Taxi Ride

That boy knowed he had to do what his grandpa told him to, so he grabbed a taxi cab what were passing by in front of the depot and give the driver his great aunts' address. "Hum." said the taxi man. "What's that supposed to mean?" "You'll find out soon enough," said the driver. The thing the boy noticed on the way to the big old house were all the peoples out mowing yards. (You see down here the grass grows real rapid so we has to mow at least twice a week. If we gets a big rain, three times.) He seen all kinds of mowers: push, gasoline, electric, riding, even ones what could double for a small tractor. When the taxi pulled up in front of the address what he had give the driver, the boy couldn't believe his eyes. The house were big okay. In fact it almost looked like one of them southern mansions you reads about. But it were in real bad shape. It needed paint real bad and the gutters and shutters was just hanging like they was about ready to fall. He begin to see what his grandpa meant when he had told him his sisters needed a lot of help down at the old homestead. Lord, they was a lot to dol. He thought about boomer ranging back to Memphis after all. But then he remembered how empty his pockets was.

Next: Aunt Clara