Old Josh, in: Buckboard to Ozark, ‘63
Old Josh, in:
Buckboard to Ozark, ‘63
Fourteen-years old, Emma Hightower, was a long-legged child, turning into a lovely reddish hair woman, which soon she’d be. Her thick red hair shined like a rainbow cast over the cornfields, with her blue eyes, and Charles Hightower was all too aware of the thumping hearts she aroused in town, but she wasn’t. However for that day in August, 1863 she was more spirited, and akin to a tomboy.
Josh’s two older boys, Silas and Jordon adored her in that special warm way of older brothers do with a little sister, and she often called Josh, uncle, when no white folks were around. There was a side of her that was outrageous, almost flirtatious, a pest if not careless.
Mr. and Mrs. Hightower went to town with Josh, and Emma, and when they, Mr. and Mrs. Hightower went to do some shopping, Josh sat upfront on the buckboard’s wooden seat, with Emma, she could tell him things she could not tell her pa or ma, and so she got chatting away with Josh, and Josh you know liked conversation, and so they were both busy in some kind of dialogue.
Three farm boys came up in a wagon, parked along side of the Hightower wagon, the very side Emma was on, and started talking to her. She liked the attention, and jumped down from the wagon to talk to the three young bucks, perhaps in their mid-twenties. Josh was sixty at the time.
The guys were pulling at her dress, and her arms, touching her hair, and for the first time, she showed signs of real uneasiness. They were confiding all their attention onto her, forgetting for the moment why they came to town,
“Buzzards,” said Josh.
“What did you say nigger?” asked one of the McAllen boys, from a farm some fifteen miles outside of town the opposite way of the Hightower plantation, “What did you say?” he repeated.
Emma started to get back up onto the buckboard and the oldest McAllen boy pulled on her waistband around her dress, pulling her back down off the footstep of the buckboard, and she fell backwards into his hands, and he started to move his hands around her sides to her breasts, folks were watching but no one did a thing.
“Yous hands is like a lizard,” said Josh.
That stopped Thomas McAllen’s movements on Emma for a moment. Tom McAllen looked stern into the old Negro’s face,
“You say one thing more and you’re going to cry for your mama, because I’m going to put this boot where the sun doesn’t shine!”
Old Josh might have had taken any kind of abuse, or harassment, but that was digging deep, he loved his mother, she took care of him on that slave ship, in the Congo, got lost in New Orleans, and here was a young buck thinking he knew it all, and slighted his mama, when he never met her.
“Mi ma’ma waz a good woman,” said Josh, now the McAllen boy let go of the girl, expecting to pull Josh off the buckboard, when he tried, Josh was too muscular, heavy, too forceful, he pulled back, and Thomas ended up looking the fool; next, Josh just lowered his hand a bit, grabbed the boy, whom was close to six foot tall, about 170 pounds, grabbed him by the neck like you would a snake, and started to choke him as if a bulldog had his teeth into his neck. The boy shuttered, clutching the buckboards wooden bottom with both hands trying to pry Josh’s hands off from his throat, he chocked him so hard, the light in his eyes went out, and his face turned pale, and then the other two brothers came to the rescue, and loosened Josh’s big hand from this throat, and Josh let go. By this time, Emma was back on the buckboard.
“We’re going to hang you nigger,” said the younger McAllen boy, and then out of the store came the sheriff and Hightower, Charles Hightower pointed to Thomas and his brothers, he must had seen something of the situation developing through the window, and noticing the sheriff in the store brought him with him to the scene, briefed him, thus, Hightower said “He’s the one,” and the sheriff said, “Forcedly attempted rape how many years in prison is that?” looking at the McAllen boys, “now get out of town and if I see you here again, I’ll put you in jail for that, and if I see you trying to harm Josh and his family, you’ll be in prison quick than you can say Dixie, I’m going to write this incident down. If you want me to forget it, you best get on your way now.”
The McAllen boys nodded almost imperceptibly and hightailed it out of town.
Emma sat close to her pa and Josh in the front of the buckboard, she was shaking, trying to hold a smile, and old Josh said unblinkingly simply, and calmly said to her, “Yous best hide that pretty face of yours, cuz this is only the begin’ Miss Emma.” And she let out a sigh.
Written 8-13-2008 (#64)
Buckboard to Ozark, ‘63
Fourteen-years old, Emma Hightower, was a long-legged child, turning into a lovely reddish hair woman, which soon she’d be. Her thick red hair shined like a rainbow cast over the cornfields, with her blue eyes, and Charles Hightower was all too aware of the thumping hearts she aroused in town, but she wasn’t. However for that day in August, 1863 she was more spirited, and akin to a tomboy.
Josh’s two older boys, Silas and Jordon adored her in that special warm way of older brothers do with a little sister, and she often called Josh, uncle, when no white folks were around. There was a side of her that was outrageous, almost flirtatious, a pest if not careless.
Mr. and Mrs. Hightower went to town with Josh, and Emma, and when they, Mr. and Mrs. Hightower went to do some shopping, Josh sat upfront on the buckboard’s wooden seat, with Emma, she could tell him things she could not tell her pa or ma, and so she got chatting away with Josh, and Josh you know liked conversation, and so they were both busy in some kind of dialogue.
Three farm boys came up in a wagon, parked along side of the Hightower wagon, the very side Emma was on, and started talking to her. She liked the attention, and jumped down from the wagon to talk to the three young bucks, perhaps in their mid-twenties. Josh was sixty at the time.
The guys were pulling at her dress, and her arms, touching her hair, and for the first time, she showed signs of real uneasiness. They were confiding all their attention onto her, forgetting for the moment why they came to town,
“Buzzards,” said Josh.
“What did you say nigger?” asked one of the McAllen boys, from a farm some fifteen miles outside of town the opposite way of the Hightower plantation, “What did you say?” he repeated.
Emma started to get back up onto the buckboard and the oldest McAllen boy pulled on her waistband around her dress, pulling her back down off the footstep of the buckboard, and she fell backwards into his hands, and he started to move his hands around her sides to her breasts, folks were watching but no one did a thing.
“Yous hands is like a lizard,” said Josh.
That stopped Thomas McAllen’s movements on Emma for a moment. Tom McAllen looked stern into the old Negro’s face,
“You say one thing more and you’re going to cry for your mama, because I’m going to put this boot where the sun doesn’t shine!”
Old Josh might have had taken any kind of abuse, or harassment, but that was digging deep, he loved his mother, she took care of him on that slave ship, in the Congo, got lost in New Orleans, and here was a young buck thinking he knew it all, and slighted his mama, when he never met her.
“Mi ma’ma waz a good woman,” said Josh, now the McAllen boy let go of the girl, expecting to pull Josh off the buckboard, when he tried, Josh was too muscular, heavy, too forceful, he pulled back, and Thomas ended up looking the fool; next, Josh just lowered his hand a bit, grabbed the boy, whom was close to six foot tall, about 170 pounds, grabbed him by the neck like you would a snake, and started to choke him as if a bulldog had his teeth into his neck. The boy shuttered, clutching the buckboards wooden bottom with both hands trying to pry Josh’s hands off from his throat, he chocked him so hard, the light in his eyes went out, and his face turned pale, and then the other two brothers came to the rescue, and loosened Josh’s big hand from this throat, and Josh let go. By this time, Emma was back on the buckboard.
“We’re going to hang you nigger,” said the younger McAllen boy, and then out of the store came the sheriff and Hightower, Charles Hightower pointed to Thomas and his brothers, he must had seen something of the situation developing through the window, and noticing the sheriff in the store brought him with him to the scene, briefed him, thus, Hightower said “He’s the one,” and the sheriff said, “Forcedly attempted rape how many years in prison is that?” looking at the McAllen boys, “now get out of town and if I see you here again, I’ll put you in jail for that, and if I see you trying to harm Josh and his family, you’ll be in prison quick than you can say Dixie, I’m going to write this incident down. If you want me to forget it, you best get on your way now.”
The McAllen boys nodded almost imperceptibly and hightailed it out of town.
Emma sat close to her pa and Josh in the front of the buckboard, she was shaking, trying to hold a smile, and old Josh said unblinkingly simply, and calmly said to her, “Yous best hide that pretty face of yours, cuz this is only the begin’ Miss Emma.” And she let out a sigh.
Written 8-13-2008 (#64)
posted by Dennis and Rosa Siluk at 7:38 PM
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