When Feathers Grow

By Lawton Nelson Jr.

When Feathers Grow is about the life of a family in the rural South during the Nineteen-Fifties. They lived and worked the family farm where everyone participated. A father and mother provided a solid family foundation for their children to remember the past and prepare for the future. Each one did well and was satisfied with life except one.
He was more than curious about his situation in life and made it known that he was not satisfied. It was not until his mother took him by the hand that life for him changed. He was able to reflect on the experience to help him through his journey of life, time and time again.
In every difficult situation, he reflects on that day.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477271919

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© 2012 by Lawton Nelson, Jr.. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 09/14/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7192-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-7191-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012917296

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Discovery Of Segregation

Jam Bay Time

Wring Broom Time

Rake Straw Time

High School Years

Senior Class Trip

My Trip To New Jersey

Life In New Jersey

It was an unusually warm afternoon for late October. We decided to sit on the front porch and soak up the sun before it drifted off for the day. The beautiful leaves with multiple colors were falling to the ground marking the end of their season. Squirrels were busy collecting nuts for the winter. The birds that came in the spring sang their songs, and had their chicks, were all gone with their new families and the nests lay bare in the trees. The cotton was picked and ginned; corn was broken and loaded in the barn, the fodder was stripped and packed in the loft to feed the animals during the winter. All that was left to do was digging the sweet potatoes and bank them in for the winter.

While we talked and inhaled the aroma that nature provided, suddenly a strong wind began to blow and a dark cloud covered the sun. We ended our talk, turned the chairs toward the wall, and went inside. The lightening began to flash through the windows with precision, time and time again. We huddled in a corner quietly with the kids. The rains came and beat fiercely against the walls, windows, and on the roof as though they were being directed by the leader of an orchestra. The hail joined in and didn’t miss a beat to complete the tune. We sat on the floor with the kids in a corner and waited for the weather to break.

The baby that was due in about a month began to kick real hard. This one has been very active for a while. It seems as though he knows what’s going on, and does not want to wait. The kicks were harder and more regular. Lawton, this child is coming tonight; he is not going to wait till morning. You may as well go and get Cousin Sally, (the midwife) and bring her cause this baby is coming tonight.

I was born that night during the storm, a big baby that weighed ten pounds. Momma said I cried after the initial spank, and became very quiet. Momma said I looked around as though I could see, and listened to the storm. The next morning the storm had passed, and a bright yellow sun was shining. I will never forget October, Momma Sadie said.

Cousin Sally asked for the name of child, so she could register his name with the Health Department in Moncks Corner. My father’s employer, Mr. McKnight said if it’s a boy to name him Glennie, after him. I want this one named after me, Lawton said. I don’t know what to do. Mr. McKnight is going to ask me as soon as I get to work. Here is what I’ll do, name him Lawton, Jr., but we’ll call him Glennie.

The next morning at work, Mr. McKnight asked if the baby had been born yet. Yes sir, Mr. McKnight, it’s a boy, a big one too! Well you have to work hard to feed him. Yes sir, I’m going to work real hard every day. Don’t forget to name that baby after me, you hear. Yes sir, that’s what I’ll do, sir.

The baby was called Glennie and the name stuck. The baby grew fast and was very curious, always looking and trying to touch everything he saw. He had a good appetite; a bottle of milk was gone after a few swallows. We added some grits to his milk when he was two months old. He ate a full plate of food at three months. He grew fast and was always busy. He learned to crawl early, and walked at eight months, and got into everything within reach. By the time he was a year old, he could go down the steps into the back yard. He was happy to play in the dirt. He played until he fell asleep. I picked him up, dusted him off, and put him in the crib with all the dirt on him.

Glennie grew fast, and was able to grasp things without a struggle. He played with the older kids and kept up with them. By the time he was almost five years old, I couldn’t take him at home any longer. He was too active, asked too many questions, and got into too many things. I couldn’t do my work with him at home. I had a lot of work to do: wash the clothes by hand, break the bricks in small pieces to scrub the floors, iron the clothes, and prepare dinner and supper for the family. I couldn’t do all I had to do with him around. He would never accept no for an answer. I got so aggravated with him; I gave him a few licks on his rump. One day he wandered off, and when I found him, I got a long rope that was used to hold the cows, and tied him to a tree so I could get my work done.

He went off to sleep after pouting for a while. It wasn’t long before he got up, and got busy all over again. He was creative, and looked for things he could use to play with. An old piece of stick was used for a while to try and create something to play with. When the thrill was gone, he picked up something else to play with. Lawton was now working at the Navy Base in Charleston. He rode a bus to work every day. In the afternoon when the bus stopped to let him off, Betty and Glennie ran out to meet him, he often brought them cookies in a can. They enjoyed seeing their father and the gift he brought for them. As soon as the cookies were gone, Glennie got back in the yard, and started to play again. I said to Lawton, this boy is driving me crazy, he is not bad just busy all the time. He doesn’t sit and rest likes the other kids. I don’t know what he is looking for or what to do with him. Sadie, he is a boy, let him enjoy being a boy. Let him run and play. In a few years he won’t have time to play. I will put him to work, and he will be glad to get a break. He will use that energy behind the plow, fixing the fence, and cutting some of the trees along the gang way. Yes, that’s good, he has all of that energy, I will be able to take over papa Lewis’ farm now that he has gotten old. Yep a boy with a lot of energy, just what I have been looking for. We will take over Pharaoh’s Brick Yard, and grow some of the finest corn ever, maybe three ears per stalk. Pharaoh’s brick yard! Now you know nobody wants to farm that ground Lawton. Several people have tried and failed, that ground is too tough. I believe we can do it; we will plow it often to keep the gnat grass from growing. A boy with a lot of energy can plow that field every week and keep it clean. That awful gnat grass has been a big hindrance to everyone who attempted to plant over there. You must also remember that ground is full of coswip snakes. I heard they grow so big they can stand on their tail. Well, we will use scarecrows and put some poison around the field to keep them out, they can’t stand the poison it will burn them. Yep, a boy with a lot of energy, just what we need. But Lawton, in the meantime I have to watch him all day. Sadie, well, I tell you what; give him the breakfast to take to his brother when he is plowing in the fields near the house, and a cool jar of water every hour that should keep him busy and tire him out. Then let him pull some grass from around the fence and feed them to the hog. Glennie struggled to take breakfast to his brother, a jar of water and pulled the grass from around the fence. As soon as he got back in the yard he was busy again, I had to stop my work to go and find him. I know what Lawton, Sadie said, to keep him busy, but I have to find something else for him to do or this boy is going to drive me crazy. I know what I will do; I will go to the schoolhouse and ask Mrs. Johnson if he could sit in her class to give me a break, he is not old enough to start school yet, but maybe she will take him.

Once the other children were gone to school, I got him dressed, and we walked through the woods to Jerusalem School. Mrs. Johnson took him with the understanding that he was not old enough for school, and would not be promoted at the end of the school year because of his age. I agreed and sent him every day.

My first day at school was quite an experience. I felt somewhat isolated because I was not with the rest of the class. They were all together in one area of the Church, and I was in another. I made myself busy while trying to figure school out. Why am I in this area by myself? Maybe because it’s my first day, and this is the area for new students. I gravitated toward the chancel area, and eventually behind the pulpit. What a feeling that was to stand where the preachers stood. Mrs. Johnson told me never to stand there again. I spent time rolling under pews while listening to the lesson of the day. The class was studying the books Dick and Jane. It was such an easy lesson; I learned the book in one day. The rest of the school year was uneventful. I kept rolling around, ate my lunch, and went home with my sister, and the other children from the Hill.

When I reached school age, I was in Mrs. Johnson’s first grade class. The first day we got in line to enter the building, a classmate stood in front of me with cornrows tied with white string. I thought it was different so I decided to touch her hair. She asked to me stop, but I refused. Mrs. Jefferson, the principal, who also taught in the one room schoolhouse ordered me to approach, I did. She ordered me to hold my hand out and she held up a switch to strike me. I pulled my hand back and left the school.

I walked through the woods, went home, and told momma what that mean Mrs. Jefferson wanted to do. Momma took me back to school, and told me to wait while she approached Mrs. Jefferson. I said to myself, I bet that old teacher will never try to hit me with that switch again. Momma is going to teach her a lesson. Momma and Mrs. Jefferson smiled and said goodbye. Momma took me by the hand and we entered the woods toward home without saying a word. Why didn’t she tell me what they talked about? Still holding my hands with a tighter grip, I knew something had changed, because there was no need for her to hold my hands while walking through the woods. We walked through the woods to Church, and we were free to run and play. But not this time, momma is holding my hand as tight as she could. She ripped a branch from a tree and started to use it on me. I broke away and started to run. I did not know that my mother could run. I tried my best to get away from this lady who was supposed to beat the teacher, turned on me. I ran as fast as I could to get away from this lady who got it all wrong. I didn’t have to look back to see if she was gaining on me, because I was constantly being hit. She kept it up until we got home. I was crying from the welts that were rising over by body. Momma said stop that crying, wash your face and go to school. I learned a lesson that day; adults are in charge and they work together.

The only problem I had in school that year, was Mrs. Johnson taught us the Dick and Jane book that I learned the previous year, when I was sitting in the corner of the Church. I was bored and was tempted to act