July 5, 2022 - In the early 1940s, across from the Center, Texas Grammar School stood the Napier Hotel and next to was a tiny hamburger stand called the "Little Rock Inn.” When I was in Grammar School in the 40s, most students either ate a sack lunch or bought a 25 cent hamburger at the Little Rock Inn for dinner. And there was a third group… a small number of “poorer” kids that couldn’t afford to eat lunch. These kids sat together on the school steps and talked during lunch hour.
On this particular day, Billy Palmer and I were sitting on the steps when Troy Walker walked up eating a hamburger he’d bought at The Little Rock Inn. Troy always annoyed me by calling me “Red-headed Peckerwood,” ” Red on the head,” and “Booger Red.” As he pushed me to the side, he said “Move over, Red.” And as he sat mooching on his burger, his pants pocket opened and (unbeknown to him) a quarter and a dime rolled out on the steps between us.
I reached down… very slowly… very quietly… and picked them up. After a couple of minutes, I eased down the steps and innocently strolled to The Little Rock Inn. As I crossed back to the campus, eating a mouth-watering hamburger, I began feeling guilty about taking Troy’s money. Then I remembered the old adage, “Finders keepers… losers weepers.” And, besides, I thought:
Troy called me a “Red Headed Peckerwood!”
