This story is circuit 1910-1915 probably somewhere closer to 1915, it is a story told by one of my familiy members about another one of my family members I've changed all the names, this is actually one of my favorite stories. Really I shouldn't be the one to write the book, Mom should, I think when she gets done w/this next term on council that should be her next profession.
The widuh (okay so we all like Faulkner books just pronounce it the way it is spelled this was 1915 Oklahoma if you were widowed you were probably a widuh) Jenkings lived in a big house on the corner, the only corner in the community. The house was falling down, needed to be white washed, and the cudzoo had long ago taken over the chimney. She was a woman of only 45 but hard work, and the birthing and raising of 9 youngins (again think Faulkner here) had taken its tole on her and she looked closer to 65. She always had on a worn out cotton dress with small flowers on it, that was always dirty from a hard days labor, her hair was always greasy and in a bun. She had 9 children and every single one of them was the spawn of the devil, she often wondered if her old man hadn't been Satan himself, the good Lord knew he was worthless most of his life but the children they had produced were pure evil. Several of her sons often stuck safety pins threw their forearms to show how tuff they were. Another one pierced his own ear and then sat on a horse and attached safety pins to ear piercing so that they touched the ground then slapped the horse and it ran off at a gallop taking with it part of his ear, the horse stepped on the safety pins. One of her sons bit a bulldog on the nose, because he didn't like the dog, and another one bit off the other one's ear during the course of a fight. The widuh though made all of her children attend school. They attended school in a one room school house. It was a wooden structure, with pine floors and a tin roof. the good lady school mistress Miss Sterling was a very neat and tidy lady who thought it was her Christian duty to educate the the children of the under privileged, she was a beliver in the social gospel and the gospel of Jesus Christ and was going to promote both before she went on to glory. Miss Sterling was also as ugly as a mud fence. She had, had a weight problem but due to a diet of only green beans, and an admission that she was a glutton and the Lord does not love a glutton she had lost several pounds of weight, unfortunately loosing weight means excess skin and on her arms she had what can only be described as chicken wings. She had large amounts of skin hanging down from her upper arms so that they looked like chicken wings. Tommy Jenkings, the widuh Jenkings's youngest was in school at this little one room school house, out of all the widuh's children Tommy was by far the meanest, he was the one who would later grow up to bite off his brother's ear. Tommy was also prone to hive hissy fits, if you don't know what a hissy fit is it is somewhere in between a conniption fit and a temper tantrum. One particular morning Miss Sterling was reading the class their Bible verses for the day, no separation of church and state for Miss Sterling, and she called on Tommy to recite. Tommy hated reciting, well to be fair Tommy hated doing most anything that involved school he didn't need any learnin'. Tommy started to throw a hissy fit and refused to speak, in the process Miss Sterling decided that she would get her yard stick and just give him a good smack, to sparing of the rod to spoil the child for Miss Sterling either she believed in very stern discipline. She went over to her desk got her yard stick and was about to bring it down to rap on young Tommy's hands when Tommy decided that he would bite her chicken wing. Tommy, being much shorter at the age of 7 than Miss Sterling, dodged her hitting him, lept from his chair and bit into her chicken wing arm. Now Tommy was rather serious about his biting, when he bit someone he was in it for the long haul, all or nothing he was not about to let go, that was how he later bit off his brother's ear. You then have the shocked and scream Miss Sterling trying to pry off young Tommy but for the life of her she can't get him off. The other children are laughing hysterically, they weren't exactly fans of Miss Sterling either. This goes on for several minutes before Miss Sterling comes to the conclusion that Tommy is going to bite her chicken wing off if she doesn't get help, he just simply will not let go. Miss Sterling spies little Frank Blount in the back of the room. Frank was only 5 and not really old enough to be in school but Miss Sterling let him come to school because his older sister Madge was such a good student and their mother needed to be working on the farm. Frank was a fast little child he could out run any kid double his age so she sent Frank across the hay meadow to Aunt Florence Jenkings house. Aunt Florence would have been Tommy's aunt and she was as mean as a snake, kind of like the rest of her family she also was a widuh but she had no children. So off little Frank ran just as fast as his little legs would carry him, he returned back double quick with Aunt Florence who brought a poker to beat Tommy with. After several beatings with the poker Tommy finally let go, but it was to late for Miss Sterlings chicken wing, when he let go he took about half of the skin of her chicken wing with him. Miss Sterling had to be taken to Doc Henson to be sewed up, she then later left the community out of embarrassment, that and the fact that the children taunted her because she had one arm with hanging arm skin and one without and joked that Tommy really in actuality did her a favor.
The widuh (okay so we all like Faulkner books just pronounce it the way it is spelled this was 1915 Oklahoma if you were widowed you were probably a widuh) Jenkings lived in a big house on the corner, the only corner in the community. The house was falling down, needed to be white washed, and the cudzoo had long ago taken over the chimney. She was a woman of only 45 but hard work, and the birthing and raising of 9 youngins (again think Faulkner here) had taken its tole on her and she looked closer to 65. She always had on a worn out cotton dress with small flowers on it, that was always dirty from a hard days labor, her hair was always greasy and in a bun. She had 9 children and every single one of them was the spawn of the devil, she often wondered if her old man hadn't been Satan himself, the good Lord knew he was worthless most of his life but the children they had produced were pure evil. Several of her sons often stuck safety pins threw their forearms to show how tuff they were. Another one pierced his own ear and then sat on a horse and attached safety pins to ear piercing so that they touched the ground then slapped the horse and it ran off at a gallop taking with it part of his ear, the horse stepped on the safety pins. One of her sons bit a bulldog on the nose, because he didn't like the dog, and another one bit off the other one's ear during the course of a fight. The widuh though made all of her children attend school. They attended school in a one room school house. It was a wooden structure, with pine floors and a tin roof. the good lady school mistress Miss Sterling was a very neat and tidy lady who thought it was her Christian duty to educate the the children of the under privileged, she was a beliver in the social gospel and the gospel of Jesus Christ and was going to promote both before she went on to glory. Miss Sterling was also as ugly as a mud fence. She had, had a weight problem but due to a diet of only green beans, and an admission that she was a glutton and the Lord does not love a glutton she had lost several pounds of weight, unfortunately loosing weight means excess skin and on her arms she had what can only be described as chicken wings. She had large amounts of skin hanging down from her upper arms so that they looked like chicken wings. Tommy Jenkings, the widuh Jenkings's youngest was in school at this little one room school house, out of all the widuh's children Tommy was by far the meanest, he was the one who would later grow up to bite off his brother's ear. Tommy was also prone to hive hissy fits, if you don't know what a hissy fit is it is somewhere in between a conniption fit and a temper tantrum. One particular morning Miss Sterling was reading the class their Bible verses for the day, no separation of church and state for Miss Sterling, and she called on Tommy to recite. Tommy hated reciting, well to be fair Tommy hated doing most anything that involved school he didn't need any learnin'. Tommy started to throw a hissy fit and refused to speak, in the process Miss Sterling decided that she would get her yard stick and just give him a good smack, to sparing of the rod to spoil the child for Miss Sterling either she believed in very stern discipline. She went over to her desk got her yard stick and was about to bring it down to rap on young Tommy's hands when Tommy decided that he would bite her chicken wing. Tommy, being much shorter at the age of 7 than Miss Sterling, dodged her hitting him, lept from his chair and bit into her chicken wing arm. Now Tommy was rather serious about his biting, when he bit someone he was in it for the long haul, all or nothing he was not about to let go, that was how he later bit off his brother's ear. You then have the shocked and scream Miss Sterling trying to pry off young Tommy but for the life of her she can't get him off. The other children are laughing hysterically, they weren't exactly fans of Miss Sterling either. This goes on for several minutes before Miss Sterling comes to the conclusion that Tommy is going to bite her chicken wing off if she doesn't get help, he just simply will not let go. Miss Sterling spies little Frank Blount in the back of the room. Frank was only 5 and not really old enough to be in school but Miss Sterling let him come to school because his older sister Madge was such a good student and their mother needed to be working on the farm. Frank was a fast little child he could out run any kid double his age so she sent Frank across the hay meadow to Aunt Florence Jenkings house. Aunt Florence would have been Tommy's aunt and she was as mean as a snake, kind of like the rest of her family she also was a widuh but she had no children. So off little Frank ran just as fast as his little legs would carry him, he returned back double quick with Aunt Florence who brought a poker to beat Tommy with. After several beatings with the poker Tommy finally let go, but it was to late for Miss Sterlings chicken wing, when he let go he took about half of the skin of her chicken wing with him. Miss Sterling had to be taken to Doc Henson to be sewed up, she then later left the community out of embarrassment, that and the fact that the children taunted her because she had one arm with hanging arm skin and one without and joked that Tommy really in actuality did her a favor.
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