Horrible Harvest

Evers stepped out the shack with a sack of flour and a sack of rice draped over his shoulder. “Got a good bit of flour and rice. Ain’t but a tin of beans to be had.”

Felix followed out the shack caring a small trunk. “Got a whole mess of something – brown something – paste of sorts.”

“That’s mine,” Daddy said. “Turn yourself around and put that back where you found it.”

Felix was about to do as Daddy ordered when I told him to halt.

“Bring it here, private,” I said.

“Ain’t of no interest to you,” Daddy replied. “No need to waste time – ”

“I’ll decide on what interests me and what don’t.”

Felix dropped the trunk at my feet and opened it.

My eyes opened so wide they could’ve rolled out my head. I’d seen such a sight one other time – the medical corps headquarters in Charleston. “How’d you come to possess this –

What name you going by these days, anyhow – London?”

“Goodwyn.”

I give him a long look. “Nothing in that name fits you at all, old man. This here trunk? Where’d you steal it from?”

“Didn’t steal it. Traded out for it.”

“Traded out for it from a thief, is what you’re saying.”

“How he come by it, I don’t know. All I know is he took a horse and a mule for it.”

“A horse and a mule?”

“That’s right.”

“You steal those?”

“Well, now you’re jumping deep down in my days. I can’t recollect how I come to own everything under my charge, but in the interest of what they call candor, it’s a high on possibility that I did come to possess that horse and mule by less than legal means. That kinda thing happens in a war more times than not.”

“What the Devil is it?” Evers asked. “And why in holy hell does it smell so goddamn awful?”

I said, “Gum – Opium gum. They use it to make laudanum and for hypodermics and the like. It’s medicine for our troops.”

“It unlocks jaws and loosens tongues, is what it does,” Daddy said. “A pinch of that and everyone from grunts to generals will give me all the information I want. Hell, I can find out the last time Lincoln took a shit with the contents in that magic box.”  

I worked myself desperate to hide my excitement over the find. I could feel spit building up in my mouth. “We’ll be securing this magic box, private.”

“The hell you will,” Daddy said.

“Is there problem?”

“That’s my property.”

“So you say. I say your claim needs to be investigated.”

“It’s on my person that makes it my property.”

“That there is a common issued trunk for the storage of military medical supplies. It is full of a highly prized medicinal substance. You saying it’s your property just doesn’t add up.”

“That’s currency, son – ”

“I’m not going to tell you again – It’s Corporal Tennyson.”

“I could give a hairy goddamn what I’m to call you – I give over a horse and a mule for that gum. They’s hard to come by these days. Better than gold or silver, they are.”

“If they’re that valuable, why’d you part with them?”

“That there gum helps me in my business.”

“It helps wounded Confederate’s, is what it does. That’s more important than your business.”

He twitched as if he was going for his weapon.

“That ain’t a good idea,” I said.

He bared his yella-teeth in a snarl.

“I seen that face before,” I said. “Seen it a hundred times over. It’s usually followed up by stupid.”

“You’re robbing me – Corporal. I can’t let that happen.”

“That’s the stupid I’m talking about. You’re outgunned and down an eye, and the way I figure, I got a million reasons to take you out one day, old man. Whether or not that day is today is up to you.”

He let a smile crawl across his face. “If it’s a go-around you’re wanting, son, we can do that right now. I’ll close my good eye just to make things fair.”

“Nah, sir. That’s not how it’s going to go. It won’t be no go-around. I aim to kill you, Horace Tennyson. For that, I want that good eye of yours open. I want you to see it coming.” Yates appeared in the open doorway empty-handed. “Private, relieve Mr. Goodwyn of his weapon.”

Yates did as instructed, and Daddy didn’t put up no fight.

“I gather you’ll be giving me an accounting of what you’re taking from me.”

It was my turn to smile. “Didn’t take nothing from you.”

“The hell you didn’t.”

“We got us some stolen property back. Is that what you’re referring to?”

“I didn’t steal nothing.”

“Take it up with my command. Make your case to them. I’m acting with instruction I’ve been given. I only need suspect a wrong, and I can apply correction as I see fit. If you can make the case that I’ve acted against that, my captain’s name is Docherty.”

He stared at me stone faced for a beat before he stretched out his biggest smile. “Go on. Take it. My gift to my beloved Confederacy. I’ll make do. I am what you call resourceful.”

“Is that what they’re calling it these days?”

I directed the others to follow me back to the front property.

“Corporal,” Daddy called out as we walked away. “I wanna thank you for giving me hope.”

I instructed the others to keep walking, as I stopped and turnt to him. “Now, I am sorry to hear that because that weren’t my intention. Don’t want you to have hope of any kind.”

“Well, I do, thanks to you. Never before did I want this war to end ‘til today – ‘til this here moment. We’re gonna have that meet up, you and me, and we’re gonna have that row. I’m gonna teach you a good lesson. You’re gonna know what it means to be a Tennyson man.”

I smiled. “I look forward to it.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “You got the wrong idea about things.”

“How’s that?”

“Mr. Miller – He didn’t take nothing from me. It was you, boy, and that whore mother of yours. Douglas and Charles, too. You robbed me of my life – Every one of you. You think you got a score to settle with me? I’m the one with a score to settle.”

Quick as shit, I un-shouldered my musket, cocked the hammer and took aim at my daddy. When his smile turnt to a frown, I slowly released the hammer and re-shouldered my firearm. “It appears – One way or the other – when this war ends, a score’ll be settled.” I turnt and walked away.

He yelled after. “One thing ain’t never gonna change, boy. I made the seed that made you. You’re me reborn. You won’t never outrun that, Augustus Tennyson. All that I am, it’s living in you, and there will be a day when it comes out. You’ll be chasing one scheme to the next. Living your best life on the wrong side of the law – God’s and man’s. You’ll see. It’s just a matter of time.”

I stopped. “Maybe, but dead, you’ll be. You won’t see a second of me chasing after your schemes. Last thing that’ll run through your mind is your bad seed out-grew you and turnt you to fertilizer.”

“That’s big talk, son.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve learnt the best way to reach a small man is with big talk. The day will come when one of us bests the other and the size of the talk won’t matter none. Until then, you make sure you stay alive, so I can be the one who kills you.”

“And you steer clear of Charles. ‘Cause I don’t want him killing you ‘fore I get my chance to put you down.”

“I can tell you one thing,” I said as I walked away. “If I do come across Charles, you’ll be down a boy, and the army will be down a major.”

Daddy laughed. “You was always a sassy little cuss, Augustus.”

I kept walking.

“That gum – It don’t hold its properties forever. Best to use it up – Lickity-split. You hear? Fellas, I give it to have took to smoking it. A couple even eat it up.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“‘Cause I seen the way you looked at it. I seen that look a good bit. You got a fever for it. If you’re gonna use it up, you better get to it quick. It don’t keep that long, is all I’m saying – ‘Course that could be just what fellas tell themselves. Gives them an excuse to get at it and keep them looped out of their heads. Waste not, want not and the like.”

I stopped but didn’t turn to him. I mulled over a thousand things to say in response, but just took to walking towards the front property again instead.