February 28, 1936

I don't think my daddy really liked me callin' him my daddy. I don't have nowhere ales to go so he's gonna have to get used to it. I think Mr. Jimmy convinced him to keep because one minute they were whispering and the next minute they were introducin' me to Thug, Steady Eddie, Doo-Doo Bug and Dirty Deed. They was even takin' me to eat at Sweet Pea!

February 26, 1936

Turns out Mr. Lewis did a lot more than drive whilst I was asleep in the back seat. He contacted HEC! That’s short for Herman E. Calloway, my daddy. He went off and told him that he had me and was gonna be bringin’ me home to him today. I don’t know if I should be happy, nervous, or scared to death… then I had reason to be all but two of those. On our way down the road, me and Mr. Lewis gets pulled over by the coppers! They were poking around  looking for some kinda labor organizer that I ain’t never heard of. Can’t say the same for Mr. Lewis. He hadn’t only heard of them, but he is one of them. Boy was I glad I didn’t know that before them coppers came along, cause I woulda blew the top right off our lie!

APPEARING FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY IN JULY HERMAN E. CALLOWAYAND THE NUBIAN KNIGHTS OF THE NEW DEAL. Now it was time to meet the man for real. No turning back now. Saying bye to Mr. Lewis was hard, but this was my reason for taking out on the lam. Walking in the place where the sign was hung gave me that nervous feeling again. But I kept my stride quick until I reached the stage. There he was with a group of men, Herman E. Calloway. Looking at him I knew he was my dad. When that snaggletooth guy blurted out his business I didn’t even hear him. I just stood there, glad my eyes didn’t cry no more, and waited for my daddy to recognize me.  

February 25, 1936

HUMAN BLOOD!!! Turns out Mister black hat ain’t no cop or no soldier. Heck by the letters I read on that cooler chest he ain’t even no human bean. Shucks I done gone and got myself picked up by a real vampire! Before I let him suck my body dry, I would take to the woods again. So I done it. I stole the car. Too bad I didn’t get far before it clunked out on me. Man when that vampire tapped on the window I just knew I was a goner. So after a lot of talkin’ and teeth showin’ , it finally came together that Mister black hat was no cop or soldier. And he wasn’t a vampire either. He was just a guy who delivered blood to the hospitals, includin the ones in Flint. So yep I was headed back to Flint.

The car ride back over the roads I just walked seemed longer and harder. That is until Mister black hat started in on the 1000 question game. He asked me everything he could possibly think of, and with the red syrup gone from my insides, I had to fight hard to give up the right wrong answers. “My momma is dead. I live with my daddy in Grand Rapids. He don’t work for no railroad, he plays a fiddle, but not just any fiddle. It’s got to be the largest fiddle in the world.” Turns out Mister black hat knows my daddy, HEC pretty good. Somethin strange went off in my head and I figured I better stop talkin so much before I give up the wrong answer.  So, I asked Mr. Lewis to do good on his promise and give me some food. Not just cause I was hungry, but so’s I can’t talk; momma would never go for me talkin with food in my mouth. So I ate and Mr. Lewis told me all about how people that knew him good called him Lefty. I knew his talkin would not be long before more questions, so I stuffed the food down my throat and quickly pretended to fall asleep. My pretendin didn’t last long; I slept the entire rest of the ride.

I have never slept so hard in a car before. Must have been the extra walkn’ I did. So now I wake up in this house, with these people I don’t know, and somebody done took my pants off again! What is it with folks and touchin my pants? And where is my suitcase, I just know they done looked all through my stuff. So that voice sound familiar; it’s Lefty, I mean Mr. Lewis.  This has to be his place. Not too bad for a blood driver. I don’t know if I should get up or keep pretendin like I don’t hear this lady talkin about me. After a 30 minute exchange between the two grown-ups of the house somebody smart finally says it’s time for breakfast, and boy am I hungry!

 Mrs. Sleet, Mr. Lewis’ daughter, made the best breakfast:  pancakes, sausages, toast, and a huge glass of orange juice. After gettin some new -to -me trousers, I went to have breakfast with the Sleets and Mr. Lewis. The breakfast was different. I never had sausages or such an interestin sit down meal at the Home before. Kim and Scott talked more than any two people I had ever met before. After singin me a song and saying grace over the breakfast, it was their turn for the questionin game that I really didn’t feel like playin.  They were kids, but they were just as nosey as their grandfather, Mr. Lewis.  “How come you run away? Was it cause your daddy beat you? How your momma die?”  I just wanted to be left alone for a bit, and these two were not gettin it!

February 23, 1936

Stay. Go. Go. Stay. Tryin’ to decide done made me doggone tired.  Grand Rapids it is! 120 miles is a lot different than you think. The change from city horns to country bugs is enough to make you go plum crazy. Even the human beans was changed. Come to find out a lil’ black boy walking down the road at 2a.m.  was a change these folks wasn’t ready for. Most of the cars stepped on they brakes to see if what they thought  they saw was for real. Then they keep goin’. But not Mister black hat and his baloney mustard sandwich. Givin’ me that nice cold red pop did what mister black set out to do, break the ice between us. Not only that, the sweet syrup freed me to lie ‘bout where I come from…

February 22, 1936

I made it in time for breakfast but my fake family wasn't there with brown sugar. After breakfast I headed back to the library. I got that book with the cities and maps in it so I could figure out how far Grand Rapids is from Flint. 24 hours. Man, another long walk! I would pass through Owosso, Ovid, St. John's, Ionia, and Lowell. After that I looked at a Civil War book and before I knew it the librarian said it was closing time! I was too late for the mission, but the librarian must have known I was hungry cause she gave me a cheese sandwich. I told her I would be back tomorrow but I started out for Grand Rapids right away. I was going to show those people at the home that I had a daddy and he plays a giant fiddle and his name is Herman E. Calloway. And I was going West to find him!

February 21, 1936

I heard somethin movin around right before I woke up from my nap. I was ready to take off but whatever was movin jumped on me and I was as trapped as a roach under a dishrag! I pulled my knife out to stab the person if I needed to but then I heard a voice talkin to me that said, "If you ain't a kid called Bud from the Home I'm really sorry about jumping on you like this!" Whew, it was just Bugs! We decided to be on the lam together and be brothers forever! Only after we did our spit shake of course.

We found a place called Hooperville, just outside of Flint where we waited to catch a ride on a train. We were told we were actually in Hooverville and that if we were hungry and tired, we were in the right place. It was a place with cardboard houses and a fire. We fit right in and even helped cleanup after dinner since we were on kitchen police. That was when I met Deza Malone. After she kissed me real quick, my first ever kiss, she sang me a "pretty" song called Shenandoah. I think Bugs thought somethin was weird about me cuz he said I looked strange. That woman was right about my suitcase, she didn't let nothin happen to it while I did KP but I still checked everything out anyway.

We awoke to the sound of a man screamin tellin us the train was tryin to leave without us! We were runnin for the train but a flyer came out of my suitcase. Bugs went on without me like i told him to. The cops were there tryin to stop people from gettin on the train but they kinda gave up when they figured they didn't stand a chance against us. I ran to catch up to Bugs and threw my suitcase on the train but a flyer flew out again and i had to catch it. I couldn't make it on the train so Bugs threw my suitcase out for me. I headed back to Hooverville but the police were bustin the place up. I was hopin I would have time to make it to the mission for breakfast.

February 19, 1936

After breakfast I decided to go to the library to kill time. I had to find Miss Hill, but when I asked the librarian, she said, "My goodness, hadn't you heard?"

Rule #16 for having a funner life and making a better liar our of yourself - "If a grown-up ever starts a sentence by saying "Haven't you heard," Get ready, cuz what's about to come out of their mouth is gonna drop you headfirst into a boiling tragedy."

I was thinkin maybe she died or somethin but turns out she got married and moved all the way to Chicago. Looks like I'll be walking... for 54 hours! I guess I'll figure somethin out. For now I'm goin to crawl back under my tree for a little nap.