Tape 1: A letter from May 1986
Painting for Mrs. Noha, and the fig tree that is starting to bud
Tap any word below to hear it from there.
That is the end.
Agnes paints flower pots for her friend Mrs. Noha, who has only one hand and uses a wheelchair, and tells whoever is listening that she is about to mail this tape. She is proudest of the fig tree she ordered for $5, which finally has buds. A 14-year-old girl made a sign that says 'Please do not touch the fig tree'.
This story is part of Tape 1. You can hear it there at 29:23, along with everything around it.
What Agnes says
Words in light grey italics were hard to hear, so they may not be exact.
Noha, the one that's supposed to be my friend. I don't know if she is or not. Well, I told her that I'll paint her things for her flowers and everything. So she can send it that I can paint her stuff.
So she can't herself, got only one hand, you know, and the two legs in the wheelchair. So she let me do it. So I done it, the last one I done this morning. It's already 9 o 'clock. So I suppose I'll send you this thing.
I didn't hear from you nothing, so I don't know if you got much chance to say something in one of them. So I'm fixing it. One girl went and fixed up my outfit here. And it's moving around, so I think it's all right.
And Frank or Johnny, or Johnny, Joey brought me some things to eat. What was it all?
The little chips, yeah, the potato chips and stuff. And so I am finished with my, money I got from Johnny so I'll have to tell her to give me a little money so I want my things to what you call it I like so much I can't think of it now well anyhow did I tell you or didn't I that I've got the plant that I ordered for $5.
One lady gave me $5. So I went to work and I sent for the fig tree. Everybody wants to see the fig trees. So I got it. We're the sun shining, you know, from the east of something. And one lady that scrubs the floor, she told me, I should paint or I should give the thick tree just a little water once in a week.
She says she don't do nothing for her, for her plants. So she's got a lot of nice ones. They always dry and help. And she says she just waters them once a week and stuff. And she told me I'm supposed to do the same thing with the fig tree.
Well, I just don't feel I should starve it from little water. I got it right here, you know. So every morning I go and take one glass of water and I pour it out. Well, I didn't feed no fertilizer for the fig tree.
But the thing is, today, I've seen it, and it's starting to open up the butt. It's starting to have a butt good, you know, and it's got about five, six buds to be put, open up, you know. So I'm not going to tell her nothing.
I'm going to go and water this thick tree once a day, at least not once a week, but once a day. So I think I'll have to get a little fertilizer and put a half a teaspoon with some water in it once, once in a week maybe, or something.
I think it has to have a little fertilizer, you know. But I'm so happy that it's starting to bud out a little bit. So I've got a little girl down the basement. She's about 14, I think. she says I know how to stop anybody touching your fig tree so she takes a nice little card and she wrote please do not touch the fig tree and my name was underneath and everything I was kind of sickly that eight and so she done it and she pasted it on the fig tree thing where it's where it is you know And I think that some folks are a
little down on it. They don't want me to have it, but I still have it and I like it. So once it starts having leaves, I'm going to take pictures of it.