It 1957 and I done well and I’m getting recruited by a college football team. Coach Zellman say the recruiters gonna come by my house so my father could sign the permission papers. I wish my father sign the paper. I work hard, I got to practice after school and come home tired, and now I’m suppose to help my pop built a fence, which he been saying for the past four to five Saturdays, and when it comes to start helping he never do nothing, and I still haven’t done none of my chores. I want to get a TV to see an all the baseball games and the World Series but my pop won’t buy it, so my pop offered me a deal he told me to save a $100.00 and he’ll but the rest for the TV. I don’t have a job right now. Nut Mr. Stawicki say he gonna hold my job for me until after the football season. Say starting next week I can work weekends. I ask my father if he likes me and he responded to me that is a responsibility to take care of me not to like.
It Friday I’m getting ready to go to a football game and the phone rang and I’m talking to Jesse and my mom is yelling at me to clean my room. I leave for the games and when I get there my coach tell me I can’t play because my pap went up to school and told coach Zellman I can’t play football no more. He wouldn’t even let me play the game, my papa told the recruiter not to come any more. That is really mess up from my pop just because he didn’t have a chance, he just scared that I’m gonna be better than him. Now he is talking about me having one strike and not to strike out again. But I am not quitting the team. I don’t care what poppa says.
I don’t know why mama wants a fence around the house anyway. Mama wants to hold on to us, that what I think.
Two months has past there has been a lot of drama in my house my father had a baby girl by Alberta. Mama was really mad in the begging and her and my poppa didn’t talk for six months. Mama has taken cared of Raynell.
One day I was really tired and my poppa was sitting in the middle of the steps. I told him to get out of my ways to pass by, and he started to yell at me saying if I don’t have manner if I didn’t know how to say excuses me. I responded back to him by telling him that I haven’t got to say excuse me to him because I hardly come around here no more. All of the sudden I grab the bat and started to swing at him but I kept missing. Troy took the bat away from me and was ready to swing but he stops himself. He finally kicked me out of the house and told me to stay away from around the house.
It 1965 and my poppa has past away, I return home from the marines. My little sister Raynell is seven years old now, and she is beautiful. There was something that didn’t let me go to the funeral, but by the end talking to my mama I got some sense inside me and finally decide to go. My little sister Raynell asked me if I knew papa dogs, and we both started to sign the song.
Hear it ring! Hear it ring! I had a dog his
name was blue
You know blue was mighty true, you know blue
was a good old dog
Blue treed a possum in a hollow dog, you know
from that he was a
Good old dog.
Hear it ring! Hear it ring!