HEAD TRAUMA CHAPTER TWO

They Told Me to Slop the Hogs

To read Chapter ONE - - Click HERE

Chapter two

I wandered out to the large veranda of what had once been a plantation house. It had been an upscale home for some very rich people, but was now in total disrepair. I asked the man how they managed to live in such a large home and he said no one was living here so we moved in. The owners now live in the north and never come down here anymore.

He told me that I was getting my strength back and tomorrow I was to either leave or start helping with the hogs. Since I had no place to go I decided to try the hogs for a while at least.

They woke me up early the next morning and I was called to the table to eat. The food was good once again and when finished the old woman told the man and Mary (I had learned her name) the young woman to get on with the chores and we would join them shortly.

She looked at me with a very stern look and said; “Now you look a here boy you see that gal”?

I meekly said, “I see her.”

She said; “Now don’t get no ideas about her, you hear?   She ain’t been messed with yet and she ain’t gonna be until she been wed, do you understand.”

I said, “I understand you completely and will obey you to the letter.”

She said “Well alright I guess you got it now, so get on out there and start slopping them hogs. I did as I was told, and after a day or two I could match their hog slopping skills to a T.  It was a twice a day job with a lot to do in between.

They had a large garden and twice a week they sold vegetables and eggs in town. I stayed at home for the most part and watched over the place. I was given a shot gun and told to shoot over the heads of any boys who tried to steal the watermelons or cantaloupes. For some reason the shotgun felt right at home in my hands.

This went on throughout the summer and the younger woman would make sure on occasion I could see her bounty. This became more and more prevalent when the folks were otherwise occupied. I now had full knowledge of her every curve and crevice on her body, because she had seen to that.

I overheard Mary telling her ma she was ready for a man and I would do fine. This was making me more and more uncomfortable so I began to insist that I go to town on sale days.

No longer was I the clean shaven man I used to be. With long hair and a straggled beard I was definitely incognito.

Another thing that was going on with me was little snippets of my memory was coming back.  I couldn’t put it all together and that was even more troublesome.

I remembered part of my name was Charles Evan… something. There was a large fine estate with highly sophisticated people all around.

There were two faces that kept coming up. One which brought a strong state of irritation with it and the other brought a feeling of pleasure.

Then I had the vision where I was attacked by three men who did great damage to me - - - then I saw the whole picture and what led up to the event I was seeing.

The blanks were filling in fast and my memory was all but back.

It was sale day and I was with the old man and we were a short distance from town when the truck overheated and we had to stop. I found that I knew what was wrong with the truck so I must have had some training in that area.  It had to be a stuck thermostat. This was an easy fix. All it took was the removal of the radiator hose and replacing the thermostat.

There was a gas station in view so it was shanks mare down to it.  I told the old man I would go get what we needed to fix it and be right back. I got the thermostat and put everything together then drove to the station to fill the radiator with water.

While we were there a new convertible pulled into the station to have the gas tank filled up.

I went over and put the gas nozzle in the gas tank and waited till it was filled. The station man came out and thanked me and told the woman how much she owed.

She had been looking at me in her mirror while I was filling the tank and when I walked up to her door she got out and stared at me. I took her and pulled her to me and kissed her through my full beard.

She shouted “Charles Evan Riley!”

I answered; “Cindy Ann Mayberry, did you recognize me?”  She said not completely but I recognized that tongue when you kissed me.

I said, ‘How?”

She said, “You have been tonguing me since the fifth grade and I could pick it out from any other.”

Then she said; “Ewe, you smell terrible. PU doesn’t begin to tell how bad you smell.”

I said, “I know do you have any money?”

She said, “Sure and my check book.”

I got some money from Cindy and paid the station man and told the old pig man I had to leave but would come back and explain someday.

I told Cindy to take me to a bath house in town and go and buy me some decent clothes.

It took two bathes and a lot of scrubbing with strong soap to rid the smell of the hogs from me.

After I was dressed I went to the barber and rid myself of the beard and long hair.

Cindy said, “The clothes weren’t what I was used to,” but it was the best she could find in this town.

She had been so close to me she knew all my sizes for she had bought me everything I wore at one time or the other.

I told her there was one thing more I wanted to do and she said, “Okay let’s do it.”

I stopped in front of the justice of the peace and said; “Well what do you think?”

I Do

She was already out of the car before I was finished. She said, “Let’s do it before that mother of yours gets a hold on you again.”

Ten minutes later we were man and wife.

I said, “Let’s get this over with,” and we went to her father’s place.

When we came through the door, her mother was shocked to see me and feigned fainting as she does sometimes but straighten up when Cindy said; “Knock it off mother.”

Cindy said “Charles and I are married and are going on our honeymoon shortly, as soon as we tell his folks. He will explain everything after we return.”

Her mother was on the phone calling her husband as we left. When we arrived at my house - - no one was home so we left a letter explaining what we had done.

TO BE CONTINUED