My mother run off and left me, a
year-old baby.
"I remember better when I was young than I do now.
"After I got big enough--you know, a little old nasty somethin' runnin'
around in the yard--after I got big enough, they took me in the house to
rock the cradle, and I stayed there till I was twenty-three. I would a
stayed longer but they was so cruel to me.
"I didn't know nothin'. I run off and stayed with a colored preacher and
his family not far away. You know I was crazy. One day the preacher said
some of his members was objectin' to me stayin' there and he was goin'
to tell my white folks where I was. And sure enough, he did, and one
morning I was out in the field and I saw the son-in-law comin'. So I
went back and worked for him and his wife.
"Me? All I did do was farmin' when I was young.
"Oh, I been in Arkansas 'bout fifty years. My oldest boy was fourteen
when I come here and he is sixty-four now.
"No, honey, I can't cook now. I'd burn it up. I used to cook. It's a
poor dog that won't wag its own tail.
"All I know is I had a hard time, I been married three times. My last
husband was a preacher and he was so mean I left him. I told him if all
preachers was like him, hell was full of 'em.
Pages:
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382