Authors: Barry Gifford
Wyoming
Copyright © 2000, 2011 by Barry Gifford
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Line drawings by Barry Gifford
Portions of this book appeared, in a different form, in the magazine Speak, San Francisco, edited by Dan Rolleri.
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10 9876543 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN: 978-1-61145-613-4
Contents
K.C. So Far (Seconds/Alternate Take)
Cobratown
W
E’RE REALLY FINE
when we’re together, aren’t we? I mean, when it’s just the two of us.”
“Uh-huh. How long till we get to the reptile farm?”
“Oh, less than an hour, I think,”
“Will they have a giant king cobra, like on the sign?”
“I’m sure they will, sweetheart/’
“I hope it’s not asleep when we get there. Mom, do cobras sleep?”
“Of course, snakes have to sleep just like people. At least I think they do.”
“Do they think?”
“Who, baby?”
“Snakes. Do they have a brain?”
“Yes. They think about food, mostly. What they’re going to eat next in order to survive.”
“They only think about eating?”
“That’s the main thing. And finding a warm, safe place to sleep.”
“Some snakes live in trees, on the branches. That can’t be so safe. Birds can get them.”
“They wait on the limbs for prey, some smaller creature to come along and the snake can snatch it up, or drop on it and wrap itself around and squeeze it to death or until it passes out from not having enough air to breathe. Then the snake crushes it and devours it.”
“You’re a good driver, aren’t you. Mom? You like to drive.”
“I’m a very good driver, Roy. I like to drive when we go on long trips together.”
“How far is it from Key West to Mississippi?”
“Well, to Jackson, where we’re going, it’s a pretty long way. Several hundred miles. We go north through Florida, then across Alabama to Mississippi and up to Jackson, which is about in the middle of the state.”
“Will Dad be there?”
“No, honey. Your dad is in Chicago. At least I think he is. He could be away somewhere on business.”
“Who are we going to see in Mississippi?”
“A good friend of Mommy’s. A man named Bert.”
“Why is Bert in Mississippi?”
“That’s where he lives, baby. He owns a hotel in Jackson.”
“What’s the name of the hotel?”
“The Prince Rupert. “
“Is it like the Casa Azul?”
“I think Bert’s hotel is bigger.”
“You’ve never seen it?”
“No, only a photo of it on a postcard that Bert sent.”
“How old is Bert?”.
“I’m not sure. I guess about forty.”
“How old is Dad?”
“Forty-three. He’ll be forty-four next month, on the tenth of April”
“Will he invite me to his birthday party?”
“I don’t know if your dad will have a birthday party, Roy, but I’m sure he would invite you if he did.”
“Some dinosaurs had two brains, Mom, do you know that?”
“Two brains?”
“Yeah, there’s a picture in my dinosaur book that Dad sent me that shows how the really big ones had a regular-size brain in their head and a small one in their tail The really big ones. It’s because it was so far from their head to their tail there was too much for only one brain to think about, so God gave them two.”
“Who told you God gave dinosaurs two brains?”
“Nanny.”
“Your grandmother doesn’t know anything about dinosaurs,”
“What about Bert?”
“What about him?”
“Do you think he knows about dinosaurs?”
“You’ll have to ask him, baby. I don’t really know what Bert knows about.”
“You said he was your friend.”
“Yes, he is.”
“Why don’t I know him?”
“He’s kind of a new friend. That’s why I’m taking you to Jackson, to meet Bert, so he can be your friend, too.”
“Is Bert a friend of Dad’s?”
“No baby. Dad doesn’t know Bert.”
“How far now to the reptile farm?”
“We’re pretty close. The last sign said twenty-six miles. I can’t go too fast on this road,”
“I like this car, Mom. I like that it’s blue and white, like the sky, except now there’s dark clouds.”
“It’s called a Holiday.”
“We’re on a holiday now, right?”
“Yes, Roy, it’s a kind of holiday. Just taking a little trip, the two of us.”
“We’re pals, huh?”
“We sure are, baby. You’re my best pah”
“Better than Bert?”
“Yes, darling, better than anyone else. You’ll always be my favorite boy.”
“Look, Mom! We must be really close now.”
“The sign said, “Ten minutes to Cobratown.’“
“If it rains hard, will the snakes stay inside?”
“It’s only raining a little, Roy. They’ll be out. They’ll all be out, baby, don’t worry. There’ll be cobras crawling all over Cobratown, just for us. You’ll see.”
