She goes to him. “Oh no! Look what was done to your arm!” She's fawning over him and he’s looking away and says “I hope you’re happy.” She says, “oh Ross, you poor man, look at the state of you! Clothes all musty and your poor hands! your poor hands is all covered in something greasy and it probably won’t never come out!” Daddy nods sadly “probably you’re right. I gotta go through life like this forever now. Greasy hands and all. Won’t nobody want to never shake my hand again or nothin’.”
Only now he’s smilin’ and they both laugh together and now I know it’s time to play my part too. “What you all been up to, Daddy?” I say excitedly “you done wrestled a bear or something?” He laughs and says “pretty much! I done wrestled with those piles enough so I’m probably strong enough to wrestle a bear now if I wanted. But no, I done like you all wanted. I done made something what can help that boy” Momma says, with her arms around him “your boy” and Daddy nods.
“My boy. Something what can help my boy” Daddy goes and sits by Jacob and looks uncomfortable, but he says something for the first time directly to him since he gone in the water. “I done something for you Jacob. We’re going to fix you up right so when you come out of the water like what Gabe says, you’ll be ready to get right back to where you left off.”
The next day we is all up and Jacob is tended to. Daddy even helped with the feeding this time, his big hands was clumsy and the food dribbled down Jacob's chin some, but Momma and I ain’t said nothing about it and I think it made Daddy happy to help out. We ain’t said nothing to Daddy about what he made yesterday since that was up to him when he would tell us about it.
We ain’t want to throw off his mood none. We did morning things and ate some, and talked some, and Daddy and Momma discussed the weather and how it was going to go with the garden and what all else they wanted to plant out there. Daddy says to me “what you think Scamp? What all else should we plant out there? You got something you want to tend to special? Some kind of thing you been hankerin’ for” I think and I ain’t know too much about tending to gardens, but I say “carrots” and they both laugh for this recalls a memory of the time I done stole carrots from our neighbors in the town and hid in our bathroom while I ate them.
Daddy says “I just bet you do! Although, are you sure you’ll still like them if they ain’t stolen?” I get red in the face, but they’s both still laughing so I guess I’m not in trouble over that no more and I smile too. Daddy says, “ok! We’ll get you some carrots!” We is done talking now and Daddy is looking out the window and not saying anything. He’s quiet for a long while, like he gets when he’s about to do something, and I can usually judge what he’s going to do, and I think he’s thinking about Jacob and what all he made for him yesterday and he’s thinking about how to bring it up with us.
Momma and I both wait quietly and he finally says “welp, you all want to see what I done made out there?” We both is nodding and Daddy slaps his hands on the table and stands up. “Come on then if you’re comin’ on!” He heads out the door and we follow. At first, I ain’t seen nothing different. Daddy is walking into the trees now and I finally see something hanging from a big branch what looked strange, like a mess of pipes and ropes and the like, so I ain’t rightly know what all it was. Daddy stands there at the spot next to the contraption and proudly says “here she is! I done took some special care with this here. It took me long enough since I had to track down a part which ended up being deep in a pile. That there is where I got this mighty wound”
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He holds up his arm and the red is already faded and it’s just a white line. Momma says “what is it? How does it work?” Daddy says excitedly, for he’s very proud of his works “It goes like this here! Watch!” Daddy goes up to the contraption and pulls out some ropes and I see at the ends of them are leather loops and there's a strap tied together what makes a seat and a pipe going up the seat so if you were to sit on it, the pipe would be in the middle of your back. Daddy sits himself in the seat and puts some straps across his chest. The branch above gives a little warning creak.
He takes the leather loops and puts them on his wrists and ankles and gestures, “get on over here Scamp, tighten these here loops right up so I don’t go slipping out or nothin’.” I tighten them for him after a few tries, and now Daddy looks like a prisoner in a tree. I ain’t see how this can help Jacob none unless Daddy’s idea is to hang him from a tree for hosing off easier. Momma ain’t too sure about this either and says “that’s real good. What all does it do though?” Daddy gestures with his head to the left and there’s ropes hanging next to the tree, and I look up and they’s the ropes that are attached to Daddy’s ankles and wrists.
“You just get on over there and give one of them ropes a yank. Not too hard though!” Momma shrugs and walks to the ropes hanging down and says “which one am I pullin’ on?” Daddy says “it don’t matter, just pick one and go with it” so Momma gets one in her grasp and pulls on it slow for she has an idea about what Daddy made, and slowly, Daddy’s right arm is lifted. “That’s just right! Like that! Now you, Scamp! Get on over there and you give it a try!”
I go over next to Momma and she’s still pulling up and down on the rope and his arm is lifting up and down. I grab a rope and I pull it maybe too hard, for Daddy’s right leg gives a kick up and he goes, “whoa there! Not too hard!” I pull on it more slow now and his right leg goes up and down, slow too. “Just so!” Daddy says “now get to pulling on em’ all!” So we do, and now all of Daddy’s limbs are lifting up and down like he’s doing a dance in the air, and I can't take this sight no more and I drop the ropes and I’m laughing so that my stomach hurts and Momma is hugging the tree and laughing too.
Daddy is hanging there and guffawing “hey y’all now! Come see the live puppet in the tree! I can dance! I can sing! I can fly!” He starts swinging back and forth and my eyes is teared up and Momma grabs all the ropes now and is pulling on them all wildly and Daddy is swinging back and forth, all his limbs flying every which way. “yeahhhhh there! Watchout!” Momma is getting better at the ropes and his legs is straight out behind him, both hands out and grabbing at me and I’m ducking and laughing and Momma is smiling like the sun.
She puts the ropes down and Daddy is still smiling. He gets out of the harness and walks a little unsteady to us and says “well, what y’all think? This way we can get that boy exercised without the need to flop him around on our backs” Daddy is looking proud but also a little afraid, like we won’t like it, but Momma and I both see how much time he put into it and Daddy was taking care of Jacob in his own way. “It’s perfect” Momma says and gives him a kiss on the mouth and I look away. Daddy says to me “what you think Scamp? Think she’ll work enough for ya?” I say she’ll work just fine, and if it don’t, then I don’t know what will. Daddy grabs us both around the waist and lifts us up a little and says “we’s doin’ ok out here. We’re doin’ real good.”