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Things Can Turn to Shit In A Hurry   By John Bolton

Early June, 1965, Corley, Missouri

     The Clay brothers, Clifton and Cleveland, took turns working at Moore’s Lumberyard.

There had been a bad hail storm in May and a lot of roofs needed to be replaced.

Most of the brother’s work that summer was tearing off old shingles and putting on

new ones. There was enough work for both brothers, but Bob Moore who owned the

lumber yard thought it was bad for business to have two colored boys working one crew.

    The boys knew about civil rights. Sit ins, marches, riots and worse were in the news

almost every day. At sixteen and seventeen, the Clay brothers had other things on their minds.

Things were changing. But change came slowly in Corley, Missouri.

     Their parents preached knowing their place and getting along. Their work was hard and

the money the brothers earned did not go into their pockets.  It was family money.

For the most part, the Clays shut up, did their work and were happy to have every other day off.

     It was Clifton’s work day.  He and his classmate, Steve Moore, hitched a high sided

farm wagon to the old John Deere A and chugged off to fifth and Memphis Street to strip wood

shake shingles off a two story house.  Shingling was hard work. Stripping shingles was harder.

    The boys set to work prying up shingles with a pitch fork and short handled spade. Steve was

the owner’s son. He and the Clay brothers had become work friends.   ‘Work friends’ was the key

phrase for Clifton. He knew better than to think the white boy, was his ‘have your back friend’…

    They worked all morning then sat in the shade and ate their lunches. Steve said, “Clifton, you

know I been taking guitar lessons for about two years now.  But I’m just not learnin’ the stuff

I wanna learn. Your brother says you play real good.  Says you can play anything. You never said
nothin' about it.”

                                                               *****

     The boys got together at the Lumberyard after supper that night. Nothing was said regarding

not going to Steve’s house, but Clifton figured he knew the score. Steve plugged a red Kay

electric guitar into a Fender amp and strummed a few chords.  Clifton said, “Show me what you got.”

     Steve self consciously played and sang ‘Blowing In The Wind.’ He did  a pretty fair job on the

simple song.

     Steve passed the guitar to Clifton, who tuned the guitar a bit and tried to think of a song the

white boy would like. He played ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ and belted out the vocals and did a

good job on an instrumental.

     Steve said, ‘Holy shit, man. Can you teach me that?”

     From then on, Tuesday night was guitar night at the Lumberyard. Steve chose songs off the radio

and bought 45 rpm records and wrote down the lyrics.  Clifton helped him work  the chords and riffs

and showed him the way.  By August, Steve was playing ‘House Of The Rising Sun, ‘Louie Louie’,

Wilson Pickett’s ‘In The Midnight Hour’, the Beatle’s ‘Ticket To Ride’ ‘Twist & Shout’ and

‘Love Me Do’.   It was white kids’ music, but it was pretty good music.

                                                          * * * * *

     The Clay brothers got along well, but were quite different. Clifton was quiet and studious and loved

music. He played trumpet in the marching band and blues and rock at home on his daddy’s old

Silvertone guitar. He’d grown  up listening to his daddy’s old blues records on scratchy 33 rpm records.

He’d been playing guitar since he was twelve.

    Cleveland was cocky and full of himself. He had a good heart, but failed to think before doing or saying

things. He was the school’s star running back, played basketball and ran track. The Clay brothers were the

only colored kids in Corley High School.

    The summer sped by and soon it was just over two weeks until school started. Two a day football

practice was three days off. Cleveland’s coach called on the phone and wanted Cleve at practice. Every

day. Coach told Cleve he probably wouldn’t be a starter without going through two a days.  Coach thought

they had a chance to win the conference.

     The plan had been for Cleveland to keep on working his alternate days and practice football on his days

off. The family needed the lumberyard money for those last two weeks of summer vacation. Cleveland did

plenty of hinting and Clifton clearly knew what Cleve wanted of him -  for Clifton to work those last two weeks

every day.

     To that, Clifton’s argument went along the lines of, “Bullshit. You didn’t start the first game last year,

but by the second half you was always on the field. You got a hunert yards a game. You gonna play plenty.

You the big star, man.”

     Clifton believed that, but couldn’t help feeling like a shit if he didn’t help his brother.  On the Sunday before

two a days, Clifton went fishing in Indian Creek and brought home fourteen bullhead all at least a foot long

and a three pound catfish. It made a real good supper with his momma’s chow chow sauce and tomatoes and

green bell peppers fresh out of the garden. After supper he told Cleveland, “You go play football. I’ll do the

lumberyard.”

 
                                                               *****

     The Corley High School Trojans were three and one for the season. Cleveland Clay had three hundred

yard games and eight touchdowns. In the game they lost, he’d turned his ankle early in the first quarter,

but played on until coach yanked him late in the third quarter, accusing him of lacking heart.

     Homecoming was two days away. A weak opponent was scheduled. Cleveland ’s ankle was improved.

Angry at the way coach treated him, Cleve was practicing with a new aggression. He was out of coach’s

dog house.

    Steve Moore was having a good season at guard and linebacker and his new band, the ‘House Tops’

had their first real gig – playing the homecoming dance after the game. Senior year was going great.

    Things were going well for Clifton too.  He marched with the band and was studying hard.  Even though

he hadn’t taken college prep classes,the school counselor told him he had a chance for a scholarship to a

black school. This was the same counselor who steered him away from college prep classes when he started

high school.

     There was a pep rally and bonfire on Thursday night. Six white footballers and some other students

illegally bought beer and had a party by the river. Someone called the sheriff’s office. When the cops

came the beer drinkers scattered. The deputy confiscated the remaining beer and went on about his duty.

    One of the beer drinkers was Jerry Walters. Jerry was the starting quarterback and he played guitar

and sang in Steve Moore’s band. Jerry hit a phone pole on the way home. He was unhurt, but the passenger

side of his 54’ Chevy was decimated.  Besides the trouble with the law, Jerry was suspended from school.

Things can turn to shit in a hurry.

    Even without their starting quarterback, the Trojans won their homecoming game by a score of 34 to 13.

Cleveland Clay ran for 125 yards and three touchdowns.  Steve Moore cajoled into Clifton filling in with the band for the singing quarterback. The band made mistakes, but nobody seemed to notice.  Clifton was just plain good.

    Delbert Holland, the team's left tackle, could have passed for being twenty five years old.  He bought cherry and

lime flavored vodka for a few of the players to drink in the parking lot outside the homecoming dance. They

had been told vodka was the drink of choice if you did not want to get caught with booze on your breath.

    Cleveland wasn't drinking, but he was high on his success and full of himself.  He got out on the

dance floor with a couple of white girls and strutted his stuff on fast dances. A black kid in Corley might get

away with dancing with white girls. And he might not…  

    First cousins, Delbert and Donny Holland were big, tough farm boys who had been raised to think
badly of colored people.  Delbert was the left tackle and Donnie played beside him at left guard.  They

resented the Clay brothers, especially Cleveland.   This was worsened by the fact that Cleveland never

gave his blockers any credit.

     The Hollands watched Cleveland fast dancing with the white girls and it was just about too much.

Delbert was seething and Donny egged him on.  It might have passed had the band not played,

‘Hang On Sloopy.’ 

    Kathy Baldwin, one of the girls dancing with Cleveland, loved that song.  It was just right

for slow dancing.  Kathy, who considered it hip and free to dance with a black, grabbed Cleveland’s hand and

pulled him into a slow dance.

    Donnie Holland roughly tapped Cleveland Clay’s shoulder and then gave it a shove and stepped in to

dance with Kathy.  Delbert Holland got nose to nose with Cleveland and said, “What you think yer doin’ nigger?”

     Delbert gave Cleveland a violent two handed shove and Cleve hit the floor landing hard on his back.

Kathy screamed and shoved off Donnie.  As Cleveland was getting up Donnie sucker punched him in the

neck.  Delbert moved in with a looping right to Cleve’s nose and blood practically exploded.

    It happened fast, but the band saw it all. Cleveland was down and Delbert was kicking him. Clifton put

down his borrowed guitar and charged across the gymnasium floor.  Right behind him came Steve Moore.

     Mr. Jensen, the school counselor/history teacher, moved in to stop the fight. Clifton zeroed in on Delbert

Holland and dove into him like a freight train, knocking down Mr. Jensen in the process.  Right behind Clifton

was Steve Moore, who it turned out, really was Clifton’s ‘got your back friend’. Steve went right at Donnie

Holland.

    The teachers soon broke up the fights.  Cleveland went to the emergency room with a broken nose and the

next day Donnie Holland would have double black eyes. Clifton had a swollen hand and a black eye his

own self.  Other than a weeks suspension from school,  Delbert Holland got off easy.

    That was the end of the homecoming dance, the end of the football season for four more players, and the

end of the school counselor’s efforts to get Clifton a scholarship.  Things can turn to shit in a hurry.