Whittlers

The spittoon clanged as Earl spit a wad of black juice into it. His attention refocused on the chunk of wood he was carving. Well, he wasn't really carving. He was just whittling off little splinters as he watched the footpath leading from the highway. As Earl crossed his legs, he noticed that he would have to patch up his work pants again. It was tobacco this year, so he spent a lot of time on his knees pulling the golden brown leaves that grew in front of his dilapidated one-room shack. Next year it would be corn, so he wouldn't spend so much of his evenings sewing his work pants back together.

Earl looked back down at his whittling as his son hobbled down the footpath. From his rocking chair on the sagging gray front porch, he could just see his son's blond head bobbing up and down. As his son came closer, he could hear the boy's heavy breathing as he swung his single crutch forwards to take each step. His other arm was occupied with balancing his schoolbooks. His tiny black shoes gathered dust as he struggled to make them move under him. His little back was bowed over in a hump, but his round face carried a sweet innocence. Earl smiled, but the smile quickly faded as his son fought to mount the porch steps.

Earl watched with concern, but made no move to help his son. Instead he said, "How did you do in school today, Cody?"

Cody grunted as he mounted the final step and set his heavy load of books down. "I got an A on my spelling test and the Cash boys picked on me again at recess."

"What did they call you this time?"

"They called me Hunchback again, but I'm not mad at them anymore. I'm reading a book about a hunchback just like me. And he saved a really pretty girl from an evil man."

"Maybe you can read it to me tonight. What about the other name?"

"Retard still bothers me, Papa. Isn't a retard supposed to be stupid or something? I'm not stupid. My teacher tells me I'm the smartest one in the class."

Cody hobbled over to Earl and climbed into his lap. Earl handed his pocketknife and mangled block of wood to Cody before wrapping his gnarled, leathery arms around him. The creak of the old rocking chair seemed to reassure Cody as he examined the wood in his hand.

"Well, Cody, only jealous people are going to call you a retard. Them Cash boys ain't all that bright themselves. Did I ever tell you about your Grandmama Tinse?"

"No, sir." Cody brought the pocketknife to the block of wood and started to draw little lines into the wood with the tip. "All I know is that she was a black woman, and I heard that from the Cash boys. They said the Klan hung her for having a baby that she wasn't supposed to have."

Earl nodded solemnly. "Yep, they hung her because she had me. In fact, it was the Cash boys' grandaddy that did it."

"Did he go to hell for killing her?" The little scratches started to take on some kind of design as Cody continued to work on the block of wood.

"I imagine he did, son. Grandmama Tinse worked in the cotton fields for Grandpapa's family. As long as Grandpapa could remember, he knew Grandmama Tinse. He came to think of her as a sister. And when he was old enough to notice girls, he told me, the first girl he noticed was Grandmama Tinse."

Cody didn't seem to be paying attention as he cut off a large chunk of the wooden block. His cherubic face was contorted in concentration. But he must have had one ear open because he asked, "Did they get married?"

"No, they didn't get married. People out here didn't approve of them seeing each other, so they had to see each other in secret. But one day, Grandmama Tinse found out that she was going to have a baby. She said that the daddy was one of the hands, but when I was born, I was too light for any of the hands to be my daddy."

"So what happened? Did they arrest her for having you?" The block of wood was starting to turn into a little person under Cody's hands as he continued to shave off large chunks. He stuck out his little tongue as he concentrated on scratching out eyes into the head.

"No, they didn't arrest her. The Klan was going to kill her and me both. But she met up with Grandaddy in private and they planned to elope."

"Did they get away then?"

"They didn't get far. The Klan caught up with them at the county line. Then Grandmama Tinse gave me to Grandaddy and started running into one of the fields. The Klan went after her and Grandaddy was able to escape with me. Grandmama Tinse sacrificed herself for me."

Cody evaluated his work and continued to scratch at the crudely formed head. Earl could already make out strands of hair and a little smile. "Why did the Klan kill her?"

"Well, Cody, they say that black and white people shouldn't ever mix, but I think those Klan members were just jealous because Grandmama Tinse and Grandaddy loved each other. They shared that special love where you just want to be with that person all the time and when you have babies, it's something you get to do instead of something you have to do."

Earl stopped to examine Cody's handiwork. "Think you'll finish that tonight?"

"I think I can, but I'm going to take my time with this one. This is going to be an extra-special one." Cody carefully blew on the block of wood to show that little details were forming.

"Well, you can work on it some more tonight. Go wash up for dinner."

Cody obediently slid off Earl's lap and put his crutch under him. He carried the little half-formed figure and pocketknife with him as entered the house. Earl looked down at the books Cody had laid down on the floor. He noticed a small slip of paper sticking out of Cody's well-worn literature book. Earl reached down and pulled the slip of paper out. The slip had a child's scrawl on it that said, "Do you love me?" with two little checkboxes labeled "Yes" and "No." The "Yes" checkbox was checked.