I stood slowly and peeked through the rows of cotton but saw nothing. And then I heard her laugh and I knew it was Jessie. What was she doing hiding in the cotton field next to the creek. Then I heard another voice, that of a man. I was sweating profusely. My heart was racing. Jessie was hiding deep in the cotton patch with a man. The snake was a copperhead, one of many in the river bottom. This one was slithering down the row toward me, less than eight feet away. I yelled something and bolted upright and ran through a couple of cotton rows and fell. I hit the ground and heard someone rushing through the stalks. He was upon me before I could move, his knee in my chest, the switchblade an inch from my nose. "You spying on me, you little shit?" he said. Sweat poured from his chin dripped into my eyes and burned. I was scared to death. "You ain't tellin' anybody what you seen, are you boy?" he warned I shook my head no; I couldn't speak. Then I realized my whole body was shaking, trembling in fear.