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BUTTERFLY
BOOTS
J. Willson & B. A. Pierce o She sat on the curb
at years of six in front of her house
waiting for daddy
to come home
from work
in the oilfields It had rained that
afternoon
an occurrence
rare
in
deep South Texas where the red sand
drifted
to the tops of fence posts during the worst of
droughts She sat on the curb
bare feet in water
rushing
down
the edge
of the street There were bold initials
in the curb
mother
said
they were built
in the 1930's during the Great
Depression
when
the government tried
to provide jobs Odd
she thought
grown men
had once
been
putting in concrete curbs
just
to have something to do She knew nothing
about
bread lines
men riding railroad cars
from town to town
searching only to be told
"Don't stop here!"
"No jobs here!"
"Keep riding!" But mother knew "Daddy
worked all day for a quarter and was glad to get it"
she
was often told Daddy had a good job now
working
for an oil company
the Great Depression
long
over Oh she
loved her daddy dearly
and was waiting for him to come home to show him the hail
that had fallen
as
big as baseballs Her big brother out in
the yard
was picking them up
hitting them
across
the street
to a neighbor boy Whack went the bat
Whack!
Whack!
Whack! Just then
Daddy arrived
darkly Texas browned
a strong man
a giant to her wearing the most
beautiful pair of boots
yellow boots a big butterfly
outlined
in black
on each boot
colored
dots
in the middle
of the wings Yellow was her favorite
color
she loved butterflies She thought her daddy's
boots magnificent
too young to know most would have thought
them gaudy
perhaps even
tacky They belonged to Daddy
they were perfect
just as he Probably every man in
South Texas
owned
at least one pair
of 'Sunday go to meeting'
boots But Daddy was the only
perfect man in town
the
only one with gloriously
perfect
yellow butterfly boots He always changed into
town clothes when coming home leaving his oilfield
clothes
heavy steel-toed
boots
hard hat
in the little shed that housed a shower and
changing room
out on the lease Daddy always took a
shower
put on
town clothes
butterfly boots and a cowboy hat
He
wasn't a cowboy
but on him
at a rakish angle
it fit Daddy scooped her up in
big arms
"How's my 'favorite girl' today?" "Oh Daddy!"
giggling
"Put me down!"
"Put me down!" "Not until you give
me some sugar!"
rubbing his rough face across her soft skin She struggled and kicked
"Daddy!"
"Daddy!"
"Your
mustache tickles!" He laughed
and put her down
but not until he had twirled her
around in the air a few times She squealed with
delight Then Daddy looked at her
giant hailstones
pitched a few to his son turned around
winked at his youngest daughter
and walked into the house to greet Mother The last things the
young girl saw
as he walked into the house were his cowboy hat
tilted
at a rakish angle and his magnificent
majestic
glorious
yellow
butterfly boots Every bit as dashing as
Clark Gable
for the rest of her life
no man
ever quite filled those boots
The day he died
years
later she opened his closet
and saw
the
yellow
butterfly boots She cried her heart out
for the man who had always worked so
hard
for his family
had laughed
played and always asked
for
some sugar
from his 'favorite girl'
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