Kid Barlow Background Character Info

Kid Barlow Background

1 Kid Barlow- That's his whole name. His parents referred to him as the kid from the moment he was born.

2 Ma- 1/2 poor white trash, 1/4 Mexican, 1/4 Indian Real Name: Mary Sanchez Barlow.

3 Pa- 100 % poor white trash that played poker and drank. Real Name: Jesse Buck Barlow. Called Jess by most.

4 Immature

5 Only friend was Pa but Pa was dead when story opens. And, most times Pa was at the saloon playing poker and drinking and not around anyway.

6 Ace Poker player. Pa was good at one thing.....Playing poker. He didn't win too much because he drank too much.

7 Kid was a quiet person.

8 He wanted people to like him

9 He wanted his Ma to like him....she'd never love him. But, being around Ma made Kid pretty much hate her

10 Two desires in the world: Get away from Ma and Win the Big One an annual Poker Tournament known all over the south and up and down the Mississippi River. Held in Memphis, Tenn.

11 Kid trusts anyone and everyone as long as they aint' never done Nuthing to him and no one had. They just didn't have anything at all to do with him.

12 His only friend was the Donkey his Pa gave him and the horse he bought working at the town stable and blacksmith shop.

13 Lonely

14 Obliging

15 Patient

16 Five tall if he stands up tall which he never does. His shoulders are hunched and when he walks, rarely looks where he is going.

17 Can be incredibly naive

18 Straight, black "injun" hair

19 skinny--one leg is a bit shorter than the other causing him to walk with a slight limp

20 Hair is hacked off at ear lobe level thanks to Ma.

21 Not much self-esteem

22 large trusting dark brown eyes, one of which twitches when under stress

23 Has a smile that almost makes his less ugly

24 21-years-old but looks younger

25 Kid is a trustworthy man except when his back is against the wall and he is forced to action which is usually running away or avoiding the situation.

26 Won't talk back to his Ma. He takes her cruelty in stride and prides himself at being able to "take it". Since he is so little of a man, it is one of the few accomplishments he has achieved...so far in his short life.

27 Lives in Mt. Pisgah, Arkansas on the Little Red River

28 Summer, 1888. Drought

29 Kid can listen to his ma on one of her tirades while his mind is off visiting other places.

30 Socially inept; distorts or misreads the behavior of others

31 Unaware of motives of others.

32 Wears jeans that are too short, an undershirt, cotton shirt Ma made from flour sacks, Colors have long faded, so we don't know what color it used to be. Has a vest, a black felt stove top looking hat that cocks to one side. (It jused to be his Pa's. Red bandanna around his neck, blue bandanna in hip pocket, and boots that reach his knees. They look more like Indian boots than cowboy boots. But, with pants that are too short, Ma got the boots off her cousin who lived on the reservation.

33 His teeth are yellowed and has one front tooth black and one that is chipped off. Several have cavities and take to hurting ever so often. Ma has pulled one or two on the side when she can get a hold of Kid.

34 Ma is an abusive woman who takes in ironing and laundry so money is scarce and she rarely lets Kid have any of his and none of her $

35 Kid believes that God sends him signs to guide his life.

36 Kid a job at the stables in town six days a week.

37 When his stress level reaches a high level, makes quick decisions about getting away from the stress.

38 Pimpled face

39 Misses his Pa

40 Doesn't smoke

41 Pivotal point in life: Death of Pa makes living with Ma unbearable

42 Doesn't drink

43 One thing he did at the Stable keeper's urging was to buy a horse off the boss. The boss keeps 50 cents a month from his wages. The horse is mostly paid for. Ma doesn't know about the horse because Kid is afraid she'll sell it and keep the money. His boss understands and allows Kid to keep it at the stable.

44 House: two rooms cabin. Kid has to sleep in the main room on a bunk in the corner away from the fire. Ma has a small room off the main room.

45 Land, the cabin came with 5 acres of rocky hilly terrain.

46 water pump in yard that they water the small garden with and got all necessary water from unless they went to the river.

47 Pa and Kid would hang out at the river. They'd go catch a few fish and then Pa would teach Kid how to play poker and talk about The Big One im Memphis and how they'd both play in one day.

48 Always dreamed of eating a real steak in a real restaurant.

49 Horse's name is Buck after his Pa

50 The donkey kept at home does not have a barn. But Kid and Pa built a lean to for the animal during the 100 degree summers and sometimes cold winters.

51 Mouth is never closed, always opened a bit which gives him a less than intelligent appearance.

52 Has a watch chain he wears, but no watch to go with it. He thinks it makes him "dressed up and only wears it on special occasions, like when his Ma makes him go to church with her at Christmas and Easter.

53 Has a worn leather belt, but doesn't wear it except for "good" Instead wears a rope for a belt.

54 Cannot grow facial hair probably due to his Indian heritage.

55 Meals were usually corn mush and fish and the few vegetables they grew in the garden during the summers.

56 How Ma & Pa met and got together. Pa was fishing down on the White River near Batesville, Arkansas when a short, young girl appears from the woods. She's was rather plain looking, but obviously looking for love. Or, at least that's how Jesse interpreted his appearance. They struck up a short conversation and then Jesse and Mary Sanchez started doing the "dirty". Mary's father shows up--he and Mary were camping out in the woods--in a drunken rage at Jesse's despoiling of his daughter. Jesse's given two choices and one was a gun. So, the three of them go to Batesville, the county seat of Independence County, AR- and Jesse and Mary are married. Mr. Sanchez bids his daughter adieu and leaves.....never to be seen again. The young couple goes to Pisqah where Jesse livbes in a small cabin on five acres of land inherited from his father who had died in a gunfight when Jesse was sixteen. He'd been on his own ever since doint odd jobs around town to make enough money to get by on.

57 Mary (Ma Barlow) eventually becomes pregnant and has a horrendous experience. So, by the time the baby comes, she's not maternal at all. She has a temper that God would run from and is avoided by everyone in the town except for when they have to bring their laundry and ironing by to drop off. She hates life, her son, and her husband none of whom has given her a very nice life.....just drudgery. Pa begins to drink and play cards at the local saloon more and more.

58 Jesse (Pa) Barlow falls in love with the son Mary produces for him. But, he has to kinda love the boy at a distance. The more attention Pa shows to Kid, the more Mary berates him and makes his life unbearable. But, Pa using fishing as an excuse takes Kid "fishing" quite a bit to put some food on the table. Standard Operating Procedure is to catch their fish as soon aspossible and then Pa spends the rest of the time teaching Kid Poker, the one thing Pa is quite good at. Kid becomes a very knowledgeable and expert poker player. Pa's one dream was to play in the huge poker tournament held yearly in Memphis, TN. It is held at a local saloon and guarantees a prize of $10,000 and a new saddle bag. Pa's shot in a Poker game and carried home to Ma and Kid to die. Ma hates the burden of having to tend to a dying man which has no benefits as far as she can see. Pa hangs on for six days before dying. The town folks say, Ma Barlow "screamed" him to death. But Pa spends this time giving the family Donkey, a watch chain, and gun to Kid as his inheritance. Then, just before dying, makes Kid promise to play in and win the Big One in Memphis town.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
1 14th Kentucky Derby: George Covington aboard MacBeth II wins in 2:38

2 Democrats nominate Grover Cleveland for president

3 In June first organized rodeo organized in Prescott, Arizona

4 George Eastman patents 1st roll-film camera and registers "Kodak" May

5 Oklahoma Land Rush (April 22, 1889)

6 On average, cowboys earned $30 to $40 per month.

7 The code of the West dictated that a man did not have to back away from a fight. He could also pursue an adversary even if it resulted in death. He needed to retreat no further than “the air at his back”

8 Current data is only available till 2009. $23.30 in the year 2009 has the same "purchase power" as $1 in the year 1888.

9 $23.30 in the year 2009 has the same "purchase power" as $1 in the year 1888. ($40,000 = $932,000 today)

10 Horses: $15 = $349 Salary of $ 3 a month = $70