Tied to a Tombstone


       One night the big boys wanted to do something to some of us and they caught Willie Rudd and decided to take him to the cemeteryand scare him real good. Bill Lemon was with them that night and said, " Let's tie him to a tombstone and leave him up here." The other boys agreed that was a good idea so they took some grass string and Bill's belt and tied him to one of the stones and also Bill had a brand new bandana handkerchief and he put it over his eyes and tied it.
      They went away and left Willie there. They went down the hill aways and sat down and waited to hear Willie cry and beg, but they didn't hear anything, so a little while longer, they slipped back to check on him only to find that he was gone. He had very calmly slipped his hands loose and went on up through the cemetery to the old road at the top of the hill and went on home, taking Bill's belt and new bandanna with him. A few days later, Bill met Willie down town and told him that he wanted his belt and his new bandanna back, but Willie said, "You won't ever get them back." I think later on, he gave him the belt, but just to get even, he never gave the new bandanna back to him. I was really
excited about my new home. It was a brand new world for me.

(c) copyright by Melvin "Bubbie" Martin 2001