THE WATER TANK AFFRAY
By Norris
Chambers
There
were several cemeteries in the back county. Some of them had a church
building adjoining and some didn’t. Those without churches usually had
a large brush arbor with wooden benches for the audience. In case you
are not familiar with a brush arbor it was a shaded port constructed
with posts supporting more posts that were used as beams. Brush was
piled on top of the beams to form a roof. The roof wasn’t very
effective in protecting the audience from rain but worked well in
forming a shade during the hot days of summer.
At most of these cemeteries a day was designated as Decoration
Day each spring. The community residents brought tools and cleaned the
cemetery and decorated the graves. This was a morning activity. A
“Dinner on the Grounds” feast was spread on makeshift tables and
everyone enjoyed a good meal. In the afternoon there was usually some
preaching and much singing under the brush arbor or in the church
building.
When
Clifton
and I were quite young our families attended the Decoration Day at a
cemetery where many of our ancestors were buried. The family members
attended to the decoration and dinner preparation and
Clifton
and I wandered around to see what we could do to have fun.
Someone had brought a big galvanized water tank on a wagon and
parked it under a big shade tree. There were several tin cups around it
and a goodly crowd of kids and thirsty cemetery workers. We
made frequent trips to the water tank and sipped some of the cool water.
Some kind soul had put one or more blocks of ice in the tank and it was
cooling the water quite well.
On one of these trips there was a big boy at the tank who gave us
a mean look. When
Clifton
began filling his cup the kid slapped it out of his hand and caused him
to spill the water on his pants. He then began to laugh and pointed at
the wet pants. This sudden attack was a shock to
Clifton
. He hit the big boy in the stomach. The bully recovered quickly and
grabbed
Clifton
by the neck pulling him to the ground. He had a good grip and
Clifton
was having a hard time breaking loose. I grabbed the fellow’s foot and
started twisting as hard as I could. He turned
Clifton
loose and jumped up to deal with me.
Clifton
jumped up behind him and landed a solid lick on the back of his neck. I
started hammering on him with both fists. I guess there were too many
fists pounding him because he started running toward the brush that
surrounded the area. We chased him awhile but he was too fast for us and
escaped. We went back to the water tank.
We saw him sneak back toward the tank a few times but when he saw
us he retreated. I guess he didn’t think about having to fight two
when he jumped on
Clifton
.
Clifton
and I kept him away from the water tank for at least an hour while the
singing was in progress in the brush arbor. We couldn’t catch him to
give him any further punishment for his crime!
Trouble came when
Clifton
’s dad decided it was time to leave and the family loaded into the
truck and left. My mother and dad were still in the arbor where the
singing was in full swing. The big boy noticed immediately that I was
alone and took full advantage of the situation. I headed for the
cemetery and he started chasing me. He was faster than I was and he
caught me almost immediately. He pushed me and I fell forward into the
sand. I started to get up and he kicked me in the side. I made another
attempt and the same thing happened again. He sat down on a low tomb
stone and laughed. Every time I tried to get up he came over and kicked
me again. I could hear the singing in the arbor. I still remember the
song – Rock of Ages cleft for me! I must have laid there a half hour while
the sound of the hymns kept praising the Lord. The big guy just sat
there and laughed. It didn’t seem very funny to me.
Eventually my dad started hunting for me when they were ready to
leave. He found me there in the cemetery lying on the ground. When he
walked up the big guy walked away. I finally finished explaining what
had happened. All my dad said was. “Fighting is not always the best
way to settle a difference!” I
agreed with him.
Is there a moral to this tale – I think it is so plain that
there is no need to point it out. Don’t start something violent with
someone else’s help if you can’t finish it by yourself.
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