WEBVTT

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<v Speaker 1>When he was two years old. The boy was dropped

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<v Speaker 1>off at the donation door at the Salvation Army second

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<v Speaker 1>hand store in Tunica, wearing nothing but a sagging diaper.

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<v Speaker 1>A Planet of the Apes backpack stuffed with more diapers

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<v Speaker 1>and some shirts and mismatched socks. Little green Army men

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<v Speaker 1>was dropped on the ground next to him. Then a

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<v Speaker 1>hungover woman banged a scabbed fist on the metal door,

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<v Speaker 1>and a hungover man blew the car horn, and she

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<v Speaker 1>ran abroun and got in as the child watched with

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<v Speaker 1>a docile expression out of the car window. The man

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<v Speaker 1>called out some sort of farewell to the child that

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<v Speaker 1>was lost in the offbeat jug of the engine, and

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<v Speaker 1>then the foul running Cadillac rattled out of the gravel

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<v Speaker 1>parking lot, leaving the in the dust cloud of abandonment.

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<v Speaker 1>The door opened and two women in matching red Salvation

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<v Speaker 1>Army T shirts stared down at the boy. Then they

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<v Speaker 1>looked into the parking lot at the still lingering cloud

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<v Speaker 1>out into the gray morning the sky, and they glassd

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<v Speaker 1>at each other, and then one said, I guess we're

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<v Speaker 1>going to have to hang a sign next to the

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<v Speaker 1>one that says no mattresses, that says, no young'uns. The

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<v Speaker 1>other woman lifted the boy and held him up beneath

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<v Speaker 1>his arms, as if to make certain that he was

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<v Speaker 1>made of actual flesh and bone, and when she was satisfied,

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<v Speaker 1>she hugged the child close and rubbed her hand across

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<v Speaker 1>the back of his head. She said, I pity those

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<v Speaker 1>who have to live behind me in this weary and

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<v Speaker 1>heartless world. The police were called, and while they waited,

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<v Speaker 1>the women washed the boy in the bathroom sink with

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<v Speaker 1>paper towels and hands so filthy feet and filthy hands,

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<v Speaker 1>and the diaper was two changes past due. After they

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<v Speaker 1>had wiped him clean and filled the trash can with

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<v Speaker 1>dirty paper towels, the boy stood naked and fresh on

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<v Speaker 1>the smooth concrete floor of the bathroom, and they admired

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<v Speaker 1>his innocence and beauty. He was then dressed in a

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<v Speaker 1>new diaper and a spider man's shirt taken from the

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<v Speaker 1>rack and the kid's section. The boy did not cry

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<v Speaker 1>and did not talk, but instead satisfied between the women

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<v Speaker 1>on a tweed sofa marked fifteen dollars, as if he

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<v Speaker 1>had already decided that this was his new home and

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<v Speaker 1>that he was better off. He was better off, but

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<v Speaker 1>this was the beginning of a childhood spent in the

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<v Speaker 1>company of strangers. The next ten years saw him move

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<v Speaker 1>from one Delta town to the next, four foster homes

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<v Speaker 1>and two group homes, five different schools, a handful of caseworkers,

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<v Speaker 1>teachers whose names he could not remember, and then stopped

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<v Speaker 1>trying to remember because he knew he would not be

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<v Speaker 1>in their classrooms for long. The steady and certain build

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<v Speaker 1>of restlessness and anxiety in this child who was certain

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<v Speaker 1>neither where he had come from nor where he was going.

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<v Speaker 1>When he was twelve years old, the assistant director of

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<v Speaker 1>the group home told him to gather his things again.

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<v Speaker 1>He sat on the bench seat of a white van

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<v Speaker 1>with a home loco on the side, and he watched

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<v Speaker 1>the fields of soybeans and corn stalks with sullen eyes

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<v Speaker 1>as he was driven from the sleepy brick street town

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<v Speaker 1>of Greenwood to his fifth foster home, moving northwest and

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<v Speaker 1>closer to the Great River, to the fringes of Clarksdale,

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<v Speaker 1>the once bustling Delta hub of trade and commerce that

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<v Speaker 1>now wore the family faded expressions of days gone by.

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<v Speaker 1>His eyes changed when the van pulled into a dirt

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<v Speaker 1>driveway that led to a two story home, a white

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<v Speaker 1>antebellum with a port stretching across the front on the

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<v Speaker 1>bottom and top floors, flaking paint on the sun's side,

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<v Speaker 1>and vines hanging in baskets along the porch with their

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<v Speaker 1>twisted and green tails swaying in the wind. A woman

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<v Speaker 1>sat in a rocker, and she rose to meet them.

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<v Speaker 1>She wore work gloves, and she pulled them off and

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<v Speaker 1>tossed them on the ground as she approached the van,

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<v Speaker 1>as if readying herself for whatever may climb out. She

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<v Speaker 1>took him to his upstairs room and opened the dresser

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<v Speaker 1>drawers to show him where he could put his things,

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<v Speaker 1>and he told her there was no use. I won't

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<v Speaker 1>be here long enough to mess up the covers on

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<v Speaker 1>the bed. Sure you will, she answered, Now I won't,

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<v Speaker 1>he said, a twelve year old certain of the workings

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<v Speaker 1>of the world. Are you going to run away? I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know, are you? Because unless you run away, this

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<v Speaker 1>is where you live. Now. Yeah, so you think so,

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<v Speaker 1>I know, she said. You don't know nothing, he said,

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<v Speaker 1>and he walked out of the bedroom and down the

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<v Speaker 1>stairs out into the backyard. She stood at the window

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<v Speaker 1>and watched him between the slits and the curtains. He

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<v Speaker 1>did not stop in the backyard, but crossed it and

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<v Speaker 1>walked out onto the dirt road that ran on and

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<v Speaker 1>on between the rows of cotton. The sun high and

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<v Speaker 1>a short shadow followed him, and she did not chase.

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<v Speaker 1>She stood in the window and watched until he was

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<v Speaker 1>nearly out of sight. She was one step toward the

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<v Speaker 1>door to run after him when he stopped, a tiny

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<v Speaker 1>figure in the distance. He stopped and stayed in the

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<v Speaker 1>same spot for several more minutes, and she could not

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<v Speaker 1>know that he was talking to himself, telling himself, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to do this no more. I don't know

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<v Speaker 1>why I can't have somebody. But the space between them,

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<v Speaker 1>she could not have noticed that he looked back at

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<v Speaker 1>the big house and said that that place right there

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<v Speaker 1>don't want me neither, and that woman can't catch me.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to take off running and she won't never

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<v Speaker 1>catch me, won't nobody. I don't want to do this

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<v Speaker 1>shit no more. She could not have heard him or

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<v Speaker 1>seen him with any detail, but she waited, only could

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<v Speaker 1>see that he had stopped. She whispered a prayer without

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<v Speaker 1>moving her lips, as if even the slightest flutter would

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<v Speaker 1>spook the boy and send him fleeing on furious and

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<v Speaker 1>reckless feet. And he stood still, talking to himself. She

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<v Speaker 1>stood still, whispering a quiet and motionless prayer. And then

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<v Speaker 1>from the distant sky, a hawk flew toward the boy.

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<v Speaker 1>It flew low, and its wings were spread wide, and

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<v Speaker 1>when it reached the vicinity of the boy, it swooped,

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<v Speaker 1>seemed to hold there out in front of him, begging

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<v Speaker 1>the boy to admire its eloquence, begging the boy to

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<v Speaker 1>notice something other than himself in his troubles, begging the

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<v Speaker 1>boy to think of something other than running from that woman.

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<v Speaker 1>The hawk rose and fell again, and the boy saw it,

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<v Speaker 1>and his eyes followed the hawk as it turned earned

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<v Speaker 1>long and graceful curves and the blue, white sky, and

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<v Speaker 1>from the window Marianne's by the hawk, and she shifted

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<v Speaker 1>her eyes from the sky to the land, waiting to

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<v Speaker 1>see what the boy would do. The breast she had

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<v Speaker 1>been holding was let go when the hawk turned toward

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<v Speaker 1>the house, and the boy followed. All right, I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>want to ruin that by giving you a preface to

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<v Speaker 1>what this was. What I just read was the prologue

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<v Speaker 1>from a book called The Fighter, written by Michael Ferris Smith.

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<v Speaker 1>I read this with permission from the author. I thought

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<v Speaker 1>about reading the first two or three chapters of the book,

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<v Speaker 1>but I don't know. I'm going to share my heart

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<v Speaker 1>with you here. I envy this man's way with words

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<v Speaker 1>and prose, and the way he writes and the way

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<v Speaker 1>he describes scenes and emotions. It is so to the

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<v Speaker 1>point in a way, so beautiful that I'm just drawing

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<v Speaker 1>to this type of writing. You can go back and

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<v Speaker 1>listen to it and think about it in those terms.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen to the way that he writes this. It is

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<v Speaker 1>really fantastic. But anyway, I was started out doing these

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<v Speaker 1>fiction Fridays, and I got busy at work and the

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<v Speaker 1>fridays didn't work out. I'm in here early this morning

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<v Speaker 1>just sometimes I come in and just pull up chapters

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<v Speaker 1>and books that I love, and I reread the chapter.

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<v Speaker 1>I remember them. Might be chapter forty five of a

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<v Speaker 1>novel I read ten years ago. I just remember them.

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<v Speaker 1>I have them all on Kindle, and I'll just pull

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<v Speaker 1>them up on my computer screen and just read them

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<v Speaker 1>because I just love the written word. It's just it's

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<v Speaker 1>hard to describe. But and when it's on my phone

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<v Speaker 1>going on, when it's good, it is just so good.

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<v Speaker 1>It's so good to read. You can just picture everything

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<v Speaker 1>in your mind. You can almost feel what the characters

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<v Speaker 1>are feeling. So I thought i'd share that with y'all

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<v Speaker 1>this morning. This is Monday morning, it's about six am.

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<v Speaker 1>I need to get to work, but you know, I'm

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<v Speaker 1>kind of addicted to reading this stuff and sharing it

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<v Speaker 1>on my podcast, so I hope you all enjoyed that.

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<v Speaker 1>The name of the book again is The Fighter. The

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<v Speaker 1>author is Michael Ferris Smith. I'll put his name in

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<v Speaker 1>the name of the book in the description. If you

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<v Speaker 1>like good literature, if you like good fiction, you will

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<v Speaker 1>love this book and anything this author has written. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>going to be doing more short stories and chapters from

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<v Speaker 1>books from really best selling authors. I have found that

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<v Speaker 1>if I just send them an email and say, hey,

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<v Speaker 1>I have a podcast I like to read audio style

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<v Speaker 1>books from authors now and then they always say yes.

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<v Speaker 1>It's amazing. I just figured if I did that they

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<v Speaker 1>would say no. But every one of them that I've

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<v Speaker 1>sent an email to has said yes. So I've got

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<v Speaker 1>this author, I've got another one. I' to read a

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<v Speaker 1>short story from sometime in the next couple of weeks

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<v Speaker 1>when I get a minute, and I've got some guys

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<v Speaker 1>who some men who have publishing deals. They're actually writing

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<v Speaker 1>collections of short stories or novels at the moment, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm working on Steve Lilly novels. I hope to have

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<v Speaker 1>those out by the summer, at least a couple of them.

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<v Speaker 1>I wish I could talk to these guys and say,

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<v Speaker 1>how do you know, just talk writing. I love to

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<v Speaker 1>write stories. I like good stories. Anyway, I'm just blabbering.

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know what I'm talking about. But anyway, this

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<v Speaker 1>particular book was made into a film. Michael Ferris Smith.

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<v Speaker 1>I believe he has two novels that have been turned

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<v Speaker 1>into films. One is Desperation Road. The other is this one,

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<v Speaker 1>The Fighter. But the title of the film is not

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<v Speaker 1>The Fighter. It's called Rumble through the Dark. You can

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<v Speaker 1>find it on a streaming service service. The cinematography and

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<v Speaker 1>Rumble through the Dark is fantastic. It is shot in

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<v Speaker 1>the Mississippi Delta, and you really get a good sense

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<v Speaker 1>of what this area looks like. It is flat, it

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<v Speaker 1>is basically featureless land, you could juxtapose it between the

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<v Speaker 1>Delta and the Mississippi south of Memphis to some huge

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<v Speaker 1>mountain range in Alberta, Canada, and you'd go, well, God,

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<v Speaker 1>that's ugly. But to people who live here, it's beautiful

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<v Speaker 1>and we love it and we love this area. And

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<v Speaker 1>so you get a good idea with the cinematography what

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<v Speaker 1>the landscape looks like. And I think the actors did

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<v Speaker 1>a pretty good job in it of displaying and depicting

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit how you know, the underlife here is

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<v Speaker 1>in north and central and South Mississippi and the Delta.

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<v Speaker 1>But Okay, I've been talking five minutes about this and

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<v Speaker 1>I haven't really said a thing. But check out the book,

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<v Speaker 1>check out the movie. I'm gonna try to keep crying

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<v Speaker 1>these podcasts out, even if they're short for the next

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<v Speaker 1>foreseeable future. I hope you guys are enjoying it. But

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<v Speaker 1>until the next one, I appreciate you, and we'll see

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<v Speaker 1>you see you then. Thanks