| «Grandpa, here’s your coffee,»
|
| said Edith, as she filled his cup.
|
| «Nobody'll find you here,
|
| and Earl is glad you guys showed up.»
|
| «The way things are downtown,
|
| you might have to stay for awhile.
|
| There was a helicopter hovering over your house
|
| when I talked to your neighbor, Kyle."
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| «Who the hell do they think they are,
|
| Invading our home like that?
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| Grandma and I had to leave so fast,
|
| We couldn’t even catch the cat.»
|
| «The helicopter scared the shit out of him,
|
| and it took off down a trail,
|
| down past the railroad track,
|
| towards the county jail.»
|
| «Jed, you really screwed up now!
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| What did you have to do that for?
|
| Everybody wants to hang your ass,
|
| and here’s a note from Lenore.»
|
| Sun touched the cold steel bars
|
| as she pushed the paper in.
|
| Jed took it up and read it and he couldn’t hide a grin.
|
| Outside the jail window
|
| a crow flew across the sky,
|
| completely disappearing behind each bar,
|
| then a helicopter flew by.
|
| «Say hi to Earl and Edith.
|
| Tell 'm I’m doing fine.
|
| Tell 'm it’s time for them to let you go now,
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| they should cut the line.»
|
| «Can grandma come and see me?
|
| I got a new song to sing
|
| it’s longer than all the others combined
|
| and it doesn’t mean a thing.»
|
| The noise was unfamiliar,
|
| generators whirling,
|
| walkie-talkies screaming,
|
| vans parked in the open field.
|
| TV crews and cameras,
|
| they wanted to interview grandpa on the porch.
|
| They came through the gate and across the lawn
|
| knocking down Edith’s Tiki Torch.
|
| And grandpa saw them there,
|
| looking through the venetian blind.
|
| «Those people don’t have any respect,
|
| so they won’t get any of mine.»
|
| «I don’t wanna talk about Jed.
|
| I don’t watch channel 2 or 6 or 9.
|
| I don’t have time to talk that fast,
|
| and it ain’t my crime.»
|
| «It ain’t a privilege to be on TV
|
| and it ain’t a duty either.
|
| The only good thing about TV
|
| is shows like 'Leave it to Beaver.'»
|
| «'Shows with love and affection',
|
| like mama used to say.
|
| A little Mayberry living
|
| could go a long way.»
|
| He took Earl’s shotgun down from the closet,
|
| loaded up both barrels.
|
| Walked out on the porch and fired 'm off,
|
| and up walked a woman named Carol.
|
| «Susan Carol from Early Magazine,
|
| I got some questions to ask.»
|
| «Well you can stick 'm where the sun don’t shine!»
|
| grandpa said with a gasp.
|
| Then he fell face first and let out a sigh,
|
| and Edith ran out in shock.
|
| He was looking at her from down on the floor,
|
| Grandpa looked like he was trying to talk.
|
| «That guy just keeps singin'!
|
| Can somebody shut him up?
|
| I don’t know for the life of me where he comes up with that stuff.»
|
| They laid his head on a newspaper
|
| with a picture of Carmichael on the front page,
|
| posing with the little league baseball team,
|
| and a seedy shot of Jed on a motorcycle.
|
| Grandpa died a hero.
|
| Trying to stop the media.
|
| Fighting for freedom of silence.
|
| Trying to be anonymous.
|
| Share your loving and you live so long.
|
| Share your loving and you live so long.
|
| Share your loving and you live so long.
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| Live so long. |