She was waving her arms like she wanted to speak to me. I rolled down my window. “You hear that! The trees, they are speaking.”I could see from my vantage the dancing of and swaying of them and know well that rising and waning wrapping of wind rushing about as it pleases. She had a bright round face and raised her hands again, song within her voice, “The trees are clapping their hands in glory.”I looked sort of her way but was listening because that is something one might want to hear. She then apologized for bothering me, said she didn’t see me in my car and she was a minister of a variety. We went on our ways. She, to rejoice; I, to cut the grass.
I was checking out at the Cash Saver and decided to get a 20 in case. Later on, I was walking to my car from the school building with a tub of tools and a Mississippi dark-skinned young man in a blue t-shirt with blue shoes was asking something about how to get out and eyeing me carefully and a little confused, I ain’t ever seen him so I kept vigilant. Talking is a good thing and so we went back and forth a little. I went to pick up my mitre saw and walked back to throw it in the back of my car.
“What you doing here.”
“I teach, well..I did.”
He couldn’t believe it. He was at a medium safe distance but taller and broader than I so I held the saw out a little in case I needed to swing it. Some of the tension was easing but he was on his toes and arms hanging like a man ready to knock someone out.
“Yeah, got this thing when some of the kids made those picnic tables over there. You know, teach useful shit. What you doing?”
“You ain’t no teacher..shit, trying to make it.”
“And no one gave you any worthwhile skills.”
He bowed up a little. “What you mean by that.”
“They didn’t give you what you needed to be able to man up and make it.”
“True.”
I’ve been in my world so I don’t know what all is going on. “Hard out there?”
“It’s getting real hard.”
“People hungry.”
“Shit, I’m hungry.”
His eyes kept looking, trying to take everything in. Usually, I have food but not today.
“Here.”
I gave him the 20 with Jackson’s ugly mug on it. He looked at me, my car, thanked me, and headed away with almost a smile.