Explore "A Gathering of Old Men" by Ernest J. Gaines on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
They was shooting everywhere. Soon as the sheriff went down, they started shooting. Shooting out the front door, shooting out the window, shooting up in the ceiling—shooting everywhere. Just hollering and shooting. I told myself, boy, you better get out of here. Gram Mon had Toddy and Minnie by the hands and hollered for me to stop, but I told myself, no indeed, I’m getting out of here while the getting is good, and I shot out through the kitchen and went under the house. Then I started crawling toward the front. I didn’t stop till I had reached the front steps.
Now I could see the sheriff, old Mapes, sitting out there on the walk, trying to get up. Rocking this way, that way like one of them big old scoiling kettles—trying his best to get up. But he was too big to make it by himself, and I sure wasn’t going out there to help him.