There weren’t many people on the street that late at night, almost nine o’clock, but practically everybody that was up asked me if I was going fishing. I said, why, no, I wasn’t, and where did they ever get an idea like that?

“Well, how come you’re carryin’ a fish pole and line, then?” this one fella said. “How come you’re doin’ that if you ain’t goin’ fishin’.”

“Oh, I got that to scratch my butt with,” I said. “Just in case I’m up a tree somewheres, an’ I can’t reach myself from the ground.”

“But, looky here now—” He hesitated, frowning. “That don’t make no sense.”

“How come it don’t?” I said. “Why, practically everyone I know does the same thing. You mean to say you never took a fishing pole with you to scratch your butt with, in case you was up a tree an’ couldn’t reach yourself from the ground? Why, god-dang it, ain’t you behind the times!”

He said, well, sure, he always did the same thing himself. Fact is, he was the first fella to think of the idea. “All I meant was that you shouldn’t have no hook an’ line on it. I mean, that part don’t make sense.”

“Why, shore it does,” I said. “That’s to pull up the back-flap of your drawers after you’re through scratchin’. God-dang,” I said, “it looks to me like you’re really behind the times, fella. You don’t watch out, the world will plumb pass you by before you know it!”

He scuffed his feet, looking ashamed of himself. I went on down the street toward the river.

I told one fella that, no, I wasn’t going fishing, I was going to fasten on to a sky-hook and swing myself t’ the other side of the river. I told another fella that, no, I wasn’t going fishing, the county was putting a bounty on flying turds and I was going to try to hook onto some, in case they cleaned out the crappers when the train went by. I told another fella—

Well, never mind. It don’t make no more difference than it made sense.

I got to the river. I waited a while, and then I began moving up the bank until I was about on a line with Amy Mason’s house. Then, I started cutting back toward town again, dodging any house with lights in it and taking cover whenever I could. And finally I got to where I was going.

Amy let me in the back door. It was dark, and she took my hand and led me back to the bedroom. She flung off her nightgown there, grabbed me and held me for a minute, her lips moving over my face. She began to whisper, wild crazy things, sweet wild crazy things. And her hands fumbled with my clothes, and I thought to myself, god~danged, there just never was no one like Amy! There just ain’t no one like her! And

And I was right.