Browse:Doctor Small: Florence, S. Car. (Volume 1, entries 3101)
Doctor Small: Florence, S. Car.
Volume 1, entries 3101. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → MORE DOCTORS DESCRIBED BY LAYMEN. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 3101
You know I wus bootleggin' an' de law come furce. Dis bad luck had been planted aroun' de house to ketch some bad luck fer me, you see, and I jis' had bad luck all de time. De law constan'ly come, constan'ly come. So I fixed salt an' t'ings down dey would tell me to, but dat didn't do no good. So den I goes to S'uth Car'lina - Doctor Small in S'uth Car'lina.
(What town does he live in?)
Florence, S'uth Car'lina. Doctor Small - I[J?]. H. Small.
[For Small, also see 3079-3080, p.897.]
He gits his cane an' he shake his cane up an' tells me all dese men's names. He tells me about Kid-eyed Reeves[?].
(Kid-eyed Reeves[?].) [The liquor man who supplied her?]
He tells me who sent 'em in dere. An' he gave me dis piece of luck - jis' somepin he [had].
(Did someone tell you about him being down there?)
Someone told me - someone sent me to him.
(How did he shake his cane?)
He had dis cane. He put somepin in dis cane. It was loaded - a loaded cane - and he shake zit up: An' he went on to tell me where dis cousin Ivry [Ivy] is, an' why mah husband an' I didn't agree [because] he liked dis cousin. Whut to do with his cousin. If he got a chance he'd kill 'er [wife] - dat he wus so jealous dat he wanted 'er so bad, he'd do anything to harm 'er [wife]. Den he went on to tell me dat he [husband] sent de law. An' he named all de officers names one by one - ev'ry one of 'em name, an' ev'ry time he shake de cane he give me another one name. An' he told me, he said. "You take dis [piece of luck = hand] an' t'row it over - he told me between North Car'lina, I mean S'uth Car'lina, an' Richmond [Va.] - to t'row it over in runnin' water. But I was afraid dat it might go up against de bank [of river] or somepin by not knowin' dat [where?] was travelin'. So I waited till I came home.
(You were traveling in an automobile?)
No, I was on a train. He told me to throw it in de runnin' water when de train pass but I didn't take a chance on it. I was afraid it might lodge some- where on a bank. So I brought it back here.
(Did you look at it? Did you know what it was that he gave you?)
I tell you. It was somepin on de order of - frankincense is one thing. You know he put four or five differen' little things. An' he'd shake up his bottles an' things an' mix dose things together. An' when I came back - an' he give me some lucky stars [see LUCKY STAR, p.607; 2541-2544.p.702f.1] So I came back an' he told me de next mornin' [after returning home], I get in mah car an' I goes to a bridge an' I named all dose men name an' threw it [the piece of luck] off. An' den, jes' after I threw it, I went to court. It was all through in de court [case was dismissed].
(You say there was something buried for you in the front yard?)
Yeah, it was buried.
(Who took this up?)
A spiritual taken it up. She dig it up: You're not suppose to handle 'em. He [Doctor Small] sent some spirit-man an' he found it. An' then, you don't suppose to handle [it] yourself. He didn't let me handle it - I couldn't put my hand on it.
(Who worked this for you?)
[Doctor Small may have sent a spirit-man to locate the buried article, but who dug it up?] It was a spiritual of Lakeside, whut lady went to see at Lakeside.
[Was she the person who had sent client to Small?]
(A spiritual?)
But she's a fortuneteller of Lakeside. She found it. She told me where it wus an' she come over dere an' found it.
(It was like a ball?)
[This shows I had turned off my machine somewhere, or informant had told part of the story before recording began.] Yeah, like a ball. I paid her to take care of it.
(Names of these officers, when did you call them?)
I called all four name, an' de last name I called, I t'rew it over mah left shoulder into de runnin' water on de bridge. An' dat case wus absolutely dis- missed.