Joe Bob was a bit slow, though none of us in the Hasper family were all that bright either. Only Jimmy Roy had any kind of education to brag about, having graduated from a two-year college. We had all gathered on the porch, waitin’ on him to arrive home for Joe Bob’s eighteenth birthday. Jimmy Roy had been away from home for three years, missin’ Joe Bob’s other birthdays, so none of us knew why he had chosen to come back home for this one. He did send Joe Bob birthday cards every year. Each one of ’em had a large birthday cake on the front. Joe Bob hated brushing his teeth but did it that morning as a way of welcomin’ his older brother home, but either the toothbrush scrubbin’ the yellow and green from his teeth and gums, or the mint in the toothpaste, caused his tongue to…
