I did something similar but probably more intense. I knew a guy named Vinney who lived in a tenant house on a farm that I hunted. He was probably in his 60’s when I knew him. He was truly illiterate and he signed his name with an X when I did his tax returns. I would attest that it was his X and sign my name. Vinney always wanted to go with my brother and I when we hunted rattlers. But he could never get up the courage. He was a nervous type guy and shook a lot which was probably due to his alcoholism.
Vinny spent most nights in Caverlery’s bar. My brother and I hatched a scheme which seems very mean in retrospect, but we were kids then and were foolish. I had put a live rattler in a small box and placed it into the freezer to kill it without harming the skin which a bar owner wanted. When I took the snake out, he was curled in a perfect striking position. We ran warm water over it and it looked alive. My brother and I decided to play a trick on old Vinney. He had a van with a high console in the middle. We took the snake and placed it on the console facing the driver’s side. Then we went into the bar and had a beer with Vinney. I said to him, “Vinny, I need a big favor. I have classes tomorrow and I can’t get up to the sepentarium to drop off a couple of rattlers. Can you drive them up for me? They are in a locked box, I put it in your van.”
Vinney wanted no part of it but I told him they were locked in the wooden box and couldn’t get out. Besides, I said, I already put them in the van. After I bought him a couple more beers he agreed. My brother and I followed him out of the bar and stood in the street waiting for the fun. He got in the van and began to start it. All of a sudden, he let out a blood curling scream. It was an awful high pitched desperate scream. He jumped out of the van and leaned on the outside of it clutching his chest.
My brother and I got scared. We hadn’t expected him to scream so loud or clutch his chest. We went over to him and told him it was a bad prank. He looked at us and just said “you bastards!’ I was sorry we did it but my brother and I did laugh about it afterwards.
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