Browse:Playing Cards Special (Volume 1, entries 599)
Playing Cards Special
Volume 1, entries 599. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → DIAGNOSIS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 599
Well, ah'm sorta man - ah ain't no crazy man jealous. Ah works fo' mah livin', do ever'thing ah kin in de worl' fo' mah woman, if ah had one, but ah ain't got nobody but mahself now - haven't been fo' yeahs. But ah'm a jealous man, see whut ah mean, but ah ain't crazy. An' a woman come up fo' murder heah at Florala, Alabama. Ah reckon yo' heah talk of dat. Well, ah married her dere an' ah brought her back tuh mah home an' we live together down heah a couple of yeahs. An' she took advantage of me. A lotta people says dat a person can't do nuthin' to yo' lessen dey git something in yo' dere to stay. Dey kin take advantage of yo'. Well now, while me an' her has transaction, she got mine de same as ah would git hers, see. She got me an' dressed mah side of mah bed up. See, she know whut side ah sleep on, an' she dressed it all an' she got me so dat ah didn't pay any 'tenshun to her.
(What did she do when she dressed it?)
She got her sickness an' dres8ed it up an' got mine with hers an' put it in some flannel rag. She got a new one an' got mine an' hers together, an' she cut de fo' corners off it, see - lak de fo' corners of de world. Well, she dry hit by de sun, see, an' she bandage dat up an' dressed dat up an' had her piece wit dat. Well, she got me crazy by that - ah didn't care whut she done, how she come an' how she go. Ah wouldn't say a word. It tickle me tuh see her enjoy herself. Well, ah knowed that weren't nachural an' ah went to a man an' he fixed me. Ah went to a man at mah home an' he fixed me so that ah could come tuh mah- self - said, ah come back to mahself. Well, ah went back home an' ah tole her, "Well, that's all right. Yo' took advantage of me." Ah went dere Sunday an' Sunday night ah woke her up an' said, "Well, listen" - ah wake her up, say, "ah want talk wit yo' a little bit." She asked me, "Whut's de mattah?" So de main thing wus, "Ah ain't angry with yo' an' ah know yo' ain't with me, but we cain't stay tuhgethah any longah, 'cause ah done done de best dat ah know how. If yo' fix me one way yo' fix me anothah." An' ah said, "Bess, in de mawnin' ah'll take yo' back to yo' mother.' Thought, well, maybe some day when ah cain't he'p mahself, ah may call on her tuh do me a favor, see. "Ah'm goin' take yo' back 'way from me." So dat Monday mawnin' ah took her an' carried her back home an' told her mothah ever'thing, how it was. Well, ah came back agin tuh dis man an' he dressed me again.
(Do you know what he did?)
Yessuh.
(What did he do the first time you went there?)
De first time dat ah went dere he - now, ah tell yo' de kinda man he are. He's a lady-hearted man. He won't do nuthin' tuh harm anybody, he 11 take it off yo'. He had a pack of lil' cards dere an' dey didn't have no diamonds or nuthin' on 'em - jes' wimmin's on 'em. Had some wimmins on dose cards, an' he kept turnin' 'em up an' he handed me two, an' he kept turnin' 'em off till he got where he wanted to. So dat's all right. So he took dem back an' he give me two leaves an' he crossed 'em an' ah took 'em in dis han' an' ah couldn't turn 'em loose. Ah couldn't turn 'em loose until he got 'em. He said, "Well, ah know where it's at now." He said, "It's in yore haid." Ah said, "All right." An' he got up an' went off in his othah room an' come back in dere an' he stood up behin' mah haid an' caught me in de back of mah neck, in de spine of mah neck right dere an' he caught me dere an' ah heah him sayin' somepin - he wus prayin' or somepin. An' it jes felt lak ah wus - did yo' evah tote a load an' put it down an' it felt lak yo raisin' [it] up agin? Well, he dressed me dere twice lak dat, an' ah ain't been troubled wit dat woman an' ain't thought about her no mo' an' done fo'got about her.
(What did she do to you, fix you up so that you couldn't do anything?)
Well, ah couldn't fuss with her, see, about nuthin' she'd do.
(You just took everything she did?)
Everything.
(Was it a colored man or a white man told you this?)
It wus de white man straighten me out.
(Did he tell you how this was done?)
Yessuh.
(And what did he say that she did to you to make you that way?)
A lizard. Jes' took dis lizard an' skin dis lizard an' laid him out so many days an' dried him until he come tuh be a ashes. Well, she took dis an' den put it in mah hat, an' took mah bow outa mah hat. Well, she done somepin tuh dat bow but he didn't nevah finish tellin' me. Ah's tuh go back an' he told me he'd finish tellin' me de rest of it. Well, ah didn't nevah go back to him to finish tellin' me all of it, but he tole me dat much. An' well, ah went in dere dis man, he'd rub mah haid up lak dat an' when he'd rub mah haid up, ah'm tellin' yo' true, it jes' felt lak ah had a hundred pound of lead on me.