Throwing the Yellow Dodder--Snippet 4

* This is the continuation of a work of fiction.

..."Mrs. Mable, you have some of the best stories. I wish we could've been raised together. I just know we could've been friends. We could of gotten those slimy boys and made them wish they'd of never even seen a crab apple. I've always thrown a pretty, mean fastball, myself."

"So, you've had things thrown at you too?"

"Boys is always throwin' something at you to get your attention. I never had crab apples thrown at me, but I would've traded some of the crap that's been thrown at me for crab apples for sure. Why don't somebody, anybody, tell those boys that honey always works better than thorns. Boys and men always gotta go about things backwards, well, unless they's tryin' to get somethin'. Then they switch on a dime and all of the sudden turn into sweet cream butter and think we don't notice the change. They think all women are the same beast and can be tamed the same way. They start actin' like a sweet, innocent butterfly, but all I see and smell is that old worm they used to be and still are. Or at least that's the way the men in my life have been. Foolish, I tell ya'. Foolish."

"They sure are like nasty, old worms sometimes. I know the type well. I bet all those boys who were throwing those crab apples grew up to be fine specimens of maggot larvae, for sure. Some of those crab apples were so rotten they'd splatter all over our clean dresses. Oh' how we'd scream. We'd scream all the way down that red, clay road."

"I'm thinkin' of some men right now that I'd like to throw some of those rotten crab apples at. Some of those wormy men deserve to squeal like a little girl. Oh, they is rotten, so very, very rotten."

"Now, Miss Lucy, not all men are worms; a lot of them are worms or even worse, but there are plenty of men that aren't. My William was a beautiful man and wasn't even for a second anything less."

"I'm sure he was, but it helped that he had a woman like you, Mrs Mable. Most people don't think it much of it, but it sure does feel good to be a kept woman. Makes things feel like they should be. You can spot a kept woman from a mile away. She got her head up 'cause she knows it; not in a pride way, but like her world is spinnin' just right and she ain't trying to hang on to it and she's enjoyin' the breeze in her face. I'd of given up most things to be one, but I'm glad ya' got to be one. I know it musta' felt good."

"I hate to hear that, Miss Lucy. I do wish you could've found a good man. I know its hard, but they're out there. They're rare, but they're out there and they're not as hard to find as you think. They're just like some of the plants we had on our trail; they're out there, but they aren't shoutin' to you for you to notice them. They're hiding in the shade, just living life and doing what they were made to do, but you're still young. There's still a chance for you, Miss Lucy. Love ain't got a number that it stops at."

"Those are kind words, Mrs. Mable. You're a true friend if there's such a thing at this place. I'm not too sure if my ticker can handle another man for a little while. It seems to take a little longer each time to heal, ya know?"

"The heart is a muscle and you know that just as I do , Miss Lucy. You got to exercise it a lot and I'm not just talkin' about all that movin' and shakin' that's offered on Wednesdays with that crazy, Latin lady o the west lawn. All that is foolishness if I've ever seen it; old people shakin' all that skin around hopin' to stay alive for another couple of minutes. They should be out here walking around this pretty lake like you and me. I've never done a minute of exercise my whole life. If you're living like you should, then you don't need to. But Miss Lucy, you better let that heart of yours get back to its job or it might go into apathy and nobody wants a flabby heart. There's already too many people with them and all they got is bitterness rising up their throats like acid."

"I know, I know, Mrs. Mable. You sound like my own mama. I just need a little time, but don't think I ain't listenin' because I am and doing so with both my ears."

"I know you are and I'll tell you about my sweet William sometime, but not right now. Now's not the time nor the place. Maybe later, but we both got enough pain in our blood for the moment and I'd hate to ruin a day like this"

"Ya' take your time, Mrs. Mable. We got a lot of time. Time is something you and I've got. Time don't belong to nobody 'cept Jesus and He's the only good man I know at the moment"....

Snippet 5 coming on Tuesday. What do you think so far?

David