Brotherhood: Orion and Michael Thomas
I first saw Jack Johnson when I was maybe six or seven. He’d slip into town, without observation and set up at Rosewood.
Rosewood Academy was quite famous in Virginia for both its sports and dramatics departments. Our entire educational career from the third to twelfth grade was at that school with a class of twenty-five or so students.
We had a very dynamic auditorium, which Jack Johnson utilized each fall. His production began with a theme song he’d put on the phonograph:
“Lucky ole son, Give him nothing to do But roam over heaven all day...”
That was his theme. Jack Johnson was a small wizard looking cat who didn’t have a race.
He could go amongst any group and fit in. He always wore a dark grey suit, white shirt, and tie which never got soiled; an achievement since he’d always be seen walking out of the mountains. He looked like he was in his thirties and despite his small frame was strong as an ox. He was a very unusual looking cat who spoke in terse riddles you’d have to rewind a few times to decipher. He had this sweet smell about him too.
He’d walk out as “Lucky ole son” wound down. He’d look up and dramatically shout “Amarjah! Give me power! Amarjah, give me power!”
Then he’d run across the street to a graveyard with everyone chasing after him. There a six-foot shallow grave would already be dug with a pine box at the bottom. Jack jumped in and called for two people to put the lid on the box and nail it shut.
“Dirt come to breath, cover body!” His words mumbled together in a dialect of English unique to himself.
The two helpers climbed out and shoveled dirt back atop the crypt. A big mound covered the grave and he’d be down there nailed shut. Just as we made our way back to the auditorium a helper cued his theme song...
