Ain't Going Back to No Cotton Patch

World War II was over in August of 1945 and all the boys were coming home from the war. Some were already home and the rest were on their way. The one’s that were not going to come home the families were already finding out. Some were buried at sea and on foreign soil. Chapter One Acton Bend, Cotton chopping time in early May. A short black guy about 5’5 plowing one mule and his name was Little Willy and a tall black guy named George was also plowing. James Acton, the boss man son, was also plowing a mule. 75 yards over were the hoe hands chopping cotton. Late in the evening little Willy made it to the end of the row first and decided to yell quitting time. Well the boss man’s son James got mad and told little Willy that “you know that daddy tole yall that when he ain’t here that I am the boss out here.” He looks over to make sure the hoe hands are still working and puts his hands up to his mouth and hollers “Quitting Time!” “Quitting Time!” A day or two later, on a typical summer day, when several of the farmers were in town sitting out front of the drugstore telling tales to each other, five or six sitting and standing talking about the weather or fishing, when here comes Deacon Brown from the only Baptist church in town. They greet each other and he says “Preacher Adams wants me to talk to you guys about making up money to buy light fixtures for the church. You know we are about to get electricity and Preacher Adams wants the best.” Several of the men say “yea we’ll help out” and gives him several dollars. After all the pastor wanted the best. They all wound up giving him something. About that time a man by the name of Joe Steel about 35 years old came running around the corner yelling “Boys, Boys theys a load of Japs at the filling station on the main highway” and Deacon Brown hollered “Son of a Bitch!” They all took off over there. About the time they got over to the station there was a crowd gathered up around the car with about four or five japs in it. Everybody’s anger was built up from the war ever since Pearl Harbor. The police was there and had everything kindly under control. They said “alright guys ya’ll back off and go on about your business. These is good Japs. Their just traveling through from Philadelphia on their way to California.” One old guy hollered “they ain’t no good Japs.” Old Dan Ledbetter pretty well the town drunk. He made his living doing odd jobs for people, like working in yards and stuff. He came running up with a hoe in his hand hollering “I’m gonna get me a Jap, I’m gonna get me a Jap.” The law grabbed him and pulled him back and said “them’s good Japs.” Old Dan said “ain’t no such a thang as a good Jap.” “I tried to join to Navy in 1934,” Dan was bout 45 years old, “and they wouldn’t take me because I was flat feeted, well flat feeted I’m a gonna get me a dad dam Jap.” And the police pulled him off to one side. Another guy hollered out, “yall better not stop in Mississippi.” Chapter Two Garden City Alabama is in the southern part of Cullman County. And right at the end of the south side is the Mulberry River. Across the river you got Blount County. To the West of Cullman Co is Walker co and just to the south joining Blount and Walker co is Jefferson co where the big city of Birmingham is. All these other counties are dry, but Jefferson co is wet. Over on the 78 hwy out of Birmingham toward Memphis right inside the Jefferson County Line was 6 or 8 girly dance halls and clubs. It was legal for them to sale beer but it was illegal to sale whiskey. Anytime you got people wanting to drank they gonna want whiskey. And they will get whiskey. There was this guy named Hollis, Bill Hollis. He owned the biggest juke joint on the strip. He had some little one pot moonshiners making whiskey to sale at his location and to sale at the other joints on the strip. Most of the moon shining was in the edge of Jefferson. Any kind of moonshine was illegal. The law got so bad about busting up their stills and in late 45 or early 46 he decided to move out of that area over into Blount co across the Mulberry river. He had some contacts from Garden City so they decided what all they were going to have to do to run the still. His contact that lived right outside Garden City suggested they get niggers to run the still. That way they would do most of the work at night and if the law tried to catch em they wouldn’t be able to see them running through the woods at night. They hired Big George as the lead black man. After he was told he could make three or four times the money making whiskey then he decided he would do it. So he hires little Willy and a crew of five or six other niggers to work in the woods........ Chapter Thirty-eight Now Old Dan Ledbetter has heard all about the Hank Williams show. He knew who he was by listening to the radio. So he decided he would go to the show. Old Judd was his black buddy. Since the trial they had become buddies again. So he asked Judd if he was going to go to the show. Old Judd said “Mr. Dan I’d like to but you know there not going to let niggers in there.” Mr. Dan said “Yeah they're gonna let niggers come to the show.” “Mrs. Williams said they would not put on the show if they didn’t let niggers in.” So Judd asked Dan how much to get in. Mr. Dan said “ it cost a dollar.” Judd said “Mr. Dan I ain’t got no dollar.” Dan said “well I ain’t got one neither.” “ You can bring a chicken they’ll let you in for free if you bring a chicken.” Judd said “Mr. Dan I ain’t got no chicken.” Dan said “I ain’t got one neither but, Mrs. Jones down there right below me got too many chickens.” Old Dan ever since he heard you could bring a chicken and get in he has been getting a few ears of corn out of Deacon Brown’s patch and shelling it and putting it out on the ground down there. Mrs. Jones had a chicken pen but some of them had been getting out because she had too many. Every evening the chickens had been showing up down at Dan’s shack looking for that corn. So Dan and Judd around about 5 or 5:30 sprinkled some corn out there around the yard and domin necker chickens were out there eating that corn so they snagged them one a piece. So when it came time to go to the show they showed up down there with a chicken under their right arm. They showed up to get in. It was almost time for the show to start and people were lined up either they had their tickets that they had got at the store or was paying to get in. When it came Dan’s time they didn’t really notice the chicken. He had on a light colored jacket and the chicken was under it. So when he got up there they said “Now Dan that’ll be a dollar “and Dan said, “I ain’t got no dollar I got a chicken.” That old domin necker chicken had its head sticking out. They said “You can’t get in for no chicken.” Dan said “they been telling me for a week you could get in for a chicken or pound of butter and I got a chicken.” Dan had not understood that he was supposed to go to the store and redeem it for a ticket. They said Dan “you and Judd get out of here with your chickens.” Mr. General was right behind them so he stepped in to see what was happening. They told him that Dan and Judd were trying to get in with a live chicken and they cannot do that. Mr. General said “ya’ll go outside and let your chickens loose and come back in and I’ll pay your way in.” Shorty and Bobby Joe were running a little bit late but, they came in with the big rig and got it parked and had to rush before the show started. The police had two police cars and four policemen. They were busy directing traffic and showing people were to park. It was a big deal to them they had never seen traffic like this. There wound up being 350 white people and 50-60 black people. Along with Dan and Judd, they got them a seat. Big George and his crew along with Little Willie come in and started icing the greens. They would not touch the liquid stuff until after the show started.