Enis, Marbles and the Holy Spirit

Enis, Marbles and the Holy Spirit

Hi, Russell Claymore Taylor here reminiscing again about one of the characters from my childhood.

I should not be reminiscing, what I should be doing is my job, which is mostly listening and nodding. So, I am sitting here poolside with one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. I am trying, through great effort, to avoid looking distracted, but my mind for some unknown reason, wants to drift back to the third grade at Vansant Elementary and a classmate named Enis Ludlo. Enis Ludlo being one of the great characters of my childhood.

Let me backtrack a little before I chronicle the tale of Enis Ludlo. The reason I am sitting poolside with this unnamed superstar is to help guide him through the complexities of being a Hollywood a superstar. You see I have somehow become the life coach to a number of Hollywood cinema and TV stars.

This new career of mine started about three years ago when a friend of mine invited me to a cast party for the opening of a new movie. The way these things work is, the company producing the movie throws a party for the cast, the director, the producer, and just about anyone associated with the movie. My friend worked as a sound engineer on the movie, so he was allowed to bring a friend. My friend was not married and was currently between girlfriends so for these simple reason, he decided to invite me. So I am at the party, a drink in one hand, a couple of shrimp on a plate in the other, walking aimlessly about. I was trying to avoid listening to pompous egotistical people spout on about any number of uninteresting subjects. Most conversations at these types of affairs involve the people they know, their past accomplishments, or the new mansion they just purchased.

I was listening to this one particular conversation, about what I don’t remember, but I do remember interjecting a sarcastic comment and receiving high praise from one of the conversationalist. His exact words were, "That is so wise". That’s the strange way my new career as a life coach began. The mid-level star who had misidentified my sarcastic remark as wisdom, convinced me that night to become his life coach. I took the job for one reason, money. This fool, let me retract that, this gentlemen offered to pay me $5000 per session, and all I had to do was listen for an hour or two and offer my opinion. As any of my friends will confirm, I have lots of opinions and I never mind sharing them.

The way these things work in Hollywood is, if one star has a new toy, then that toy becomes a must have for half the stars in Hollywood. Suddenly, my phone was ringing constantly with people practically begging me to take their money. The bigger the star, the more money they offered. So, for the last three years my bank account has been swelling but I think my brain has been shrinking. Dealing with actors and actresses is actually mind-numbing. Across the board, with few exceptions, they are not a bright bunch. They definitely have a need for a life coach.

That is how it came about, me sitting poolside with a major Hollywood star, trying to fake attention to the one sided conversation, but all the while thinking of childhood character, Enis Ludo.

I first met Enis Ludlo in my third year at Vansant Elementary School. The year was 1958. Vansant Elementary was located in the coal mining region of Southwest Virginia. For those not familiar with life in this region in the late 50’s, and I doubt there are many left who remember, I will attempt to describe a few of the idiosyncrasies that made life is this region both a blessing and a curse.

This region in southwest Virginia was stepped in extreme poverty in the 1950’s. Big coal companies controlled 90% of the available employment and the remaining 10% was controlled by the timber companies. Life in these mountains, in one way or another, depended on these two giants. Adult males either worked in the coal mines or they logged timber. Any employment outside of these two industries still depended on coal and timber to remain successful. The inhabitants of the region were hard working people who possessed a strong belief in Jesus Christ. This last statement will help you better understand the story of Enis Ludlo.

Most of the residents of Buchanan County, which is the county where Vansant Elementary is located, were of the Pentecostal Holiness faith. I grew up going to a Pentecostal church, and I can state, as a matter of fact, that if you were under the age of ten and attended one of these churches, a sermon you might hear from the pastor might actually scare the devil right out of you.

What I am about to describe is not intended to offend anyone and certainly not a judgement on the Pentecostal faith. The description is outlined purely to enable the telling of the Enis Ludlo story.

A Pentecostal pastor or preacher, if you prefer, is serious about his religion. His sermons are delivered with unabashed fervor. A Pentecostal preacher will paint a clear and precise picture of the wages of sin. The preacher expounded in great detail how your soul will be cast forever into a lake of fire, f you do not repent. He preaches fire and brimstone in a voice that makes a microphone unnecessary. He paces behind his podium, hands raised, asking all of those in attendance to confess your sins, and repent now, for tomorrow may be to late. He will almost always pound his fist on the podium and declare that unless you are filled with the Holy Spirit you my never enter the gates of Heaven. As a young boy, I attended many a Sunday church service with my mother and grandmother. I can tell you that if one of these sermons didn’t scare you straight, then your ticket to the lake of fire was probably already punched. I do believe that these sermons served a great purpose for most who attended. The sermon offered a reprieve from the drudgery and poverty of everyday life. The preacher’s sermon gave hope, at least to the adults, for a better life beyond earth. As a wide-eyed child, a Pentecostal sermon would absolutely terrify you. No young boy or girl wants their body possessed by a spirit, Holy or otherwise. They certainly don’t want their bodies tossed into a lake of fire.

"Russell, Russell are you even listening"? Came a voice not associated with Vansant Elementary or a Pentecostal minister. I answered, "Sure I think it’s a great idea". I really have no idea what my poolside boss was asking and I don’t think it even mattered. You see these Hollywood types are only looking for one thing, someone to agree with them. It never seemed to matter if their ideas were good or bad. With that interruption my session came to a close and I headed home still thinking about Enis Ludlo.

Enis started attending Vansant Elementary at the start of the school year in 1958. Where Enis had attended school prior to that I never knew. Enis had no distinguishing physical features outside of his shortness, as I remember he was just slightly shorter than the average 3rd grader. Enis was a quiet lad and being new to school, he had no close friends. His first few months in school, he just melted into the normal school chaos. Enis mostly kept to himself, but that was about to change.

Recess at Vansant Elementary was a special time for every student. The entire student body of the school was dismissed with the ringing of a single bell. For thirty-five minutes each day every student was freed to go outside and pursue freedom, except on rainy days. There was a large swing set which could only be obtained if you were very fast, lucky, or patient. When the bell rang for recess, a large group of students made a mad dash for the claim rights to a swing seat. For the successful one, the next 35 minutes were spent in peaceful bliss two feet above the ground. If you were of the patient kind you could wait by the swing set in the hope that someone would get tired or bored of swinging and abandon their claimed seat. The swing set was mostly the domain of girls. The boys of Vansant were too preoccupied with another activity to while away their 35 minutes of freedom on a silly swing set.

The activity that had captured every boys attention in 1958 was the grand ole game of schoolyard marbles. The game or sport of marbles was so entrenched in the recess culture of 1958 that it practically dictated that every boy in school have a sack of marbles in his possession at all times. The boys of Vansant, with few exceptions, carried a sack of marbles tied either to his belt or to his belt loop. A boy’s marbles were his pride and joy.

Most marbles used in playgrounds across America were of the common variety, but every boy possessed one or two prized marbles. A few lucky boys might possess 5 or 6 of the prized orbs. Marbles in 1958 were the equivalent of today’s video games. All boys, of a certain age in 1958, loved marbles the way boys today love video games. Marbles came mostly in two sizes. ½” were the ones placed inside the 4ft circle, ¾” were the marbles called shooters. The shooter was your weapon. I think the real appeal of marbles came from the multitude of colors and patterns, and, of course, the romantic names given to each variety of marble. Aggies, Catseye, Clearies and Alleys were some of the names for different varieties of marbles. A Taw was the marble used to shoot the other marbles out of the ring. Anytime two or more boys gathered together the talk was always marbles. Marbles were constantly being traded between boys. It might be necessary for a boy to give up 10 marbles in exchange for a prized marble, but some marbles were so valued that its' owner would not trade it for your entire sack of marbles. A game of marbles is very similar to a game of billiards. In schoolyard marbles you would draw a 4ft circle on a hard clay surface. There are two players with each player putting an equal number of marbles into the center of the circle. After determining which player would shoot first, that player would shoot at the grouped marbles in the center of the circle. If he knocked a marble out of the circle, he got to keep that marble and continue to shoot. Once the first player failed to knock a marble out of the circle, the second got to shoot and keep any marbles he knocked out of the circle. The marbles each player put into the ring were in jeopardy of being lost to your opponent. Sometimes a good player would put a prized marble up for grabs to entice a lesser skilled player to play him. Some of the boys became very skilled at marbles but none would ever surpass the skills possessed by Enis Ludlo.

Schoolyard marbles were universally shot by placing a marble on your index finger then putting your thumb behind the marble and giving it a flick. The faster your thumb flicked the marble, the more power you could generate, the more you could generate, the more marbles you could knock out of the circle.

This is where the story of a boy named Enis, who possessed two very unique talents begins. Enis had been at Vansant a full 6 months before his unique talents for shooting marbles were exposed. It all started innocently one spring day when a fourth grader named Ray, the best marble in school, invited Enis to play a game of marbles. The reason for the invitation hinged on the fact that Ray had run out of opponents. Ray had taken so many marbles from the other boys that they now refused to play with him even if he put up a prized marble up for grabs.

Enis had marbles but up until this time he had not played a single time so he was totally unaware of Ray’s prowess at marbles. At recess the two boys, Ray and Enis, drew the required 4ft circle in the clay and prepared for the faceoff. Ray called out the customary pre-game rules, no fudging and no steelies. For those with limited knowledge of the grand ole game of schoolyard marbles, fudging is if one would extend his shooting hand across the circle line in an attempt to gain more power and thus an advantage. Steelies were steel marbles and were strictly forbidden, although every boy carried one in his sack of marbles. Steel marbles gave the shooter a distinct advantage but also could cause severe damage to any glass marble it connected with.

So, the rules were stated and the game began with Ray taking the first shot. The closely grouped marbles in the center of the circle exploded with Ray’s first shot, but he had only managed to extract one marble from the circle. Ray pocketed the marble and eyed the circle for his next shot. For some reason, he chose a very difficult second shot, although much easier shots had presented themselves. Ray’s second shot did not hit the intended target squarely and he failed to extract a second marble from the circle. Ray’s choice on his second shot, I’m guessing, was an attempt to show Enis how good he was and make Enis nervous. Now came Enis’s turn and a more focused and determined boy I had never seen. Enis got down on his knees bent his head downward and sideways to within 2 inches of the ground. He took his shooting marble and put it into his mouth. He popped the slimy shooter out of his mouth and instead of placing the marble, in the traditional way, on his index finger with his thumb positioned behind the marble, Enis put the marble between his index finger and thumb. Enis pressed his thumb downward causing the slimy orb to explode with great force. Enis’s method of shooting brought laughter from the small crowd of boys who had gathered to watch the match. Ray bellowed with laughter but stopped suddenly when he realized Enis had extracted not one but two marbles from the circle. Enis picked up his shooter and with his shirt wiped off any accumulated dirt on the marble. Enis popped the shooting marble back into his mouth spit it out into his hand placed the marble between his index finger and thumb and squeezed off his second shot. The result this time was a single marble rolling violently out of the circle. Enis repeated his shooting method again and again until not a single marble remained in the circle including a prized Catseye which Ray had confidently placed in the circle. The boys who had gathered to watch the match began to taunt Ray. How does it feel to lose Ray, Enis has your prized Catseye. Ray’s response was a simple "He got lucky". Ray immediately demanded a rematch,and to insure he got that rematch Ray offered to put up his most prized marble, a beautiful two-toned blue solid, for the taking. Enis said sure and a match was set for the next day’s recess period.

The second day's match between Ray and Enis went along similar lines as the first day’s match. Ray did manage to retain 3 of his marbles but his prized blue solid was now in the possession of Enis Ludlo.

Through the spring of 1958 the reputation of Enis Ludlo and his extraordinary ability to shoot a marble grew and grew. Enis took on all comers and defeated them one by one. No one had ever seen anyone shoot a marble the way Enis did. His method of shooting combined with his incredible focus allowed him to sustain an unblemished record on the playground of Vansant Elementary.

Most times one memory of a person will not carry with you throughout your lifetime. But that memory combined with another great character memory will certainly solidify a spot somewhere in the recesses of your brain.

The second memory of Enis involves his astounding ability to mimic a Pentecostal Holiness preacher. This peculiar talent first manifested itself when one of Enis's newfound friends attended a Pentecostal revival with his mother, and spotted Enis outside of the Church mimicking the preacher. It turns out that Enis was the son of this traveling preacher. So, one day at school this same friend asked Enis to show another friend how he could preach. Enis at first declined, and then decided he would do it if his friend could come up with a nickel. The boy asked a couple of other boys to contribute a penny or two for the opportunity to watch Enis imitate a preacher. Between the boys, they came up with the requested fee. Today, we laugh at the small fee requested, but remember back in 1958 you could buy a candy bar for a nickel. I don't mean today's scaled down version of a candy bar. I mean a full size bar of sweetness. For an eight year old Enis, that was incentive enough. Poverty is something few Americans know about today, but in this mountainous part of southwest Virginia in 1958, poverty was real to almost anyone who lived there. Money, even a nickel, was a treasure for a third grader with holes in his pockets.

I wasn't present for the first sermon Enis preached at Vansant, but I was witness to a few of his playground sermons. I still recall the times I did watch the antics of one Enis Ludlo deliver a sermon as precise and enthusiastic as any adult Pentecostal preacher I have ever encountered.

Enis was not always willing to preach, but on certain days, when presented with the right monetary incentive, Enis would stand in front of a small set of bleachers and preach...and boy could he preach! Enis had a most remarkable ability to mimic, the movement, the hand gestures, and even the voice inflections of a seasoned Pentecostal preacher. Enis would pace back and forth pounding his small fist into the open palm of his other hand. He would pretend to wipe sweat from his forehead. He would loudly proclaim, that the devil was lurking within all of us, and unless we repented now our souls would be forever doomed, and we would reside in a lake of fire for eternity. Enis would prowl in front of the bleacher praising the Lord Jesus Christ for his forgiveness of our sins. A sermon from Enis lasted a full five minutes. He ended each sermon with, "Let us bow our heads and pray." Enis was, without a doubt, the most talented third grader to ever attend Vansant Elementary. Between marbles and preaching, Enis had attained elite status on the playground of Vansant Elementary. Everyone in the school now knew Enis Ludlo, even the teachers.

One of the fascinating aspects of an Enis Ludlo sermon was the reaction of the kids sitting in the bleachers. Throughout his performance, for it was indeed a performance, the kids sat silent and motionless. This is not to say that an Enis Ludlo sermon had convinced any of them to confess their sins and repent, for what does a child actually need to repent from?

Speaking as one who had attended a few of Enis's performances, I think everyone's reaction was due to being so enthralled and fascinated with what they were witnessing that they became mesmerized.

Enis always collected his fee before his performance, and when his performance was finished, he simply walked away.

It just occurred to me why I was thinking of Enis Ludlo while sitting poolside with my client. The client I was listening to, while certainly a star, was very limited in the talent department. My mind had drifted to a certain thought. What if Enis had brought his talents to L.A? How big a star could Enis have become?

What happened to Enis Ludlo after the third grade? I do not know, for my family moved to Florida at the end of the school year. Did he become a Pentecostal preacher like his father? Did he resign himself to a life of digging coal? Did he go on to college and extract himself from the drudgery of life in this region? Maybe he is still performing with some community theater group? Perhaps you have seen him.

I still think occasionally of Enis Ludlo, the game of marbles and preaching the Holy Spirit. When the memory of Enis does appear, I always settle on the same thought. He was one damn talented third grader!