Kiss of the Viper

Irish Bend Bayou Louisiana, 1963

St. Mary Parish Atchafalaya River

“Percy Davis!” The teacher shrieked! “There is a snake in my wastebasket! Do you have any idea from whence it came?” Percy stood, nodded and replied sheepishly, “Yes Ma’am. I found it at the playground at recess and was afraid someone would kill it with a rock or a stick. So I took it, an put it somewhere safe until I get to go home.” His teacher, Miss Darcy Ann gave Percy a stern but sympathetic look. She knew he was a kind hearted young boy. Well mannered and a good student.

Percy tells his story:

“I was just seven when my daddy was killed by a gator in an unfortunate boating accident. He was a brave man that knew the bayou well. He taught me how to hunt and fish and to respect momma and all women. I have no more tears left from his loss. Jes good memories. What was done is done. Momma took in sewing and got a job at the canning factory in town. It was important to her that I stayed in school and got my education. I helped out wherever I could.

City folk seemed to think us bayou people are backward and stupid but the truth is they jes don’t understand our ways. We work together and help each other out. The color of one’s skin makes no difference if you're good and kind hearted down here.

My best friend is Johnny Lee Dixon. He has an older sister named Savannah and a brother Carter that was off on his own living in Biloxi Mississippi. Savanna was a pretty girl that worked at the boathouse restaurant in town. She was the first girl I ever kissed seriously like. Someday I wanna marry her. Johnny’s mama was from the West Indies. She spoke Spanish and French creole. Johnny's daddy and mine were friends before I was born. His daddy is a roughneck on an oil rig in the Gulf, so he is away from home a lot.

I have always loved snakes, lizards and frogs. Growing up, an

only child, it was just me along with my dog Roscoe. There’s lots of dangers down in bayou country and nobody knew them better than him.

Those dang gators were more dangerous than snakes but good old Roscoe always let me know when they was nearby with his gator growl.

Snakes were always my favorite, especially the poisonous ones. Those copperheads are beautiful to watch. I knew the places they gathered under old sheet tin siding and road signs. For some strange reason they never felt threatened by me being there. They would crawl over my legs and curl up on my stomach on a chilly day to keep warm. They never minded bein picked up by me.

Johnny and me would go noodlin for catfish under the watchful eye of Roscoe on the bank. We knew all the underwater holes the fish would conjugate. As we reached in and flipped the catfish up on the bank, Roscoe would grab them by the tail and pull em up into the brush so they didn’t wiggles back into the water.

The bayou swamps hold many secrets. One that both Johnny and me enjoyed more than anything was the wreck of the steamboat Tom Sugg. During the civil war, it was used by the confederates to move troops and supplies up and down the Mississippi River. It was captured by the Yankees and used by them until a boiler on it blew up and it was pushed back down river by a hurricane. It floated through the flooded swamp and laid to rest in a bank of mud. I suppose if a museum knew its whereabouts they would want to take it, but for now its location was only known by the locals. Me and Johnny would use the old paddle wheel like a ladder to climb aboard. Dropping our nets onto the deck below we always came back with a bucketful of crawdaddies to split. The wheel house was still intact, as our imaginary adventures had us piloting down the Mississippi and having townsfolk come out to wave! The faint voices of the Sons of the South aboard heading off to war could be heard singin Dixie. Standing on the very deck as those soldiers did, gave us a chill. The big Captain's wheel still spun as we took turns avoiding the shallows of the river. The faded paint and broken glass windows mattered not. It was a glorious time. For Johnny and me these memories will last a lifetime.

Madam Laveau:

Just down the river after the bend was Madam Laveau’s place. Some people called her mysterious, but I never had thought that of her. An affliction kept her normally close to home. She was a healer and would pay me to find and pick plants, mushrooms, turtle eggs and moss for her potions. When I returned, she always had made fresh baguettes still warm for me. One time, I stepped on a nail and it got infected bad. She made me a poultice and put it on my foot that healed it right quick. Her Momma was a famous healer and fortune tellin mystic in New Orleans but Madam Laveau only considered herself a healer. She spoke English and French Creole. She fondly called me Cher when we talked. During the tourist season, Mr. Alvin, a tour boat captain, brought city folks up river. He would toot his horn just before his boat made the bend. Madam Laveau would disappear into her house, then come out wearin a long dress with shiny things on it. She wore an old man’s top hat with a purple band and held a stick with a big possum skull on top. She had viper, her big green snake that she wrapped around her neck as part of the outfit. As the boat slowly went by she would say some mumbo jumbo things as the tourists snapped her picture. Mr. Alvin would call out “Ohh Lawddy Mighty! Please don’t cast no voodoo on my’s people!” As if it was the first time he had seen her! After they passed by she would laugh and laugh and explained to me it was jes a show she put on. She was a healer and not into Voodoo magic or such. Mr. Alvin would pay her two dollars for her show and on a good day could do it three times. If I was around when the boats come by, I would beat on an African drum, addin to the mystery. When she came outside, I was watching the looks on the faces of the tourists from behind an old cypress tree, it was sure fun. Her pet snake Viper, when stretched out, was taller than me. We were friends and some days I would bring him a catched mouse that he would take gentle like from my hand and swallow it whole. But jes like people have good and bad days, so do snakes. I could always tell when viper wasn’t wanting to be bothered as he would gently squeeze my arm jes to let me know.

You always wanted to respect that and put him back on his favorite branch to watch the doings on the water.

Jebb and Ulysses:

Not everyone on the bayou was friendly. There was one man who was in general mean to everybody, especially us kids. Just us passin by in our boat would bring him out cussin at us in french at the waters edge. Sometimes he even throwed empty whiskey bottles at us! His dog Ulysses was a mean ugly pit bull with one eye. He done lost one in a tussle with a swamp boar awhile back and his bark would make you shiver. He would follow our boat along the shoreline showin us his teeth with as much distemper as his owner.

That’s life in our part of the Louisiana Bayou.

Now here’s a story about Jonny and me that I swears on the Bible to be true an forever changed our lives.

One fine day Johnny suggested we go deeper into the swamp than we had ever been allowed. I really didn’t want to but I didn’t want Johnny to go it alone. He was braver than me for such things except when it came to snakes. We both got into my Jon boat as we used our poles to get off the muddy bottom before the water opened up and got deeper. It was just one o’clock or so when we started with plenty of good daylight still left. Without usin our motor, we drifted down stream as silent as could be. Often, we woulds sneak up on a gator sunnin hisself and we would thump em on the head making a big splash! It wasn’t a smart thing to do but it was fun! Now, water moccasin snakes were not funny to Johnny as he cringed in the middle of the boat at seein one.They minded their own business and so did we. Even though it wasn’t late the waterway got darker and darker as the canopy of Spanish moss stretched across the treetops. You would think it was nightfall already. The sound of the swamp came alive then. I was ready to head back but not Johnny. He heard people talkin and the faint sound of music up ahead. He shushed me, told me to shut up so he could listen. We poled the boat up to the shore where Johnny jumped out and we dragged the boat up so’s it wouldn’t float away. The frogs and the buzz of cicadas made enough noise to hide our footsteps in the soft mud. Not far off, we saw docks and swamp boats. There were a bunch of tents all set up. The talkin and laughing got louder now. We recognized one of the fan boats belonging to Jebb. We heard Ulysses barkin at something so we knows it was him.

All of a sudden the talkin an cussin got louder like an argument, then a shot! We could see somebody fall down but not who it was. That argument led to a murder! “Percy, Johnny whispered, we need to get a closer look.” “Are you crazy? We’re as good as dead ourselves if we get caught.” said Percy. I don’t mind one bit to say I was shakin. Down in the swamp, people can disappear without ever being found. The old gators make quick work of any evidence.

We returned to our boat and worked it back upstream not talkin till we was out of earshot of them people.

“What are we gonna do Johnny?” He replied “People round here disappear and nobody knows nothing. We should jes go home and forget what we saw or we could disappear too!” We did go home and I said nothin to momma. School was now out for summer and I was to see Johnny the next day. We was gonna meet at the Tom Sugg, but then he never showed up. I was worried something might have happened to him. On my way back, I payed a visit to Madam Laveau. She was happy to see me but she jes knew something was wrong. “Cher, she said, what’s troubling you?” I told her how Johnny and me went back in the swamp and what we saw. She nodded and told me to get home and stayed put. She herself was gonna look into it. She had friends up and down the river, good and those not so good.

You hear all kinds of noises down on the bayou, some like Zydeco music bein played with people dancin and laughing and some bad, like animals and birds screeching bein taken underwater by the gators. I didn’t want to worry momma tellin her about the shootin murder. It was best to not tell her cause she would be upset knowin we went so deep into the swamp.

Now I couldn’t wait any longer not knowing why Johnny didn’t show up that mornin. I decided to go over to Johnnys. When Johnny’s mamma saw him and saw her boy wasn’t with him she got white as a ghost. “Percy she said, where’s my boy?” Percy shook his head and said he hadn’t seen Johnny since yesterday which was true.

She said Johnny left early this morning and took da boat. I told her I was goin lookin for him.

Percy retraced the same waterway they took yesterday and sure enough he saw Johnny's boat dragged up into the brush. He pulled his up next to it and covered them both with branches.

All those that were at the camp was either gone or asleep. He watched for a good while until he felt it was safe and approached carefully.

The swamp boats were all gone and thank goodness so was Ulysses. That dog could rip you to shreds if he had been there. There were military crates and boxes in one of the tents. In another, Percy found Johnny tied up to a tent post and I don’t think he was ever so happy to see me. Percy’s pocket knife made quick work of Johnny's rope restraints.

“We gotta go Percy, those guys caught me lookin in on them. One of them wanted to slit my throat but a couple of the others didn’t want blood on their hands so’s they tied me up.” The sound of a swamp boat rounding the bend could now be heard. That could only be bad news if they was to find them, if they didn’t get out. It was too late as they saw Jebb an Ulysses pull up to the dock. Percy took his knife and slit an opening in the back of the tent and they slipped out. We could hear Ulysses’s paw nails clicking across the dock as he ran into the camp. Jebb followed right behind now alerted by the dogs bark. Looking in the tent we could hear Jebb swear “Aww Shit.” Percy and Johnny made their way around the campsite but laid low just before where their boats were hidden. Johnny had heard the men talking in Spanish where he heard Cuba mentioned. Johnny saw the crates and supplies just before being caught. Percy was right in thinking that Jebb would use his CB radio to alert the others that the boy had escaped. Soon more fan boats came right quick to search. From their hiding spot they could see the angry men blaming each other for the escape. Percy noticed gator eyes approaching the bank near where they sat. Percy grabbed Johnny's mouth just before he would let out a scream and alert the search party. That swamp monster crawled quickly up the embankment not five feet away from the two silent boys. That big gator was right in the way of their escape with no way around him just sittin there sunnin. Most people think a gator is slow on land but that’s just not true. Percy had witnessed swamp boar, deer and even birds fall prey to those massive jaws and teeth gettin dragged under the water. “Give me your shirt Percy wispered to Johnny.” “Huh? What for?” “Jes gimme it.” Johnny took off his red and white striped shirt and passed it to Percy. “Now, I’m gonna put your shirt over that gator's eyes then you and I are gonna step right quick over him but real quiet like.” Percy’s daddy had taught him the best defense against a gator was to blind them to escape. Percy snuck up close and quickly covered that monsters eyes as part of the tee shirt lodged into the gators teeth. The boys jumped to safety as the gator thrashed around trying to free his eyes. With a loud splash and rolling in the water, it drew the attention of the men at the camp. The boys were near their boats now when they heard someone yell out “El caimán se comió al niño!” Johnny translated that they thought the gator ate me he said with a grin. “They must’ve saw my tee shirt in its mouth.”

With that, the two boys launched their boats straight back home.

All the way headin back they thought who could they trust with what they know? After Johnny's apology to his Mamma for upsetting her and not letting her know he was off by his self, all was forgiven and the boys met up at the Tom Sugg.

Who do we trust?

The boys agreed not to tell their families what had happened. They needed someone they could trust.The local lawman Sheriff Lawerence was dirty Johnny said. He was always takin bribe money from fisherman even if they did nothing wrong. Johnnys dad knew that first hand. What about Miss Darcy Ann? Suggested Percy. It was agreed that they should pay a visit to her house in town, just past the canning factory that Percy’s Mamma worked at.

She had been our seventh and eight grade teacher. She was older like maybe forty or fifty years old and I had heard her described as “matronly” by some folk, whatever that meant. She never had children or a husband but that’s all I knows about her. That and she didn’t like snakes!

Miss Darcy Ann was the most honest and worldly person they knew. It was not uncommon for students to come to her for help or advice. She would say in the classroom “If you see something wrong, say so.” Well this was sure one of those times they thought.

She sat us down with a glass of sweet tea and listened closely to our story. She told us that two years ago there was an attempt to overthrow this Castro fellow but it failed. She said the US government was behind it and then came the Cuban Missile crisis that almost blowed up the whole world! She herself was perplexed as to who to trust. After chewin on it for a minute she said there was one person she could trust and ask for help. He had been someone she knew back in college and had kept in touch with over the years. He was a personal aide to Senator Russell Long from Louisiana in Washington DC. His name was Keaton and from her expression you could tell it was someone she had been sweet on.

We gave her as much a description as we could recall of the area and the crates we saw. She promised to call him up, she thanked us for the visit but before they left, Johnny and Percy moved some big heavy garden planting pots for her cause it was the neighborly thing to do.

Johnny and Percy stayed clear of that campsite in the marsh. They had no gumption to get caught or die! Since school was out and we didn’t have no telephone, we once again went to her house.

There was newspapers at her front door and nobody answered our knockin. Her flowers were withering away and didn’t look like she had been home in awhile. They peeked in the windows and all her stuff looked jes like it was on our visit.

“Why would miss Darcy Ann jes disappear without tellin us something?" asked Johnny.

We went next door where a blind, elderly negro man named Jasper lived, who was sittin on the porch.

We said we was lookin for Miss Darcy Anne as she was our teacher. He smiled and said he appreciated our visit.

He said two or three day ago he heard a lotta noise coming from over there. He heard two men’s voices and Miss Darcie talkin loudly. Then, all of a sudden, hears a car speed away then nothing more from the house. “They must have been important men cause they was wearin fine leather shoes, I heard shoe squeaks and the other one had some kinda metal heel plates that clicked on her sidewalk as he walked.”

Those words sent shivers down the boys spines. Now what should they do?

They were in deep over their heads and now with Miss Darcy gone they was alone!

The boys thanked the kind man and walked around back of the house and found an open window that the two could slide inside. They felt guilty entering without her permission. Yet under the circumstances, it could be life or death. There to greet us was Miss Darcy’s old striped ginger cat. He was looking powerful hungry so we found some food and milk for him then left the window open so he could go outside if we couldn’t return. She would never have left without her cat! Miss Darcy was a good housekeeper. Her place was as neat as a pin. She had left her telephone book open on a page with the name Keaton on it with a Washington DC address. That must be who she was callin to help us! Percy dialed the number and it was answered by the man named Keaton. Percy told him he was a student of Miss Darcy and was worried she was gone!

Keaton said he had spoken just two days earlier with her and was planning to visit her that weekend. He lived two parishes away and since the Senate was on recess, he could come down sooner. He was to arrive tomorrow and asked us if we knew if the campsite was still there. We didn’t know for sure but there was a lot of swamp boat traffic headed in that general direction. He said Miss Darcy hid a key under the front door mat and he would come and let himself in.

The boys thought it over and decided to head back into the swamp just to report if the camp was still there. They followed close along the shoals in case a boat was to come up on them. It was too dangerous to do at night so they brought fishin poles and Percy’s sack along to say they was fishin if they got questioned. The hissin of the locust and croaking of the bull frogs greeted them all along the way.

They made there way safely up the marsh and pulled the boat up top. They were more careful this time keepin an eye out for gators in the vicinity. Percy thought about bringing Roscoe but when Roscoe was to get excited, there was no shuttin him up. We needed to be extra quiet.

Sure enough the camp was still there now with even more boats and men walking around. Johnny listened closely and said I think I hear a woman’s voice! She was speaking Spanish very loudly and forcefully like she was giving the men orders. It wasn’t the voice of our teacher he thought because we never heard her speak Spanish before. We left quietly and returned home.

We met Mr. Keaton that next day. He was a serious but nice man. We retold our story just as things had happened. He was dressed in a nice suit, real official looking.

He sat us both down in the kitchen. That old striped ginger cat was still hanging out rubbin against our legs under the table purrin away. “Boys,” Keaton said, “what I’m about to tell you is not to leave this room. Do you swear?” “Yes Sir!” they both answered. “You see he continued, Miss Darcy Anne besides bein a teacher also works for our government.” The boys eyes opened wide and sat still as a picture. “There is a group of assassins here in Louisiana from Cuba. We got word they were plotting to attempt to assassinate the President of the United States in New Orleans in two days. Miss Darcy had risked her own life to infiltrate this group to learn of their plans.”

Keaton stated Miss Darcy was a Cuban exile that could speak Spanish. “I heard her!” Cried Johnny. That must have been her at the campsite. Mr. Keaton looked relieved and immediately made a telephone call.

We could not make out what he was saying but it sounded important. He hung up the phone and told us everything was going to be alright. He did asks us since we knew the back woods waterway to the campsite, if we could take him there to shows the way. If one has never been through the swamp, you could easily get lost and be turned around goin in circles. We agreed knowing what we were to do might save Miss Darcy and our President! He asked for us to again tell nobody. Mr. Keaton sat in the middle of the Jon boat. We felt safer cause he had a gun on his hip. As we went along he put red ribbons on reeds and low lyin tree branches to mark the way. Johnny asked Percy what was in that burlap sac on the floor but Percy said it was just stuff and some food. We saw from the distance swamp boats including Jebb with Ulysses.

Mr. Keaton told us to wait here, he was goin in for a closer look. They obeyed him not really wanting to go closer anyways. They watched him make his way around the camp very carefully. Then from out of nowhere a guard came up behind him and cracked him on his head. Mr. Keaton fell like a load of bricks and was dragged inside the same tent Johnny had been held.

“We can’t just leave them here!” said Johnny. The boys waited until the excitement at the camp settled down. When things got quiet Percy grabbed the sack from the boat and followed Johnny. The slit was still open and there tied to the tent pole was Miss Darcy and Keaton, who’s head was bleeding some. Percy crawled inside and freed them both. They had taken his gun away. Percy told Johnny to get ready to move right quick and head to an untie the fan boats. Percy went behind the tent that they was havin a meeting in. When he heard they was all busy talking, he slipped around front and opened the sack. There inside were six lively copperheads none too happy to be cooped up in that sack. They slithered in under the tent flap door while Percy motioned Johnny, Miss Darcy and Mr. Keaton to head for the dock. They quickly untied all the fan boats. When Johnny untied Jebbs boat, he came face to face with Ulysses who had been sleeping onboard. Just as he growled loudly showin with his teeth a snappin and lungin, Johnny pushed it far from the dock as he could so as not to get bit. That brave dog was scared of the water and paced back and forth on the boat! The screams were now coming from the tent as the men panicked as they fought one another trying to escape! The captives and the boys were now onboard a fan boat as the rest of the boats drifted aimlessly away from the docks reach. Keaton sat at the controls while Percy pointed the way out of the swamp. Johnny held on to Miss Darcy to keep her from fallin off. Soon, coming into view were several police boats and some locals as well with Madam Laveau in her top hat, showin the way. The telephone call he had made was for reinforcements. Mr. Keaton had left the those markers on the reeds for them to follow back. Miss Darcy Ann gave the boys a huge hug of gratitude. Keaton was very grateful as well and said thank you on behalf of the United States government. Everyone gave a sigh of relief as there swamp boat pulled up to the town's port. The sheriff pulled up not knowing what had occurred and instead wanted to give Keaton a ticket for speeding on the water!

One look at Mr. Keaton’s badge and some choice words by Keaton and sheriff Lawerence scurried away. We were all safe now. As we had promised Mr. Keaton, we didn’t say a word to anybody about it.

The story wouldn’t reach the local newspaper for several days. It would contain the accounts of two brave lads from Saint Mary Parish, Louisiana that had prevented an assasination attempt on President John F. Kennedy in New Orleans on May 4,1963. Percy and Johnny were hometown heroes.

Months later, President Kennedy heard of all the details himself. He wanted to bring the boys and their families to the White House just as soon as his cross country travels ended after his last stop, Dallas Texas. The invitation was planned for a gala dinner, November 25,1963….a trip that was, never made.

Sometimes, it jes maybe easier livin on the Bayou away from the pains of City folk. Our world is smaller and less complicated but I fear it has now changed forever.

What is done is done.

Follow along for more adventures of Percy and Johnny yet to come.

Thank you for reading!

Ken Beyer