong, n she sed she wished thar wuz sumbidy that luved her lack that n then she wuz crine. n i sed thar wuz sumbidy that luved her lack that, witch i mint twuz kevin karnes, but she dint unnerstan n jes sed, taint the same, taint the same.

i wonted to tell her who twuz, but i had dun give my wurd to kevin, so i jes sed she had her fambly, n that made her cry all the more n she sed why did she half to fall in luv with a cousin? i dint have no anser to that n i wuz jes glad it hadnt happened to me.

i wonted to tell her that the one that luved her wernt no cousin, but i couldnt. in sted, i kep my wurd to kevin. n fer a while, i wuz glad i dun it n figgered twuz the rite thang.

but befor too long, twuz one of the thangs i mos regretted doin in my hole life.