Just John (Chapter One)
Then came John.
He was just about one and a half years old when he became observant of the perils of life. He was still nursing. He remembers clearly that just as he was about to take a lick of that warm, soft milk from his mother's breast, he heard someone singing. She had created her own song with the words, "Watch out, everybody, watch out." He could hear the harmonic sound but did not understand its meaning. He then looked upward and saw her grasping a shiny object that he later learned was a coffee pot. The kitchen floor was covered with a heavily printed flooring that he later learned was linoleum. The linoleum covering had little blue tacks that nailed it to the floor directly at the entry into the next room. Johnny was sitting in the adjoining room when his sister Frances tripped on the linoleum covering as she strolled into the next room.
She did not fall, nor did she lose control of the shiny object that she was holding in her hands. Still, the container was filled, and some of the liquid splashed from it. A few drops landed on Johnny's mom's arms, and a few drops landed on Johnny's arm. Johnny's mom said, "Frances, be careful with the pot because the water is hot." This is when Johnny came alive. He heard the word hot, and he soon associated it with that horrible feeling that he observed when the tiny drops hit his arm. From that point forward, Johnny was a very observant child. He observed most things through a prism of caution.
When Johnny was about five years old, his older brother June was somewhat mischievous. In fact, he was always getting in trouble with his friend Bobo. June was about fifteen years old. Johnny doesn't know what caused June to lie to his dad, but when he did, his dad became extremely agitated. He had just returned home from working in the coal mine, and his entire body was covered with coal dust. He asked June a question, and June told hime a lie. He queried June once more, but June would not provide him with the correct answer. Johnny's dad made June take off all his clothes and stated, "I am going to beat you until the devil in you hops out that window." The window was wide open without a screen.
Johnny's dad told June the reason he wanted him to take off his clothes: "I am not going to beat the clothes I bought for you to wear." June took off all his clothes down to his underwear. Johnny's dad grabbed an extension cord and tied June to the bedpost. The bedpost was a massive piece of wood, carved and strong. Johnny's dad then took off his miner's belt, which had many metal buckles attached to it for carrying carbide lanterns and other tools miners needed so they would not have to carry them in their hands as they dug for black gold. Johnny's dad then started lashing June with the miner's belt.
Johnny's house was situated upon stilts to prevent it from being washed away by a creek that flowed close to our backyard. Johnny never experienced the creek even coming close to washing away the house. The house was built on stilts and required about 25 steps to climb before a person could traverse from the backyard up to the kitchen porch. The porch was always filled with flowerpots, picks, shovels, rakes and other items, but most noteworthy was an icebox; the iceman would come every two days to deliver ice. In those days there was no such animal as a refrigerator. The distance from the bedroom window was about 25 feet to the ground.
June could not take the heat from the miner's belt; therefore, he decided to jump out of the bedroom window. He hung out of the window, suspended by the extension cord. His dad slowly walked to the kitchen, walked down the 25 steps, walked over to the side of the house under the window from which June was hanging, and commenced beating June once again with the miner's belt. Johnny was young; therefore, the beating appeared to last longer than it did. Johnny's dad started screaming, saying, "I cannot stand someone who lies, because if you lie, you will steal; if you steal, you will kill. Are you a killer, boy?" This lashing horrified Johnny, and from that day forward Johnny vowed never to do anything that would cause his father to be angry at him. Later, Johnny asked June about the lashing and he could not even remember it
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