Tweet

Peas, Please

 It was in summer of 1934 that Tweet began working at our house. Many changes occurred that year. My younger sister Sybil was born on June 5th; Mama underwent surgery for a hysterectomy later that month and my little brother Buddy died in July. The loss of a child takes a terrible toll on a family. Mama’s health reached a critical point and the doctor said she needed complete bed rest if she was to recover.  Daddy asked Tweet to come to help out until Mama was well again.

I'm not sure about Tweet's age but she seemed old to me. When you're five, anyone over fifteen has a tendency to look ancient. Et was eight, Bill eleven and Syb a tiny baby. We were a handful for anyone but Tweet was used to big families and took us in stride. She cared for Mama, prepared meals, cleaned house, washed clothes and still had time to deal with other problems that arose.

Daddy loved peas. He loved to plant them, eat them or make pea vine hay for livestock. He spent part of his childhood on his grandfather's farm after his mother died and never lost his love of farming. He had a strong work ethic and didn't believe in land being wasted if it could be put to use.

 

A big open field on one side of our home separated our next-door neighbor and us. Daddy used the field as pastureland for the occasional horse or cow we had at the time. There was also open land behind our house and the neighbors on the other side of us that extended to the end of our block. Daddy knew that planting peas enriched the soil and decided to plant them on the sites mentioned that year. He plowed the land and broadcast the peas over the entire area. Since our yard was not in the best of shape he planted it too. If planting by the signs helps Daddy sure got it right that time. There were peas everywhere.  Instead of the Bluebells of Texas we had the Green Peas of Kershaw. It was a sight to behold. When harvest time rolled around all the neighbors were welcome to peas if they would come and pick their own. We were handing peas out by the bushel.

Daddy gave Bill, Et and me the chore of picking peas for our use.  It’s an easy task when you’re young and short and the peas are hanging full on the vine. The soil around our home was rich and every vine must have received the nourishment needed for an abundant crop. We all ate peas, Daddy, Mama, Tweet and the three of us. Bill said we ate peas for breakfast, dinner and supper but I don't remember having them at breakfast. Sybil was still on a milk diet so she was spared. It didn’t take long for us to grow tired of a steady diet of peas and we complained to Daddy. He solved that problem in a flash with,"Eat your peas, they’re good for you." He had more serious things on his mind and didn't put up with childish complaints.

 

Bill, Et and I were eating lunch one day and Bill said there was a worm in his peas.  Et and I stopped to look and it was true. There was a little worm floating around in the peas on his plate. That did it, relief at last. I grabbed my spoon and scooped up the peas and the worm and headed for the front door. Tweet was on the porch rocking Sybil while we ate. I was careful not to lose the evidence while running down the hall with Bill and Et following close behind.

When I showed Tweet the worm she looked at the spoon, looked back at me and said, "Throw it in the yard." I had anticipated more of a reaction than that and just looked at her.

     "Throw it away. It ain’t going to hurt you cause you didn’t eat it and wouldn’t have if you had cause you wouldn’t know that you did."

Her logic was sound but not what we wanted to hear. We told her we would tell Daddy. She just looked at us and said, "You do that." We knew better because Daddy had left Tweet in charge and would accept no foolishness on our part. She continued rocking Sybil who slept through the whole thing.

Mama’s health improved gradually and life returned to normal. Tweet still helped and she was a godsend to our family. We teased her at times singing a little ditty of Tweet Tweet goes the mockingbird. I don’t know which one of us thought of it but it didn’t bother her one bit. She just ignored us and went about her business of keeping us well. To this day I still think of peas when I think of Tweet. I didn’t think I would ever want peas again if given a choice but that changed over the years. Now I love a serving of those little brown peas with fresh tomatoes and the happy memories it brings.