(Excerpted from The Pultenham County Sketchbook, by Tom Andrews)
"Yeah, I done tell'd you all 'bout how that damn fool got his arm caught up in the gears, but I was only wavin' at him 'cause it seemed like the right thing to do. I know'd that arm warn't ever gonna' work again, so why shouldn't I try to make the best of what was goin' on?
Toddley just stuck it in there 'cause he was grabbin' for something that got caught on a little piece of wire. Maybe it was the piece of wire he was grabbin' for, but it don't really matter, do it? Anyhow, he just goes and grabs for it and when I sees it outta' the corner of my eye, I turns and says "you dumb shit!" Then it sounded like when you break up a chicken for fryin', and Toddley starts screaming like you can't believe. But it warn't his fault - he was just grabbin' for something.
I don't think I coulda' really done much...that arm was floppin' ever which ways, and Toddley was already rollin' on the ground, gettin' dirt on the end of that fresh-bleedin' stump with the white tendon stickin' out. His shirt was pretty dirty too, so I felt kinda' bad about that. He likes that shirt. He's probably gonna' want more long-sleeved shirts now, seein' how he won't want folks lookin' at his stump, even though they probably got it sewn up pretty good.
Toddley's gonna' be OK, and I know he'll get back to workin' the pea-fields, but he's probably gonna' be a whole lot more careful now, that dumb shit. He ain't gonna' go grabbin' for things when they go in - it won't matter what it is that he sees goin' in, he ain't gonna' grab for it. He's done learned. I know it. And I won't hafta' shout at him when I seen it outta' the corner of my eye, 'cause I ain't gonna' see it no more. No sir.
You think we can go for lunch now?
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