Jesus Knocking At Your Door

Jesus Knocking At Your Door The trouble in Jeff, there never was anything to do. So like always, I walked down to Fred Pugh's Trading Post after supper and set back there behind the stove, with Ronnie Raymer and Goose Gifford. They couldn't think of anything to do, either. We'd already seen all the videos Fred had to rent, and, anyway, Goose's VCR was broke. Buddy, you don't know what bored is till you have to set in Fred Pugh's Trading Post and listen to Fred and Homer Lee Hall and Eugene Logsdon. I'd about as soon be back at the house listening to my Mama quote scripture and nag at me for quitting school. Homer Lee had been re-roofing a house and he was telling Eugene that people would be a lot better off if they'd just stay off their house roofs; they wouldn't have near as much trouble with their roofs leaking if they'd just by God stay off of them, oecause tnat was what caused most of your leaks-people getting up on their roofs, walking around up there. Homer Lee always said anything about five times. He put me in mind of an old bam door worried by the wind creaking back and forth making the same creaking over and over. Homer said to Eugene Logsdon, did Eugene know that was the reason why people had trouble with their roofs leaking-because they got up on them and walked around? Eugene cocked his head and his old wrinkled neck turned like a terrapin's. by Jim Wayne Miller Eugene said he hadn't thought much about it, but, by golly, Homer Lee surely was right about it-people ought to stay off their roofs. Fred Pugh, sitting back there behind the cash register on a tall three-cornered 24 stool, said there was some good stuff on the market now to fix roofTeaks; he had two different kinds of it. I looked at Ronnie Raymer, and then at Goose Gifford, and rolled my eyes, and they rolled their eyes back at me. Eugene Logsdon got to recollecting tar paper. Goose Gifford rolled his eyes again and got to giggling. It was funny-grown men sitting around recollecting tar paper. It got me and Ronnie Raymer to giggling, too, till all three of us were about to bust back there behind the stove. Used to, Eugene said, you'd get these rolls of tar paper, and there'd be this can of tar come with the roll-tar would be in a can down inside the roll. You could just turn the roll up and shake that can out of there. Homer Lee said that was right. I couldn't hold it back, I went Ghhhhhhhgh! there behind the stove, and that tripped old Ronnie and Goose's levers and they got to going Ghhhhhhhgh!, too. I looked at them and I could see they just about had tears in their eyes. In a minute we got a hold on ourselves -and heard Eugene Logsdon say, anymore, they didn't give you a can of tar with tar paper-and we started in again. I thought I would explode. Homer Lee said, no, sir, they didn't give you a can of tar with your roll of tar paper any more. Eugene asked Fred Pugh why he reckoned that was. We all hunkered behind the stove, holding our breath, waiting for Fred Pugh to tell us all why it was you didn't get a can of tar in a roll of tar paper any more. We were scared to look up. Fred said he'd be blessed if he knewand we fell in on each other, going Ghhhhhhhgh, and bumped heads, and Goose knocked a can of whole kernel corn off a shelf with his elbow. Fred Pugh said what was wrong with us boys. We got real sober there for a minute, because we knew Fred Pugh wouldn't put up with our foolishness, especially if we started knocking stuff off shelves. Fred Pugh wouldn't let you cut up in his store. He...