Chapter 1

The White River is a screwed up river to begin with. It starts in North West Arkansas in the Ozark Mountains, then flows north into the state of Missouri and then makes a big sweeping bend back down into Arkansas again.

The upper White, as its known - after the river flows into Arkansas out of Missouri has carved its way through some pretty rugged territory.

Down through the mountain country between Mt. Home and Yellville, Arkansas - on south to the Mississippi Delta counties of south east Arkansas - it flows to eventually empty into the Mississippi River.

The upper White, is fed by cold water springs and creeks which run out of the hills and small mountains along the way. Floating and rafting trips are fun and exciting ways to spend a spring or summer weekend on this stretch of the river.

Once the White winds and meanders out of the low mountains and hills of North Arkansas, it widens out and the water becomes warmer, the river becomes wider, navigable to larger boats, and even small tows of barges and large private houseboats are seen on the river in middle Arkansas.

Commercial fishermen abound along the White ... Catfish caught from the White have garnished some of the finest eateries in the south.

This story is about a commercial fisherman - Luther Tucker - and the mess he gets into when he takes in an orphaned niece of his because his aging mother asked him to.

Luther has never been able to tell his mother NO! He’d tried many times to refuse some of the things she asked of him - but in the end, she always got her way.

Luther had worked hard all his life as a commercial fisherman, even before he got out of high school ... and he’s just now twenty-six years old.

He has nets, fish traps, and trot-lines out all over this river for miles and he runs them religiously every day during the spring and summer months ... and on into early fall.

During the late fall and winter months, Luther takes time off from his fishing, to guide duck hunters on the river. Luther is just about the best guide there is on the White River’s stretch through South Central Arkansas.

He ‘s known far and wide as the absolute best there is at calling Mallards into his spread of decoys on a cold December morning when his guide service is booked solid from opening day until closing day. Rain or shine - cold or hot - Luther Tucker is always booked solid.

Some of the hunters have hunted with Luther when he was a young boy, and now they bring their young sons and daughters with them, to experience the best there is, when it comes to hunting ducks on the White River in Arkansas.

Luther lives alone in his houseboat. He like it that way.

He bought five acres of land along the river bank, then built a nice dock and fishing pier out into the river. He tied his houseboat up to some huge pilings in the river and has a floating walkway that that rises and lowers, with the level of the river during the rainy season.

Luther has been married twice - once to his high school sweet heart for six years - until she just got tired of smelling like a fish all the time and ... left one day.

Linda did leave him a note on the table:

“Damn, Damn, Damn”

He fucked up, got drunk, and got married again to a hot little gal who loved to dance and drink with Luther over at ‘The Honky Tonk Barge’.

That one legally lasted six days.

The Honky Tonk Barge is just a big old rusty river-barge that had been tied up to the bank of the White River and then had a bar built on top of it. There was a dispute as to what county the bar was located in and even the courts couldn’t settle the dispute - so the Honky Tonk Barge - really had no law enforcement jurisdiction hanging over it. Not that ol’ Munk McCorkle was trying to be outside the law ... sometimes things just happen that way.

Munk has added on to the Honky Tonk Barge until he now has a nice sized bar with a dance floor. He even hires a local band on Friday and Saturday nights year round. This is a favorite hang out for the duck and deer hunters, as well as the fishermen and weekend boaters on the river.

Luther Tucker loves to drink good whiskey and kick up his heels on occasion. It’s just natural for him to motor up river about three miles in his big wide camouflaged duck boat to, The Honky Tonk Barge.

That’s where Luther met the hot-assed little woman that nearly took him down. Molly Ritcher was something else all right and she was just sure that ol’ Luther had a lot of money stuck back in that houseboat ... and she needed some of it.

She needed the money to get a bus ticket over to Oklahoma City to stay with her cousin who had her a job all lined up. Molly knew she was hot. She loved to dance and tease all the boys down at the bar, and get them to buy her drinks.

All this was well and good, until one night she and ol’ Luther had been drinking and kicking the dust up out on the dance floor. She was just about as looped as Luther, and Luther was drunk on his ass.

When Luther told her he had to go take a piss, she just followed him, thinking he was going to the restroom. Luther never used the restroom, he pissed over the side of the barge, just like he did at home, right into the river.

Molly got a look at Luther’s cock and nearly fell overboard - backwards.

“God Damn, Luther! Is that a fucking snake you got all stuffed down in your britches, or is that really a cock?” Molly slurred her words, but Luther was drunk too ... He knew what she said.

“Hell Molly it’s my cock ... ain’t you ever seen a cock before?”

“Hell yeah I have! But none of them looked like that damned thing you got a choke hold on.”

Luther started back in the bar and Molly hollered at him...

“Wait just a fucking minute, I got to piss too.”

“Well either go in yonder and piss in that stinking toilet, or piss over the side like I did.”

Molly hiked her dress tail, squatted down with her backside over the edge of the barge and cut loose.

“Damn girl you musta been holding that a while. You piss like a race horse.”

“I’ll let you stick that horse cock in my pussy if you’ll give me the money for a bus ticket to Oklahoma City.”

“I ain’t got no rubbers and I don’t stick it in no woman’s pussy without a rubber.”

“Well shit! Get one out of the damned machine in the restroom and give me some of the snake you got there.”

“I already looked, the machine’s empty. I got a bunch at home if you want to ride down river and stay a while.”

“Shit yeah I do, where’s that boat of yours?”

“Right over here. Let me have your hand and I’ll help you in.”

Ol’ Luther felt pretty damn good about this. He’d been trying to get some of Molly’s pussy for a while now ... but there was no way he was gonna beg or pay for pussy.

‘Hell, I’ll give her the money for a damned bus ticket ... for a piece of that pussy. It’s been a long dry spell for me’

By the time they made it down river to Luther’s houseboat, Molly was as naked as a picked duck. Luther gathered up her clothes except her panties ... he never did find them or she never wore any - and helped her into his houseboat.

Luther may look and smell like a fisherman most of the time, but when his wife left him, he swore he was gonna keep this place looking and smelling like a hospital. He did too. His houseboat is spotless, and smells as fresh as a spring day with flowers in bloom.

Molly wasn’t impressed at all. All she wanted, was some cock and a bus ticket.

Luther got a couple of rubbers out of the kitchen drawer where he kept them, then stripped his clothes off right there on the floor. He rolled that rubber down over his cock and they balled up right there on the kitchen floor, in a cluster fuck.

Then they hit the big easy chair - then the barstool at the counter, and ended up in the middle of the kitchen table with Molly riding him like a horse, spanking his naked legs as she fucked him.

Luther woke up with one hell of a hangover after they killed a fifth of tequila and fucked all night.

Molly lay there beside him, her mouth open and snoring. Luther looked at the papers on the bed with them and swept them off in the floor with his hand as he got up.

Luther was sitting on the side of the water bed letting his head stop spinning, then looked down at the papers.

His head stopped spinning real damn quick. This is a fucking marriage license. How in the hell did this happen? All he wanted was some pussy. He looked closer at the writing, squinting his one eye that would still focus ... the other eye squeezed shut.

‘How in the hell did we get over to Mississippi and get married? Here it is though, my signature and hers ... even witnessed ... Damn, Damn, Damn’

Luther woke Molly up ... and when she could open both eyes and talk with some sense ... she told him, “We got to fucking and drinking all that tequila ... Hell, Luther, I was feeling so good with your big old cock in my pussy - I asked you to marry me.”

“You told me yes, and found enough clothes to cover our naked asses and you drove us over to Mississippi. We got married at a Justice of the Peace’s office and you drove us back home. Don’t you remember any of that?”

“Damn, Damn, Damn. I done fucked up now”

Luther took her to the lawyers office with him, and filed for divorce, then took her to the bus station and bought her a ticket to Oklahoma City.

Luther wasn’t real sure but, he had an idea, that the lawyer took his money and got it annulled. How ever it happened he had his papers in six days and he was happy ... even if it did cost him $250.00 and a bus ticket.

“That shit ain’t gonna happen to me again ... that’s for damned sure. Why in the hell am I always getting fucked up in shit like this anyway? I’m better off when I’m fishing or duck hunting. As soon as I get some free time ... I fuck up. I never will understand why shit like this happens to me. Hell, I have good intentions. I just get to agreeing with everybody and the next thing I know, I’m in a hell of a mess again.

“That’s the last time I’m gonna let anybody talk me into another crazy ass thing like that. I’m a loner and I like it this way. I don’t need no damn female around anyway.

“I’m just gonna buy my pussy from now on ... I’ll come out way cheaper.”

Luther was down on Luther and he was talking out loud as he stood, pissing in the river off the side of his big houseboat.

All of this sounded good to Luther ... as he told himself off for being so damned stupid anyway. That was on a Saturday ... On Monday his Mother called and told him she needed to talk to him real bad.

“Well Mom ... just tell me over the phone, since we’re talking anyway.”

“This is too important to talk about over the phone. Luther. I need to be looking at you when I tell you this.”

Luther knew better ... he knew better, than to let his Mom talk to him while she looked him in the eye ... he never in his life told her NO.

This time was no different either.

“Luther now you know I’m too old to take on a fifteen year old girl, or I’d do it in a heartbeat ... Speaking of heart, I been having some stingers of pain in my chest and some skippy heart beats too.”

“Mom, don’t her Dad’s side of the family have somebody down there to take her in? Hell, I’m a river fisherman. I get up early and run my nets and lines ... then I duck hunt all fall and winter.”

“Luther Honey, I know all that ... But I also know you’d be the best that ever happened to her. Hon, they’ve lived on the same river you live on ... for years and years. That little girl would fit right in with you and what all you do for a living. Luther she’s just a River Rat, like you anyway. You two will hit it off real good ... and you know it”

“But Mom, I’m a 26 year old man. I don’t need a 15 year old brat hanging around, and sneaking looks, when I get lucky with a woman.”

“Luther, you can go out and have all the fun you need to, until you find the right woman for you. This girl would be perfect help for you ... Son, you just have to help me out this time.”

“Mom, I don’t know the first thing about raising kids. I’m just barely out of being a kid myself and she’s a girl even at that. I don’t know a damn thing about being a guardian to a little girl.”

“Luther if you’ll do this for me ... I promise to help you all I can ... to see that she knows all about girl stuff, that she gets her lessons, and that she knows how to keep herself clean.”

“Mom I’m just not sure about this. Where’s she at now anyway?”

“Luther they got her in a detention center down there in the south part of the state. We can’t just leave her there ... No telling what will become of her.”

“Why in the hell did Mildred and Morten have to go and drown themselves after all these years on this river anyway?”

“They were coming back up the Mississippi River, heading into the mouth of the White, when the towboat swamped them. They never found them Luther. Don’t you just know that little girl’s heart is about broke over it all?”

“Yeah, I reckon she is, Mom ... I’ll go get her. You go to the lawyer and get the legal guardian papers started so the court will act on it in a hurry. I’ll head out in the morning early.”

“Luther I just knew I could count on you! I’ll get the name of the place and the name of the woman in charge ... as well as the address. You sure do make your old Mom a happy woman in her old age Luther. I know that little girl down there will be so glad to see you.”

Luther got out of bed at 4:00 am the next morning. He may as well have not gone to bed. His Mom had him so worked up and worried about his little niece ... that he couldn’t fall asleep for shit.

He’d filled his Ford Dooley with diesel on the way home from his Mom’s the night before. As soon as he took a hot shower, he was out the door and in the road.

‘Hell I wonder what she looks like now? The last time they all came up here was six years ago. She was a knobby kneed, skinny ass little brat with glasses as big as her Mom’s. Hell she looked like a fucking hoot-owl to me’

How in the hell did I let Mom talk me into this shit? I just know that damned little old girl will be in my way and I’ll have to watch her like a hawk when we’re on the river. Hell I live on the river ... I’ll have to watch her like a hawk all the time’

‘There goes me getting up and pissing in the river anytime I want to ... There goes me walking around in my boxers, scratching my butt’

“Damn, Damn, Damn”

Luther drove into Circle City, looking for the court house. His Mom told him the State Detention Home for Girls was near the Court House.

Luther parked his old Ford Dooley in the court house parking lot and walked across the street to the building with metal doors, chain-link fences and razor wire around the top.

‘Damn, they got this little girl in jail down here! I’m glad Mom and I decided to come get her now. She’s kinfolk and I’ll raise her like she was my own ... hell I never raised a girl before. I never raised any kid before ... But it’ll be alright ... Mom said it would’

“May I help you?” The large woman with the snarling face and drooping jaws, asked as she sat behind the window with the bars on it.

“Yes Ma’am. I’m Luther Tucker and I came here to get my little niece, Katherine Ann Turner ... Kat is what they call her.”

“Yes Mr. Tucker ... Do you have some identification on you?”

“Yes Ma’am I got my drivers license with me.”

“May I see it, please?”

“Oh yes Ma’am.”

“Mr. Tucker step to that door over there and wait until someone comes to get you. You’ll need to sign some detention papers, and custody release papers too before you can take your niece with you.”.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

Now were getting somewhere

“Mr. Luther Tucker?” The small slender woman, with no titties at all, asked.

“Yes Ma’am, I’m Luther Tucker.”

“Step through this door and stop inside the metal detector.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“You’ll need to take all your keys and your belt off ... the alarm is going.”

“Yes Ma’am, I hear it.” Luther said as he took his truck keys and his big belt buckle off and stepped back inside again.

“You can step out now. Just walk around here to the desk and sign these papers. As soon as your niece is brought out, you can get your keys and belt, and go back through the door.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

As Luther was bent over signing the last of the papers, he saw someone walk up beside him.

“Hello Uncle Luther ... I’m so glad you came here to get me. These dumb motherfuckers are about to drive me fucking nuts.”

Kat was standing there with her two small suitcases ... She sure has changed...

“Uh, Katherine?”

“No I’m Kat, please don’t call me Katherine.”

“I’ll remember that. Girl, you sure have grown up ... but then it’s been a while too, right?”

“Yeah, been about six years. I got a lot taller for a fifteen year old didn’t I, Uncle Luther?”

“Yeah I mean uh ... let’s get your stuff and get out of this place.”

“Yeah I’m ready too. Can we stop and get some real food? This shit they serve here is like fucking dog-food ... or worse.”

“Sure, we’ll stop and eat on the way back.”

‘Damn, Damn, Damn‘

Mom said she was a little girl. Here she is, damned near as tall as me. She don’t even have no shape on her body to speak of, just all arms and legs.

“Uncle Luther?”

“Yeah Kat?”

“Where’d you park your mind? You’re just staring at me like you don’t know me.”

“Oh, I guess it’s just hard to believe that a girl can grow up like you have in six years.”

Kat Turner is 5’-4”, with long sun-bleached stringy hair. She’s wearing a white t-shirt, some kind of silk looking jogging shorts. She has Reeboks with no socks. Her face and arms are dark from being in the sun and on the river all her life. She has some small knobs under that t-shirt, but that’s all they are, knobs.

‘At least she’s ditched them damned hoot owl glasses ... Damn, Damn, Damn’

‘I know I ought not to be looking ... but hell I know she don’t have panties on under them silk shorts. I’ll say one thing though, she’s sure got a butt on her’

“Let’s stop up here at the steakhouse, Uncle Luther. We used to eat here all the time before Mom and Dad got killed. I just miss them so much, Uncle Luther and I’m so glad you came to get me. Will I live with you all the time now, Uncle Luther?”

“Yes you will Kat, and we’ll always remember your Mom and Dad. They were good folks and some of the best fishermen on the river too.”

“We sure made a good living at it, Uncle Luther. Are you gonna let me help with your fishing and hunting guide business Uncle Luther?”

“I sure will, Kat. We’ll make a good team.”

“Thanks, Uncle Luther ... them fucking custodians back there at that prison were always telling me I’d be put in a foster home and no decent folks was gonna want me cause I cuss so much.”

“Well Kat you do need to kinda tone it down a little ... especially when we’re out in public or in mixed company ... will you try?”

“I sure will, Uncle Luther. But you know my Dad cussed every other word and my Mom could blister the paint off a concrete wall with her cussing. I just picked it up natural ... but I’ll try real hard to keep it down, unless it’s just you and me.”