TH’ VISIT

Brother and Maggie, they come up to th’ shack t’other day an’ I knowed jus’ whot they wuz a’lookin’ fer. Maggie, she were a’hopin’ that Susie Mae had done got her some new frocks run up frum them perty sacks whot Layin’ Mash come in. Th’ reason whot I done figur’d hit out were that b’then they got in th’ door, Maggie, she made a bee-line int’a th’ frunt room an’ commenced ‘zaminin’ Susie Mae’s nail to see iffen they were anythin’ new a’hangin’ on hit. Now Brother, he weren’t interest’d in them thare frocks so he jus sot hisself down in frunt uv th’ T an’ V and sorta whined an’ sez, “E. A. T., Jay Henry, E. A. T.”

Now, y’all got to ‘member that Brother, he be’s holler all th’ way to his’ns toe’s ’bout all th’ time an’ he purely do ‘tak-on’ ’bout Susie Mae’s Chitlin’ an’ Wild-Onion Casserole.

Susie Mae, she had done ‘fixed’ stuff fer jus’ ’bout all mornin’ an’ she some-more “laid out’ a spread.” Hit were ’bout all I cud do ta carry-on a n’telligent conversat’n wiff Brother ’cause his eyeballs jus kep’ a’wanderin’ over to that eatin’ table.

When’st Susie Mae hollered that th’ vittles wuz ready, Maggie, she comin’ a’runnin frum th’ frunt room wiff one uv Susie Mae’s frocks in her han’. She sez to Susie Mae, she sez, “Susie Mae, does you s’pose you can do with-out this here frock so’s I can ware hit to big meetin. some time. ‘Sides, hit clashes rale good wiff them ear-bobs whot you done made fer me.” Brother, he jus ’bout choked on a mouff-ful uv chitlin’s and when’st he had swallered, he sez, “I ain’t a’payin’ fer’um.” Brother has al’ways been sorta chinchey wiff his’ns money.

Well’sr, in spite uv everthing whot they had done et up an’ toted off, we’uns had us a rale nice visit wiff them. When’st they wuz a’fixin to go ‘cross th’ creek, Susie Mae sorta teared-up an’ sez to me, “Jay Henry, honey, hit purely does a body’s heart good to holp somebodie whot ain’t done as well as we has. Mayhaps, I’ll send them a post-card an tell’um to come back to see us’ens ag’in sometime ’round nex’ year or th’ year atter that.”

Writ by Jay Henry