The next move was left entirely up to Lov. No one in the yard had changed his position during the past ten minutes. He had dropped the sack from his shoulder, but he held the neck of it in the rigid grasp of both hands.

The Lesters watched Lov closely while he stood in the middle of the road. She was only twelve years old the summer before when he had married her. Lov’s wife was Jeeter Lester’s youngest daughter, Pearl. Today, though, he had to speak to Jeeter about something of great importance, and he had ventured closer to the house than he had ever done before when carrying home turnips or sweet potatoes. Usually when he came by the Lester place with turnips or sweet potatoes, or for that matter with any kind of food, he left the road half a mile from the house and made a wide circle through the fields, returning to the road a safe distance beyond. Lov had his wife to feed and provide for, in addition to himself, and he was careful not to allow any of the Lesters to come too close to the sack of turnips. They had been watching Lov ever since he was first seen an hour before on the sand hill nearly two miles away, and now that he was actually within reach, they were prepared to stop him from carrying the turnips any farther. He had already walked seven and a half miles, and it was a mile and a half yet back to his house at the coal chute.įour or five of the Lesters were standing in the yard looking at Lov when he put his sack down and stopped in front of the house.

The day before, Lov had heard that a man over there was selling winter turnips for fifty cents a bushel, so he had started out with half a dollar early that morning to buy some. He had put himself to a lot of trouble to get the turnips it was a long and tiresome walk all the way to Fuller and back again. LOV BENSEY TRUDGED homeward through the deep white sand of the gully-washed tobacco road with a sack of winter turnips on his back. A Biography of Erskine Caldwell Chapter I

Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell