One Man's Texas

I don't know what went wrong, but it's up to me to get us out of this mess.  My brothers, T.J. and John, are in Fort Worth working on the railroad.  Maybe that's what I should do.  The only thing wrong with that, he reasoned, is they're gone from home a lot, and their families just have to do without 'em.  I don't think I could go off and leave my family for weeks at a time.  Besides that, he rationalized, they need me around.

Worry about Liz, 'cause she gets so tired.  She's losing more weight and just don't look healthy.  We can't afford for her to see a doctor, but she's goin' to have to.  Maybe this sorry-looking cotton will bring enough to get a few things we've got to have, and if we have some left over, Liz can go to a proper doctor in Fort Worth.  Jack's thoughts were interrupted when he stumbled over a clod of dirt.  Damn, hope there's enough ice left in the icebox to at least have a cold drink of water…that's if the danged ol' well isn't completely dry, he thought, looking towards the house to see how far he had yet to walk.  The farther he walked the angrier he got.

I'd like to throw this damned hoe as far as I can, go to the house, get the family, and just leave this hot, dusty country for good. “But, where would we go, and what would we use for money?" he argued out loud to himself.  "It always comes down to money…that's the key to it all, money!" He kicked at a clod of dirt.

“People say that money can't buy happiness…those people must never have been broke and poor,” he fumed.  Glancing down the rows of cotton, he saw Junior coming at a run. "Hey, it's too danged hot to run like that," he shouted, his voice hoarse and raspy.

"Daddy, that Stepp bunch beat up on Buddy again.  This time he looks hurt real bad," he yelled, just as he tripped and tumbled headlong into the dusty, plowed ground.  Dust hung in the air like red smoke as the sweaty youngster jumped back up still hollering at the top of his lungs. Jack's insides quivered at the thought of Buddy being hurt, but he had to try to keep calm.

"Well, let's go find out what happened and how bad he's hurt," he said managing a smile while he reached out and tousled Junior's red hair.  As they walked, he peered down at him trying to keep up by matching his own stride step for step.  He reached down, and with one motion that came from years of lifting heavy loads, swept Junior up onto his shoulders. It had been a long time since he had gotten a ride on his daddy's shoulders.  Jack shook his head knowing the times were hard on children as well.  God it's hot! I don't know why the good Lord lets it get so hot and dry, and now we've got to contend with that no-good Stepp bunch.  I don't know why the sheriff don't run 'em out of the county. They're nothing but trouble, he ranted to himself, as they neared their weatherworn shack.

Placing the hoe beside the porch and easing Junior down from his shoulders, he stepped up on the porch.  The boards creaked under his weight.  Liz and Buddy stood on the other end of the porch. Buddy was hanging his head over the edge while Liz poured water over his bloody head from an old pewter pitcher.

"What happened to Buddy?"

"Well, it's not as awful as he looks, but they beat him up pretty bad," she replied as she continued to tend gently to her first-born.  "I don't thi