Tough Guys Can Run Fast

 

When I was little, I had an abundance of things to do and more than enough of an imagination to get in to trouble with them.  My most unusual pet was a hive of "volcanic bees".  I came up with name because it just seemed right and that is how it should have been.  The bees (carpenter bees) had a BIG nest on the backside of our storm pit.  Just below the tin roof on the back, was a mound of dirt.  The bees had made hundreds of holes in that pile of dirt where they had the perfect home.  Every day I would go out there and sit beside the nest talking to them about what was going on in my world.  Imagine, hundreds of bees flying around me trying to get in their dirt holes, while I sat there yacking about my roads I had made with a bicycle.  All of the time I sat there; I was never stung.  The bees seem to just ignore me and carry on with their business.  One of my best friends was my dog.  She was a brown Great Dane named BB, and I love her so much.  She went everywhere with me and love me with everything she had.  She was a protector and never let a stranger get close to me while we were outside playing.  One morning we were woken by the phone ringing to tell us BB had been hit by a car and we needed to come quick.  Daddy raced to the road and sure enough, BB was laying there.  She was conscious but couldn't walk due to a possible broken leg.  The guy who hit her (a cousin) was so distraught, he was almost inconsolable.  Daddy told him not to worry about it, because it was an accident!  We brought BB back to our home, and called the local veterinarian to come and give us the dreaded news we knew we were about to hear.   After the doctor had made her examination, she determined that BB did have a broken leg, but no other injuries and should make a full recovery.   After the doctor had left, we began the process of making BB's nice comfortable bed, with all of her favorite foods around her.  She eventually healed and was back to her old self.  This was after she had been dragged outside on a blanked every time she needed to go to the bathroom, or just get fresh air.  One day we were outside, and she was taking a nap in the warm sun, when Mama brought some snacks for us to enjoy.  BB saw those snacks and it was like Benny Hinn had thrown his healing mojo on her and healed her leg, because she jumped up and ran over to us for a bite of our food.  We couldn't believe our eyes!  She was better!  A few nights later we had company.  I had mentioned earlier that some of the folks who rolled into town were a motorcycle club.  These guys looked exactly like what you'd expect a motorcycle "gang" to look like.  Beards, tattoos, wallets with chains, long hair, and some had their "old ladies" riding behind them on their motorcycles.  I know I said my dog was my best friend, but the president of the club was a close second.  I will call him Dan, and this man was the real thing!  He stood at least 6'6 and weighed around 250lbs.  He had a gold tooth in front and always wore a turquoise ring on his finger.  The most identifiable mark he had was the naked lady tattoo on the inside of his arm.  I don't know what they did, or who they did it too, all I know is they were good to my family, and they will always be special to me!  The night the group came for a visit, of course I was right there in the middle of them, and if anybody had said something about it, Dan would have given them a look, and they would never think anything about me NOT being there again.  At one point Dan started to pick at me.  Some of the other guys joined in, but Dan was the leader.  It was innocent fun, until he started talking about my dog.  BB was loving to everybody, EXCEPT the D.D.'s!!  She would turn into a raging monster the second she heard the Harleys roll up the road.  Dan pushed and pushed until I snapped.  I told him, "If you don't leave me alone, I'm gonna turn my dog loose on you"!  He sits back in his chair and laughed, then pulled out his pocketknife and said, "I'm not afraid of no dog".  After he said that, everybody laughed.  I saw RED!!  So again, like a sweet southern girl with a spitfire personality, I did what I thought I should.  I turned myself around and marched down the hallway and into Mama and Daddy's bedroom.  The backdoor was in their room, and it led me right outside to where BB was being "detained".  I politely unleashed her and told her to "go git'em".  I still remember the sound of her toenails scraping against the wood on the porch just trying to get enough traction to arrive at her target quicker.  She went thru the door like a flash, and up the hallway in a dash.  She saw her target!  The guys were scattered all over our dining room and kitchen.  She was growling and snarling like a mama grizzly protecting her cubs.  Just as she chomped at the first biker she came too, he leaped for the safety of the table.  While she focused on him, the others scattered.  We had bikers on tables, counters, and most went flying out the front door.  Dan was one who made it out the door before anybody.  Daddy fought his way through the flying beer cans, leather cuts (jackets with their club's name on them), and I'm pretty sure I saw a wallet with a chain fly into the air and land on a shelf.  After Daddy gathered my dog, and took her away from the scene, he came back inside and looked at me.  I was standing right in the middle of the floor in the middle of the carnage with my arms crossed basking in my work.  By then the D.D.'s had started to work their way back inside and down from the safety of their hiding places.  Daddy looked down at me and asked me why I had done what I did, and I bluntly said, "I told him not to mess with my dog"!  At that point, Daddy was sure I would be taken off to a home for unruly children, and my escorts would be the D.D's!  Dan walked in and everybody looked at him for his reaction, but all he did was lean back and let out a roar of laughter!  He picked me up and said, "Girl you're a mess, and I love it"!  I told him, "I didn't know tough guys could run so fast"....  I was a boss!!