Daddy looks at me quizzical now sometimes, just like how Momma used to, but I know my own mind and it ain’t bother me none. Momma gets around with her limp and Daddy gets around by commanding Momma and scribbling our plans on the butcher paper, but they ain’t come to no fruition. “When we going to start, Daddy? When we going to put up that big wall and the treehouses and the shed for keeping cows and the like?” Daddy says, soon soon. Soon as we have enough space to build. “That dog Momma taking care of taking up all the space? In our way for making a big shed?” “Mayhap he is.” Daddy says, but I think Daddy is buying time for he ain’t want to get to work any time soon.
But I’m ready.
“Daddy?” he regards me. “How am I going to know when the time is?” He looks at me for a long time, then gets to his feet.
Momma is looking at us both and she dawns a comprehension and limps fast at Daddy, “you can’t. You can’t! He ain’t a...” Daddy fetches her a slap and that shuts her up. Then he walks out of the house, walking straight and tall with a purpose.
She's holding her mouth and I laugh through my nose. She comes to me and kneels at my feet. “You know this ain’t right. That's no dog! You can’t forget! Don't forget! I done told you wrong from the beginning! We ate atomic macaroni and cheese and I bought you ice cream with him! He’s still your brother and this ain’t no game! Don’t listen to that man! Please, Gabe, I take it all back. Let’s you and me get out of here and take Jacob with us. We can go right now. Daddy trusts you and you can sneak us out of here!
You is my little baby and was second after Jacob. He’ll come back! He only needs the hospital!” Momma is sobbing and clutching my legs and getting tears all over my knees and I don’t like that. I say, “This is what you wanted all along. For us to be up here. All together. And we is all together. We need to take care up here. All manner of things to take care of. You had the chance to take care of that thing, and now it’s the end of it. It’s in the way of our plans. How we going to build this up into a family with something dragging us down? You ain’t done enough for it. Even after all the chances we done gave you.”
Daddy come in from outside and hands me a hammer and nail and I know that it’s time. Momma grabs at him, knowing what all is coming. He says to her, “this here is man’s work. You stay in here and get to cleanin’ up and fixing us something to eat, elstwise, I can’t guarantee what Gabe will decide if you get to interferin’. Animals get put down for having broken legs too. It slows them down. Keeps them from being useful.” Momma whispers “don’t you do it. Don’t you dare.” Daddy regards her curiously. “I ain't understand why you so attached to this one dog. There’s a million more out there what ain’t cause this much difficulty. Now step aside and you better have something ready for us when we get back in, for this is powerful hungry work. I should know, I done it many a time before.” Daddy looks at me “you ready?” I heft the claw hammer onto my shoulder and hold the long nail in my other hand. I give him a nod. Daddy leads the way.
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Daddy got the dog chained to a spike stuck in the ground like he told me his Daddy would do for him. I walk up slow and Daddy says “you all know where to put the nail?” I say “I think so. On his head?” “Yep” Daddy says, “right on his head. But It's got to be in the right place, otherwise it ain’t going to work like it should. Here.” He walks up to the dog and puts his finger on a spot behind its right ear “put the nail here and kind up angle it up a little, that way it’s over fast and neat and don’t cause too much of a mess. Take your time though, tap it in first, then give it a good whack when the nail stands up on its own.”
I get close and take that nail and line it up like what he said. I tap on it to get it gripped in, and it stays all right. Daddy don’t say nothin’ so I keep tapping until the nail is set enough to stay up on its own. I look at Daddy and he gives me a nod. I wind up and swing as hard as I know how. The hammer is turned a little sideways but hits the nail just fine. More than fine. I hit it like it’s supposed to be hit, and I look down, and it’s all the way in. Right like it’s supposed to be.
Daddy looks up at me and makes a funny sound and grabs the hammer in his hand and hugs me, close close. He holds me at arm's length and is smiling. “You did it, Scamp. You did it just fine. I sure are proud of you.” I look up, and Momma is in the window. She’s pale like a bread and is holding her hand on her forehead like maybe she’s taking her own temperature.
We go inside and there’s three plates on the table and one is what I’m hoping for. It’s the old blue China plate from the cabinet, used only for special things like when you lose a tooth, or get the hang of something real good. I smile and blush and look all askance for knowing I done good, but don’t want to draw too much attention to it. Daddy says “you deserve it. I ain’t done near as good as you my first time. You is a man today.” He reaches over and dabs at a splotch of blood on my cheek with his thumb.
Momma is serving out something on the plates and I glance out the window and I get startled for a second, for it looks like there’s a naked boy laying chained on our yard, but I shake my head and see that it’s just the mangy dog after all. I smile for it ain’t too much of a thing. We can always get another one.