It had never occurred to me before that ENNIS'S original statement, ("I was") was itself peculiar, but of course it was. Perhaps he thought, incorrectly, that his parents being dead made the "was' appropriate, or perhaps he was trying to include mor inofrmation in the sentence than the words would bear. I think when he says, "Friend, that's more words than I've spoke in a year," he was p[robably telling the truth. His use of language improves considerably after more exposure to Jack. i.e.: "Fuck Aguirre? Whart if we have to work for him again, huh? We gotta stick this out, Jack." The more at ease he becomes with Jack, the better he speaks. The mroe at ease with someone you are,m the more you speak; the more you speak, the better you speak.
Huh?