Bones and Bogey
My editor Jenny Lynn got a lot done for ‘The Mandolin Case’ while she was in Harvey County. As I have mentioned, one of the most important things she did was to convince Bones to tell his part of the story. When you read the book you are gonna understand. He was a key player, and if had not consented it just wouldn’t have been the same.
Perhaps the best benefit of all is it rekindled a relationship between me and Bones. After ‘The Mandolin Case’ he left Harvey County. He still won’t give up his whereabouts but at least now he’ll come through every so often to visit.
I got to play golf with him last time he was here. He is retired now. His handicap is two. I think it might be better than that. When your traveling handicap is two you are a player.
Bones is a tall skinny fellow with bright gray/steel blue eyes and wavy gray hair to match. He wears a visor and sunglasses, ’cause he’s afraid of cataracts. The back of his neck looks like shoe leather from the sun. He says he can’t play like he used to ’cause his back bothers him.
Nowadays Bones travels with a little short stout fellow named Bogey. Bogey is swarthy and might be Mexican. He wears a tank top, Bermuda shorts, and blue tennis shoes with black socks. There is a tattoo of a heart and a naked woman on his right shoulder.
These guys have read too much about Titanic Thompson, the great golf hustler. Bogey only carries four clubs, a driver, a putter, and also a shovel and rake. (He says he keeps up Bones’ garden) He wears a cast on his left arm but says it is half-way healed. They’ll bet fifty dollars he can play three holes with what he has in his bag and not make more than a bogey.
Bones changed after the Mandolin Case. Before that I always thought he was just a nice Southern boy. Now he has the heart of a gambler. He plays fair and he is 100% ethical, but I wouldn’t bet against him. It’s like Martin Taylor said, “Always fear the nice guys.” (I still fear and respect Martin too.)
I have to go to work. I promise I’ll tell you more about the exploits of Bones and Bogey later. You will enjoy getting to know them.
Dr. B
This entry was posted on September 8, 2009 at 5:57 am and is filed under golf stories, Writing. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: golf hustlers
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Dr. Tom Bibey: Stories of the Bluegrass Music Road 
September 8, 2009 at 7:21 am
Bones and Bogey – now there’s a match made to be written about. Can’t wait to hear more about ’em!
September 8, 2009 at 8:03 am
msslghtly,
Two characters for sure. Like I say, don’t bet against them.
Dr. B