THE MOUSE WOMAN OF ANGIOLA
‘Old Folks said keep a clean House,
Or you’ll get a Visit from an Evil Ol’ Mouse’
-Old Black Folks Proverb
There was an old Mexican woman who lived in Angola [Circa 1955] who was referred to as The Mouse Woman and yes she was mousy-looking; short, bent over, dark skin, sharp looking teeth. But, to me her face was more like that of a Rat similar to the ones I saw on the cartoons. Everyone knew and avoided her because she was either rambling on or shouting incoherently at folks. The Mexicans called her a Bruja which means Witch.
My folks called her The Mouse Woman and warned us kids to stay clear of her which we did. However we had to pass her cabin to get to the grocery store where most everyone in the camp had credit from Mr Hess the owner.
One day I was by myself on a candy run to the store when I got to the Mouse Woman’s cabin I hurried past but to no avail she darted from the back of the cabin and was standing in front of me screeching and waving her arms.
“Te maldigo a ti y a tu descendencia.” [ I curse you and your offspring ]
I yelled back at her, “Leave me alone you old Mouse Woman!”
I ran as fast as I could to the store and was out of breath when I got there. I quickly got my candy and went outside to the corner wall and peeked around it to see if the old hag was still there…she wasn’t. I ran home as fast as I could and told my Mama what happened. Mama didn’t seem too concerned but knew I was afraid of the old woman.
“Just ignore her she ain’t got good sense. And it doesn’t help that your Uncle Louis is always picking at her when he sees her.”
Uncle Louis was known as The Instigator and spoke fluent Spanish. While working in the fields he kept hearing a certain word repeated [ mayate ] and asked one of the Mexican workers what it meant. The worker at first would not tell him but Unc wore him down until he revealed what the word meant; another word for nigger. Then Unc promptly delivered an ass whopping to the worker right there in the field with everyone looking on.
I heard him say more than once that Mouse Woman was evil.
There were stories told about her and her evil deeds. A kid with polio who used special crutches; his mother said that one morning there was a dead mouse by their door which they quickly disposed of. That very day the boy got very sick and died
the next morning. His crutches disappeared and not long after the Mouse Woman was seen using a crutch just like his.
Another story was about Nacho an old man who Mouse Woman got into an argument with, he too found a dead mouse at his door that he disposed of. That night he had a Heart Attack and died, his son found him the next morning. Coincidence?
A few weeks later Grandpa Henry caught the Mouse Woman sneaking around his cabin and shooed her away and of course she got agitated and began shouting at him.
“Te maldigo a ti y a tu descendencia.” Mouse Woman yelled pointing her finger at Grandpa Henry.
The ruckus brought Uncle Louis out who cussed out Mouse Woman in her own language and ran her off. He was not down with her nonsense and he was not afraid of her.
The way it was told to me was that around midnight Unc found a dead mouse by Grandpa Henry’s cabin door. He of course disposed of it right back where it came from the Mouse Woman’s door. After that night the Mouse Woman disappeared and was never seen again.
When someone asked Unc about it he would smile smugly with a twinkle in his green eyes and say, “Keep them Rats out of your house they are some evil and nasty creatures.”
*Me & Black Sambo- From a collection of short stories:
Growing Up Colored In California’s Central San Joaquin Valley: Circa 1950’s-60’s
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