Railroad Man Read Online Free

home.”

    Mother mocked me with a smile. “Do you remember how to peel potatoes?”

    I threw her a wink. “I sure do!”

    The smell of beef in the oven drew me to the back of the house. Long ago, my father had extended the center hallway to attach the outside kitchen. The room never lost its open and airy atmosphere, confirmed by the potbellied stove in the corner that provided heat during the winter months. I settled down on a side bench at the sturdy worktable. Mother placed a bowl of potatoes in front of me and a paring knife in my hand. She pulled the bright red cake layers from the pie safe and fluffed the creamy icing with a flat wooden spoon. Mother appreciated company while she worked in the kitchen. I ran the three-inch blade over the first potato and worked silently with my ears perked. Mother began to talk.

    “ Ralph Simerson broke his lease and left the crops in the field, moved to Columbia to work in the cotton mills. He said he couldn’t support his family on today’s cotton prices. I asked him who he thought was going to supply raw cotton to the mills if people like him didn’t own up to their obligations. He always was sorry, anyway. Good riddance to white trash, I say.”

    My eyes fell on my mother’s long fingers as they stacked the red layers neatly, lining them up just right. “Lewis and Sara have been a godsend. Lewis pitched in and finished this year’s crop, didn’t even ask for a dime. Sara, bless her heart, cleaned up that filthy house. So I said they could have that house and five acres with it. It’s theirs now, free and clear. Lord knows, they earned it through the years.

    “ Lewis keeps things going around here like he always has. He bartered some paint work for a young steer, part of which you smell from the oven right now. Sophia and Sara planted a garden this year big enough to feed all of us. We picked and canned together, and then divided everything evenly. Lewis and Sara may be colored, but they are like family to me. We pull together and make things work in these hard times.”

    She turned the cake, admired the intricate swirls of her handiwork, and heaved a long sigh. “I don’t know what I would do without them.”

    Mother wiped her fingers on a damp cloth and sat across the table facing me. “Mickey, I was thinking that we might not plant a crop next year. Cotton prices are near to nothing. There’s nobody to work the farm since Ralph and all his young’uns are gone. You know Lewis is about sixty-five now; it’s too much work for a young man, much less a man his age. Now that you’re home, well, I know that you will help.”

    Mother sat there looking to me for help. She had never asked anything of me in my entire life. I knew how proud she was and that she had to be in dire straits to ask anyone for anything. My sisters, Sadie and Sophia, were well-bred and well-educated. Each year that passed decreased prospects of marriage for either of them. Sadie taught grade school and Sophia taught music lessons to the sparse few who could afford it. I saw that my family needed me and my money.

    I placed my hand in hers and made a solemn promise. “Of course, I will take care of you and the girls.”

    Her loving eyes met mine. “You are a good son. I knew I could count on you.”

    That was everything my mother needed to say to seal our bargain. The tension in her face eased as she squeezed my hand. The sound of my sisters’ voices broke the silence.

    Mother nodded and released my hand. “Go to them. They have missed you so.”

    I bounded up the hallway like a kid to greet my older sisters. Their faces beamed when they caught a glimpse of me. The two women engulfed me in smothering hugs. When I squirmed away from their hold, they poked, teased, and showered me with more hugs and kisses.

    “ Sadie, look how big and strong our little brother is!”

    Sadie fashioned herself a modern woman. She boldly took inventory of the nice edge a couple of years swinging an