JukeBox, Soap Box Derby Champ

i came tumbling down the hill, with a pocket full of plums
the fruits smashed, the juices mixed with the dirt
caked on my pants, on my arms and on my face
i was laughing the whole way through
i ran towards the house, the sun was just getting ready....

to go down

i was late, and i knew it
ma was in the front yard, starring off into the distance
ma had never been the same, since my brother Eli died
she laughed sometimes, but it was that sad laugh

the sound of a dying elk

i walked up to her and slid my head between her arm and side
she looked at me, with her fierce green eyes
"you're late.... pa's in the house"

she didn't even notice i was covered in plum juice dirt
she didn't notice i had both my elbows cut up
and she didn't notice my dirt drenched hair
she never noticed...

anything

just then pa came out, and ma walked into the house
slumped shoulders and all

"whats wrong with you boy? you're late,
and you look like a heffer had her way with you."

he crouched down and put his face close to mine
he smelled like Uncle Drake
the whiskey man
he also smelled like Aunt Mary
the cigarette queen

"now tell me where you were, or god help me
i'll whip you till the sun goes down"

kinda dramatic pa, you'd beat me, but whats with all
the analogies? can't you just laugh a little?
whats with all the pent up frustration and anger?
don't you get tired? sure as fuck makes me tired.

i'd never say that out loud, because even though its true,
he'd still beat me, and not let a word out.

"i was up on the hill, picking plums, and i was getting ready
to come down, but i saw the fields from up there, i saw our house,
and i tell ya pa, it was like a pretty picture. i starting thinking bout
the way you work so hard, and how i can admire that, how i want to work that hard,
and the way you keep us going even at the dark times, thats a man, i want to be a man pa, i want to put my foot down in the dirt and build something, a life, a dream,
a wife and a nice suit. will you teach me pa? will you teach me to be a good man?"

he stood there for a moment, head cocked to the side, one eye shut, like he was going to shoot a turkey, then he put his hand on my shoulder, and rubbed my hair around.

then he punched me straight in the mouth, and the blood rushed outta my gums, under my tongue and straight out into the air. he hit me again, this time in the eye, and i started tearing up, but i didn't make a sound because he likes that, he wanted me to cry and i wouldn't give him that.

i hit the floor, and the plum juice blood and dirt all came together around my mouth.
it was pain

"that'll teach you to patronize me you son of a bitch."

and then he left

and i just laughed