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sure she had known he would be.
He grinned and seemed embarrassed, as though he had
caught us undressed or something. Howdy, Bob, he
Hill Girl 150
said, shifting his gun to the other hand. Howdy,
Angelina.
Angelina s Hello, Papa, was as impersonal as death. I
asked him how the crops were and how the hunting had
been and if he d been fishing for white perch lately, but
Angelina never said another word. I felt sorry for him,
the way he was standing there and not wanting to look at
her, half naked as she seemed to him in her scanty
bathing suit, and still wanting to look at her because she
was his oldest daughter and the prettiest one and he
loved her. He was talking to me but it was easy to see he
was hoping she would say something to him, perhaps
some word of our trip, or when she expected to be over
to visit them again, or whether she was happy and liked
her new home, or some question about his health, or
anything at all, but no word came from her.
We ll be over to see you soon, Sam, I said, as he half
turned to go.
Yes, you-all do that. We ll be lookin for you. Good-by.
Good-by, Angelina.
Angelina looked up briefly and said, Good-by, Papa.
When he had gone, I asked, I haven t been mean to
you in a long time, have I?
Of course not. Why ask such a silly thing?
Don t let me, ever. I never want to have to listen to
you say, Good-by, Bob, the way you said that. The poor
devil.
I m sorry, she said. I can t help it, I guess.
We went to all the dances, the ones in town and the
little country dances that were held now and then on
Saturday nights in the surrounding communities, and I
took her to the movies about twice a week. I had never
cared a lot for pictures, but she liked them and we went.
A lot of times all this going seemed a little silly and it
would have been much more fun to stay at home, but
always I guess there was a fear in the back of my mind
that she wouldn t like living out here if there were too
much to remind her of her previous unhappiness. I didn t
want her to continue associating that unhappiness with
country life when the truth was that the mere fact that
her father was a farmer had had nothing to do with it I
wanted her to learn that a girl could live on a farm
Hill Girl 151
without being imprisoned and cut off from other people
her age and having to wear clothes she hated.
One night after supper, when I suggested a ride into
town for a movie, Angelina surprised me by asking if we
couldn t stay at home instead.
There s a full moon tonight, she said. Let s stay here
on the back porch and just look at it.
I agreed quickly. Sounds like a lot more fun to me, I
said. We sat down on the top step and she leaned her
head against my shoulder. The moon hadn t come up yet
over the timbered ridge to the east across the bottom,
but already we could see the glow of it looking like a far-
off forest fire.
Are you happy, Angelina? I asked.
You know I am. More than there s any way to say.
You don t feel that living on a farm is like being in jail
any more?
No. I never did, except over there. She was looking
across the bottom toward the glow. I ve never felt like
that here with you.
In a moment she laughed a little and said, You re
funny, Bob, aren t you? You ve courted me so hard ever
since we ve been back here that sometimes I wondered if
you d forgotten we re already married. Goin to movies
and dances, and swimmin . It s sweet of you, but you
don t have to work so hard at it.
Well, I didn t want you ever to feel about this place the
way you did over there.
I won t. Even if you d made a jail out of it. There s
such a thing as still liking the jailer.
Fine, I said. All this foolishness stops right now.
Tomorrow morning I take your shoes away from you and
you go out and hoe cotton.
You don t hoe cotton after it s laid by, silly. You can t
fool a country girl.
You see what I mean, Angelina? I said. A few months
ago you d have been as sore as a boil if anybody d called
you a country girl. You d have thought it was an insult.
I d have scratched their eyes out.
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No, you wouldn t. You don t scratch. You double up
your little dukes and start throwing punches like a good
bantamweight.
I guess that s the only reason you like me, because I
fight like a man instead of a girl.
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