Eye 79

•y , ! 3 ? ?G? W· G * asks, sitting at his desk and« looking at me like he never seen a real worker before. "Experience?" "Yeah, experience. What kind of work have you done?" Work? Oh well, I could tell him that all right. I commenced with spring planting and went right on to fall harvest . I never left off the little jobs either like cooking, cleaning, slopping the hogs and milking Nancy. When I finished, he was so happy to latch on to someone who had so much experience he was 8 laughing. "Why not," he said, "you've got the figure for the job." I had to put on one of them little pink dresses and the thing ran short in both directions. The other girls was right nice though, and showed me how to do. Soon I had my first customers. It was easier than waiting on Pop with James and Laurie May horsing around, and it wasn't no time 'til they ate and left. As I was clearing away, I found a dollar stuck under a dish. "Wait! Wait!" I yelled and went running after them. "What's wrong?" Little piggy man come oinkin' up. "Them fellers lost a dollar under a dish." I tried to push by him so as to catch the men. He grabbed my arm. "That's your tip, silly." It was more exciting finding them tips than it was Easter eggs in the Prosperity Baptist Church yard. I was having a real good time when in come Pop and the Treacher. How they found me I don't now, but there they stood looking at me in that little pink dress. I looked down and it seemed there was more of me hanging out then even I had seen before. I gave a good yank to that dress and got it down a ways but like two full moons rising, my breasts came right out of the top. That preacher's eyes were on me now. He came over and put an arm around me. "Susan Mary, we're taking you home." he said, and ne was so ashamed of me his face was red, his arm trembled, and he was breathing funny. Seemed like the preacher saw me better after that. He started coming by right often to talk to Pop, and when he did I could feel them black eyes on me. At first I thought maybe he was just trying to get a lost lamb into the fold, but then I begin to see he was kind of sweet on me. I got to wishing he would take me to the Lion's Club Bingo Night or down to Hawkes to the square dance. He never seemed to think of it, so I finally up and ask him. "Why, Susan Mary," he said, "don't you know bingo is gambling and dancing is a sin?" All year I cooked his dinner two or three times a week just so he could sit around and look at me. I did think this spring he would take me to the fair. Mom took me once, but I never had a feller take me. Sure not one with money is his pocket so maybe we could ride the Ferris Wheel. "I'm cooking up chicken and dumplings tomorrow," I told him. "Then maybe after dinner we could go over to the Braxton County fair." "Susan Mary," he says, kinda surprised like, "don't you know those games they have are gambling and the music is Satan's tool? I'll be over for dinner, thank you." So here I sit shelling peas and I've already plucked the chicken and peeled apples. Mom played Bingo and went to the fair. I reckon any sin that was good enough for my mom is good enough for me. Pop and Laurie May think the preacher is going to marry me after my birthday, and I kind of reckon they're right from things he's said. I been wondering lately if I want to sit around all my life just loving mankind. Besides even though I seen part of the world, there's a...