Beneath the Honeysuckle Vine (29 page)

“
Well, me and this other feller,
”
Johnny continued,
“
one day we just plum got irritated with the graybacks
,
angry about
’
em gnawing on us all the time
.
I thought I couldn
’
t endure another day of them eatin
’
me
,
so I got myself up and went over to the fire near where the guards were standin
’
.
I asked for a piece of wood…a stick they
’
d had layin
’
in the fire.
They asked me why I wanted it.
I told
’
em I was sick of the lice and meant to burn
’
em off me.
They thought I
’
d gone mad, of course
,
but gave me the smolderin
’
stick anyway.
It was glowin
’
hot on the fire end
—
red and
orange—
and I couldn
’
t wait to give it a try.
I
’
d seen another feller burnin
’
off lice once.
But he died pretty quick after doin
’
it
,
so I hadn
’
t really thought of tryin
’
it myself…until that day.
So I stripped off my clothes then and there and started burnin
’
those little sons of…started burnin
’
those graybacks off.
I guess I fussed
’
em up a bit
’
cause the ones I burned bit me so hard
that I still ain
’
t sure if it was the bites that scarred me
or the hot stick.
”
Again he ran his hand over the scars.
“
Most others I picked off never scarred like this…so I
’
m guessin
’
it was the fire stick.
”

“
Maybe it was both…the bitin
’
and the fire,
”
Nate suggested.

Johnny shrugged.
“
Maybe.
But
that
’
s why me and Justin shaved our heads and everything else before we came home.
We didn
’
t want to bring the graybacks here to chew on all of you.
”

“
What do ya mean by sayin
’
ya shaved everything else, Johnny?
”
Willy asked.
“
What could a body shave besides his head?
”

Johnny glanced to Vivianna.
She felt an amused smile spread across her face when she realized Johnny Tabor was blushing—truly blushing!
His cheeks were near as rosy as a radish!
Oh, it was a gruesome story—a horrible realization
that lice could so infest a person as to offer shaving every hair as the only chance to rid a body of the bugs and their nits.
Still, she could sense Johnny was entirely embarrassed—embarrassed at having mentioned something so deeply personal in front of a lady.
She liked him for it—liked him more than she had even a moment before.

Nate shook his head and whined,
“
Willy Turner!
Sometimes you
’
re just plum ignorant.
You got hair on your arms and legs
,
don
’
t ya?
”
Nate shook his head again.
“
Boy, sometimes I don
’
t think ya have a brain in your head.
”

“
Well, I ain
’
t as ignorant as ya think, Nate!
”
Willy argued.
“
I ain
’
t blind neither!
Justin
’
s chest is all hairy like Caleb
’
s now
,
but when he come home
,
it was all smooth and shiny like a little baby
’
s bottom…just like your chest is now, Nate!
”

“
You hush, Willy Turner!
”
Nate growled.
“
I
’
ll sprout me some hair on my chest long before you…so hush!
”

“
Well, I don
’
t want no hair on my chest,
”
Willy began,
“
least
wise not so much like Caleb and Justin.
”
Willy nodded toward Johnny.
“
I just want me enough to look manly…like Johnny here.
”

Vivianna again glanced to Johnny and giggled when she saw the lingering red on his cheeks.
He was completely humiliated—so red with blushing
,
so uncomfortable with the course of the conversation (being that a lady was present) that she indeed wondered if he could endure it
.
It was delightful—his blushing
,
his sudden awareness that he wore no shirt.

“
Besides,
”
Willy added,
“
if I ever get lice…then if my chest ain
’
t as hairy, I won
’
t have to worry as much…right, Johnny?
”

“
Oh, they gnaw on ya whether or not ya
’
ve got hair on your chest, Willy,
”
Johnny said.
He wouldn
’
t look at Vivianna
,
and she could tell he was still bashful.
This continued to thoroughly intrigue her.
Suddenly, big, mean Johnny Tabor didn
’
t seem quite so intimidating.

He smiled at Willy then and said,
“
They
’
re vermin
,
that
’
s for certain.
Still, they
’
re fun to race…if ya ain
’
t got anythin
’
else to entertain ya.
”

“
Race?
”
Nate exclaimed.

“
Yep,
”
Johnny chuckled.
“
We
’
d just get us a mess plate
,
line two or three graybacks up on it
,
and let
’
em go.
I found a pretty quick ol
’
lice bug in my belly button once
,
and he was fast!
I won a peach and a piece of soap with him.
”

“
How fast, Johnny?
”
Willy asked.

“
Fast enough to win me a peach and a piece of soap,
”
Johnny chuckled.
He sighed.
“
But then…then he lost, and I had to eat him.
”

“
Eat him?
”
Nate, Willy
,
and Vivianna asked in unison.

“
Yep,
”
Johnny said.
“
That was the rule.
If you lost a race…ya had to eat the little feller ya were racin
’
with.
”

All at once, the pure horror of what Johnny was saying overwhelmed Vivianna
’
s mind.
Like a sudden illness, it wove through her body—constricted her stomach.
She held her breath—tried to remain calm as she looked at the scars on Johnny
’
s arm—scars caused from burning off body lice the size of wheat kernels.
There should be no amusement in thinking of men enduring such torture.
And what good could come from telling the young Turner boys about it?
Suddenly, Johnny
’
s blushing of a minute before did nothing to keep the horrid thoughts of war, prison
,
and misery from Vivianna
’
s consciousness.

“
That
’
s terrible!
”
she exclaimed.
Shaking her head in an abrupt emotional altering, she scolded,
“
Johnny!
Racing lice?
They were near eatin
’
ya alive!
”

Johnny
’
s smile faded.
“
Well, there wasn
’
t really a whole lot else to do, Miss Vivianna.
”

“
Oh, he
’
s just teasin
’
us, Viv,
”
Willy said.
“
Don
’
t worry.
I
’
m sure it ain
’
t true.
”
The boy reached out and squeezed Vivianna
’
s arm with loving reassurance.

“
It is true,
”
Nate said.
“
I heard Justin tellin
’
Caleb about it not a week ago.
He said the lice were always swarmin
’
,
everywhere…all over the camp, in soldier
’
s clothes…on their bodies…
”

Vivianna felt tears brimming in her eyes.
It was awful!
So horrible!
How could Johnny sit
and tell
Nate and Willy such horrid things?
How could she have listened so long without feeling the depth of their misery?

“
Nate!
Viv
’
s gonna get upset
.
I was just tryin
’
to soothe her a bit,
”
Willy whispered loudly.

Vivianna reached out, running her hand over the cluster of scars on Johnny
’
s arm.
She shook her head as the tears escaped her eyes, rolling down her cheeks.

“
Now ya done it, Johnny!
”
Willy scolded, shaking his head with disgust.
“
Ya went and got Viv all to bawlin
’
.
I can
’
t stand to see Viv cry
.
I can
’
t stand it.
”

“
I
’
m sorry, Vivianna,
”
Johnny said.
“
I
’
m…I shouldn
’
t have told such things in front of a lady and…
”

But Vivianna was already too overcome with
sy
mpathetic pain to stop her tears now.
She thought it odd in that moment—odd that she
’
d spent so many days worrying over why her emotions seemed numb
. Y
et here they were
,
violent in their rapid
sy
mpathy.

“
It
’
s not your fault, Johnny,
”
she told him.
“
I just…I just can
’
t think on
it
.
I can
’
t think on you and Justin…I can
’
t think on anybody bein
’
so miserable.
”

“
But he
’
s fine now, Viv,
”
Nate soothed.
“
Look…look at the muscles he
’
s sproutin
’
lately.
”

“
Vivianna,
”
Johnny began.
He leaned forward
,
placing a hand on her knee
,
with such an expression of guilt on his handsome face it made her feel all the worse.
She
’
d added to his discomfort
by scolding him for sharing the stories of the
h
ell in
Andersonville
—stories that she well knew should be told
. S
he
’
d heaped even more pain on him.