Momma's Warning

So far, Huck and Dewey go fishing and Huck realizes he has a crush on Miss Lynn.

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As soon as my feet step over the threshold of the door, Momma calls me into the living room. She's busy handed, shuffling things around and touching things, but not really doing anything. I'm sure she's still stewing over the blasphemous things Daddy said over breakfast.

"You alright, Momma?" I whisper my question, in case he's around.

She raises her eyes to look at me directly. "I'm fine, Huck, but your brother said you run off to talk to Miss Lynn. People talk around here. You being a young man and she's an unmarried colored woman."

"She's a nice lady. She was looking for blackberries and I just wanted to make sure she and her little ones found 'em."

Relief washes over her face. "Alright. That was a nice thing to do."

"Besides, supposin' she got lost in the woods, just her and them kids. I'd feel just awful."

She waves her hand and I can tell she doesn't want to talk about it anymore. "I know it's hot but I need some things from the store. Would you mind going for me?" She pulls a list from her pocket and holds it out for me to read.

One spool of white thread, flour, large glass canning jars, sugar, and spices for pickling.

"Get Miss Lynn or her momma to help you with the spices, alright, Huck?"

"I know." I fold the list and stuff it into my pocket. It's hotter than blue blazes and I know by the time I get to town, I'm gonna be a sweaty mess. Miss Lynn is gonna think I'm some common unwashed heathen.

Dewey falls into step beside me. I stop and face him, gently poking him in the shoulder. "You gotta stay here. Go make sure the chickens are fed, muck out the barn, and wash out those pots that Momma keeps in the shed for pickling."

"Why do you get to go to town and have fun while I stay here and clean up horse shit?"

"I gotta go pick up a few things for Momma. I'll be back shortly."

Dewey scowls. "No, you won't. You just gonna draw it out so you can spend time with Miss Lynn," he whispers angrily.

"Say that one more time and I'll knock your teeth out, Dewey."

He's still angry but doesn't push it anymore. He lowers his head and turns back towards the barn.

Guilt washes over me, any anger I feel is gone. "Dew, I'll try to bring you something back, okay?"

He doesn't turn around, just nods.

I feel bad leaving him home but there are some people in town who like to torment him. Before he got his sense knocked out of him, people liked Dewey. He was just a regular guy. He could carry on a conversation and was just as smart as the next fella. But he ain't like that anymore. Now, I gotta watch him, like a child. He ain't got good reasoning skills.

Once, we'd gone to town to get some food and staples for the pantry, and to get the mail. I left Dew outside the post office for just a few minutes. When I come out of there, Dew was no where to be found. I looked around , hoping he was just relieving hisself in the bushes around the side of the building. That's when I heard a ruckus from around the corner. Some trouble makers had lured him to the main fountain. Those boys had Dewey on his knees and draped over the stone edge with his head under water.

My guess, they are gonna drown him, so I race over and grab the biggest one of those fellas, Ben O'Reilly, to be exact. I ball up my fist and punch him right in the stomach. He makes this sour face and gags. "Get your hands off my brother!" I yell.

Since Ben is the ring leader, the other two boys look at him and don't let Dewey go until he nods.

"Jesus, Huck, we were just having some fun."

Dewey is coughing and sputtering, his green eyes wide with hurt and fear.

"That don't look like fun to me," I snap as I kneel beside him. "You okay?"

He looks away. My guess is he doesn't understand why the same bunch that just tried to drown him used to be his friends.

"You keep yer damn hands off my brother," I shout.

Ben starts to regain himself. "Might be a good idea to keep your damn brother way from here," Ben says, a cruel smirk on his face. He nods to his friends and kicks the bag of food over. They walk away, laughing about Dewey.

I turn my anger on my brother. "I told you to stay put. Why'd you go down to the fountain?"

Dewey wipes his wet hair out of his eyes. "They's my friends, Huck," he says softly.

"You don't got no friends anymore. Get that through your head. Me, I'm your only friend. I'm your brother, your fishing buddy, your everything. I'm all you got, Dewey."

I busy myself with gathering the items that spilled from the bag. I can't bring myself to look at him. He's had nothing but hurt since the day he was born, and I never wanted to be the one to hurt him, but I am.

"Come on, let's go home before something else happens," I say. I go to put my arm around his shoulder but he wrenches away. I deserve that. I surely do.