Centerpedes in the Shanty (an Old Josh tale)

Centipedes in the Shanty
(1908)

Old Josh used to watch the centipedes with all their legs speed across the wooden floors of his shanty; he was amazed at all those legs working in unison. He wasn’t sure exactly how they moved, but they looked as if they moved without thinking, and they’d speed across one side of the hut, to the other, spot him, (like they do now Silas), they’d spot Josh, and try to hide here or there, before being stomped on with his big flat bare feet.
Silas, Josh’s oldest son now is doing just that, just like his pa used to do—his pa being dead now going on a year—; those centipedes, in particular, this one, the one that is bothering Jordon (for Silas simply plays with them, and stomps on them like his pa used to do, when he gets tired of playing) Jordon doesn’t care for them, he’s kind of afraid of such creatures, and avoids them like the plague, along with spiders and other creepy crawlers.
Says Jordon to Silas: “They sho have a strange looking body, jes’ keeps that thing away from me brother!”
Silas is playing around with the creature, knowing Jordon don’t like them, says “They move with a greet speed, to bad you aint like them!” (And Silas laughs and Jordon keeps his distance, and an eye on the centipede and Silas.)
Now Silas is following the creature with his eyes, Jordon is sitting on the cot, watching the creatures legs as it runs rapidly to and fro, looking for an escape hole, Silas at the kitchen table, now the centipede starts to zigzag, and Jordon jumps up on his cot (Silas laughs). Then Silas gets a cramp in his leg and falls flat on top of the centipede—with is face under it, and I think Jordon stops breathing for a moment, in disbelief, trying to figure out how he is going to get off the cot and out of the shack, he needs to see where the centipede is before he makes his move— looks at the front door, and if the pathway from his cot to the door is clear, he is not that concerned about Silas at all, nor willing to go see how he is.
Silas gets up, looks at Jordon, his mouth tightly closed, sealed by his tight lips against each other, Jordon asks, “What is you up to standing on like that looking at me?”
What Jordon doesn’t know, is that the centipede is in his brother’s mouth, Silas is a bit fogy looking at the floor and Jordon, trying to get his balance, Jordon is standing up on his cot, also trying to keep his balance, there are bricks under his cot so he is not fearful it will rip and he will fall through it like into hole under it, there is no hole under it, just bricks and more bricks. Silas walks over to Jordon, a bit dizzy, stands a foot from him now. He opens his mouth, and spits out the centipede onto Jordon, and he, Jordon, like a wild cat, jumps out the window, break the glass, and frame and all, undresses himself once on solid ground, and runs back into the shanty naked.
Jordon is not happy by all means—he’s got a look on him that could kill, but Silas of course is too big and broad and strong for Jordon to test his brother’s willingness to be pushed around, thus, he takes a plan B, and he grabs a bottle of moonshine, drinks half the bottle down, and passes out on the cot, and Old Silas (for now he is getting old like his pa got old, he’s 81-years old now, and his brother is 78-years old, both still playing like they are kids; Silas finishes off the bottle, and laughs his way to the buck beds, sleep on top, where he usually slept when his pa was alive.

Silas will die in 1909, a year from this centipede episode, and Jordon will be left alone, he will die in 1913. Silas, will have left a boy he named Josh, and thus, the name will carried on, for awhile anyways, Jordon, will not leave a link to the future.