Darrell's dead. He died because he didn't want to live anymore, if you want to know the truth of it. That's hard on a family. Knowing someone they love would rather be dead in a hole in the ground than be with them. And that's where they all said he was. Because he didn't believe.
A boy from the mountain, turned into an old man, preached his funeral: "We can't help this poor soul anymore. It's too late for him. But we can help our living brothers and sisters..."
Maybe someone should have shook that preacher a little. Saying the things he did. No peace be with you or God's gonna comfort you. Just "Well, he went to hell. But you don't have to." I'd have hit him over the head with the Good Book he was beatin' if I thought it would do any good.
He meant well. I guess. But what's that they say about the road to hell……
Pa says the preacher's a fine man. He and Darrell grew up with him. His brother would have wanted him there, to say the last words anyone ever said about him.
I don't know about that. I think maybe Debbie should have done it. I think he would have liked that. Cause some preachers don't know what they think they do, and I don't think that preacher knew much about Darrell.
Sure, he knew he drank and raised hell for 50 years. Who didn't? Knew when he was young he spent more time in a Jailhouse Avenue bed than in his own. Knew he met his old lady in a bar in String Town.
"She was dancing on a table," Darrell told me this himself. "I took her home and never took her back."
"That's a fact boys." Pa was with him on the night.
The preacher didn't know Darrell spent most of his life thinking Pa was good enough for the both of 'em, and one day, before it was too late, he'd make it right.
Now, maybe that ain't the way to do it. To a preacher's way of thinking. But that's how Darrell done it. I believe.
A week before he died, before he decided he wasn't gonna move anymore and nobody could make him, he told Pa he was going home. Said he'd let the Reverend take him down to the river and wash his face.
A man like Darrell don't go down to the river for nothin'. He don't talk about baptisin' lest he means it. He ain't about show.
The preacher's busy on the pulpit, trying to help the living on their way to the other side. Well, maybe Darrell didn't need his help. Maybe he done it himself. A man can do those things. Without a mountain preacher. If he really wants to.
Maybe someone's washin' his face right now. Down in the Jordan.
You never know. And that's all I'm tryin' to say.
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Comments: 6
You've done the attitude of the preacher well (unfortunately). I've encoutered his type, and it rings true. This sentence seems a little off: "Maybe someone should have shook that preacher man a little.". If the speaker is not from Appalachia, the sentence should say "should have shaken". If the speaker is from Appalachia, it might have been better as "should'a shook", slurring past the 'have'. There are some picky little editing things, such as "Cause some preachers " should be " 'Cause some preachers..." (the apostrophe indicating the missing letters). And who is Debbie? I'm assuming from later sentences that she's Darrell's "old lady", but a few words about her relationship would have helped when she was first mentioned, i.e. "Debbie, Darrell's light o' love", or "Debbie, Darrell's common law wife" or some such thing.
Overall, I like this.
I grew up in the deep hollers of southern West Virginia. Just to give you an idea where I came from.... I didn't have a telephone until I was 16 (1992), our water was piped in from a well, cows gave us milk and meat, sugar cane gave us molasses and a big pile of dirt called a garden gave us most everything else.
I moved to Europe after college (9 years ago). I guess one changes and adapts without realising it. I often confuse people with my accent. It's not intentional, just a combination of two very different dialects.
I am the narrator. As for the voice....I find myself speaking more like my grandfather than my every-day self when I'm 'riled'. Or when I'm feeling really emotional....because I don't think you can beat the Appalachian accent for realness and raw feeling. Also, my native voice suits these pieces better than my current one.
Thanks Pat, and everyone, for all the constructive criticism. As a side...Debbie is actually Darrell's niece. They were ornery in the same way. And maybe because of this, seemed to understand one another better than anyone else. But more than that, she was the support system that helped him come off fifty five years of alcohol abuse, when everyone else had given up on trying to change him. When he died, she hurt.
This puts me in mind of the movie, "Oh Brother, where art thou." I can just hear that good old hillbilly music pickin...