and I ain't recalled it to this
day. Oncet in a while, I would
think it was coming to me, but
it never come."
"Maybe they put you in by
mistake," the old lady said
vaguely.
"Nome," he said. "It wasn't no
mistake. They had the papers
on me."
"You must have stolen
something," she said.
The Misfit sneered slightly.
"Nobody had nothing I
wanted," he said. "It was a
head-doctor at the penitentiary
said what I had done was kill
my daddy but I known that for
a lie. My daddy died in
nineteen ought nineteen of the
epidemic flu and I never had a
thing to do with it. He was
buried in the Mount Hopewell
Baptist churchyard and you can
go there and see for yourself."
"If you would pray," the old
lady said, "Jesus would help
you."
"That's right," The Misfit said.
"Well then, why don't you
pray?" she asked trembling
with delight suddenly.
"I don't want no hep," he said.
"I'm doing all right by myself."
Bobby Lee and Hiram came
ambling back from the woods.
Bobby Lee was dragging a
yellow shirt with bright blue
parrots in it.
"Thow me that shirt, Bobby
Lee," The Misfit said. The shirt
came flying at him and landed
on his shoulder and he put it
on. The grandmother couldn't
name what the shirt reminded
her of. "No, lady," The Misfit
said while he was buttoning it
up, "I found out the crime don't
matter. You can do one thing
or you can do another, kill a
man or take a tire off his car,
because sooner or later you're
going to forget what it was you
done and just be punished for
it."
The children's mother had
begun to make heaving noises
JOY FEELINGS | DECEMBER ISSUE
246