The Private Journals of Isaiah Watts

By: Nicholas Hall
(© 2020 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

nhall@tickiestories.us

Chapter 11
The Early Years

 “Daddy bought the two farms cheaper than he thought he would and my uncles and their families moved in with us until their houses were fixed up proper. My cousins, and there was a shit-load of them it seems, were Stephen age 7, Patrick age 6, Arthur age 4, Samuel age 2, all belonging to Uncle Benjamin, and Jonathon age 5, Adam age 4, and Jeremy age 2, all belonging to Uncle Darius. Not a female in the bunch. I learned a male burro (donkey) has a massive cock and Cousin Stephen was relieved to find out a milk cow doesn’t have four cocks.”

(The Private Journals of Isaiah Watts) 

 David was able to purchase the two farms and gain immediate possession for far less than he anticipated spending. In fact, the purchases were made for the amount he intended for the down payment. During their negotiations with the banker, David noticed some uneasiness, urgency, and anxiousness on the part of the banker to complete the deal as rapidly as possible.

David made his money horse trading and was damn good at it! He made even more from his con games, those games of chance, by using people’s weaknesses, hopes and desires, and gullibility and creed, to his advantage and their losses. He used the same observations and techniques when dealing with the banker. The banker wanted the deal done and when he learned David had cash money, wanted it even more so. It took most of the day, but the three of them left the bank with David owning the farms and livestock, equipment, and household furnishings from another; all paid for, cash on the barrelhead. The banker was almost ecstatic enough to piss his pants but he didn’t! David also picked up on several other properties which might be for sale if the economy continued to falter and plunge.

Deed and bills of sales in the safe, he sat down the evening of Isaiah’s heroic deed, and strategized the way forward with Joseph and Zachary. He trusted their judgement and insight, knowing they’d been in the area longer than he in recent years. The first thing in the morning, they needed to move the livestock and equipment he’d purchased to the home place. There were two teams of work horses, two riding horses, four cows, about three dozen chickens (and four broods of chicks), eight hogs (four sows with piglets), and three burros (a jack, a jenny, and a colt) along with a donkey cart. There were four wagons, two hayracks, a corn planter, an oat drill planter, two two-row corn pickers, a couple of hay rakes, disc and plow cultivators, two two-bottom plows, and two sickle bar hay cutters, along with sundry other pieces of equipment, tack, and other items. They figured it’d take a couple of days to move everything.

Once done, they’d plow fields preparing for corn and oats planting along with plowing large gardens at each of the new farms. The small orchards at each farm were in good shape so there was no concern there. Joseph would look over the equipment and buildings, deciding what repairs, if any, were needed, while David and Zachary would undertake the field preparation and planting. There was still time to get crops in. The gardens could be planted when their brothers and their families arrived. The three brothers would have to hump their asses since the hay crop was maturing and ready for its first cutting.

When their brothers arrived, Joseph and Zach, along with Isaiah, Joshua, and Thomas would sleep in the caravan parked near the front yard. Ben and his wife and four boys would have Isaiah’s room and Darius, his wife, and three boys would have Joseph’s and Zach’s room. All of this until their own houses were ready to live in. David didn’t know Ben or Darius’s wives and could but hope they’d be content with the living arrangement and then their new homes. He was assured by Dorothea there’s be no problem.

Ben and Darius and their families arrived the same day, each automobile pulling a fully loaded, canvas covered, two-wheel trailer. Instead of the two weeks David anticipated, it wasn’t quite a week. It was the same day David was cutting hay on the home place, Joseph and Zachary were plowing and planting corn fields at the other farms, and the day the bank in Logansport closed.

Joshua and Isaiah were standing at the corral, discussing the pair of burros and colt their Dad purchased. The boys had yet to harness one of them to the donkey cart. David thought it wiser to let the critters become accustomed to their new home first. The donkey cart would only accommodate one critter to pull it, so if the Jenny (Ida) was hitched, the colt (Peanuts), would run free alongside. The Jack (Brutus) would stay in the corral.

“Sometimes male burros, like horses,” David cautioned, “tend to want to mount everything in sight when they smell a female in heat. Makes it difficult sometimes to control them when they’re in harness.”

Watching, observing the burros in the corral, Isaiah and Joshua could well see why.

“I think Uncle Zachary is bigger,” Joshua said reflectively, matter-of-factly to Isaiah.

Isaiah squinted, tilted his what to get a better perspective of what was visible in front of him. “Nah,” he replied thoughtfully, “Brutus has him by a couple of inches,” looking intently at the long cock hanging down between the burro’s hind legs. On the small critter, they both admitted it did look humongous. Isaiah shuddered at the fleeting thought of something like that going up his butt and vowed to stay away from Brutus if the burro was acting horny.

“Think so?” Joshua asked.

There was no opportunity for Isaiah to comment as both boys turned at the sound of automobiles coming down the lane to the house and stopped in front of it. They watched as their uncles and aunts and all seven cousins unloaded; relatives they’d never met or really knew anything about.

Dorothea, hearing the vehicles drive up, scurried from the house, arms open, shouting her delight at the arrival of her son’s families. Claire watched from inside where Jerome and Gideon were napping, deciding to wait to greet her newly arrived in-laws and nephews. She was uncertain how it’d all work out. Granted she was used to large gatherings when she and David, along with the boys, lived with her family in the band, but this was different. It’d take some getting used to for her sons, especially Isaiah and Joshua.

Joshua and Isaiah watched the gathering in the yard as their grandmother hugged and kissed each one, overjoyed at having all of her family, plus their families, home with her once more. Neither Benjamin nor Darius had been home since they left. It was just too unsafe with Neville on the rampage! They weren’t aware of his death at this point, but had no choice but to move home. Without jobs and rent to pay, they needed a place to live and means to feed their families. In her last letter to them, she assured them with David home, there’d be no worry from Neville and there’d be plenty of room and food for all. Ben and Darius weren’t certain how, but they did have confidence in their older brother. As far as David’s family, neither of them had met his wife or his boys. They only were familiar with them through their mother’s letters.

Isaiah cast a critical, guarded eye at the assembled group, pondering his new relatives. He was used to living with large groups of people when living with Grandma and Grandpa Lovell, but this was going to be different. Before moving here, they lived among their people, but these new relatives were “ga-je” white or non-Roma people he thought. A couple of the boys seemed to be about his age or younger, possibly Joshua’s age, the other younger yet. He wondered how his life and the life of his brothers would change. Their own customs, language, and life styles, including the employment of his own skills, were different he assumed from his newly arrived relatives. He wondered how they’d accept his relationship with Gio and vowed if they didn’t that was their problem. Isaiah also smiled wondering how they’d treat him once they discovered he was the one that bashed their grandfather in the head and killed him. “Probably be damned careful they don’t piss me off,” he thought.

“Could be different around here,” he murmured softly, causing Joshua to ask what he said. Isaiah just acknowledged to him it’d be different and take some getting used to.

There was a change in the conversation among their grandmother and their uncles. It became quieter, less jubilant, but not subdued. Isaiah smiled to himself again; he’d bet his grandmother just told them Grandfather Watts was dead. His conjecture was confirmed when he heard one of his uncles comment loudly, “It’s about time!”

David happened to come in from the field to exchange the sickle-bar cutter he’d been using to cut hay for a hay rake to curl the downed hay into windrows to dry. He quickly tethered the team when he saw the vehicles and the people gathered around his mother and raced to greet his brothers.

“Isaiah,” he shouted seeing his sons standing observing the goings on, “go fetch your Momma.”

Claire emerged with Thomas when Isaiah came for her, leaving her two youngest napping, and joined David as he began introducing her to Ben and Anne and Darius and Carol. He motioned Isaiah, Joshua, and Thomas to come forward and meet their new cousins. The three of them shyly, quietly introduced themselves but offered no more than their names, guarded in their responses, not wanting to share any more than necessary with these “ga-je.”

Benjamin’s wife’s name was Anne their boys were Stephen, age seven; Patrick, age 6; Arthur, age four, and Samuel, age three. Darius’s wife’s name was Carol and their boys’ names were Jonathon, age six; Adam, age four, and; Jeremy age two.

Isaiah figured it’d take a couple of days before he really knew his cousin’s names and begin calling the adults “uncle” and “aunt,” but it’d happen. It’d take some time also for the cousins to really become acquainted and comfortable in their new relationship. Living arrangements would be temporary but crowded.

He gave Joshua a nudge, took Thomas by the hand, and headed toward the house.

“What’re we doing?” Joshua asked as they trudged up the stairs to their room.

“Moving our stuff to the caravan.”

“Where will we put things?”

“Where they were before we moved here,” was Isaiah’s resigned reply.

In three quiet trips, unnoticed by the adults still in the yard visiting, they moved their belongings to the caravan, including blankets and pillows.

“What are they going to use now for blankets and pillows?” Joshua asked.

“That’s their problem, not mine!” Isaiah responded emphatically, concerned only for the welfare of his brothers.

David spotted his sons coming from the caravan, walked toward them, seeking to know what was going on.

“Moving!” was all Isaiah replied.

It was evident to David his two oldest sons might have some problems adjusting to the change in the family! They didn’t seem pleased with the arrangement, but these were hard times and family took care of family. The boys would just have to adjust.

He glanced at his pocket watch, noting it’d be another hour or so before Joseph and Zachary would be home from the other farms.

Dorothea was leading the family toward the house so David suggested to Isaiah and Joshua they get a jump on chores; Thomas was sent to the house to help Claire since she’d need him to watch over Jerome and Gideon as she helped Dorothea prepare the evening meal. With eleven more to feed, it’d take some time for preparation and cooking.

David, Isaiah, and Joshua fed the hogs, the newly added sows and pigs separated from their own to keep fighting to a minimum; fed and watered the chickens and gathered the eggs, the new flock mixed in with theirs. The eggs were taken to the house by Joshua.

The cows were brought in for milking. There were enough stanchions in the small barn to accommodate all six cows. David and Isaiah filled the water buckets and put a mix of hay, corn, and oats in front of each cow so they’d be content eating and drinking while being milked. Their udders were full, hanging in large, vein laced bags beneath their somewhat ponderous bodies. Isaiah looked small and vulnerable as he squatted on a milk stool, bucket between his legs, beneath the cow he began to milk. The cow was calm, letting down her milk for his young, but increasingly experienced touch. Six cows would take some time to milk even as David milked one and Isaiah the other.

Darius and Benjamin, alerted by Joshua bringing in the eggs, chores had started and decided to join David in the barn. Trotting behind them, as they walked to the barn were Stephen, Patrick, and Jonathon curious to see what was happening and what “chores” were. Joshua walked several steps behind the others, guarded, observing, trying to judge the intent and worth of his new cousins and uncles. He wasn’t altogether certain he was going to like having them around, but Isaiah told him it’d all work out eventually. It was the fact they were “ga-je” seemed to be causing him the problems. They never lived in the white world or near it before moving to Grandma Watt’s, now their father’s, if he heard right, farm.

The group entered the barn, causing some restlessness with the cows as strangers entered, rolling their eyes, and tipping their heads. Soft, soothing words from David and Isaiah seemed to calm them somewhat, but David did caution the newcomers to move slowly in approaching so not to cause any additional fright. Isaiah looked over his shoulder and heard his cousin Stephen ask Uncle Ben what they were doing and was told Isaiah and Uncle David were milking the cows. Stephen nodded his head, sort of gripped his crotch, evidently relieved cows didn’t have four cocks, once his dad explained the teats were where young calves nursed like his mother when she used to nurse Samuel.

David finished the cow he was milking, dumped the bucket of milk in a metal milk can, tapped the lid down to keep the milk free from contamination, and moved to another cow.

“Joshua,” he asked, “put her,” pointing to the one he finished, “out to pasture if she’s done drinking and eating.”

Joshua scooted around his uncles and cousins to do as he was told, releasing the cow from her stanchion, and with the confidence of a boy used to big animals, with a slight smack on the cow’s backside, sent her out into the cow yard and pasture.

“I’m afraid this is all new to our families,” Ben said, addressing David. “The boys don’t have a clue what to do or what happens.”

“Then you and Darius will have to teach them,” David replied laughing and stepping away from the cow he was just starting to milk. “Still know how to milk a cow?”

“I hope so,” grinned Ben and took David’s place.

Isaiah was finished with his, Joshua scooted it outside, and was moving toward another, but Darius announced he’d do this one. Both men gave waves to their sons to join them and see how it was done, while David and Isaiah got clean buckets and moved to the final two cows. As they milked and the others watched, David informed his brothers of the purchases he made for their farms. They’d each have two cows, four hogs, a dozen and a half chickens, a team of work horses, and a riding horse. Additionally, there were wagons and various pieces of farm equipment.

“If we work together, sharing equipment, plowing, planting, and harvesting,” he said, “we should be okay. I don’t think this economy is going to get better anytime soon, so we’ll have to raise our own food and take care of ourselves. The houses will take some work, but Joseph made certain the windmills worked and the wells are good. We can pitch in, amidst the field work, and work together on the houses.”

David hesitated, each hand holding a cow tit, “I don’t know your wives, but can they handle farm life and the tough work that goes with it? You know this isn’t the same as the city and Decker’s Corner is certainly a different place to live, although we did.”

“Oh, I think they can,” Darius answered.

Their wives were sisters and grew up on a farm. Carol was two years younger than Anne. Anne was just fifteen when she married Ben and Carol barely fourteen when she married Darius.

“We married them young,” Ben mused.

“So did I,” David admitted.

His brothers met their wives through Jeffrey Butler, an older brother to the girls, who worked with Ben. He introduced Ben to Anne and when Darius left home to join his brother, he was introduced to Carol. Their wives were actually happy to leave the city, apparently missing farm life.

Addressing his nephews, David advised, “If you boys follow Isaiah and Joshua around, it won’t take you long to pick up on doing chores and helping around a farm. My boys are a big help to Grandma, their Momma, and me. Uncle Joseph and Uncle Zachary rely on them as well. It makes life easier if we all pitch in.”

“Oh, great,” Joshua murmured to Isaiah in Romany, “now we’ll have them underfoot, snooping around, and who knows what else.”

Isaiah looked around, noticing his dad was the only one who seemed to understand what Joshua said. His cousins not knowing the language would give Joshua and him an advantage.

“Well, we just have to be careful around these ga-je cousins of ours,” he responded. “They don’t have to know everything we do.”

“Speak English, boys,” David admonished. “it’s impolite! I learned when living with Uncle Abram and Aunt Rose, Grandma came from a Roma family. I didn’t know that when I lived at home. She didn’t use the language or practice their ways while we lived at home. The first I ever heard her speak a full sentence in Roma was when we moved here. She didn’t teach us the language like your Momma and Grandma and Grandpa Lovell did you boys.”

David apologized to his brothers telling them somewhat of the life they lived before coming to the farm; how he discovered his heritage and history, how his family spoke Roma almost exclusively except when dealing with the “ga-je” or non-Roma people, and some of the nomadic ways of the Lovell Family.

“I told the boys to speak English.”

“I thought I recognized a couple of phrases,” Ben noted, “Momma used to use.”

“Well, anyway, brothers, that’s your heritage and race. How you explain it to your children and wives is up to you, but you’ll see it every day around us.”

“I think we all have a lot to learn about each other and life in general,” Ben said contemplatively.

To be continued...

Posted: 02/04/2022