Loose Women

Down the road a piece thay was a family a livin that everybody in
the country hated,well the women folk hated em anyhow. Thay was three
women and four or five little kids all of em a livin in a three room
shotgun house. Mama, said all them kids had different Daddies.

They all looked about the same to me blond headed,skiny, and never was
washed up or nothin. We wasn't allowed to go nowhere around em, must
less play with em, fraid we might get the pin worms. Mama, said they
was eat up with em.I don't know how she knowed that, but we kept away
from em to be on the safe side.

They was cars a plenty there on Friday and Saturday nights, music was
loud and the rock road was busy people comin, and agoin till all
hours.Mama said if somebody's husband didn't brang home no pay check on
a Friday from the factory in town, it was because of them women down
the road.I'm still wondering how that worked,she never was good at
explainin stuff.

I thought it must be nice to have a lot of parties and people comin to
visit you, and I said so. Mama was quick to let me know it ain't that
kinda party. Made me wonder how many kinds of parties there is. If I
asked, all the answer I got was you'll find out one of these days. One
of these days I was gona be real smart, but for now I made up my mind
to sneak over there come Friday nite and peep in at em to see what was
goin on and boy did I get a eye full.

They was half nekid, and dancin real clost to each other, smokin
cigarets them kind you get already rolled up and in a package. Some of
em was piled up on the beds a kissin, and huggin they was havin a good
old time. All a sudden a truck come flying off the rock road and run
plum up on the porch, people come pilin out of there in a hurry.

A woman I ain't never seen afore got out with a shotgun in her hand and
didn't even aim it just started shootin. Folks was screamin, and fallin
and I was runnin acrost that field as fast as I could go to get away
from there. The sherrif had to come eighteen miles out in the country
to see what damage had been done. Three people, was layin dead and not
one of them women or them kids got hurt. It was three men there at the
party that got shot dead.

I never told anybody what I seen if Mama ever found out I was over
there she would skin me alive. Them women and them kids moved on after
that. The woman that shot them men up, was put in jail and had to go to
trial over it. Mama, said they ought to let her out cause she was a
hero to all them women who had mouths to feed, and counted on them
factory paychecks to buy food with. If I ever do get invited to go to a
party I may have to think twice about goin, it could git dangerous.