What Kind of Fool? and Other Short Stories

Jay Thomas Willis

Description

This book contains twenty-four short stories from what the author considers the best stories from seven of his other books of short stories. These stories have been revised and re-edited. They come in part from his life experiences. They mimic his life experiences, but in no way are a direct depiction of those experiences. They are far from reality, and more like the author’s fantasies about what could have happened.

Sujets

• Fiction
• Short Stories

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 04 janvier 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669861546
• Langue: English

Extrait

What Kind of Fool? and Other Short Stories









Jay Thomas Willis



Copyright © 2023 by Jay Thomas Willis.

Library of Congress Control Number:
2023900112
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-6153-9
Softcover
978-1-6698-6152-2
eBook
978-1-6698-6154-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.






Rev. date: 12/30/2022





Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
849966



Also by Jay Thomas Willis
Nonfiction
A Penny for Your Thoughts: Insights, Perceptions, and Reflections on the African American Condition
Implications for Effective Psychotherapy with African Americans
Freeing the African-American’s Mind
God or Barbarian: The Myth of a Messiah Who Will Return to Liberate Us
Finding Your Own African-Centered Rhythm
When the Village Idiot Get Started
Nowhere to Run or Hide
Why Black Americans Behave as They Do: The Conditioning Process from Generation to Generation
God, or Balance in the Universe
Over the Celestial Wireless
Paranoid but not Stupid
Nothing but a Man
Things I Never Said
Word to the Wise
Born to Be Destroyed: How My Upbringing Almost Destroyed Me
Nobody but You and Me: God and Our Existence in the Universe
Got My Own Song to Sing: Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome in My family
Random Thoughts on My Reality
A Word to My Son: A Celebration
Messed-Up Kid
Off-the-Top Treasures
Going with the Flow
Man’s Basic Purpose
God Told Me to Tell You
My Life and Times: Some Personal Essays
Life’s Lessons: Some Passing Thoughts
Why I Write: Notes Straight from the Hip
Just Jazzing: Thoughts from the Depth of My Soul
It’s Good to Be Alive: Focusing on the Positive Rather Than the Negative
Fiction
No Worldly Options Except Suicide or Schizophrenia: But God Has His Own Plans
You Can’t Get There from Here
Where the Pig Trail Meets the Dirt Road
The Devil in Angelica
As Soon as the Weather Breaks
The Cotton is High
Hard Luck
Educated Misunderstanding
Dream On: Persistent Themes in My Dreams
Longing for Home and Other Short Stories
Promises I Must Keep: Maintaining My Family’s Legacy
Poetry
Reflections on My Life: You’re Gonna Carry That Weight a Long Time
It’s a Good Day to Die: Some Personal Poetry About the Ups and Downs in My Life



Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1 The Unexpected Bridegroom
2 Fighting for the Big-Time Supervisor’s Role
3 Searching for a Ghost: The Old Grey Mare Ain’t What She Used to Be
4 Purebred and the Beast
5 Some and Others say
6 A Hard Lesson
7 My Ship Came In
8 What Kind of Fool?
9 The Bus Ride
10 My Best Brandy and Scotch
11 Country Boy In the City
12 What Friends Will Do
13 Upscale Stalker in Silk Stockings
14 Where the Pig Trail Meets the Dirt Road
15 Disunion
16 The Great Escape
17 Betrayal
18 Stretching My Wings
19 The Cotton is High
20 Upscale Deception
21 Get All the Information
22 My Career as a Truck Driver
23 Unexpected Summer Love
24 Blues for a Black Blonde

About the Author
Sources



Dedication
To Mr. G



Acknowledgments
Thanks to all my teachers, professors, family, friends, significant others, and relatives for helping me to develop an imagination that would lead to the writing of these stories.
Thanks to all those who provided love and support during my life. They are too numerous to mention.
Thanks to my father and brother wade for being supportive role models.
Again, thanks to the Almighty God for putting me in the time, place, and space that would lead to the development of my imagination.



Introduction
What Kind of Fool? and Other Short Stories is a collection of twenty-four of the author’s published short stories that came from seven of his other books of short stories. The seven books of short stories include: Dream On: Persistent Themes in My Dreams ; Promises I Must Keep : Maintaining My Family’s Legacy ; Educated Misunderstanding ; Hard Luck ; Longing for Home and Other Short Stories ; The Cotton is High and Other Short Stories ; and Where the Pig Trail Meets the Dirt Road . These twenty-four short stories are considered some of his best short stories. The stories in this book have been re-edited and revised to improve their readability. They came in part from some of his life experiences.
The author grew up on an isolated-dirt farm in a rural area of East Texas. The earliest he can remember was when he was approximately three-years old. He had on a dress and pigtails in his hair. His brother was plowing in the field. It was July and the corn was tall. Farm animals ran through the yard. They had no electricity, gas, plumbing, or telephone. He lived in a drafty-old, rusty-tin-roof shack, that existed in the middle of nowhere.
The land was full of rocks and would only grow the hardiest of weeds. As he became of age, he would plow a mule from sunup to sunset until he was eighteen and left home. He did get electricity when he was in first grade but didn’t get gas until he was a freshman in high school, a telephone as a sophomore in college, and some makeshift plumbing many years after college.
Until first grade there was no road to his house, only a three-mile trail. This trail had overhanging tree limbs, tall grass, and ditches wide as a house. When it rained the trail became a flood plain. He had to walk that three-mile trail to the bus stop every morning and evening. In first grade a dirt road was constructed that led to his front door. The school bus began to pick them up at their front door.
The author’s parents left him to survive with the animals, and he made it the best way he could. His mother was unaffectionate and left him to his own devices. During his early years there were few visitors, mainly because of the trail situation. He was mostly isolated from other people. Once they got the dirt road, his brother came home for a brief period. This brother encouraged him in school, took him where he wanted to go, and bought him some of the things he needed. This brother was his saving grace. His isolation led him to stutter. There were no speech therapists in the area. The school also did not have a speech therapist. He would never get any help for his speech.
There was mental illness, philandering, alcoholism, psychological, and physical abuse in his family. His father worked 300 miles away, and his mother only cared about the management of the farm. Neither his mother nor father cared much about their children getting an education. They only went to school because it was a requirement by the state. His brothers nor sisters got much education, and subsequently had difficulty finding a decent job. His mother tried to discourage him from attending school, but he was determined to get what he could from the educational system.
The author got picked on a lot because he was scrawny, undernourished, and had a speech impediment. He was small and frail for his age. Boys three years behind him in school were bigger and stronger than he was. In addition, he was mostly ignored and looked over by his teachers. For most of his youth he was isolated from other children in the community and spent most of his time working on that dirt farm.
When he was sixteen his brother bought him a car. This got him out of some of his isolation. He could at least get off that dirt farm and go where he wanted to go.
His elementary, junior high, and high school experience was inadequate; but somehow, he grew up and went to college. Always behind the eight ball because he wasn’t prepared for the rigors of academia. For the most part he was out of place, and a stranger in a strange land.
If it hadn’t been for his father’s Social Security benefits, it is unlikely that he would ever have had the opportunity to attend college. He had nine older sisters and brothers but received no help for college from any of them. He knew his parents could barely survive and would be unable to provide any assistance.
He graduated college and joined the Navy and later attended graduated school in social work. After which, he moved to a South Suburb of Chicago. He has been in the south suburbs for the past forty-eight years. He studied toward a Ph.D. at two different universities while holding down a full-time job, but never was able to successfully complete the degree. Worked on several jobs in the Chicago area. Also, taught college classes part-time, and worked several other jobs part-time. He was in private practice for several years. He has been retired for the past twenty years. He was fortunate to be able to send two children to college, has a decent home, and adequate transportation.
These stories mimic some of his experiences, but in no way depict the total reality of these expe