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Show page 221 WYANDOTTE ROOSTER TOTES A CURLY COMB I miss Big Blue and Jabbo. Their manner of l i v i n g is part of our American h e r i t a g e , though i t doesn't wear well with our police c h i e f , L a t t i m o r e. Big Blue and Jabbo d o n ' t s l i p i n t o our town anymore, l a te of a summer evening or j u s t a f t e r dark, jumping from an empty freight car, a l l starched and ironed in clean o v e r a l l s and white s h i r t s , with clean blue or red bandannas in t h e i r hip pockets. Lattimore looks s i l l y , standing occasionally with the bloodhounds Q u i n t r i l l i a n and Osborn Moses, near our deserted freight depot, hoping they w i l l come back. If Lattimore ever hears Big Blue or Jabbo sing out "Wynadotte r o o s t e r t o t e s a curly comb!" or " I a i n ' t got nothing but money, marbles and chalk!" from an empty f r e i g h t car, h e ' l l have a heart attack on the spot, his sense of order and r e c t i t u d e is so v a s t , his pride so h u r t. Big Blue d o e s n ' t c a r e , wherever he I s . And Jabbo, I heard him say d i s t i n c t l y , smelled fresh neckbones cooking in Troy, Alabama. Big Blue i s a dice shark, a jumper t o t e r , which i s to say calloused of thumb and f o r e f i n g e r only, and vagabondish. To the police Blue i s bad, a tushhog. The t i g h t ebony skin of Blue's l e f t cheek is c r i s s c r o s s e d by two long w e l t s , like t r i b a l s c a r s . Blue is s e v e r a l times a l a d y ' s man. Jabbo is too. ^They're f o l k s . They eat f r i e d meat r e g u l a r l y and see |
