Mutt
I
remember a huge man with a two-day old beard holding a
short cigarette in the side of his mouth. Because he was a
little short of breath, he let out puffs of smoke as he
gasped for air. He was rather active, but his weight made
his actions slow. This is how I remember Mutt Harrell.
He was one of the few Republicans I knew as a young man.
I’m not sure if he was a loyal Republican or if it was just
convenient for him to get the coffee consignment to the
federal prison when our president was a Republican. Of
course Eisenhower was the first Republican president in my
life time.
Mr. Harrell ran a salvage store on the west side of the
Courthouse Square in an old rundown store. He bought
unclaimed freight and displayed it in the most disorganized
fashion all over the store. People liked to rummage through
the stuff and buy things.
He owned a nice big house behind Melear’s Barbecue. Later
the house was used as a center for senior citizens. Mutt
married late in life and his wife was surely the boss. She
was hard working, had a large garden, and their yard
bloomed with flowers. Mutt did not appear as industrious as
she, maybe because of his size.
He liked to give the appearance of being tough and ornery,
but I witnessed him on two occasions that say otherwise.
He loved his wife very much but realized she was boss. He
would come into Alford Brothers where as a school boy I
worked in the meat department on weekends. He’d get me to
cut special expensive cuts for him that few other people
ever bought. He would always get me to mark the price on
the tip of the wrapper so he could tear it off after
checking out. He didn’t want his wife to see how much he
paid.
As a young school teacher I enjoyed the hobby of
photography. I had a small darkroom and made pictures for
the school and the local newspaper. Mr. Harrell came to me
with a small Kodak picture of his terrier dog. The dog had
died and he wanted me to make an enlargement of the
picture, He told me to make it life size which I did. He
framed the picture and hung it in his special room of the
house.
People are not always as they try to appear.