BOOK THREE
1931ā1933
1
Ruby was painting their new name on the mailbox when she saw a policeman pull in the driveway across the street from them. The sight unnerved her, but she went on painting the name on the mailbox anyway. After much discussion, Ruby and Charley had decided to call themselves the Hamiltons. They even told Dempsey that he had to remember his new name.
āOkay,ā Dempsey said. Both his parents looked solemn when they made the request, so solemn that he felt he shouldnāt ask why his name had to be Hamilton when they moved into their new house. Dempsey didnāt really care what his name was. He had a room of his own, and it was upstairs, and there was a swing in the back yard, and his father had promised to take him fishing in the river.
The policeman noticed Ruby painting the name on the mailboxāshe smiled at him; he tipped his cap to her briefly, and then went on into his house. He was a heavy man, and walked slowly, as if he were tired.
Ruby forced herself to finish painting the name on the mailbox, but the minute she got back in the house, she shot up the stairs two at a time to wake Charley. He had been putting one of their new beds together, but had lost interest and was taking a nap on the mattress.
āCharley, wake up, thereās a cop next door,ā Ruby said.
Charley had just gone to sleep. He sat up, his hair tousled, and tried to collect his wits.
āNext door which way?ā he asked, wondering if he had managed to get a pistol up to the second floor. He and Ruby had put Dempsey in his new school, and then spent a whole day buying furniture, and kitchen stuff, and whatnot. The whole two-story house was filled with beds and couches and lamps and frying pans and rugs and curtains, most of the stuff not yet fully unpacked. Charley had gotten a big kick out of seeing how happy Ruby looked while they were buying the furniture, but he got far less of a kick out of unpacking it and arranging it. He had several guns with him, but he had no idea where they wereāstill in the car, probably, and the cops were next door.
āNot next door, across the street,ā Ruby corrected. āIt scared me so bad I got mixed up.ā
āHow many are they?ā Charley asked, digging in a box of soap and washrags, hoping he might have stuck a pistol in it for some reason.
āHow many what?ā Ruby asked, confused.
āHow many cops are next door? Get a grip,ā Charley said.
āYou get a grip, you aināt even got your shirt on,ā Ruby said. It always ticked her off when Charley told her to calm down. The least little upset, and he acted like she was a raving maniac.
āHow many cops are next door?ā he demanded. āYou started this conversation, what do you think itās about?ā
āDonāt yell at me,ā Ruby said. āThereās just one cop, and heās across the street. I think he may live there.ā
Charley sighed, and then he flopped back onto the mattress.
āWhyād you wake me up, then, if thatās all the news?ā Charley asked. But he wasnāt really mad. He was barefoot, and he stuck his foot up under her skirt, and tried to feel her with his toes.
āDonāt do that!ā Ruby said, jumping back. āYour feet smell. What are we gonna do about the policeman?ā
āNothinā,ā Charley said. āCops have to live somewhere. Thereās no law saying a cop canāt live across the street from a bandit.ā
āBut what if he recognizes you?ā Ruby said. āHe might see a poster or something.ā
Charley just yawned. āAcross the street from a cop is probably the safest place to live,ā Charley said. āItās the last place anybody would expect to find me.ā
Ruby wasnāt satisfied. āI still think we oughta move,ā she said. āIāll be a nervous wreck in a week, wondering when heās gonna recognize you.ā
āYouād worry on a clear day with the doors locked,ā Charley said, reaching for her with his hand this time. Ruby eluded him, and began to unpack the soap.
āIf the doors were locked and you were on the inside, Iād have plenty to worry about,ā she said. āGettinā pregnant, for one thing.ā
Charley had been looking cheerful and sort of sillyāhis hair was all cowlicksābut he turned gloomy the minute she made the remark about getting pregnant.
āI wish we could have another kid,ā he said. āI wish we could have five or six. Dempsey deserves some brothers and sistersāwe had āem.ā
Ruby felt melancholy, too. There was a time when they could have had five or six childrenāthey both would have enjoyed a big family, she thought. But that time was past. Charley could wake up any day and find himself bound for prison, or worse. Ruby could never watch him drive off calmly, even if he was just going to get smokesāshe could never be sure heād come back alive. There was a thousand-dollar reward posted for him already, and the bounty would only go up if he kept robbing banks, which she knew he would: it was what he did. It wasnāt a choice anymore. Charley couldnāt get a real job, like everybody elseāit was too late. She wasnāt foolish enough to think he would change, just because she and Dempsey had come to live with him.
āLetās just enjoy Dempsey, Charley,ā Ruby said, sitting on the mattress beside him. āLetās just enjoy this time together.ā
Later, Charley looked out the window and noticed the policeman changing a flat on the old police car. He immediately went downstairs, crossed the street, shook hands with the man, and helped with the jack.
āThanks, Mr. Hamilton,ā the policeman said, shaking hands again when they finished. āI aināt mechanical, changing tires is about the extent of it.ā
āCall me Charley,ā Charley told him.
2
On the day they were supposed to go fishing, Dempsey was the first one up. He quickly put on his clothes and slipped downstairs to the kitchen, just on the off chance that his mama or his daddy might be there. But they werenāt. The sun wasnāt even up; there was mist in the back yard. His daddy told him they would go out and dig worms, first thing, and they had even got an old coffee can and put some dirt in it, for the worms to live in.
But his daddy wasnāt up. Dempseyās new pole, with the line and the cork and the hook already fixed, was leaning up against the back porch. It was annoying that his parents were sleeping so late. Dempsey tiptoed back upstairs, just to make sure his daddy wasnāt shaving, or his mama brushing her teeth. His daddy wasnāt shaving, and his mama wasnāt brushing her teeth, either, so he very carefully pushed open the door to their bedroom, and peeked in.
When Dempsey peeked into the bedroom, he saw that his mother and father were still asleep, their arms around one another. The rising sun had just begun to shine through the bedroom window, covering them with light. Dempsey was a little disappointed; it was the day his daddy had promised to take him fishing, emphasizing how important it was to get up early and be at the river just as the sun was coming up.
Now the sun was up, and they werenāt even at the river yet. But his mama and daddy looked so peaceful and so happy, sleeping in the sunlight with their arms around each other, that Dempsey decided to let them sleep. Maybe they were extra tired from staying up too late or something.
He went back downstairs, and found a biscuit in the oven. The biscuit was left over from supper, but Dempsey ate it anyway. There wasnāt much else to eat. Then he found his worm can with the dirt in it on the back porch, and took it down the steps. He meant to dig for worms. There was a spade in the garage, which he carried into the back yard. To his annoyance, he discovered that the grass in the back yard was really tough grass. He wasnāt strong enough to push the spade through it. He got it through a little ways, but not deep enough to get to the worms, and when he tried to pry some dirt up, all he got was grass.
While he was struggling with the spade and the tough grass, he heard the screen on the back door slam. He looked up, and there was his daddy, with some fishing boots on and his shirt unbuttoned.
āI see an early bird, trying to be the one to get the worm,ā Charley said, taking the shovel from Dempsey.
āDaddy, weāre late,ā Dempsey pointed out. āThe sun is up already.ā
āDonāt worry about it, son,ā Charley said. āI heard on the radio that the fish are sleepinā late today. Weāll be there by the time theyāre ready for breakfast.ā
His daddy had no trouble with the grassāhe pushed the spade right through it, and the second spadeful of dirt he dug up had seven fat, squirmy worms in it. Dempsey pulled one worm apart, trying to pull it out of the dirt, but his daddy said not to worry about it, they could use both parts of the worm for bait.
At the river, two old men were already fishing, floating quietly in a little boat.
āDaddy, why donāt we have a boat?ā Dempsey asked. āIf we had a boat, we could go out where the fish live.ā
āItās just one of those things we aināt got around to yet,ā Charley said. āI expect weāll round us up a boat one of these days.ā He had brought a little .22 single-shot with him, in case Dempsey wanted to plink at turtles, or bottles, or any good target that might be floating by.
After only a few minutes of fishing, Dempseyās cork went out of sight in the brown water, and when he yanked on his pole a small, fat, shiny fish came out of the water, attached to his hook.
āItās a perch,ā his father said. āPerch are bony. Letās throw this little feller back, and see if we canāt hook a big old catfish.ā
āWhere will he go now?ā Dempsey asked, when he had pitched the little fish back in the river.
āHeāll go home and tell his ma an expert fisherman named Dempsey Floyd caught him and let him go,ā Charley said. He had forgotten the thermos of coffee he had meant to bring, and was feeling a little empty.
āDempsey Hamilton,ā Dempsey corrected. āIām not Dempsey Floyd anymore.ā
āSharp thinkinā, buddy,ā Charley said. āYouāre Dempsey Hamilton, all right.ā
āDaddy, will I ever be Dempsey Floyd again?ā Dempsey asked.
āWell, maybe,ā Charley said. He was glad Ruby wasnāt there to hear the conversation. Dempseyās confusion about their names, which Charley couldnāt blame him for, sometimes set her crying.
āI like Dempsey Floyd better,ā Dempsey confessed. āThatās the same as my Uncle Bradley and my cousins.ā
āYep, it is,ā Charley admitted. āBut they live in Oklahoma, and we live in Arkansas. Itās better to be Dempsey Hamilton while weāre over here in Arkansas.ā
Just then, Dempseyās cork went way under, and when he tried to pull the fish out of the water, nothing happened. He pulled and pulled, but it was all he could do to keep the fish from pulling him into the river.
āYou must have hooked Old Grandpa Catfish,ā Charley said. āItās gonna take both of us to get this monster to the bank.ā
He grabbed the pole, and with the two of them pulling, they did get the monster to the bank, only it wasnāt Old Grandpa Catfish, it was a snapping turtle as big as a washtub. He had an ugly green shell with mud on it, mean little red eyes, and a snapping beak that scared Dempsey every time the big turtle snapped it.
āOh boy, thatās the end of this fishing trip,ā Charley said. āThis old devil looks like he wants to eat us both.ā
āDaddy, Iām scared,ā Dempsey said, staying as far away from the turtle as he could get. āCanāt we shoot him with our gun?ā
āBe like shooting mud,ā Charley said. āHeās got a brain the size of a peaāwe could shoot a whole box of shells into him, and I doubt heād die.ā
āWhat will we do?ā Dempsey asked, looking at the ugly monster.
āWant to put him in the trunk and take him home to Mama?ā Charley asked. āMama could use him for a pet.ā
āNo!ā Dempsey said. āI donāt want to take him home!ā
āThe next best thing is just to cut him loose and let him go,ā Charley said, getting out his pocketknife.
Just about that time, two elderly colored men with fishing poles came walking along the riverbank in the clear sunlight. When they saw that Charley was about to cut the line and let the big snapper go, they hurried over.
āMister, could we have āim?ā one of the old men asked.
āWhy, sureātake him, if you can handle him,ā Charley offered. āHe may take you.ā
The old colored man chuckled. āNo, sir,ā he said. āWe take him. He aināt gonna take us.ā
The old man quickly stuck his foot under the big turtle and flipped him over, and when he did, the other colored man grabbed the turtle by the tail and began to drag him up the bank.
āYou men know what youāre doinā, looks like,ā Charley said, admiringly. āWhat are you gonna do with him now that you got him?ā
āEat him, boss,ā the old man said. āMakes good eatinā, Old Man Turtle.ā
Then he followed his friend.
āMight make good eatinā to them,ā Charley told Dempsey. āWouldnāt make good eatinā to me. How about you, Dempsey? Want to eat a snappinā turtle?ā
āNo thanks!ā Dempsey said firmly.
3
Charley was buying smokes and rubbers at a drugstore on the main street in Fort Smith when he happened to glance at the magazine rack, and noticed his name on the cover of Police Gazette. There was a mug shot taken when he was booked in Ohio, and underneath, in big letters: āPRETTY BOY FLOYD KILLS AGAIN!ā
Before paying for th...