Sweat

'Yep,' Joe Lindsay agreed. 'Hot or col', rain or shine, jes'ez reg'lar ez de weeks roll roun' Delia carries 'em an' fetches 'em on Sat'day.'

'She better if she wanter eat,' said Moss. 'Syke Jones ain't wuth de shot an' powder hit would tek tuh kill 'em. Not to huh he ain't.'

'He sho' ain't,' Walter Thomas chimed in. 'It's too bad, too, cause she wuz a right pretty li'l trick when he got huh. Ah'd uh mah'ied huh mahself if he hadnter beat me to it.'

Delia nodded briefly at the men as she drove past.

'Too much knockin' will ruin any 'oman. He done beat huh 'nough tuh kill three women, let 'lone change they looks,' said Elijah Moseley. 'How Syke kin stommuck dat big black greasy Mogul he's layin' roun' wid, gits me. Ah swear dat eight-rock couldn't kiss a sardine can Ah done thowed out de back do' 'way las' yeah.'

'Aw, she's fat, thass how come. He's alius been crazy 'bout fat women,' put in Merchant. 'He'd a' been tied up wid one long time ago if he could a' found one tuh have him. Did Ah tell yuh 'bout him come sidlin' roun' mah wife—bringin' her a basket uh peecans outa his yard fuh a present? Yessir, mah wife! She tol' him

tuh take em right straight back home, 'cause Delia works so hard ovah dat washtub she reckon everything on de place taste lak sweat an' soapsuds. Ah jus' wisht Ah'd a' caught im 'roun' dere! Ah'd a' made his hips ketch on fiah down dat shell road.'

'Ah know he done it, too. Ah sees im grinnin' at every oman dat passes,' Walter Thomas said. 'But even so, he useter eat some mighty big hunks uh humble pie tuh git dat li'l oman he got. She wuz ez pritty ez a speckled pup! Dat wuz fifteen years ago. He useter be so skeered uh losin' huh, she could make him do some parts of a husband's duty. Dey never wuz de same in de mind.'

'There oughter be a law about him,' said Lindsay. 'He ain't fit tuh carry guts tuh a bear.'

Clarke spoke for the first time. 'Taint no law on earth dat kin make a man be decent if it ain't in im. There's plenty men dat takes a wife lak dey do a joint uh sugar-cane. It's round, juicy an' sweet when dey gits it. But dey squeeze an' grind, squeeze an' grind an' wring tell dey wring every drop uh pleasure dat's in em out. When dey's satisfied dat dey is wrung dry, dey treats 'em jes' lak dey do a cane-chew. Dey thows em away. Dey knows whut dey is doin' while dey is at it, an' hates theirselves fuh it but they keeps on hangin' after huh tell she's empty. Den dey hates huh fuh bein' a cane-chew an' in de way.'

'We oughter take Syke an' dat stray 'oman uh his'n down in Lake Howell swamp an' lay on de rawhide till they cain't say Lawd a' mussy. He alius wuz uh ovahbearin niggah, but since dat white oman from up north done teached im how to run a automobile, he done got too beggety to live—an' we oughter kill im,' Old Man Anderson advised.

A grunt of approval went around the porch. But the heat was melting their civic virtue and Elijah Moseley began to bait Joe Clarke.

'Come on, Joe, git a melon outa dere an' slice it up for yo' customers. We'se all sufferin' wid de heat. De bear's done got me!'

'Thass right, Joe, a watermelon is jes' whut Ah needs tuh cure de eppizudicks,' Walter Thomas joined forces with Moseley. 'Come on dere, Joe. We all is steady customers an' you ain't set us up in a long time. Ah chooses dat long, bowlegged Floridy favorite.'

'A god, an' be dough. You all gimme twenty cents and slice away,' Clarke retorted. 'Ah needs a col' slice m'self. Heah, everybody chip in. Ah'll lend y'all mah meat knife.'

The money was all quickly subscribed and the huge melon brought forth. At that moment, Sykes and Bertha arrived. A determined silence fell on the porch and the melon was put away again.

Merchant snapped down the blade of his jackknife and moved toward the store door.

'Come on in, Joe, an' gimme a slab uh sow belly an' uh pound uh coffee—almost fuhgot 'twas Sat'day. Got to git on home.' Most of the men left also.

Just then Delia drove past on her way home, as Sykes was ordering magnificently for Bertha. It pleased him for Delia to see.

'Git whutsoever yo' heart desires, Honey. Wait a minute, Joe. Give huh two bottles uh strawberry soda- water, uh quart parched ground-peas, an' a block uh chewin' gum.'

With all this they left the store, with Sykes reminding Bertha that this was his town and she could have it if she wanted it.

The men returned soon after they left, and held their watermelon feast.

'Where did Syke Jones git da 'oman from nohow?' Lindsay asked.

'Ovah Apopka. Guess dey musta been cleanin' out de town when she lef'. She don't look lak a thing but a hunk uh liver wid hair on it.'

'Well, she sho' kin squall,' Dave Carter contributed. 'When she gits ready tuh laff, she jes' opens huh mouf an' latches it back tuh de las' notch. No ole granpa alligator down in Lake Bell ain't got nothin' on huh.'

III

Bertha had been in town three months now. Sykes was still paying her room-rent at Delia Lewis'—the only house in town that would have taken her in. Sykes took her frequently to Winter Park to 'stomps'. He still assured her that he was the swellest man in the state.

'Sho' you kin have dat li'l ole house soon's Ah git dat 'oman outa dere. Everything b'longs tuh me an' you sho' kin have it. Ah sho' 'bominates uh skinny 'oman. Lawdy, you sho' is got one portly shape on you! You kin git anything you wants. Dis is mah town an' you sho' kin have it.'

Delia's work-worn knees crawled over the earth in Gethsemane and up the rocks of Calvary many, many times during these months.

She avoided the villagers and meeting places in her efforts to be blind and deaf. But Bertha nullified this to a degree, by coming to Delia's house to call Sykes out to her at the gate.

Delia and Sykes fought all the time now with no peaceful interludes. They slept and ate in silence. Two or three times Delia had attempted a timid friendliness, but she was repulsed each time. It was plain that the breaches must remain agape.

The sun had burned July to August. The heat streamed down like a million hot arrows, smiting all things living upon the earth. Grass withered, leaves browned, snakes went blind in shedding and men and dogs went mad. Dog days!

Delia came home one day and found Sykes there before her. She wondered, but started to go on into the house without speaking, even though he was standing in the kitchen door and she must either stoop under his arm or ask him to move. He made no room for her. She noticed a soap box beside the steps, but paid no particular attention to it, knowing that he must have brought it there. As she was stooping to pass under his outstretched arm, he suddenly pushed her backward, laughingly.

'Look in de box dere Delia, Ah done brung yuh somethin!'

She nearly fell upon the box in her stumbling, and when she saw what it held, she all but fainted outright.

'Syke! Syke, mah Gawd! You take dat rattlesnake 'way from heah! You gottuh. Oh, Jesus, have mussy!'

'Ah aint got tuh do nuthin' uh de kin'—fact is Ah ain't got tuh do nothin' but die. Tain't no use uh you puttin' on airs makin' out lak you skeered uh dat snake—he's gointer stay right heah tell he die. He wouldn't bite me cause Ah knows how tuh handle 'im. Nohow he wouldn't risk breakin' out his fangs gin yo skinny laigs.'

'Naw, now Syke, don't keep dat thing round tryin' tuh skeer me tuh death. You knows Ah'm even feared uh earth worms. Thass de biggest snake Ah evah did see. Kill 'im Syke, please.'

'Doan ast me tuh do nothin' fuh yuh. Goin' round tryin' tuh be so damn asterperious. Naw, Ah ain't gonna kill it. Ah think uh damn sight mo' uh him dan you! Dat's a nice snake an' anybody doan lak im kin jes' hit de grit.