The Life of Me: An AutobiographyJohnson, Clarence Edgar
History
The Life of Me: An Autobiography
Johnson, Clarence Edgar
Fisher County (Tex.) -- Biography; Fisher County (Tex.) -- History; Johnson family; Johnson, Clarence Edgar, 1906-1994
So one day Mama asked me why I didn't go on out with the other
boys. She said, "There must be something wrong with you. You
just can't get along with your brothers." Well, I got out all
right as she suggested, and I found them out in the freight
warehouse, drinking beer and shooting dice. If I'd had a dollar,
I guess I might have been out shooting golf with Papa. But all I
had was 18 cents, so I asked if I could get in their game.
They let me in and I soon had $1.50. I decided this game was
more interesting than I had thought. At this rate thought I
might really learn to like it. Then after playing quite awhile
they planned to stop the game at a certain time, and since I was
not "hooked" on the game as yet, I began trying to lose back down
to my original 18 cents.
But I wasn't that lucky. I kept winning now and then and when
the game ended, I still had 98 cents. I took my 18 cents and
left the 80 cents lying there. I told them I was only playing
for fun, it was their money. But they said they were playing for
keeps and didn't take it.
Later that day some of the smaller grandkids were playing in the
warehouse and took the 80 pennies into the house and showed them
to their Grandma.
Meanwhile, my brothers had gone some place in their cars and I
went back in the house. Mama was afraid the little ones had
gotten into Earl's desk out in the warehouse and had taken his
money. She asked me if I knew about the money. I told her,
"Yes, I won it in a crap game with my brothers, and I tried to
give it back but they left it on the loading dock."
Mama asked, "Is that what they do on Sunday afternoons?"
I told her, "Yes, that and drink beer."
She was horrified as she asked, "Why haven't you told me this
before?"
I told her, "Because you never asked me before.'
She said, "Well, don't you ever do that again."
I said, "Okay, I won't unless you tell me to again."
I often wondered if some of my brothers sort of hated me because
I wouldn't drink and gamble with them. It wasn't that I thought
I was too good to do those things. I just didn't enjoy doing
them and didn't want to. I didn't hate them for doing what they
did, so why should they cast me out for not joining them?
A little note here, Joel was working in Stamford in a drygoods
store in those days. He wasn't included with us in these
gambling and drinking affairs. Now, I only gambled one time and
I didn't drink their beer. I tried it one time and couldn't
stand the stuff. I was sick with influenza and they told me it
would be good for me. I took two swallows and decided to leave
off drinking and keep the flu.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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