Saturday, July 11, 2009

Samedi

My father passed away at sunrise. I loved him very very much.
One of the last cogent talks I had with Pop was from a pay phone in the French Market, during the Flood'05, I think the day or so after the Produce Company had exploded atop a 200 year old toxic waste dump a few blocks from my studio, and sometime after I had fought another man in the dark dark with a two foot long sword. It is hard to say what day it was, but it was so hot.
Dog Flora and I were aimlessly wandering into the Quarters to get away from the acrid smell of poison which still blanketed the hood like a rat bag. Nearly everyone we knew had gone by then.
It is hard to describe the bleakness. It was just hard.
No cell phone towers within a hundred miles yet these old pay phones that Huey P Long installed still worked. So I called home. After getting the rest of the screaming family off the phones,
I began to broach the issue with my father of my last wishes etc.
It took a second, since Pop was still under the impression that "this can't be happening in America".. that people wearing a uniform meant something and I just needed to go find them and get out of there.. that our country, his country.. well whateva...
About that moment a NOPD car drove by full of BlackWater Mercenaries, all the windows gone with their little rifles sticking out, ball caps on jar heads... I really remember the tiny sunglasses when they looked Directly At Me.
"No, Pop. America doesn't DO uniforms any longer," I said.
So, I needed to get my affairs in order. No more 2nd chances.
"No, Pop, I'm not leaving dog Flora. She is all I have left."
Pop of course disagreed with that sentiment, all of it --and wasn't having any of it. "OK THEN, You get your Goddamn Dog on the Goddamn Levee and go North and we'll find you!" said R.L. Biles.
I broke down.. "Yes sir," said his son, and got my ass in gear.
Alas, his youngest, the straggler, the errant troubadour, I could not face my father until he found me, still armed, in Memphis,
4 months later. He had a big stroke the following April.
A Ramblin'wreck from Georgia Tech and a Hell of an Engineer,
both Civil and Electrical, 17th in his class, Lt. Col. USAF Ret,
Formidable Nemesis of the Corps of Engineers,
"Son there is Nothing more dangerous than a lying engineer,
because then all you have left is the word of a liar."
Planter, Maker, Science Fiction fan, Dog Lover,
Master of Sarcasm and Ruthless Wit,
Protector of the Sunflower River,
Son of the Mississippi Delta,
Richard Leonidas Biles Jr.
...he will be missed.

10 comments:

Leigh C. said...

I'm so sorry for your loss. May his memory forever be for a blessing.

Kevin Allman said...

Editilla -

My sympathies, to you and to your family.

This is a fine remembrance of the man.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Editilla said...

Thank you, Leigh.
He was the first person I ever saw stand up to the Corps of Engineers and one of the few I have ever seen who prevailed.
Alas, I am not my father, though perchance you might see some of the headwaters of my Corps issues.
I like to think of poor Editilla as more along the lines of the main character in the movie "V", only not as genetically endowed or evenly mannered.

Sop811 said...

Our sincerest condolences Editilla on the passing of your dad.

sop

Editilla said...

Thanks Sop.
We had been dealing with it since the stroke in '06 and thankfully he passed quickly and without any pain.
He got to see his great grand children and his last days were good.
We all got to say goodbye.
He and I had already straightened everything out too --which is actually pretty amazing if you could imagine such a thing with ol'irascible Editilla.

Anonymous said...

Editilla,

I'm very sorry to read about your dad's death. I believe family is the most important thing in the world.

CrescentCityRay

Editilla said...

Thank you so much, Ray.
I've been thinking about such things all day. Had I not spoken to Pop that day during the Flood, I honestly don't know if I would have even wanted to pull it together. I mean, really, death was starting to look mighty attractive. It has since lost its appeal but only slowly, very slowly since that day.
I am leaving out a lot of details that anyone with a father would recognize. Suffice to say we went round and round the Old Man and Me. But bless his heart he did try to make things right between us some time ago before his Stroke and before the Flood.
That alone leaves me feeling the most blessed. For good or ill, he was an extremely big part of my life and I am really glad that we have parted as friends in the clear.

Marco said...

Sorry about your father. Quick and painless or prolonged and painful, it's always rough. Peace.

Ima Wizer said...

I know he knew how much you appreciated him....fathers know these things.
You made his life richer, to be sure.
Vaya con Dios.

Judy Thorne said...

I'm so sorry for your loss.