Mess wit de dead: the one and only chapter

Mamaw always tol' me, don' mess wit de spirits. She de one learned me everting I know. She a hoodoo woman. Couse, Pappy help her wit de magic. But dey neva askded me ta do nothin'. Not whil I's a youngin anyways. Dey neva even let me see de spells till I gots older. Not afta what `appen de first time. I member it mostly clear like. White man cames ta see us, not dat different. He wuz talkin' real fast an all shakey. I stare at `im like I stared at all de white folk on account a it made `em all scared. Dey'd always come a knockin, askin fo dis an dat but when we goes into town, dey still treat us like dirt. So I tries ta scare `em evar chance I gets. Dis one already scared tho. He already shakin when he walk in de door. Well, he talk ta Pappy fo a spell, dey shakes hands an he leaves. Pappey starts loadin up de cart fo doin house calls. Mamaw sit me in her lap in de back an off we go. We heads to a side a town I's neva seen befo. Big houses and lotsa colorful flowers. No good plants tho, dey just pretty. I notice all dese big white square lakes wit people pickin at em. Dats be cotton Mamaw says. I asks her questions till she shush me an say she need ta git ready fo her job. I knows what dat is so I goes ta sleep fo a while. I wakes up when we goin down dis dirt road lined wit trees. Pappy knows Imma lookin, an he tell me it a driveway. I don git it, but I see it lead ta dis really big house. We stop an Pappy unload de cart wit Mamaw. Den dis big man look like Pappy come over wit water fo our horse. I sees dey got de same color, but dis man, he missin an ear. I tink he need sum cheerin up, so I be polite like Mamaw tell me, an say hello. I hold out mah hand, but he don shake it. He look at me jus as scared as dat white man. Pappy give me a smack an tell me ta go wit Mamaw. I folla her in da house. She tell me no talkin, an I promise. We find de white mamma cryin in de hallway. She bawlin real bad, like sumpin dat lost all hope, an can't find no way out. But she see us, and take us upstairs anyway. I hear dese strange noises comin from de second room upstairs. Sumpin upstairs is howlin an screamin its lungs out. Dat momma open de door, an I sees who screamin. It a lil' boy, younger den me even, strapped down to de bed. He de one makin all de fuss. He stop howlin and slowly turn to look in de doorway. He look at Mamaw and his eyes git real dark. Den he see me beside her, and he plasters dis awful grin allova his face. He thow his head back an cackle like a fox in a henhouse. All de while I'm standin dere, wide-eyed an quiet. Mah bones was shakin. An he jus keep a goin. Mamaw take me back downstairs, an tell me to go find Pappy, and listen ta whut he tell me. She give me a kiss on de cheek an go back. I head outside, still hearin dat boy laughin at me. Pappy outside telling de men where to go. Dey all head fo doors, an stand right besides em. Pappy goes to de back door, an starts puttin on charms an recitin spells. He put dem same charms an spells on me. I knows what dem spells fo. Why you protectin me from spirits Pappy? I says. Because one bout ta come outta dat lil boy in dere, dat why. An you listen me good chile' whateva come outta dis house, you don say nuttin, you don look, you jus pretend it ain't even dere. You hear me? He whisper real soft, like he do when he mad at me. I swalla real hard and nod. I don wanna end up like dat boy in dere. I know you don mess wit what you can't handle. I sit down next ta Pappy. It seem like hours we stay next to dat door. Pappy, it don bother him none, he used to it. But I never can sit for very long, an I sees me a nice spot ta go play. It be a lil pond near bydat has frogs an lotsa de herbs Mamaw use in her spells. I looks up at Pappy an use my best cute face. I done forgot all about dat lil boy. He chuckle at me an nod. I run off happy as I can be. I spend de next few hours pickin herbs fo Mamaw an stealin duck eggs. Dey de best kind ya know. Den I found me a frog. He nice an green all over, no warts neither. He perfect. He hop right, he croak right, he even pretend he don see me sneakin up on im. I sunk down in de water, just my nose peekin above de water so's I can breathe. I git right up next to im, ready to grab…an he jumps. He land right on top of a boot. A big black boot. Dat lead to a long leg in black trousers. Dat lead to a black shirt an vest. Dat lead to de same awful grin I seen on dat poor lil boy's face. De big man in black look down at me grinnin. I can't move I's shakin so bad. I reach ta my neck fo de charms Pappy gave me, but dey gone. I lost em when I went swimmin. An I know dem spells only last so long. I pray dey ain't worn off yet. He open his mouth real wide an laugh at me. It dat same laugh. I'm still froze to de ground just starin at im. Den dat frog jump again. Dis time he land in front a me. Dat breaks de hoodoo he got on me, an I grab dat frog an run as fast as I can right through his legs. My lungs is burnin an my legs give out when I reach de cart. Mamaw is bein loaded into de back, worn out from de job. She can't move an inch. I squeeze myself up as close to her as I can git, wide eyed an out of breath. Pappy start de horses on de way home an start singin. It dis ole song Mamaw's momma used ta sing ta her. She say it give her strength. I hear her faint hummin while I's pressed up close to her chest. I start hummin too, even tho I don' know de words. Anyting to git de sound of dat laughter outta my head.