“No, wait. You have to see it. It’s their nature, Dee. This is nature. This is what really happens.” He stood there in the firelight, perfectly at ease. Junior and Winston stood on either side of him, two scrubby little terriers. Charles William was only nineteen years old but somehow he had power over these grown men. Not just his father’s money either or because he was the late boss’s son. He had some other kind of power, some self-assurance or will that made him safe even in this primitive unsafe place. Because of that I held on to his sleeve and let him make me stay. “Okay,” I said. “But just one fight. Then we’re leaving.” The cocks were circling again. Then they flew into each other and blood flew out in all directions. It splattered all over Charles William’s white shirt and on my hand. Before I could scream the birds were at our feet and blood was all over me. “Oh, goddammit,” I screamed. “Goddammit all to hell. Oh, no, not this.” I turned and ran toward the store, wiping blood from my face with my hand. Charles William came after me. “Come back, Dee,” he called. “Come let me help you.”

“You better take me home this minute,” I screamed. “Come and take me home. YOU TAKE ME HOME THIS MINUTE. I HAVE TO GO HOME THIS VERY SECOND, DO YOU HEAR?”

He caught up with me. “Okay, Dee, calm down. It’s okay. I’m sorry about the blood. We shouldn’t have been so close. Come here. It’s okay. Everything’s okay. You want anything from the store before we leave?”

“No. I want to go to the bathroom but not in there. We might get lice or something. Just get me in the car and get me out of here.”

“Well, let’s go in and get some paper towels and wipe off the blood so we won’t ruin Momma’s car. Do you mind waiting that long? Can I go in the store?”

“Sure. Go on. It’s okay. No, wait a minute, I’ll go with you. I don’t want to be alone.”

The crowd on the porch had thinned. There were only three men left and only the bartender was in the store. We got two plain Cokes and another bag of potato chips and took some paper towels and wiped off the blood as well as we could.

“The bathroom’s right there,” Charles William said. “Go on in. You won’t catch anything, Dee. Go on. Don’t be miserable.”