The Osage Rose by Tom Holm

Author:Tom Holm [Holm, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780816547210
Publisher: University of Arizona Press

11

Jailhouse John

Hoolie stood holding the Springfield’s shell in his hand and watched as three elderly Osage men finished their morning prayers. Then, he walked slowly back to the house and sat on the front-porch step. A single casing from a Springfield was not enough to bring a murderer to justice in the white man’s courts.

He sat and watched as the families began to pick up and leave. Myrtle came out and sat down on the step behind him. He turned, looked at her, and uttered a soft greeting. He dropped his eyes to the ground to conceal his astonishment and sadness at her appearance.

Myrtle had cut her long hair very short. In the back it didn’t reach the collar of her high-necked dress. Not only that, but she had streaked it with ash.

Her downcast eyes were melancholy and contemplative. She wanted to share something with Hoolie but was hesitant to speak. Her eyes filled with tears. She was moved by his concern for her and her family, and it made her very happy when he paid her special attention, but Myrtle was reluctant to explain her customs to him. No matter how much she liked him and honored his bravery, Hoolie was still a stranger. She was torn between her desire to include him and her feeling that she didn’t need to explain her actions to anyone.

Finally, forehead wrinkled in determination, Myrtle looked off into the distance and spoke gently, almost in a whisper. “We cut our hair when somebody dies. And put ash in it. It’s the old way and the good way. My mother and grandmother were gonna cut their legs with a knife, but Grandma decided that it might upset you.”

Hoolie felt as if he’d been included in something very important and intimate. When Myrtle finished, he dropped his eyes, and then said just as softly, “I understand. We have certain things we have to do when our people pass on. You don’t have to explain anything to me if you don’t want to.”

She tilted her head to one side, “I’m glad you know about these things.”

Abruptly she stood up. As she opened the screen door, she said under her breath, “You’re a good man, Hoolie Smith.”

Not looking back or acknowledging that he had heard her, Hoolie smiled to himself.

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