JACK'S PANTS -
%% No, NO! NO-O-O!!! Dang it, I don't think I can take this. I've been in this here closet for I don't know how many years now, and the only time I stir is when Ma Twist comes up here once a month, like clockwork. I can see her dustin' and sweepin' Jack's room, even though it don't need it. She even washes the window, then opens it up and sits there, staring out for a good long while, sometimes with tears comin' down, sometimes with a little sad smile that can just break a pants' heart. She comes over to the closet, buries her face in shirts, breathin' in the lingering scent of her son, and she just stands there.... I can only imagine the thoughts runnin' through that gal's mind. Old Man Twist ain't never been up here, never once came to this room when Jack was here, and never once after he wasn't. After Jack started spendin' time in Texas with that scrawny little filly he started gettin' a little thicker in the middle,'cause she was feedin' him all that fancy Texas barbecue stuff and he was eatin' it up, and I couldn't
button up no more. One time when he came up here to Lightnin Flat he brought me up here to stay, for good, I reckon. Told Ma he might be needin' me later, but truth was... he couldn't bear to part with me, either. He wanted me hangin' right here by the shirts, and that's where I been all this time, able to smell the faint, but powerful combined scents of those two boys.... I figgered that's how I'd live out my days here, and it didn't seem so bad, best I could do. But, now... they're leaving me! I don't think Ennis saw me, or he woulda taken me, too, I know it! He mighta even slipped me onto his legs and purty backside, and buttoned me up over that special man-part, which might make me pop a few buttons, 'cause I know
he don't wear no undershorts! Wooo-EEE, that might be more than I could handle, but I really want to try. Oh, please, Ennis, PLEASE come back and get me!%%