Luke

Bobby told me to put a snake in teacher’s drawer. So I did. You should have seen it. Teacher jumped about three feet in the air and let out a skelloch to wake the dead. School is right next to the cemetery, I wouldn’t have been surprised if old Widow Parsons came bursting in to see what happened. Bobby and me were laughin' so hard, we almost pissed our drawers. It was just a little garden snake. Pa said I shouldn’t be so mean to teacher, and whupped me for it. I had to tell teacher I was sorry. I guess I was sorry, but it really wasn’t my idea. Bobby was the one who come up with it. Ma said that it right don’t matter whose idea it were. That if Bobby axed me to jump of the bridge, would I? I said sure, the water is real nice off the bridge, good for swimming. Ma cuffed me and said I was fresh and that I knew what she meant. She told me not to listen to Bobby no more. Course, we are best buddies. We went fishing after school today. Didn’t catch much, exceptin’ trouble, Pa wanted me home after school to bring in some wood. He told Ma he wanted to take me out of school, that he needed help, but Ma said she wanted her boy to amount to somethin’ so I was still going to school. Pa’s face got real red, and he stormed off to the barn. Ma said to me that ifin’ I do real good at school I can work with her Daddy at the bank. I said I wanted to work with Pa, so I went out to help him. Bobby don’t have no chores on account that his daddy is rich. That’s okay, Bobby is good people.

Lanna Lee Maheux
July 28, 2006