Editor’s note: Armon Randall’s way of handwriting is impossible to duplicate in print. His slashes combine words, one on top of the slash, one below—like “B/4” if you can imagine that vertically.
I’m writing about a/memory of one Summer when my Mom (Big Baby) and I/grew our own garden, well righteously this garden somewhat was a/slick way 2/have me start one garden + also get all of her many flowerbeds + shrubs up to par + looking good enough for her to win 1st prize B/c she was a part of the neighborhood Garden Club which consisted of the women from the Church who thought or felt they had what’s known as a/Green Thumb.
I/recall there was an/alley behind our house where I/burned trash after having cleaned up the yard. All the grass + leaves or shrub trimmings were taken here and burned. This was the place Big Baby felt would B/the perfect place for this garden. In this garden, it was already planned that we’d plant collard greens, tomatoes, okra, watermelon, cucumbers, purple hull peas, green beans, peppers, + carrots. Years earlier, I’d spent a/Summer w/my Pops + he had a/pretty big garden that he took pride in, + as a matter of fact, I can’t remember Pops not having a/garden. @ n/e cost, I/mentioned this 2/my Mom + recall her saying s/thing 2/the tune of “Randall always did try + have a/few rows of this + that. I recall him having said that his mother + father had gardens where he grew up n/Alabama.”
I/learned @ an early age that when a/woman made the statement “We’re going 2/take on a lil Summer Project”—or “Project,” Period, you were the muscle + they were the brains behind the adventure. By this I/mean Big Baby already had the seeds that SHE wanted planted + as we stepped n/2 the alley behind our house, she began 2/map out 2/m how the mound of old burned leaves, branches, etc. etc. had 2/B spread out + sifted through n/order 2/remove n/e and “ALL” objects like big rocks, glass, metals, chunks of wood that didn’t burn all the way down. These had 2/B removed from the soil B/4 we could start the process of tilling the soil.
Mind u/that we’re starting this process right after B/fast on a/Sat. morning @ around 9:30 a.m. Big Baby wasn’t the type of woman 2/just bark orders + not help carry them out, so by 11 a.m., the biggest part of treating the soil was over. She’d already gotten soil from a/Farmers Market + that also had been spread + mixed n/thoroughly w/a John Deere plow that I/wasn’t pay’n attention 2/the meters + ran outta gas, so we’d stopped for a/breather. That way I/could run (actually) up the street + get a can of gas, she on the other hand would /b/fix’n a/few knick-knacks 4/now + later like finger sandwiches, chips, + iced tea. On the way back from the Magic Mart, I/ran n/2 Lou (a/female friend of mine who lived across the street from me) who asked what I/had going on this early n/the A.M. I/briefly ran down 2/her about the garden + kept it pushing, knowing that Big Baby was waiting.
When I/came back N/2 the alley-way, Big Baby had a/hoe N/hand + had already begun 2/fashion a/row + while still doing so she said, “Pay attention B/c you’re going 2/start here making rows + end over there, + if done correctly we should have either 14 or 15 rows, + as u/do this, I’ll be planting the seeds down these rows + labeling each row!” As I’m making these rows + wipe’n the sweat from my face, I/hear someone calling my Mom’s name, saying, “Bessie, where ya @ chile?!?” Mom hears her + says, “Come on back, Grace!” + she pulls off her gloves + starts walking through the shrubs that divide the alley from our house 2/conversate w/Mrs. G. Barnett, her best friend + member of her Garden Club Group. Mrs. G. (the nickname for Mrs. Barnett) left + Mom returned 2/our up + coming garden, saying, “Grace is so sweet, she bringing me some corn seeds + squash + some dividers 4/the tomatoes 2/grow from,” + it’s like as she says these words, Choppa, Mrs. G.’s oldest Son, comes through the shrubs w/wooden dividers that have pointed tips 2/B shoved N/2 the ground 4/stability, + as he’s leaving, Mrs. G. is coming back + she’s got a/few brown small paper bags N/her hands w/some words written on each bag. I’d later find these 4/bulbs I’ll plant in a/totally different “Flower Bed,” once our garden is completed.
After having made the rows, seeds planted, + the dividers placed on their respective rows, Big Baby instructed me 2/place the moving water sprinkler on our new garden, which I/did gladly.
I’d been wondering what the extra bags of soil I’d seen on the back porch were going 2/B used for + I was about 2/find out. We were on a semi-break + I/was sipping on a/glass of iced tea, nibbling on a/sandwich, when Mom says, “Mon, we’re going 2/replant + also plant a/new flowerbed around the trees N/the front yard.” Taking a/shovel N/hand, I/started flipping the soil around the tree + clearing the grass + overly grown weeds + other lil twigs from the area around the tree + did this N/the shape of a/full circle. After doing this I/take the bags of top soil + build the foundation up around the tree. Mom, w/out me knowing it, had taken big pieces of bricks from the soil + old trash-burn pile + put them in a/wheelbarrow which was N/the alley.
Well, during these times I’m a/young adult + I/was dibbing + dabbing w/marijuana, nothing heavy, maybe smoking a/joint here + there w/the Homies, or outside the club, etc… There was a magazine that was N/circulation during that time called High Life, + within the pages it spoke of being able 2/order + have delivered various types of seeds that’d grow various types of BUDS. I’d gotten a/magazine from one of my guys on the football team + had read several times the process it took 2/grow/produce Marijuana.
After our garden was N/full swing, I/got a bright idea, to grow my marijuana alongside of + N/the midst of my Mom’s flowerbeds + our gardens. So, I’d been doing as the magazine had instructed + I’d taken seeds outta my marijuana baggies + placed them between 2/damp towels or face cloths (N/the back of my closet) + the seeds all had begun 2/sprout lil twigs. I/take these sprouts one evening when Mom wasn’t playing around N/the garden or flowerbeds + I/put these sprouts along each row + by each shrub within these beds.
I’m actually so busy, cutting grass, cleaning gutters, detailing cars, ya name it, + I/was doing it during the Summer, hustling 2/get extra $ for school clothes, I/wasn’t really focused on the seeds I’d planted.
I/come from practice one evening + my Grandmother and Mom were N/side Mom’s flowerbed w/Mrs. G., all on hands + knees. Walking up viewing this, it’s an odd scene but it doesn’t dawn on me it could B/the marijuana I’d planted, so I/go on N/the house + run right N/w my sister Robbyn (aka Napa) + I/ask her, “Napa, what’s going on w/the scene outside N/the flowerbed our front?” She says, “Ion know s/thing bout kill’n Big Baby’s garden + flowers!!!” Instantly the light goes on N/my brain, “Could Be Dat Weed?!!” I’m easing outta the back door + hear Big Baby scream my name. “Mooooooooooooon!!!!!” (short 4/Armon) “Bring Yo Ass Here RITE NA!!!” I/literally almost break my ankle running through the back yard getting to the alley. It’s dusk dark, but I/kneel down by a/tomato vine that’s dried out + shriveled up, all but dead, that was just look’n vibrant + full of life a/few weeks ago. @ the base of the vine I/c a/few new plants, maybe from the tip of my middle finger 2/my wrist, measuring from the ground there 2/small weed plants N/the places where I’d planted the seeds. As I squinch my eyes N/2 the fading daylight, I/notice N/every place I’d put seeds, there R/now plants the size I’m viewing + some a lot taller.
My brain starts 2/tumble, tryina plot out a way 2/explain what I’m seeing. A once brilliant plan is now like the most stupid ass shit I/could’ve ever thought of. With these thoughts circulating through my head, I/hear Mrs. G. say from the corner of our house, “Bessie, is that someone N/ya garden!!?” It’s almost as if I/can hear my grandmother’s + Big Baby’s vision tryina focus N/through the dying daylight. I’ve been @ football practice for a/few hours + am tired, yet not tired enuff not to duck walk along the darkness of the alley + ova the fence 2/my best friend Baby Lock’s house.
I/come through their garage door (B/c I’ve slid under N/stead of knock’n on the door, s/thing I’ve done ever since I/can remember) + Baby Lock + his brother next 2/him (Aaron) R/play’n Atari.
Just as I’ve finished giving them the rundown on what’s going down, their phone rings. Angie, their sister, answers from their kitchen, look’n directly @ me, pointing @ the phone, mouthing the words, “Your Mom!!” I’m waving my hands say’n, “I’m Not Here!!!” She’s like, “Let me look upstairs” + yells my name, while covering the phone, saying, “I’m not lying 2/your mother!!” And then saying, “Mon, ya Mom’s on the phone!!” I/hear Big Baby say, “Tell’em TO GET HIS AZZ HOME NOW!!!” Angie looks like “Boy You R-N-TROUBLE!!!”
I/duck back under the garage door + no sooner than I get 2my feet I/can see Big Baby stick her head outta our kitchen door. As I/get closer 2/the house, coming through the shrubbery, I/c a/flashlight N/my Mom’s hand. B/4 I/get within arm’s reach, I/say, “What’s up, Big Baby?” She says, “You’re bout 2/tell me, B/c I/just know u/Armon Randall R/not this crazy.” As I/pass her, I/pause, awaiting 4/her 2/give directions to where we’re going + when I/stop, I/receive a slap on the back of the head, look ova my shoulder + ask, “Where am I/going?” She looks @ me with a/mean mug that’d scare the most ruthless criminal + says, “Boy if u/don’t move I’ma stop giving u/the benefit of the doubt + go on + beat ya ass now!” Saying this is somewhat a/growl.
As I/start walk’n, the beam of the flashlight comes on + it’s pointed toward the flowerbed. 4/the 1st time I/notice my Grandmother stand’n N/the doorway of our kitchen w/an encyclopedia in her hand, shaking her head. Big Baby kneels down N/the flowerbed + shows me 7 miniature marijuana plants, about the same size as the one I’d seen N/the garden N/the alley.
She says, “Mon, do y/have n/e idea what this is that killed all my roses? B/+4 u/answer, these same plants R/everywhere, + I/also went N/your room + found one of my face towels N/your closet w/some seeds that R/start’n 2/sprout + Nanaan looked the plants or should I/say WEED up N/the encyclopedia + it says these R/marijuana plants + I/want a/truthful answer as 2/why it’s dope seeds N/your closet + dope N/my flowerbeds + garden + it’s only the ones that WE planted together.” Turning 2/look back @ the flowerbed 2/come up w/something ½ believable, I receive another head smack + a “I’m waiting!” The only thing that came 2/mind was what came outta my mouth next. “I/don’t know.”
Another smack cross the back of my head, harder this time, followed w/the statement, “Ohhh we’ll figure it out shortly!” When we entered the house my grandmother had dictionaries and encyclopedias out over our dining room table, look’n @ me, shaking her head. She said, “Bessie, come on + take me 2/the house B/4 u/open this can of worms.” She pulls me 2/her, kiss me on the cheek, + says, “I Love You, Mon,” as if I’m about 2/get one of those life-altering ass beatings. Then she says, “Why the damn flowerbeds + u/got all dem woods down the street!” She wasn’t expecting a/response B/c she kept it moving + exited 2/get N/side the car.
Big Baby leaves + says, “Go nowhere.” As I’m waiting 4/Mom’s return, a/vehicle pulls N/2 the driveway + I/know the sounds of that truck from n/e other + I/actually get scared because it’s my Dad. He comes str-8 N/and says, “Boy u/done lost yo mind, planting dope N/yo mother’s yard!” he asks, “Boy what’s wrong witchu?” I/don’t respond + he says come here, when I’m coming closer he reaches out + wraps his fist around my chest. The blow was unexpected + the impact sent my lil butt backwards + I/believe I/was about 2/get another one but my sister walks N/and sayd, “Hey Daddy, what’chu doing here?” He says, “Ya Momma called me saying that your retarded brother done killed her rose bushes and garden by planting dope/WEED N/both!” Robbyn shakes her head, looks @ me, and returns 2/the back of the house.
Mom comes back + passes my Pops one of the smaller plants from the flowerbed. Pops looks @ it + then takes a/leaf, put’n it N/his mouth + chewing it, then say’n, “Yes, Bessie, it’s WEED.”
For the next hour I’m grilled + interrogated as if they’ve found plans 4/me 2/Rob a/Bank. I’m asked a/zillion questions, stemming from do I/use drugs, where’d I/get the drugs, do I/need mental help? To the last statement after either I/didn’t answer or gave a/negative response 2/their questioning. “Go 2/your room + I’ll B/there shortly.”
Needless 2/say, I/wasn’t expecting the next move. Big Baby enters + says, “Take those pants off!” I say, “Huh??” She says, “u/can take’m off or I’ll beat-em off ya.” No sooner than I/get my last leg outta my pants, my room door opens + Pops comes N/with a/belt that weightlifters wear, + whips me till I can’t hardly see. Plus, afterwards I’m placed on restrictions until I’m thought 2/have learned my lesson. How could a/plan go so wrong?
Oh! I/sure enough learned a/lesson B/c I/started reading about Mary Jane + did so through and through, + learned that marijuana indeed is a/weed that’ll choke out n/e + everything it’s placed around, + should B/planted by a/bed of water or a lot of trees so its roots don’t plow N/2 the root systems of other vegetation and kill it.
This is a/real-life event, + actually the 1st lesson that I/learned 1st-hand about weeds, how strong they R/and how certain types usually destroy n/e-thing they grow around. No wonder people say, “Keep the Weeds Outta Your Gardens + Flowerbeds!”
