Read Online The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty by Eudora Welty - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Eudora Welty
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live meat. It was supposed to be a Indian woman, see, in this red dress an' stockin's. It didn't have on no shoes, so when it drug its foot ever'body could see.... When it come to the chicken's heart, it would eat that too, real fast, and the heart would still be jumpin'."
"Wait a second, Bud," said Max briefly, "Say, boy, is this white man here crazy?"
Little Lee Roy burst into hysterical, deprecatory giggles. He said, "Naw suh, don't think so." He tried to catch Steve's eye, seeking appreciation, crying, "Naw suh, don't think he crazy, mista."
Steve gripped Max's arm. "Wait! Wait!" he cried anxiously. "You ain't listenin'. I want to tell you about it. You didn't catch my nameâSteve. You never did hear about that little niggerâall that happened to him? Lived in Cane Springs, Miss'ippi?"
"Bud," said Max, disengaging himself, "I don't hear anything. I got a juke box, see, so I don't have to listen."
"LookâI was really the one," said Steve more patiently, but nervously, as if he had been slowly breaking bad news. He walked up and down the bare-swept ground in front of Little Lee Roy's porch, along the row of princess feathers and snow-on-the-mountain. Little Lee Roy's turning head followed him. "I was the oneâthat's what I'm tellin' you."
"Suppose I was to listen to what every dope comes in Max's Place got to say,
I'd
be nuts," said Max.
"It's all me, see," said Steve. "I know that. I was the one was the cause for it goin' on an' on an' not bein' found outâsuch an awful thing. It was me, what I said out front through the megaphone."
He stopped still and stared at Max in despair.
"Look," said Max. He sat on the steps, and the chickens hopped off. "I know I ain't nobody but Max. I got Max's Place. I only run a place, understand, fifty yards down the highway. Liquor buried twenty feet from the premises, and no trouble yet. I ain't ever been up here before. I don't claim to been anywhere. People come to my place. Now. You're the hitchhiker. You're tellin' me, see. You claim a lot of information. If I don't get it I don't get it and I ain't complainin' about it, see. But I think you're nuts, and did from the first. I only come up here with you because I figured you's crazy."
"Maybe you don't believe I remember every word of it even now," Steve was saying gently. "I think about it at nightâthat an' drums on the midway. You ever hear drums on the midway?" He paused and stared politely at Max and Little Lee Roy.
"Yeh," said Max.
"Don't it make you feel sad. I remember how the drums was goin' and I was yellin', 'Ladies and gents! Do not try to touch Keela, the Outcast Indian Maidenâshe will only beat your brains out with her iron rod, and eat them alive!'" Steve waved his arm gently in the air, and Little Lee Roy drew back and squealed. "'Do not go near her, ladies and gents! I'm warnin' you!' So nobody ever did. Nobody ever come near her. Until that man."
"Sure," said Max. "That fella." He shut his eyes.
"Afterwards when he come up so bold, I remembered seein' him walk up an' buy the ticket an' go in the tent. I'll never forget that man as long as I live. To me he's a sort ofâwellâ"
"Hero," said Max.
"I wish I could remember what he looked like. Seem like he was a tallish man with a sort of white face. Seem like he had bad teeth, but I may be wrong. I remember he frowned a lot. Kept frownin'. Whenever he'd buy a ticket, why, he'd frown."
"Ever seen him since?" asked Max cautiously, still with his eyes closed. "Ever hunt him up?"
"No, never did," said Steve. Then he went on. "He'd frown an' buy a ticket ever' day we was in these two little smelly towns in Texas, sometimes three-four times a day, whether it was fixin' to eat a chicken or not."
"O.K., so he gets in the tent," said Max.
"Well, what the man finally done was, he walked right up to the little stand where it was tied up and laid his hand out open on the planks in the platform. He just laid his hand out open there
"Wait a second, Bud," said Max briefly, "Say, boy, is this white man here crazy?"
Little Lee Roy burst into hysterical, deprecatory giggles. He said, "Naw suh, don't think so." He tried to catch Steve's eye, seeking appreciation, crying, "Naw suh, don't think he crazy, mista."
Steve gripped Max's arm. "Wait! Wait!" he cried anxiously. "You ain't listenin'. I want to tell you about it. You didn't catch my nameâSteve. You never did hear about that little niggerâall that happened to him? Lived in Cane Springs, Miss'ippi?"
"Bud," said Max, disengaging himself, "I don't hear anything. I got a juke box, see, so I don't have to listen."
"LookâI was really the one," said Steve more patiently, but nervously, as if he had been slowly breaking bad news. He walked up and down the bare-swept ground in front of Little Lee Roy's porch, along the row of princess feathers and snow-on-the-mountain. Little Lee Roy's turning head followed him. "I was the oneâthat's what I'm tellin' you."
"Suppose I was to listen to what every dope comes in Max's Place got to say,
I'd
be nuts," said Max.
"It's all me, see," said Steve. "I know that. I was the one was the cause for it goin' on an' on an' not bein' found outâsuch an awful thing. It was me, what I said out front through the megaphone."
He stopped still and stared at Max in despair.
"Look," said Max. He sat on the steps, and the chickens hopped off. "I know I ain't nobody but Max. I got Max's Place. I only run a place, understand, fifty yards down the highway. Liquor buried twenty feet from the premises, and no trouble yet. I ain't ever been up here before. I don't claim to been anywhere. People come to my place. Now. You're the hitchhiker. You're tellin' me, see. You claim a lot of information. If I don't get it I don't get it and I ain't complainin' about it, see. But I think you're nuts, and did from the first. I only come up here with you because I figured you's crazy."
"Maybe you don't believe I remember every word of it even now," Steve was saying gently. "I think about it at nightâthat an' drums on the midway. You ever hear drums on the midway?" He paused and stared politely at Max and Little Lee Roy.
"Yeh," said Max.
"Don't it make you feel sad. I remember how the drums was goin' and I was yellin', 'Ladies and gents! Do not try to touch Keela, the Outcast Indian Maidenâshe will only beat your brains out with her iron rod, and eat them alive!'" Steve waved his arm gently in the air, and Little Lee Roy drew back and squealed. "'Do not go near her, ladies and gents! I'm warnin' you!' So nobody ever did. Nobody ever come near her. Until that man."
"Sure," said Max. "That fella." He shut his eyes.
"Afterwards when he come up so bold, I remembered seein' him walk up an' buy the ticket an' go in the tent. I'll never forget that man as long as I live. To me he's a sort ofâwellâ"
"Hero," said Max.
"I wish I could remember what he looked like. Seem like he was a tallish man with a sort of white face. Seem like he had bad teeth, but I may be wrong. I remember he frowned a lot. Kept frownin'. Whenever he'd buy a ticket, why, he'd frown."
"Ever seen him since?" asked Max cautiously, still with his eyes closed. "Ever hunt him up?"
"No, never did," said Steve. Then he went on. "He'd frown an' buy a ticket ever' day we was in these two little smelly towns in Texas, sometimes three-four times a day, whether it was fixin' to eat a chicken or not."
"O.K., so he gets in the tent," said Max.
"Well, what the man finally done was, he walked right up to the little stand where it was tied up and laid his hand out open on the planks in the platform. He just laid his hand out open there
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