I were about thirteen when cousin Billy Bob Ray thought up the name 'Pole' for me. All the folks here at Yeller Dog Gap thought it fit me perfect like a plow to a mule. It were true that I were a scrawny, skinny, big-eared young 'un. If'n it weren't for the name, most folks woulda hardly noticed me bein' there. Truth be knowed, the name was not for what most folks saw of me, but what they couldn't see.
It were one hot summer day that I'd gone bare-assed swimmin' with cousins Billy Bob, Clem and Chester down at Cripple Creek. We was all sittin' on the the bank when we took to comparin' each other's privates. Even though I were the youngest, Billy Bob said, "Whew Jasper, you has got yourself quite a pole there!"
Billy Bob, Clem and Chester just about busted a gut laughin'. At first, I was embaressed but then got to laughin' right along with 'em. On account of it had to do with my private, it became our secret joke that we'd kept from everyone else. A few years later, after the three of them gots married, Billy Bob says to me, "Pole, if the eligible women folk knowed how you came by your name, they'd all be tryin' to get you to marry 'em."
I was a mite slow in fillin' out and growin' to be a man. While I did have a powerful need to take a wife, the gals of marryin' age found other fellas, more to their likin', to get wed to. It were another two years, after I'd turned eighteen, before I finally caught Billy Bob's meaning.
It were Spring when Maw asked me to go up to Pine Ridge and help Bessie Conkers. The revenuers had done caught her Luther makin' white lightnin' and throwed him in jail last November. Bessie needed a man to plow her fields for plantin' and Luther wouldn't be gettin' out til winter. I went up, hitched up Bessie's mule and plowed her fields for her. I finished in the afternoon of the third day. As I was bringing the mule in, the sky opened up and it rained down bucket fulls. The rain were cold and it weren't all that warm out. I was soaked through to my hide and shiverin' when Bessie met me on the porch. Bessie looked me up and down. Her eyes kinda flickered before she said, "Pole, come on in by the fire and I'll get you some of Luther's dry clothes."
The cabin were but one room and I went to stand before the warm fire as I peeled off my shirt and jeans. My back was to Bessie as I stripped off my drawers, she came over in front of me carryin' a stack of Luther's dry duds. I reached out to take the clothes and found Bessie's eyes glued to my privates. She looked kinda excited, seemed to stop breathing and wouldn't let loose her hands from the bundle. Bessie finally let her breath out saying, "Pole, you got the biggest and most handsome cock that I've ever laid eyes on. Can I touch it?"
I musta tuned as red as a beet and didn't know what I was to say. It were the first time I was ever naked and alone with a growed woman - 'cept Maw. Bessie kept fast grip on the clothes. Her eyes seemed to get bigger and she licked her lips with her tongue. As I wasn't answering, Bessie added, "Pole, don't fret none about me telling. Ain't nobody here but us two. If you let me touch it, I ain't never gonna tell another soul."