Sweet Song Read Online Free PDF

not unheard of, but it was cherished.
    At the nearest edge of the woods, Leon took off running downhill toward the creek. He heard Martha grunt some words out, but they weren’t recognizable. The sound itself was piercing and sharp-edged even though the words were unclear. Still, he knew what she was trying to say. No one else made a sound, and Leon didn’t look back to see whether anyone had moved to stop him.
    He stopped at a slope that fell off and into a deep, swift creek-flow. A maple tree had fallen over and bent to the movement and power of the water. He looked into the deep green and saw the torn carcass of a deer hanging loosely, caught in a tangle of bark-stripped branches. It had been there since the prior winter. No acrid smell of rot lifted from the remains. Most of the meat and bone were gone. Only strips of skin and parts of limbs hung onto the tree, a final but futile attempt at life.
    Leon made his way up creek to where the land flattened out and the creek made its turn, cutting into the opposite bank and leaving bare the creek flat.
    The rumble of water rushed into his ears, a steady background blocking out the whistling of wind through the trees. The creek galloped toward the river, and the river slipped past towns and cities.
    Leon had an urge to jump into the creek and float with it until he hit the river, then float with that until a friendly town sprouted up. He’d stop there and work hard, so he could buy books and read.
    He watched as drops leaped up, somersaulted, and landed back in the stream only farther down, closer to the river. He picked up a stone and pitched it into the water. He picked up another and threw it at a tree on the opposite bank, hitting it squarely.
    “Hey,” Hillary shouted over the roar of the creek.
    Leon went to her. “You got something to read?”
    “Not this time. I thought we’d talk a little.”
    “You upset about your mama?”
    “A little.”
    “She was crazy.”
    “That’s Pa’s fault. Pa and your ma.”
    “My Ma’s crazy too. Worse than ever. She scaring me.” He shut up, wanting not to think of Bess.
    “She scares you,” Hillary corrected.
    “She scares me,” Leon said.
    Hillary turned away. “Can we sit in the grass?”
    Leon followed her up the bank and over to where the sun reached a clearing and a soft patch of fresh grass lifted up.
    Hillary leaned into Leon. He stiffened.
    “What’s wrong.”
    “We’re not supposed to touch.”
    “I need comforting. Besides, you’re my half brother. It’s okay.”
    “I’m nothin’ but a farmhand. And a Negro one, to boot. I got too much of my mama in me to be called a half-brother to anyone.”
    “Your nose ain’t even flat.”
    “Don’t matter.”
    “It doesn’t matter.”
    “We still shouldn’t be touching this much.”
    “This isn’t touching,” she said while leaning into him farther. “I know what touching is.”
    “How do you know?” Leon focused on his words.
    “Jacob.”
    “Who’s that?”
    “He’s a man I see sometimes from across the valley.”
    “A man?”
    “He’s twenty.”
    “You best be careful.”
    “Better. You had better be careful,” she said.
    “You’d better be.”
    “Don’t act like that. I do things you wouldn’t know.”
    “I don’t want to know.”
    “Like real touching.”
    “I don’t want to know,” Leon repeated.
    “Like this.” Hillary brushed her hand over Leon’s leg.
    Something in his mind exploded. He pushed her away. “What you doin’?”
    “Don’t shove me like that. I was showing you what you don’t know.”
    “I tell you, I don’t want to know.” Memories rushed into Leon’s thoughts. Things he didn’t want to remember like guilt, pain, and hatred. As always his stomach ached. He didn’t know from where his feelings originated.
    “I want to know,” she said.
    “No ma’am.”
    “Don’t talk like that.”
    “Don’t be angry. I’m just scared.” Those were his only words.
    She sat up and unbuttoned her