Richard, the paperboy from The Red Scarf, Sept. 1944 #4

Richard, the paperboy, from The Red Scarf, Sept. 1944, #4
Heck, y’all, when old man Odom came outta the grocery store, we was still a-wiping off the spray of tobacco juice from that big sneeze he made. He waddled by and stopped to check us out. Yeah, he kinda looked at us with one of them squint-eyed mean looks, laughed a little crackly laugh and bit off another chew of tobacco.

“Done lost my last chew when I sneezed. You boys seen it?”

Course, we not only seen it, we experienced it; danged old man! Well, he though it was so funny he let out one of them belly laughs and slapped his hands together like he was just enjoying a joke…yeah on somebody else.

“Now, boys, I hope y’all don’t get no ideas about my watermelon patch.”

Shoot, right up until he said that we hadn’t even though about getting into his watermelon patch, but when he mouthed off, Ears looked at me and I knowed just what he was a-thinking.

“It’ll be big time trouble if y’all do…big time…you hear me boys?”

We didn’t move or say a word.

“I said, did y’all hear me?” he hollered

Dang, he almost blowed us off the breadbox again, and we was a-nodding “yes” as we wipped off the spray of tobacco juice.

Heck, now you just think ’bout it. Didn’t that sorry old man deserve to have us raid his watermelon patch? Uh, huh, I knowed you’d understand if I told you the whole story. But just a minute; I ain’t told you what happened after we hid the watermelon in the woods and hightailed it. Heck, when you hear what we did with the watermelon you’ll really won’t think we is little kid criminals. You see it has to do with that big bunch of soldiers that’s camped down near Henley Hill….well, I’ll tell you more tomorrow…

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