A Reckoning in Mayberry

Part 4/3 Baby Reuben Cropps

Unlike some of the babies in this tale, Reuben was wanted and cherished before he was even born. His parents, Ralph and Mary Jo, had tried for many years to conceive and carry a pregnancy to fruition. So far, they had lost three girls. They almost gave up hope, but then Reuben was born.

"My Lord, praise Jesus," said Ralph when he first saw Reuben Roosevelt Cropps. "It's a miracle. It's a boy. And, he looks OK too. Got's all his fingers and toes and a strong little grip too."

"But, he's so small," said Mary Jo. "Do you think he's all right?"

"This boy's a fighter," said Ralph. "And he's just the first, gonna have ten more."

"Well, I don't know about that," said an exhausted Mary Jo, "but maybe three or four more."

Both of them were wrong. There would only be Reuben. There were three more miscarriages after Reuben and that proved a blessing because Reuben would require all their attention and love. Though he was a fighter, he was small and unhealthy and, by the time he was five, Reuben had already almost died of several afflictions, including a bout with pneumonia and what the doctors thought might be a strain of polio that left him forever with a slight limp.

It is hard to believe now, but even as late as 1960, child mortality rates were as high as one in five children. If you think that is high, in 1900, in large cities in the United States, 30 percent of infants did not survive until their first birthday. Modern medicines, increased hygiene efforts and vaccinations, and in Reuben's case, devoted and ever vigilant parents, kept Reuben alive. Not an easy task, and one that did require constant observation and awareness, because as fragile as his health was, Reuben was in more danger from an accident than any disease or germ.

Reuben was intelligent and inquisitive and by age five, after a chemical fire that set their apartment on fire and an experiment with electricity that shut the power down for three city blocks, it was decided that Reuben needed a distraction. He needed to go to school. The school needed to be a place where Reuben's intelligence and quest for knowledge could be developed and encouraged. In those days, even in a large, northern city, public schools were segregated by race as much as they were by income levels or opportunities, but the parents got lucky. Reuben headed off to a newer, more progressive and large, urban school where race was not so much an issue as was his diminutive size and enormous brain.

Public School 154 in New York City was where Reuben got his first nickname - Big Head. Gimpy, Peep Squeak, Little Black Turd (LBT when teachers were listening) followed. Public School was where Reuben first began to wonder and study the criminal mind. He wanted to use this knowledge to manipulate outcomes and lessen damage, and most importantly have good win over evil.

It all started with a ten year old bully named Jake the Snake.