Chapter 10 -- Picking Peaches

         It was a nice summer morning. At the breakfast table there was a discussion about Jesse's plans for the day. He was saying, "It's a chance to earn some money, Mom!"

         She was shaking her head. "You have enough to do right here."

         "Taxes are coming due," he reminded her.

         "The taxes aren't your worry."

         "Yes they are if I live here."

         "We can pay them like we did last year; we can divide them out over six months."

         "But then we have to pay extra. I can do this, Mom, I can take on a little extra work so we can pay it off by the end of September."

         He noticed that she had slipped from first person singular to plural. She was talking about the taxes as something 'we' have to do; she wasn't saying the widow's 'I' any more. She was starting to depend on him. That was a good feeling; he liked that.

         He turned to Joey and said, "I'm going over to Archie Barstow’s to pick peaches today. It's easy money. You listen to your grandmother, you hear? She worked last night. She doesn't need any stuff out of you, all right?" Joey promised to be good. He probably would. Jess said he would be back by dark. He kissed Lil and picked up Joey and held him a moment. "Be good. I'm off, see you tonight."

         At the orchard as Jess was signing in, a man approached him. "So you’re Jesse MacIver. I've heard of you."

         He turned and saw a man maybe four, five years older than himself. He looked as if he put in a lot of gym time. “I’m MacIver."

         "Rick Ramsey. So I finally get to meet you. You can call me Mr. Ramsey, Farm Boy."

         Jesse didn't want any trouble. He just wanted to do a day's work, get paid for it and go home. This man was trying to provoke him and Jess knew he would do well to watch out.

         Ramsey leaned on the wagon and said, "I hear you're quite a fighter, Farm Boy. Ever fight a real fighter?"

         Jesse said, "I'm not a fighter."

         Ramsey pushed it a little more. "That's not what I hear. I hear you’re famous around here."

         Ray Sheal had signed on for a day's work too. He knew what Jesse was liable to do under provocation. He said, "Back off, Ramsey."

         Ramsey said, "I think he can take care of himself. He thinks so, too; don't you, Farm Boy?"

         Jesse was getting a familiar feeling and he didn't like it. This guy was deliberately trying to get him angry and he knew he couldn't let that happen. Jesse told himself after all he's just calling me farm boy, he's got that part right. That's not an insult.

         Barstow, assigning work areas, thought it wise to separate them; he knew Jesse too.

         Sheal said, "Ramsey, knock it off! Leave him be."

         "You think I'm afraid of him?"

         "Just leave him alone, okay?"

         "What are you, his protector?" Ramsey asked.

         Sheal laughed. "No, but I'm telling you for your own good, don’t mess!"

         Ramsey continued, "Sure he's big. I know these big guys, they're in their own way! He's never fought anybody who knows how to fight. He doesn't know how to defend himself. I'd like to see what he’s got."

         Sheal thought You don't want any part of what he’s got!

         Ramsey picked up a basket. "Maybe it's time for the town bully to find out what somebody else has got."

         Sheal watched him walk away. He had known Jesse a long time and he knew this encounter had a potential for serious trouble. He had seen Jesse in action. He didn't care so much if Ramsey got hurt; he was asking for it. But he didn't want to see Jesse in trouble again. As he started for the area where he would be working he sent up a prayer on Jesse’s behalf.

         After a morning of work they broke for lunch. Jesse. after working steadily was ready for a break and getting hungry. He took a drink from his thermos and set it on the wagon. He thought, Here comes trouble, as he saw Ramsey approaching. Jesse prayed under his breath, "This guy is trying to rile me, Father! Don't let this happen!"

         Ramsey picked up Jesse’s thermos and sniffed. "Coffee. I expected to see milk. They let you drink coffee, Farm Boy?"

         Jesse was trying to ignore him and that was just what Ramsey needed to make him more determined. Most of the men sitting around with their lunch pails were from Carthage and they knew what fire Ramsey was playing with. Some of them wanted to see Ramsey get a comeuppance because he was the kind of arrogant jerk nobody likes. They knew if he kept on like he was there was going to be bloodshed. If anybody was going to teach Ramsey a lesson, Jesse was the one to do it.

         Jess began eating. He was getting that hot feeling in the pit of his stomach. He sat on the wagon with his long legs dangling and bit into his sandwich.

         "You never been up against anybody that really knows how to fight. You just beat up schoolboys. You never met your match."

         Jess said nothing and went on eating. He was trying to remember everything he had learned and keep a firm grip on himself. He had not done this before and he wasn't sure he could. He reminded himself, I can do all things through Christ ~ and quietly repeated it to himself.

         Lunch break was nearly over. Ramsey made his move to ratchet things to the next level. "You afraid to fight me, Farm Boy?" Actually, yes. He was afraid to fight Ramsey. But not for the reason Ramsey was implying. He was making himself remember how he felt last time, seeing the Bull on the ground with his face all bloody, and his own hands stained with blood. The taste of shame, the terrible feeling of being sorry when it's too late.

         Ramsey wasn't backing off. "Come on, fight me, Farm Boy. Let's see what you got. You beat up retards and school kids. Come on, try a real man for a change!" Jess put his hat on and started back toward the orchard. Ramsey went after him."You don't turn your back on me, Farm Boy; that's not nice. You need to learn some manners."

         With his back to him Jess forced his hands open and reminded himself I can do all things ~ All things. The test was coming.

         He began walking again and Ramsey said, "What's the matter, Farm Boy? Not so brave when a real man challenges you? Too much Sunday school, maybe?"

         He was playing to the others who were watching. He expected somebody to laugh. The ones who knew Jesse were not laughing! He pushed to another level and put hands on Jesse. He pulled on his arm and turned him to face him. Jesse knew the test had arrived. But this time it was different from other times. Always before when the anger was on him, it had seemed to him he was outside himself, watching someone else doing it. This time was different; he knew what he was doing. It was almost like slow motion, one frame at a time. Ramsey really crossed the line then and slapped Jesse in the face with an open palm, hard enough to hurt, hard enough to leave a mark. Definitely hard enough to set him off. Jesse backed up. All things, all things ~ He backed up another step, keeping his hands open.

         A couple of the men standing there told Ramsey to back off but he closed in. Another slap, and another. Ramsey was right about one thing. Jesse didn't know how to defend himself. He could not keep that man's hand off his face. He was really angry now. He saw the hand coming up again and this time he was ready, he grabbed Ramsey's wrist and pushed the hand down. Ramsey was surprised by the strength of his grip. Jesse closed his other hand on Ramsey's other wrist and said through clenched teeth, "Stop hitting me in the face."

         Ramsey's hands were pinned down and he could not have hit him again if he wanted to. Jesse had the advantage of height and weight and he was using it. Still gripping the man's wrists and turning them a little, he began pushing downward until Ramsey found himself on his knees on the ground. Jess said quietly, "Now. Get up and go over there and sit down while you still can." Ramsey got up and looked up at the farm boy and went over there and sat down. He was convinced and humiliated. Jesse turned his back and walked away.

         He stopped by the wagon. Sheal came over. "That was awesome," he said. Jess was shaking. He leaned on the wagon for support. Sheal asked "Are you okay?"

         Jess nodded after a moment. It wasn't so much that he hadn't got angry; he was thoroughly enraged. He had never done this before; he had never before been anywhere near this angry without losing control. The pumping adrenaline was making him nauseous.

         He looked up and saw Barstow coming across the road. He figured he was fired for fighting even though it wasn't his fault. But Barstow had seen most of it and now he had a new respect for Jesse.

         Jesse went back to work. The shaking stopped and the nausea went away. As he resumed the rhythm of lifting baskets and loading the wagon with the fragrant peaches, he was giving thanks for an uncommon victory.

         When Jesse got to Sterrit's fence on the way home he was surprised to see Joey running to meet him. He jumped the fence. "Joey, what are you doing way out here by yourself?"

         "I came to meet you."

         "Well don't do that; you don't come out here alone, okay?"

         When Jesse picked him up and Joey saw the marks on his face and touched his cheek with his fingers. "Jess did you get in a fight?"

         Jesse said "No, not this time." It was very good to be able to tell Joey that! His other cheek was bruised as well, and Joey was looking at him with concern. Jesse said, "It's okay, Little One; there wasn't any trouble. I just got slapped around a little."

         "Who did it?" Joey asked and Jesse said he didn't want to talk about it. He might get angry again if he talked about it.

         Joey asked, "Are you too tired to carry me?"

         Jesse let him climb on his back. Joey's arms went around his neck and he started walking toward home.

         He was starting to feel very good about the whole thing. He was thinking This is real! It’s really real! Thank You Father for ir being real!I really can do all things through Christ! He covered the ground with long strides. He wondered what to say to Lillian who would see the marks on his face and jump to the wrong conclusion. It was the first time he had ever mastered his anger and he was enjoying the feeling of power.

         He reached the porch steps and let Joey climb down. He was tired and hungry and something good was cooking. He went to the sink to get a drink of water. "Mom Joey was all the way over to Sterrit's fence waiting for me. I told him not to go out there by himself any more."

         That was when she saw his face. "Jess you didn't ~~ "

         "No I didn't," he told her and gave her a kiss.

         "Somebody hit you."

         He drank the water and set the glass in the sink. "Yeah, but I didn't hit him back." Jesse was not a liar any more; she knew that by now. But she took his hand and looked at it carefully, half expecting to see bruised knuckles again.

         "Some guy from Nottingham, wanted me to fight him. That's all."

         And now he thought, that really is all. Taunts and insults and challenges. That's all, no big deal. Being slapped in the face three times in front of all those other guys, now that was bad, but the point was he won the fight, not the one with Ramsey but the one with himself. For once in his life he felt like a winner.

         Lillian hugged him and told him "Go wash up; your dinner's ready."