Page 25
By Jack Joseph Smith
(Cleveland)
"Ohio. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That's it." She said this with
out a smile. Gibbons looked up at his mother. What he saw then made him
a young man, and latter would make his mind fatal. When Gibbons walked
away on the lawn, he heard his father say, "ok, I'll get the money."
Gibbons was older now and he stroled through the cedar. He felt damn
sure that he would know what every tree ment. He found out that he could
run around it, but he could not buck it. Even though hiding behind the
trees was unusual, he wondered with his mind why his body moving from
one to the other made fixed things change. It's hard not to be noticed
moving from one place to another, but it is easy if you know how to toss
something there. His realization was powerful. Throwing a ball was the
hunter they all liked. He could pass it. Lets see how we do with the re-
flection of the leaves. Nice. Bad. Can't make the twig a chicken bone to
my side. It fell all over his paw, and then it sailed. Now he would learn
about David with the sheepskin. The transfer from Acron to Pittsburgh?
Dandy's father said, "the plant will always hold its own, God damn it."
"When he smiles his teeth get further apart," said Gibbons just like
speaking. He saw his mother's face all the time with the obsession of
survival. That was not going to be easy. He came finally to the cliff.
Looked across the augest field and laughed. Gibbons was sixteen and he
knew the sun had given him perminent pink eye. He took his COAT off
and threw it over his left shoulder and went on down the trail. The coaches
saw him coming from the bluff. They loved him. Watched him out of the corner
of their eye just like back at Notre Dame or lower Mc Kee's Rocks. Already
he knew their warmth. "Ya fucken jagg off," was muttered. No smile. Head
cocked. "When are ya going to stop combing your hair Gibbons?" Huffernegile
wanted to know what Gibbons thought he could do without any kind of suit on.