This Story begins when I was almost 14 and had just met a backwoods country boy that my mom was dating.
He loved the woods, the river, and being outside with all of the time he could. For privacy sake we can call him Wayne.
(Below: Big black river, and one of the cooler bridges)
(Note: Not the same one mentioned)
Wayne grew up in Mississippi in the backwoods of central Attala County. He was a well known honest person in the community and he grew up on a farm with his parents.
When you look at the way they lived it really wasn't much. His parents had built their house with their own 2 hands, they planted their gardens with hoes and trowels. There was a lot of work in their life but for the most part the work they did was simple. Waking early to the rooster crow and feeding the chickens was usually how the mornings went for Wayne. His mother would call him inside to eat breakfast as he was finishing up milking the cow. This was routine because it gave the table fresh milk and the eggs would be used for the next day's breakfast. There was always a lot to do on the farm with the crops, animals, and other chores. Whatever could be found to be done before the sun started to go down.
Ahh, sunset. That was always the best part of the day. It was when we would run down the dusty path to the rushing cool waters of the Big Black River. Our favorite spot was by the Train trussel going over the river. The supports from the trussell caused the current to pile up a lot of sand and since the logs piled up behind the supports as well it made a DEEP pool on one side and a dam on the other. It was weird how the water went under the dam instead of over it. It made sand gush up from the bottom and caused a wash out to be made deep under the bridge. This was always the best place to dare the 60 foot drop into the gushing waters. Mother always hated when we talked about jumping but it was so much fun. That was until Tommy jumped for the last time....
Tommy always had a knack for getting everyone else in trouble while he somehow managed to escape any punishment.... well punishment from the adults that is. Today was no different with him running to the jumping point ahead of everyone. As we reached the edge of the river we heard his warrior cry and watched his flailing arms fly through the air! We cheered as he plunged into the water. As we dropped out towels and snacks on the sandy shore we jumped into the water only to realize that Tommy had not come up. The trickster that he was we first took it as a joke but then he surfaced as a bobbing form in the water. It was I who spotted him and dove to pull him from the water. His father got to him in time to carry his limp body back to the house and rush him to the Emergency Room. With 2 broken legs, 3 broken ribs, and a punctured lung. Tommy survived his wrestle with a submerged log. That would be the last of our adventures to the river that summer... and in the following seasons life would drastically change as we knew it.
The Adults banded together and blocked off the road to the river. The trussell was destroyed eventually bringing down the barred roads as well. It was to late though... we were already older and moved on. No more playing at the river for the gang we once had. To tell the truth it was a pivoting point in the friendships that formed over the summers. Moving on to bigger things in an adult world it humors me to think back on suck memories.
Now all that remains of those memories are the above words and pictures.
