9 Neil Healdsburg — 1976 Ebony Angel

Sometimes Neil finds a baby squirrel, possum or crow that he nurtures. Some of the babies live, most do not. Neil releases the survivors into the woods. One of the crows, though fully fledged, refuses to leave. He returns each night to Neil’s window, pecking on the glass and crowing loudly until Neil lets him in. When Neil sleeps, the crow rests on his head. Neil is awakened by needle claws digging into his head, dark green and white guano oozing thickly down his face. Cursing softly, Neil lines a cardboard box with twigs, hair from his comb, old socks and sets it on the window ledge. Neil names the crow Huck.

Now when Neil wanders the woods, looking for mushrooms or animals, Huck flies above him or perches on his shoulder. They are constant companions. In fact, Huck is Neil’s only companion. Neil has no friends and rarely dates, although due to a detachment alluring as the memory of a lover’s embrace, he is desired. He is unaware of how many girls watch him, how many dreams he has starred in, or how many hearts he has broken.

Huck often follows Neil to school or work, flying low, searching the ground for food and shiny objects. Huck is particularly fond of silver — silver coins, silver wrappers, even the tiny silver minnows sold at Chip & Bill’s Bait & Tackle. Sometimes they leap from a careless fisherman’s pail and lie twisting on the ground like fractured sunbeams, beckoning to Huck.

Neil buries the fish in the garden, letting their frail bones nourish his vegetables. That year, the marigolds that Neil plants in between his crops to ward off pests and which have always blossomed large and orange as a setting sun, have a silvery gleam to them. His green summer squash grow bigger than ever, glinting like stars in a moonless night. The squash are delicious, even raw, and melt like candy in Neil’s mouth. They are so sweet that Alma, who has begun to avoid the kitchen, makes a soup from the last of them, but when cooked, they turn bitter and tough, tasting of vinegar and resentment.

Huck also scavenges at school. Many a misplaced ring or dropped coin ends up tucked into the nest box. Neil always tries to return the jewelry, which gains him even more secret admirers. His brooding good looks, strength and faraway air have always made girls sigh. And when Neil, Huck perched on his shoulder like a noisy, ebony angel, presses a missing earring or lost necklace into outstretched hands, the girls are spellbound. More than one keeps a secretly snapped photo of Neil beside her bed. Huck objects to the division of his treasures. Cawing and hopping about, flapping his glossy wings in disgust.

“I know, I know boy, you think ‘finders keepers,’ but trust me, you’ll get more treats out of the girls if you give them jewelry.”

And it is true. Many a girl happily divides her lunch with Huck in hopes of garnering favor with his master. Neil, to make amends for stealing Huck’s stolen treasures, lets Huck keep his wrappers and coins. Sometimes he even contributes a stray dime to Huck’s hoard.