Joey, Minnie Wilson\u27s little black rooster, ended his raucous greeting to the new day and began to strut proudly about the back yard, pausing only to preen the glossy feathers of his neck or to peck at some nearly invisible object on the ground

Trees, Rex Van

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Interlude At DawnRex Van TreesJoey, Minnie Wilson's little blackrooster, ended his raucous greeting to thenew day and began to strut proudly aboutthe back yard, pausing only to preen theglossy feathers of his neck or to peck atsome nearly invisible object on theground.Minnie, awakened from a deepslumber, appeared at the back door of herdilapidated cottage, squinted in the direc-tion of the rising sun and yawned, expos-ing a few, widely spaced, dirty yellowteeth. Her grimy night dress hung looselyto her knees, the material a mass of deep,horizontal wrinkles, ironed in during thesleep of many nights. Grunting softly,she scratched at her fat bell shaped body.The night dress rose and fell, its wrinklesexpanding and contracting like looselywound springs.While Minnie occupied herself in thismanner, Esta Gage emerged from herown frail dwelling next door. Walkingbriskly into her back yard, Esta emptiedthe dishpan she was carrying, pouringthe dirty-grey water forcibly out uponthe ground. Some of the water splashedthrough the holes in the rotten boardfence, striking Joey. Leaping high intothe air, he came down, a frightened flurryof feathers. Screaming chicken language,and with his tail feathers dancing as heran, he fled to the rear of the brokendown wood-shed behind Minnie's cottage.Jerked from her reverie, Minnieclucked sympathetically. Shaking herfinger in mock anger, she called, "Nowlookie there, Esty, honey. You nearscared my pore little baby to death!"Esta grinned broadly. "That littleole rooster can really run up a stormwhen he gets to goin'.""He's jus' awful nervous, my baby is.He sure is a comfort to me though, poreole lady living all alone."Both women stood for a moment,gazing in the direction of Joey's retreat.Minnie was the first to break thesilence. "Whatcha doin' up so early, Esty?goin' somewheres?"The furrows in Esta's forhead deep-ened and her eyes flashed. "Wasn't tobed whole night long. That man 0' minedidn't come home when he got off fromwork las' night."Minnie's small blue eyes widened,almost imperceptibly. Her felt houseslippers, from which all ten toes protrud-ed, made a soft padding sound as shemade her way to the fence which separ-ated her from Esta. She leaned forwardand whispered, "Bill ain't chasin' aginis he?""Don't know. Now if he is, he betternever leave me catch him. I told himlast time I wasn't gonna have no more ofthat dang foolishness. He jus worry meto death." Esta paused, awaiting Min-nie's sympathy.Minnie did not disappoint her. "Sureis a shame, you been a awful good wifeto that man. Can't see why he acks theway he does to you."Her object gained, Esta hastened tochange the topic of conversation. "I satin the front window most all of the night,watchin' out for Bill to come home."Esta lowered her voice, half-closed hereyes. "Wait'll I tell you what I saw!"Minnie and Esta drew nearer to oneanother, their faces nearly touching abovethe fence.39 -"Whadja see?" Minnie prompted,with ill concealed impatience."Well," Esta continued, "like I said,I was a lookin' out the window andwatchin' for Bill when that Brady womanacross the street come home about teno'clock. She sure thought she was sumpinfine, got out of a big car with some guy onher arm, an laugh in' that silly giggle ofhers. Walked him right into the housewith her too, just as big as you please.""What happened then?" Minnie'sinterest was fully aroused.Esta stepped back half a step. "Well,now, I can't for sure say what did hap-pen, but they sure was in that housetogether for a long time. That fella didn'tleave 'til nearly 'leven o'clock."Minnie was plainly disappointed, thetenseness that had been in her body, asshe listened, visibly relaxed.Esta, however, had no intention ofrelinquishing her position in the lime-light. "But wait, let me tell you some-thing else I found out about that shame-less hussy yesterday."Minnie's face brightened and oncerr.orc she became attentive."Her little girl, Edith, was over hereyesterday in the afternoon, playin' withmy Ethel." Esta explained. "Course now,I don't approve of my Ethel playin' withsuch as that, but you know how kids is,an' anyway, you know what Edith toldmy Ethel?" Esta paused dramatically,allowing the suspense to grasp Minnie."Well," she continued, "Edith toldmy Ethel that her mother never washedher face in soap and water at all!"Minnie gasped and stood, widemouthed. "You don't mean it?""Yessir, just what she said. Saidher mother never washed her face in soapand water at all. Said she used thiscleansing cream stuff all the time to cleanher face with. Can you imagine?"Esta withdrew a step and watchedcarefully to note the impression she hadmade. At this moment, the front door ofher house slammed shut. Not waiting,she dashed back into the house.Minnie stood, mouth still agape, un-seeing. Finally, she turned, walking asone in a trance. Shaking her head slowlyfrom side to side, she made her way backto the door of her cottage. As she did so,she muttered softly to herself. "Cleansingcream - will I never - cleanSing cream.Hmm." She smiled craftily.Minnie's broad form was fading intothe doorway as Joey's head peeked cau-tiously from behind the wood-shed. See-ing no immediate threat to his safety, he~tr1011ed leisurely back into the yard,clucking softly, pausing only to preen theglossy feathers on his neck or to peck atsome nearly invisible object on theground.PURPLE PATCHThe night descends, casting weirdshadows, engulfing the city, hiding theevil, dispelling the good. It opens thegateway to uncontrolled imagination, andis the symbol of iniquity in all its fury.- Jack Averitt.40-

Interlude At Dawn

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Interlude At Dawn

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