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knowingly
. It was a sort of involuntary thing.”
Then the tournament director thumb thru his book some more, an
come to where it say, “No player shall behave in a manner that is rude
or offensive to his opponent.”
“Listen,” Mister Tribble say, “haven’t you ever had the need to break
wind? Forrest didn’t mean anything by it. He’s been sitting there a long
time.”
“I don’t know,” the tournament director say, “on the face of it, I think
I’m going to have to disqualify him.”
“Well can’t you give him another chance at least?” Mister Tribble
axed.
The tournament director scratched his chin for a minute. “Well,
perhaps,” he say, “but he is gonna have to contain hissef because we
cannot tolerate this sort of thing here, you know?”
An so it was beginnin to look like I might be allowed to finish the
game, but all of a sudden they is a big commotion at one end of the
room, an ladies are screaming an shrieking an all an then I look up an
here come ole Sue, swingin towards me on a chandelier.
Jus as the chandelier got overhead Sue let go an dropped right on top
of the chessboard, scatterin all the pieces in a dozen directions. Honest
Ivan fell over backwards across a chair an on the way down ripped haf
the dress off a fat lady that looked like a advertisement for a jewelry
store. She commenced to flailin an hollerin an smacked the tournament
director in the nose an Sue was jumpin up an down an chatterin an
everbody is in a panic, stompin an stumblin an shoutin to call the police.
Mister Tribble grapped me by the arm an say, “Let’s get out of here,
Forrest—you have already seen enough of the police in this town.”
This I coud not deny.
Well, we get on back to the hotel, an Mister Tribble say we got to have
another conference.
“Forrest,” he say, “I just do not believe this is going to work out
anymore. You can play chess like a dream, but things have gotten too
complicated otherwise. All that stuff that went on this afternoon was,
well, to put it mildly, it was bizarre.”
I am noddin an ole Sue is lookin pretty sorrowful too.
“So, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. You’re a good boy, Forrest, and
I can’t leave you stranded out here in California, so I am going to
arrange for you and Sue to get back to Alabama or wherever it is you
came from. I know you need a little grubstake to start your shrimp
business, and your share of the winnings, after I deduct expenses, comes
to a little under five thousand dollars.”
Mister Tribble hand me a envelope an when I look inside it, there is a
bunch of hundrit dollar bills.
“I wish you all the best in your venture,” he say.
Mister Tribble phone for a taxicab an got us to the railroad station. He
has also arranged for Sue to ride in the baggage car in a crate, and says I
can go back there an visit with him an take him food an water when I
want. They brung out the crate an Sue got on inside it an they took him
off.
“Well, good luck, Forrest,” Mister Tribble say, an he shake my han.
“Here’s my card—so stay in touch and let me know how it’s going,
okay?”
I took the card an shook his han again an was sorry to be leavin cause
Mister Tribble was a very nice man, an I had let him down. I was settin
in my seat on the train, lookin out the winder, an Mister Tribble was still
standin on the platform. Jus as the train pulled out, he raised up his han
at me an waved goodbye.
So off I went again, an for a long time that night my head was full of
dreams—of going back home again, of my mama, of po ole Bubba an of
the srimp bidness an, of course, of Jenny Curran too. More than anythin
in the world, I wished I were not such a loony tune.
Well, finally, I done come home again.
The train got into the Mobile station bout three o’clock in the mornin
an they took off ole Sue in his crate an lef us standin on the platform.
Ain’t nobody else aroun cept some feller sweepin the floor an a guy
snoozin on a bench in the depot, so Sue an me walked on downtown an
finally foun a place to sleep in a abandoned build in.
Nex mornin, I got Sue some bananas down by the wharf an found a
little lunch counter where I bought a great big breakfast with grits an
eggs an bacon an pancakes an all, an then I figgered I had to do
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