Mike and Jimmy Driscoll
were two of seven kids
supported by a single mom…
never much money to go around
they had to entertain themselves…
they spent most of their free time
exploring the woods
behind their little wood frame house…
on one of those explorations
Jimmy found a wounded Bobcat…
ordinarily fierce animals of muscle,
claws, and sharp pointy teeth…
it was nearly dead from being in a fight…
if it hadn’t been so beaten up
he wouldn’t have been able to
move it to their back porch
to doctor it…
he and Mike cleaned it up…
put some mercurochrome
or iodine on it’s wounds…
and gave it fresh water…
it rested and soon
began to eat…
they had it in a metal cage
too small for it to move around…
they showed it off to everyone…
hissing, spiting, and pawing the bars
with each viewing
from the neighborhood kids…
the animal grew stronger
and meaner…
their mother wanted it gone…
she figured someone would get hurt…
rabies from bites or scratches
was her major complaint…
so the day came it had to go…
but how?
the answer came
in the form of an old suitcase…
one of those cane weaved types
with a tweed design in beige
trimmed in dark brown…
the kind they used in the forties…
just big enough
to hold a troublesome Bobcat…
it didn’t have a handle
so they tied it up with
a piece of old rope…
punched a few holes
in the ends for air
and wrestled the cat inside…
instead of turning it loose
in the woods where they found it…
they trekked a drainage ditch
to a paved road a couple miles
from their house…
their reasoning was
they didn’t want the ‘shredder’
showing up again on the back steps…
the plan
was to dump it in the bushes
on the other side of the road
and then hike home…
they realized they had a problem…
they didn’t have the cage
to contain the cat anymore…
if they opened the case
they weren’t sure what would happen…
so Mike sat on the suitcase
as he and Jimmy went over the options…
occasionally a car would pass…
Jimmy, thinking aloud, said,
‘too bad we don’t have someone
to open it for us’…
‘well I’m not gonna’ do it!’
Mike replied, adding,
‘I gotta’ pee,’ …
he got off the suitcase
and went into the palmettos
to get rid of some Kool-Aid…
in the distance…
in the shimmer of the waves
coming off the hot asphalt…
a car was approaching…
Jimmy saw the car…
thought it the right time
to take a wiz himself…
so down in the bushes
he found his own tree to mark…
both boys had their backs to the road
deep in the cover of the undergrowth
they heard a car slowing…
Mike turned, in mid pee,
to see a beat up old Continental
with four middle aged black men
pull to a stop…
they eyed the suitcase…
then all four of them checked
up and down the road…
looking sneaky,
like spies on a mission…
checking for the bags owner
or just to make sure
no one was around…
before Mike could zip up…
the back door opened
and one of the men grabbed
the rope on the suitcase…
hauling it into the backseat
of the big, smoking, old car…
Mike yelled, ‘hey!’
wanting to warn them,
but if they heard him,
they didn’t care…
the car quickly sped off…
tires spinning…
leaving a cloud of dust
and blue smoke
hanging in the air at the roadside…
‘oh, crap!’ Mike spat,
‘we’re in deep now!’
he and Jimmy climbed back
out of the underbrush
and focused on the car
disappearing in the distance…
it had only rolled about
a hundred yards or so
when it came to a screeching halt…
all four doors exploded open
in the middle of the road…
and the black guys,
screaming hysterically,
all raced in different directions
for the cover of the woods…
one scrambled onto the hood
and then the top of the car
to avoid an encounter
with tooth and claw…
a few seconds later
the grumpy Bobcat
jumped out of the car
onto the road, looked around,
and in a leisurely manner
bounded off into the brush…
the four men
still hollered in strident tones…
angry, but relieved at their
near miss with the
surprise in the suitcase…
Mike and Jimmy,
feeling assured they
weren’t in trouble
for their unplanned prank…
lay low in the bushes…
for a long time…
till the car finally drove away…
their sides hurting
from trying to stifle their
uncontrollable
boyish laughter…
damn…
that old Bobcat
had sure made their day…
I suppose the same could
be said for the men in the car too…
R. C. Arquette
12/13/03
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