WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:13.320 This podcast may not be suitable for young listeners. Poachers 2 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:19.719 by Tom Franklin. Dawn, on the first day of April, 3 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.280 the three Gates brothers banked their ten foot aluminum boat 4 00:00:23.399 --> 00:00:27.640 in a narrow slew of dark water. They tied their 5 00:00:27.679 --> 00:00:31.199 hounds and strapped their rifles, and stepped out, ducking black 6 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:36.000 magnolia branches heavy with rain and Spanish moss. The two 7 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:39.719 thin younger brothers denim overalls tucked in their boots, lugged 8 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:44.079 between the starfoam cooler of iced fish, coons and possums. 9 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:48.560 The oldest brother, twenty bearded in heavy set, carried a 10 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:53.000 sunbeam bread sack of eels in his coat pocket. Hooked 11 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:55.159 over his left shoulder was the pink body of a 12 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:58.159 foam they'd shot in skin and over the ride a 13 00:00:58.200 --> 00:01:02.240 stray dog, to which they'd done this With skins and 14 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:05.480 heads gone and the dog's tail chopped off, they were 15 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:09.799 difficult to tell apart. The Gates has climbed the hill, 16 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:12.719 clinging to the vines and saplings and slipping in the 17 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:16.400 red clay, their boots coated and enormous. By the time 18 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:19.799 they stepped out of the woods. For a moment, they 19 00:01:19.799 --> 00:01:22.560 stood in the road, looking at the gray sky, the 20 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:26.599 clouds piling up. The two younger ones kneel and Dan 21 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:30.840 set the cooler down. Kent, the oldest, removed his limp 22 00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:33.799 cap and squeezed the water from it, and his brothers 23 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:37.239 did the same. Then Kent nodded and they picked up 24 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:40.840 the cooler. They rounded a curve and crossed a one 25 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:44.120 lane bridge, stopping to piss over the rail into the creek, 26 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:47.120 water high from all the rain, and then went on, 27 00:01:47.560 --> 00:01:51.680 passing houses on either side, dark warped boards with the 28 00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:55.879 knotholes big enough to look through, and cement blocks for steps. 29 00:01:57.280 --> 00:01:59.799 Black men appeared in the doors and windows to watch 30 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:02.920 them go by. To most of these people, they were 31 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:08.639 something not seen, often something nocturnal and dangerous. Along the 32 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:12.240 stretch of the Alabama River, everyone knew that the brother's father, 33 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:15.520 Boo Gates, had married a girl named Anna when he 34 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:19.280 was thirty she was seventeen, and that the boys had 35 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:22.319 been born in quick succession, with less than a year 36 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:25.840 between them. But few outside the family knew that a 37 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:30.479 fourth child, a daughter unnamed, had been still born, and 38 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:33.439 that Boo had buried her in an unmarked grave and 39 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:37.680 a clearing in the woods behind their house. Anna died 40 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:40.719 the next day, and the three boys, dirty and naked, 41 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:44.919 watched their father stoop shouldered descent into the earth as 42 00:02:44.919 --> 00:02:48.159 he dug her grave. And by the time he'd finished it, 43 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:50.319 it was dark, and the moon had come up out 44 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:53.280 of the trees, and the boys lay asleep upon each 45 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:57.639 other in the dark, like wolf pups. The name of 46 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:00.639 this community, if it could be called that, was Lower 47 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:04.199 Peach Tree, though as far as anybody knew, there'd never 48 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:08.360 been an Upper Peach Tree. Scattered along the leafy banks 49 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:12.280 of the river were ragged houses, leaning and drafty, many 50 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:15.840 empty and caving in so close to the water they'd 51 00:03:15.879 --> 00:03:20.199 been built on stilts. Each April, floods came and the 52 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:23.919 crumbling land along the bank would disappear, and each May, 53 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:26.439 when the flood waters were seeded, a house or two 54 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:30.759 would be gone. Upriver, near the locking dam stood an 55 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:35.000 old store, a slanting, weathered building with a steep tin 56 00:03:35.159 --> 00:03:39.120 roof and a stovepipe in the back. Two rusty gas 57 00:03:39.159 --> 00:03:42.599 pumps on the left beside the road. The regular pump, 58 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:45.840 empty for years, had a garbage bag tied over it. 59 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:51.639 Around the store, mimosa trees sagged water logged in front. 60 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:54.759 Long steps led up to the door, wherein the window 61 00:03:54.840 --> 00:03:59.039 a red sign said open inside. To the right, like 62 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:03.240 a bar upon maple counter ran along the wall, and 63 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:07.599 behind the counter hung a rack of wire pegs for tools, hardware, 64 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:11.520 and fishing tackle. To the left were rows of shelves 65 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:15.120 made of boards and concrete blocks, and beyond the shelves 66 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:20.040 a Coca Cola cooler buzzed faintly by the wall. The 67 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:23.959 store owner, an old man named Kirksey, had bad knees, 68 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:28.480 and this weather settled around his joints like rot. For 69 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:31.079 most of his life, he'd been married and lived in 70 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:35.480 a nice two story house on Highway thirty five fireplaces 71 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:39.560 in every bedroom a china cabinet. But when his wife 72 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:43.199 died two years ago cancer, he found it easier to 73 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:45.959 avoid the house, to keep the bills paid in the 74 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.439 grass mode, but the doors locked, to spend nights in 75 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:51.600 the store and to sleep in the back room on 76 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:54.959 the army cot and the warmest meals of corned beef 77 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:59.199 and beef stew on a hot plate. He didn't mind 78 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:02.560 that people had but stopped coming to the store. As 79 00:05:02.600 --> 00:05:05.839 long as he served a few long standing customers, he 80 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:09.680 thought he'd stick around. He had his radio in the 81 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:14.000 Thomasville station and money enough. He liked the area and 82 00:05:14.120 --> 00:05:16.879 knewest regulars weren't the kind to drive half an hour 83 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:21.240 to the nearest town. For those few people, Kirksey would 84 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:23.920 go once a week to Grove Hill to shop for goods. 85 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:27.399 He'd resell, marking up the price just enough for a 86 00:05:27.480 --> 00:05:31.160 reasonable profit. He didn't need the money, it was just 87 00:05:31.240 --> 00:05:36.279 good business. Liquor wise, the county was dry, but that 88 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:40.360 didn't stop Kirksey. For his regulars, he would serve plastic 89 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:43.240 cups of cheap whiskey he bought in the next county, 90 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:46.199 or bottles of beer he kept padlocked, and an old 91 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:50.879 refrigerator in back. For these regulars, he would break packages 92 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:53.839 of cigarettes and keep them in a cigar box and 93 00:05:53.879 --> 00:05:58.720 sell them for a dime apiece a nickel stale Ashburn's 94 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:02.560 were seven cents, and he would open boxes of shotgun 95 00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:05.800 shells or cartridges and sell them for a mouse at 96 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:10.360 varied according to caliber. And he'd known to find specialty 97 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:18.959 items paperback novels, explosives, and once an old magneto telephone. 98 00:06:23.439 --> 00:06:28.160 At Euphrates Morset's place, Kent gates pounded on the back door. 99 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:32.000 In Morset's yard, a cord of wood was stacked between 100 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:35.920 two fence posts, covered by a green tarp. Brick halves 101 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:40.079 holding the tarp down. A tire swing, turning slowly and 102 00:06:40.120 --> 00:06:44.000 full of rain water hung from a pine limb. When 103 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:48.199 Morset appeared, he was a large, bald black man. Kent 104 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:51.319 pointed to the fawn and dog hanging on the porch rail. 105 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:56.319 Morset put on reading glasses and squinted at both. How 106 00:06:56.360 --> 00:07:01.279 about that, he said, stroking his chin right out, young men's. 107 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:05.000 He closed the door. Kent sat on the porch edge, 108 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:08.519 and his brother's on the steps. A skinny, wet dog 109 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:11.680 trotted from under the house, wagging its tail, and Dan 110 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:14.560 began to pet it. When he found a swollen blue 111 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:16.639 tick in its ear, he pulled it off and flicked 112 00:07:16.639 --> 00:07:20.680 it across the yard. The door opened and Morset came 113 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.360 out with three pint jars of homemade whiskey. Each brother 114 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:27.199 took a jar and unscrewed its lid and sniffed the 115 00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:31.519 clear liquid. Morset set his steaming coffee cup on the 116 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:35.879 window sill. He fastened his suspenders, looking at the carcasses 117 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:40.160 hanging over the rail. The brothers were already drinking, Dan 118 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:43.120 still petting the dog, which had its head in his lap. 119 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:47.720 Where's the girl, Kent asked, his face twisted from the 120 00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:52.839 sour whiskey. My stepdaughter, you me morsets items apple pumped 121 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:58.439 in his throat. She had sid far away. A rooster crode. Well, 122 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:02.360 get her out here, Kent said. They drank again, and shuddered. 123 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:07.240 Now she ain't of fifteen, Kent scratched his spard. She's gone. 124 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:11.120 Look at her. When they left, the stepdaughter was standing 125 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:14.519 on the porch in her white nightgown, barefoot and rubbing 126 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:18.319 the sleep from her eyes. The brothers backed away, clanking 127 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:22.160 with hardware and blushing and grinning at her. More sets 128 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.720 jaw clenched. The dog watched them go, and then turned 129 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:30.199 and trotted back underneath the house. Sipping from their jars, 130 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:32.200 they took the bag of eels down the road to 131 00:08:32.279 --> 00:08:35.480 a half blind, conjured woman who stood waiting on her porch. 132 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.240 Her house, with the stark drapes and empty bird cages 133 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:42.440 dangling from the eaves, seemed to be slipping off into 134 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:46.200 the gully. The younger brothers wiped their noses on their 135 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:49.120 sleeves and shifted from foot to foot by the gate. 136 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:52.919 As Kent walked across the muddy yard held the bag out, 137 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:56.519 she snatched the eels from him, Squinting into the bag 138 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:59.879 with her good eye, grunting. She paid them from a 139 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:03.840 dusty cloth sack on her Apron muttered to herself as 140 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:06.480 Kent turned and walked through her gate, and the three 141 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:09.879 of them went up the dirt road. Only Dan, the youngest, 142 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:13.759 looked back. They pedaled the rest of the things from 143 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:17.159 their cooler and then left through the dump, pausing while 144 00:09:17.240 --> 00:09:20.240 Kent and Neil shot at liquor bottles, Dan through into 145 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:24.639 the air out of ammunition. They stumbled down the ravine 146 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:27.519 and the rain, following the water's edge to their boat, 147 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:31.519 and in the back Kent wedged his jar between his thighs, 148 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:35.440 ran the trolling motor with his foot. His brothers leaned 149 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:38.879 against the walls of the boat, facing opposite banks, no 150 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:41.600 sound but rain and the low hum of the motor. 151 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:46.320 They drank silently, holding their burning whiskey in the hollows 152 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:49.759 of their cheeks, before gathering the will to swallow. And 153 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:53.200 along the bank's fallen trees held thick stands of cotton 154 00:09:53.279 --> 00:09:58.279 mouth black sparkling creatures, dazed and slow from winter, barely 155 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:01.440 able to move. If not for all the rain, they 156 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:04.720 might still be hibernating. Comatos in the banks of the 157 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:09.159 river are beneath the soft yellow underbellies of rotten logs. 158 00:10:10.279 --> 00:10:12.960 Randing in Ben, the brother saw a small boat down river, 159 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:17.480 its engine clear, loud and unfamiliar. It was heading this way. 160 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:20.919 The men in the boat lifted a hand in greeting. 161 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:24.679 He wore a green poncho and a dark hat covered 162 00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:29.039 with plastic. Kent shifted his foot, turning the trolling motor 163 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:32.120 and steering them toward the bank, giving the stranger a 164 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:36.360 wide berth. He felt for their outboards crank rope while 165 00:10:36.440 --> 00:10:39.639 Kneel and Dan faced forward and sat on the boat seats. 166 00:10:40.279 --> 00:10:43.000 The man drawing closer didn't look much older than Kent. 167 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:46.519 He cut his engine and coasted up beside them, smiling 168 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:50.720 morning fellas, he said, showing his badge. I'm the new 169 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:54.679 District game Warden. The brothers looked straight ahead, as if 170 00:10:54.720 --> 00:10:58.639 he weren't there. The warden's engine was steaming. A flock 171 00:10:58.679 --> 00:11:03.120 of geese passed overhead. Dan slipped his hands inside the 172 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:07.200 soft leather collars of two dogs who'd begun to growl. Now, 173 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:10.240 you fellows ought to know, the warden said, pointing his 174 00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:13.519 long chin to the rifle at Neil's feet, that it's 175 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:16.639 illegal to have those guns loaded on the river. Now 176 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:18.600 I'm going to have to check them. I'll need to 177 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:23.600 see some licenses too. When he stood, the dogs jumped forward, 178 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:28.200 tonails scraping the aluminum. Dan jerked them back and glanced 179 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:32.159 at Kent. Kent spat into the brown water. He met 180 00:11:32.200 --> 00:11:35.120 the warden's size, and an instant knew the man had 181 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:37.559 seen the telephone rig and the floor of their boat. 182 00:11:38.679 --> 00:11:41.840 Pulled to the bank, the warden yelled, drawing a pistol, 183 00:11:42.159 --> 00:11:45.600 y'all are under a rest for poaching. The gates is 184 00:11:45.679 --> 00:11:48.879 didn't move. One of the dogs began to claw the hull, 185 00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:52.360 and the others joined him, and a howl rose shut 186 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:55.879 them dogs up. The Warden's face had grown blotchy and red. 187 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:59.840 The spiteed hound broke free in sprang over the gun 188 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:04.039 slopper strung from his teeth, and the man most surprised 189 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:06.440 by the game wardens shot seemed to be the game 190 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:10.639 warden himself. His face drained of color as the noise 191 00:12:10.679 --> 00:12:13.480 echoed off the water, and died in the bent black 192 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:17.399 limbs and the cattails that bobbed in the current. The 193 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:20.440 bullet had passed through the front dog's neck and smacked 194 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:25.000 into the bank behind them, missing Dan by inches. The 195 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:28.799 dog collapsed, and there was an instant silence before the others, 196 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:33.080 now loose, clattered overboard into the water, red eyed, tangled 197 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:37.159 in their leashes trying to swim. Pulled to the goddamn bank, 198 00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:42.399 the warden yelled right now. Scowling, Kent leaned and spat. 199 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:47.120 He moved his thirty thirty aside, Using the shoulders of 200 00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:49.519 his brothers for balance, he made his way to the 201 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:53.720 prow kneel, his cheek bones flecked with the dog's blood. 202 00:12:54.200 --> 00:12:57.399 Moved to the back to keep the boat level. At 203 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:00.039 the front, Kent reached into the water and took the 204 00:12:59.879 --> 00:13:03.639 first dog by its collar, lifted the kicking form and 205 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:08.000 set it streaming and shivering behind him. His brothers turned 206 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.559 their faces away as it shook off the water. Kent 207 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:14.320 grabbed the rope that led to the big three legged 208 00:13:14.360 --> 00:13:17.200 hound and pulled it hand over hand until he could 209 00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:20.320 work his finger under its collar. He gave Dan a 210 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:24.840 sidelong look, and together they hauled it in. Then Kent 211 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.039 grabbed the smaller bitch while Dan got the black and tan. 212 00:13:29.559 --> 00:13:32.399 The warden watched them, his hip swaying with the rise 213 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:35.720 and fall of the current. Rain was coming harder, now, 214 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:41.039 spattering against the boats. Kneeling among the dogs, Kent unsnapped 215 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:44.159 the leash and tossed the spotted hound overboard, and it 216 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:48.480 sank and then resurfaced and floated on its side, trailing blood. 217 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:52.440 Kent's lower lip twitched and he looked at Neil and 218 00:13:52.519 --> 00:13:55.639 opened his mouth, and Dan whispered to the dogs and 219 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.600 placed his hands on two of their heads to calm them. 220 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:02.200 They were wretching in trembling and rolling their eyes fearfully 221 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:06.639 at the trees. Neil stood up with his hands raised 222 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:09.759 as if to surrender. When the game warden looked at him, 223 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:14.440 relief softening his eyes, Kent jumped from his crouch into 224 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:18.600 the other boat, his big fingers closing around the man's neck. 225 00:14:26.399 --> 00:14:29.519 Later that morning, Kirksey had just unlocked the door and 226 00:14:29.639 --> 00:14:32.159 hung out the open sign when he heard the familiar 227 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:36.080 rattle of Gates truck. He sipped his coffee and leant 228 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:39.759 behind the counter and sat on a stool. The boys 229 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:43.440 came several times a week, usually in the afternoon, before 230 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:47.360 they started their evenings of hunting and fishing. Kirksey would 231 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:50.840 give them what supplies they needed, bullets and fishing line 232 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:53.759 and socks, a new cap to replaced one lost in 233 00:14:53.799 --> 00:14:57.919 the river. They would fill their trucks in cans with gas. 234 00:14:58.840 --> 00:15:01.399 Eighteen year old Dan would get the car battery from 235 00:15:01.480 --> 00:15:04.159 the charger near the wood burning stove and replace it 236 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:07.960 with the drained one from their boat trolling motor. Kirksey 237 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:12.080 would serve them coffee or cokes, never liquor, not to boys, 238 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:15.879 and they'd eat whatever they chose from the shelves, usually 239 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.759 candy bars or barbecue potato chips, ignoring Kirksey's advice to 240 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:25.720 eat healthier Vienna sausages and denty moore or shift boyard. 241 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:30.639 Today they came in looking a little spook, Kirksey thought. 242 00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:34.960 Neil stayed near the door, peering out the glass, fogging 243 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:38.559 by his mouth. His arms folded, and Dan went to 244 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:42.679 the candy isle and pocketed several Hershey bars. He left 245 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:46.039 a trail of muddy boot prints behind him. Kirksey would 246 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:50.840 have to mop later morning, young Fellas he said coffee, 247 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:56.039 Dan nodded, Kirksey refilled a starfoam cup and then grinned 248 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:58.919 as the boy loaded it with sugar. You take coffee 249 00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:02.720 with your sweetener, he asked Kent, lending them the computer, 250 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:06.399 inspecting the items hanging on their pages, A hack saw 251 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:10.320 a Lucky thirteen lure, a set of Alan wrenches, a 252 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:14.840 gizmo with several uses, knife and measuring tape and all. 253 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:18.919 He took off his cap and bought it in his fist. 254 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:22.639 Kirksey could smell the booze on him. Y'all need something 255 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:26.519 in particular, he asked, that spotted one you give us, 256 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:30.240 Kent said, not meeting his eyes. Won't bark no more. 257 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:34.879 She won't bark no more, no tree. Im fine, but 258 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:39.000 won't bark neary a time? Got a shoot her his 259 00:16:39.080 --> 00:16:42.440 mouth full of chocolate. Dan looked at Kirksey and by 260 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:47.240 the door, Neil unfolded his arms. Now, Kirksey said, I 261 00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:50.200 ain't no need for that, Kent, do what that conjured 262 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:53.039 woman recommends. Now, go out in the woods and find 263 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:56.240 you a locus shell stuck to a tree. This is 264 00:16:56.279 --> 00:16:58.480 a time of year for him, if I'm not mistaken, 265 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:03.639 akus hyeah, Kent asked, yeah, bring it back home and 266 00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:06.279 crunch it up in the dogs scraps, and that'll make 267 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:10.359 her bark like she ought to. Kent nodded to Kirksey, 268 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:12.880 walked to the door, and he went out, and his 269 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:18.799 brothers followed. See Kerksey called you're welcome. Dan waved with 270 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:22.839 a hershey bar and closed the door. Kirksey stared after 271 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:25.319 them for a while. It had been more than a 272 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:28.200 year since they'd paid him anything, but he couldn't bring 273 00:17:28.279 --> 00:17:31.519 himself to ask for money. He'd even stop writing down 274 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:35.440 what they owed. He got his coffee and leant from 275 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:38.000 behind the counter to the easy chair by the stove. 276 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:40.799 He shook his head at the muddy footprints on the 277 00:17:40.880 --> 00:17:44.720 candy isle. He sat slowly and tucked a blanket around 278 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:47.000 his legs, and took out a bottle and added a 279 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:50.599 splash to his coffee and sipping, he picked up a 280 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:54.880 novel Louis Lamore sack its Land, and reached in his 281 00:17:54.920 --> 00:18:05.720 apron pocket for his glasses. Though she had been one once, 282 00:18:05.799 --> 00:18:08.599 the woman named Esther wasn't much of a regular and 283 00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:12.720 Kirksey store these days. She lived two miles up river 284 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:16.319 in a shambling white house with massive magnolia trees in 285 00:18:16.359 --> 00:18:19.839 the yard. The house had to wrap around porch, and 286 00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:22.680 when it flooded, you could fish from the back, sitting 287 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:25.920 in the tall, white rocking chairs, though you weren't likely 288 00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:30.759 to catch anything. A baby alligator maybe, or sometimes bullfrogs. 289 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:34.599 Owls nested in the trees along her part of the river, 290 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:38.160 but in this weather they'd grown quiet. She missed her 291 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:43.240 hollow calling. Esther was fifty. She'd had two husbands and 292 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:47.240 six children who were gone and had ill feelings toward her. 293 00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:51.039 She'd had her female parts removed in an operation that 294 00:18:51.160 --> 00:18:54.400 she was still paying for. Now, she lived alone, and 295 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:57.920 most of the time drank alone. If the Gates boys 296 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:00.359 hadn't passed out in their truck somewhere in the woods, 297 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:04.039 they might stop by after a night's work. Esther would 298 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:07.519 make them strong coffee and feed them salty fried eggs 299 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:11.519 and link sausages, And some mornings, like today, she would 300 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.039 get a far away look in her eyes and take 301 00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:16.559 Kent's shirt and her fingers and lead him up the 302 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:19.680 stairs and watch him close the bathroom door and listen 303 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:23.599 to the sounds of his bathing. She smiled, knowing these 304 00:19:23.640 --> 00:19:28.039 were the only baths he ever took. When he emerged 305 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:32.039 his long hair stringy, his chest flat and hard. She 306 00:19:32.119 --> 00:19:34.599 let him down the hall, past the telephone nook to 307 00:19:34.680 --> 00:19:38.400 her bedroom. He crawled under the covers and watched her 308 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:42.440 take off her gown and step out of her underwear. Bending. 309 00:19:42.599 --> 00:19:44.960 She looked in the mirror to fluff her hair, and 310 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.960 then climbed in beside him. He was gentle, at first, curious, 311 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:52.599 and then rougher, the way she liked him to be. 312 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:56.720 She closed her eyes, the bed frame rattling and bumping 313 00:19:56.759 --> 00:19:59.839 in her father's old pocket watch slipping off the nightstand. 314 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:03.519 Water gurgled in the pipework in the walls as Neil 315 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:06.160 took a bath to hoping for a turn of his own, 316 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:10.640 which never had happened, at least not yet. Slow down, 317 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:14.599 baby Esther, whispered into Kent's ear. There's plenty of time. 318 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:25.200 On April third, it was still raining. Kirksey put as 319 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:28.839 out his crossword to answer the telephone. Can you come 320 00:20:28.880 --> 00:20:31.960 down to the lock, and Damn Goodlow asked, we got 321 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:37.119 us a situation developing here. Kirksey disliked smart ass good Low, 322 00:20:37.240 --> 00:20:40.440 but something in the sheriff's voice told him it was serious. 323 00:20:41.559 --> 00:20:43.759 On the news, he'd heard that the new game warden 324 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:47.039 had been missing for two days. The authorities had dragged 325 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.599 the river all night and had a helicopter in the air. 326 00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:53.480 Kirksey sat forward in his chair, waiting for his back 327 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:56.599 to loosen a bit. He added a shot of whiskey 328 00:20:56.680 --> 00:20:59.240 to his coffee and gulped it down as he shrugged 329 00:20:59.240 --> 00:21:02.359 into his denim jacket, zipping it up to his neck 330 00:21:02.480 --> 00:21:06.400 because he stayed cold when it rained. He put cotton 331 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:08.720 balls in his ears and set his cap on his 332 00:21:08.839 --> 00:21:11.839 bald head and took his walking. Came from beside the 333 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:16.319 door in his truck, the four wheel drive engaged and 334 00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:19.920 the defroster on high. He sank and rose in the 335 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.759 deep ruts and gobs of mud flying past his windows, 336 00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:28.519 the wiper swishing across his view. The radio announcer said 337 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:31.359 it was sixty degrees and more rain on the way. 338 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:35.839 Then the red or Lin began to sing. A mile 339 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:39.759 from the locking down, Kirksey passed a grove Hill ambulance 340 00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:44.119 axled deep in the mud. A burly black paramedic was 341 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:46.799 wedging a piece of two by four beneath one of 342 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:50.279 the rear tires, while the board looking driver sat behind 343 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:54.759 the wheels, smoking and racing the engine, Kirksey slowed and 344 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:58.000 rode down his window. Y'all going after a live one 345 00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:02.039 or a dead one? Dead to Kerksey, the black man answered. 346 00:22:02.880 --> 00:22:07.119 Kirksey nodded and accelerated. At the locking down, he could 347 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:10.440 see a crowd of people and umbrellas, and beyond them 348 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:13.039 he saw the dead man lying on the ground under 349 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:17.200 a black raincoat. Some onlooker had begun to direct traffic. 350 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:21.559 Goodlow and three deputies and yellow slickers stood near the 351 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:26.000 body with their hands in their pockets. Kirksey climbed out, 352 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:30.519 and people nodded sombrely and parted to let him through. Goodlow, 353 00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:34.720 who had been talking to his deputies, ceased as Kirksey approached, 354 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:38.319 and they stood looking at the raincoat. Morning sugar Baby, 355 00:22:38.599 --> 00:22:43.039 Kirksey said, using the nickname Goodlow. Hated. Is this who 356 00:22:43.079 --> 00:22:47.839 I think it is? Yep, Goodlow, said rookie game Warden 357 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:52.240 of the Year with his cane. Kirksey pulled back the 358 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:56.000 raincoat to reveal the white face. He's a young fella, 359 00:22:56.200 --> 00:22:59.160 he said. There was a puddle beneath the dead man, 360 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:01.960 twigs in his hair and a clove of moss in 361 00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:05.400 his breast pocket. With the rubber tip of his cane. 362 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:09.480 Kirksey brushed a snail from the man's forehead. He bent 363 00:23:09.559 --> 00:23:12.680 and looked into the warden's left eye, which was partly open, 364 00:23:13.079 --> 00:23:17.279 and he noticed the throat, the dark bruises there. Goodlow 365 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:20.400 unfolded a handkerchief and blew his nose and then wiped it. 366 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:24.680 Don't go abusing the evidence, Kirksey. He stuffed the handkerchief 367 00:23:24.680 --> 00:23:29.720 into his back pocket. Evidence now, sugar baby. Good Low 368 00:23:29.799 --> 00:23:33.519 excelled and looked at the sky. Don't shit me, Kirksey, 369 00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:36.799 you know good and will who done this? I expect 370 00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:39.200 they figured the law wouldn't apply to them up on 371 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:41.759 this part of the river, the way things has been 372 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:45.160 all these years. Them other wardens scared of him, are 373 00:23:45.160 --> 00:23:48.839 feeling sorry for him. But I reckon that's fixing a change. 374 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:52.680 He paused. I had to place a call to the 375 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:55.319 capitol this morning to let him know that we was 376 00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:58.680 all out of game wardens. And you won't believe who 377 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:02.640 they patched me through to. Kirksey adjusted the cotton in 378 00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:06.880 his right ear. Oh, Frank David himself, the sheriff said, 379 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:09.880 Ain't nothing ticks him off more than this kind of thing. 380 00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:16.119 A dread stirred in Kirksey's belly. Frank David was see 381 00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:21.279 a relation to this fellow teacher, Goodlaw said, said he's 382 00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:24.079 been given lessons to young game wardens over at the 383 00:24:24.119 --> 00:24:27.720 Forestry Service. He asked me a whole bunch of questions 384 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:32.039 regular interrogation. Said this here, young fellow was the cream 385 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:34.759 of the crop, the best new game warden there was. 386 00:24:35.880 --> 00:24:40.000 Wouldn't know it from this angle, Kirksey said, good Load grunted. 387 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:45.039 A photographer from the paper was studying the corpse. He 388 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:48.559 glanced at the skies if gauging the light, and when 389 00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:51.240 he snapped his first picture, Kirksey was in it like 390 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:54.599 a sportsman. Well, what do you want from me, he 391 00:24:54.680 --> 00:24:58.039 asked Goodlow. You tell them boys, I need to ask 392 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:01.920 them some questions. Ain't fixing the traps all over the county. 393 00:25:02.319 --> 00:25:05.720 I'll drop by the store this evening if they're there. 394 00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:10.799 They're there, Kirksey said, ain't their damn father. Goodlow followed 395 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:13.359 him to the truck. You might think of getting them 396 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:18.680 a lawyer, he said through the window. Kirksey started the engine. Shit, 397 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:22.519 sugar baby. Them boys don't need a lawyer. They just 398 00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:25.200 need to stay in the woods where they belong folks 399 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:28.640 ought a note to let them alone by now Goodlow 400 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:31.680 stepped back from the truck and smacked his lips. I 401 00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:36.839