Alabama Moon Read Free

I wanted to stay and watch the men working, but Pap’s warnings about contact with outsiders started to play in my head. I crept back into the forest and took a different trail to the shelter.
    Pap was sitting outside, weaving a basket from muscadine vine when I walked up. I stood in front of him, ready to tell him why I didn’t have any mulberries, but he didn’t ask about them or anything else.
    Finally I said, “They’re puttin’ walls on that lodge, Pap.”
    His fingers stopped and he looked up at me. “I don’t ever want you goin’ near it again.”
    â€œBut it’s not even finished.”
    â€œI don’t care. You heard what I said.”
    â€œYou think maybe when the lawyer moves in we could talk to him and he’d let us stay on?”
    Pap looked at me again. “I don’t know, son! Why don’t you get back to work and forget about that lawyer and his business.”

    As fall passed, the leaves began dropping from the trees and the forest canopy became a solid green fan of pine needles. We pulled our deerskin jackets from between the cedar boards and waterproofed them with mink oil for the season. The carrots would stay in the ground for a while longer, but the other garden vegetables needed to come out before the first frost. I was always excited about the last harvest of the year because I knew it meant we’d go to Mr. Abroscotto’s store to sell whatever we had.
    I was afraid that Pap might tell me to stay behind, but he didn’t. He shouldered the sack of vegetables one morning and told me to get my jacket and come with him. Pap would usually be walking slow and studying the forest. He’d look for deer scrapes and hog rootings and any other signs that might help us find game once the weather turned cold. But that day his mind was on other things and he stared straight ahead and didn’t slow down.
    Mr. Abroscotto was sitting behind the counter reading a newspaper when we walked in.
    â€œMornin’, George,” Pap said.
    Mr. Abroscotto set down his paper and stood up. “Mornin’, Oli. How you, Moon?”
    â€œI’m fine,” I said.
    â€œWhat do you two have for me?”
    Pap showed Mr. Abroscotto the sack of vegetables. “Cucumbers, eggplant, and beets,” he said.
    Mr. Abroscotto took the sack to the scales. He weighed the vegetables separately and then put them all in a brown box on the floor.
    â€œHow does twenty bucks sound?” he said.
    â€œIf that’s what you can do, I don’t guess we’ve got much choice.”
    Mr. Abroscotto nodded and paid him from the register. Pap fidgeted the money into his pocket, and I knew he was in a better mood.
    â€œWhat more have you heard about that lawyer?” Pap asked.
    Mr. Abroscotto shook his head. “Haven’t heard much. See his workmen in here all the time.”
    â€œYou know when they’re gonna be done?”
    â€œThey’re tellin’ me December. Gonna be moved in for Christmas.”
    I stood behind Pap and looked around the store at the shelves of candy and canned food. I was careful not to let Pap see me, because I knew it would make him snap at me. Sometimes he made me wait outside while he went in and traded. He said it was too tempting for a boy inside the store.
    â€œWhat’s he gonna do with that big place?” Pap asked.
    â€œI hear he likes to squirrel hunt.”
    Pap shook his head and looked mad. “All that to hunt squirrels?”
    â€œGuess some people got more money than they know what to do with.”
    â€œGuess so,” Pap grumbled. “Let me have some salt, some .22 bullets, vinegar, box of nails, and matches.”
    Mr. Abroscotto left to collect our supplies.
    â€œHow about some sugar this time, Pap?”
    â€œDon’t need sugar.”
    â€œHow about some canned peas like we had that one time?”
    â€œWe’ve got a pile of toasted acorns you