The River Is Home. Patrick D. Smith

jest as well you don’t know and don’t never find out. They ain’t no end to a woman’s troubles after a man comes sniffin’ around her like she were a bitch dog in heat.”

      “Now, I wouldn’t go so fer as to say that,” said Pa. “You ain’t did too bad fer yoreself.”

      “You call livin’ in this swamp and bein’ treated like a nigger by all the other white folks ain’t so bad? Sometimes I think we would uv been better off if’n we would have stayed in the fields. Hit’s been nigh on a year now since me and Theresa has seen ary other white folks, excusin’ you and the boys.”

      Skeeter and Theresa couldn’t understand what it was their folks were arguing about. They had seen these little spats before, and they always felt sorry for Pa, but they couldn’t understand why Ma didn’t love living on the river as they did. Skeeter couldn’t stand the thought of not being around the swamp, and he liked not having other folks around them all the time.

      “Jest the same,” said Ma, “you better tell the boy to watch himself while he’s messin’ aroun’ in that town.”

      “Leave the boy be,” said Pa, as he walked to the front porch and sat down. Ma and Theresa started cooking the supper. After a while Jeff came in, and they all sat at the table and ate in silence. When they had finished, Pa and the boys sat on the front porch, while Ma and Theresa washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. When the work was finished, the family went to bed, for they all knew that they had to be up long before daybreak to start preparations for the trip to town.

      A few hours after dark Pa was awakened by a loud splashing coming from the bayou. Jeff and Skeeter had heard the disturbance also and were pulling on their clothes. They went to the kitchen and lighted a torch and all three went down to the landing. They could hear the splashing continuing up the bayou. The fish box had been knocked from the water and was lying several feet up on the bank. They put it back into the water and stood for a few minutes in silence and could hear the noises continue past the end of the bayou and into the swamp.

      “Whut in the world do you reckon that were?” asked Pa.

      “Hit beats me,” said Jeff. “I never heard of a critter pullin’ a stunt like that there.”

      Skeeter didn’t say a word because he thought he knew what had caused the disturbance and knocked the box out of the water.