Truman Capote's Southern Years, 25th Anniversary Edition: Stories from a Monroeville Cousin

Chapter 13. Lil George

1:1 Lil George Without warning, a strange thing happened: the man reached out and gently stroked Kay's cheek. Despite the breathtaking delicacy of this movement, it was such a bold gesture Kay was at first too startled to know what to make of it: her thoughts shot in three or four fantastic directions. ... After a little, he lowered his hand solemnly and sank back in the seat, an asinine grin transfiguring his face, as if he had performed a clever stunt for which he wished applause. TRUMAN CAPOTE, A Tree ofNight This particular day in the middle of summer, Dick Carter and his helper, Charlie McCants, were tired of plowing. Dick thought if he could get up with some of us boys we could go swimming or maybe scratch up a nickel to buy one of Sally McMillan's candy bars. Sally bought cartons of shredded-coconut candy bars from Mr. Pugh's "rolling" store [goods sold from a cart]. Then she'd sell them to the children or field hands and make a little profit. The bars must have been pure pressed sugar candy, because it was so sweet it would hurt your teeth. You had to take your time and chew it real slow. A bar would last a long time, so we thought it well worth a nickel. The bars were wrapped in different colors-red, green, white, and blue-but they all tasted the same. Sally was strict about her business: no credit to anybody. Sally said her husband, Big George, made plenty of money and that her candy business was "jest a sideline." The people 186 AI) Lil George Big George worked for picked him up on the main road every morning at daylight and didn't bring him back until after dark, so he wasn't around during the day. It was just Sally and her two-year-old roly-poly baby, Lil George, alone all day in their shack in the woods. Sometimes Lil George wore a flour-sack diaper tied around his chubby behind; other times he crawled naked in the dirt. Edison McMillan and I were picking peas in the garden when I heard Dick and Charlie galloping up the road in a cloud of dust. I knew ifI stayed around much longer I'd get rooked into shelling the peas, too, so I was glad to see them. Truman must have been ready for some action as well, because he put down one of his favorite books and walked outside to see what we were doing. Dick said, "I'm gonna get Buddy [Ryland]. Y'all catch up Mary and let's go to ride." "Okay," I yelled back. I put down the basket of peas and motioned for Edison and Truman to follow me to the barn. The only way I could leave was to slip off from Mother, so I tried to be quiet. Down in the barn I caught Mary and held her while Truman laid a gunny sack over her back. "Is it true you can get ringworm and all kinds of diseases from rubbing against mule skin?" he asked. I said I didn't know. "Even if you can't, then when she starts sweating, I can't grab on with my legs unless the sack's there." His argument was reasonable. Sounded just like Truman. Making up excuses but not ever telling the whole truth. I figured it had far more to do with Truman not wanting mule hair sticking to the insides of his legs than with any excuse he gave. I crawled on Mary's back, extended my hand to Truman, 188 ~ and helped him up. He squirmed around, looking a little out of place in his silky T-shirt, socks, and sandals. You could see the little tracks in his short blond hair where he'd combed it. Edison caught Ida, the other mule, and we rode off in the direction ofHatter's Mill. We made it as far as the main road, when we caught up with Dick and Buddy on one mule and Charlie on another. Truman fished around in his pocket and pulled out some change. It wasn't just a nickel or dime but several dollars in change. I saw the money and thought it was ridiculous for him to have it. If we other boys had had any money, we would have...