Mom never tried to hide her affairs from us. She had a boyfriend who lived in Dabney below us. He was a miner and drove the coal truck so he had to pass our house every day. He dumped the slate up on the mountain. He’d come and see her every morning between 7:00 and 7:30am after Dad went to work. He’d was there when we got up to go to school. Mom and him stayed out in the bathhouse because he never came into the house.
One day he just stopped coming to the house. I guess his wife found out and put a stop to it. Mom started messing around with her first cousin, Bert. He and Mom met in church, of all places. Bert was just released from prison for murder and had come to live at Lyburn where his ex-wife and son lived. He just wanted to be close to his son. Bert opened a hot dog stand next to the Lyburn Church. Mom, Shirley, and I would catch the church bus which would pick us up in front of our house and go to church. After church, we would all go over to Bert’s hot dog stand, he would then drive us home. Shirley and I weren’t stupid, we knew Bert and Mom were messing around.
Dad had his girlfriends, as well. One time, he and I were in Logan together and a woman came up to us and yelled at Dad. She look as if she was going to hit me. Dad stepped between us and told her I was his daughter. She couldn’t be nice enough to me than. Dad asked me not to say anything to Mom and I never did. I forgot about it. I never even told Shirley.
Mom and Dad had their “harmless” affairs, until one day when Dad found out about Bert.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
My Family: Chapter 28
I’ll tell you something, if you listen to Shirley she’ll tell you she took a lot of beatings for me while we were growing up. However, I remember a few times we both got whipped and I never remember her getting a whipping by herself. I was the one who always got into trouble, which is why Dad wouldn’t let me go any place without Shirley.
When we lived across from the railroad tracks, I got whipped almost every day because I didn’t want to stay in the yard. Mom would make Dad whip me when he came home from work. She would nag at him until he got mad and then he would tell me to go and get the switch. I would have to go cut three branches off a tree for Dad to braid them together to make a strong switch. Of course, you knew that branch had to be at least as long as his arm, any shorter and he would send you back to get a bigger one. They would leave marks, almost cut your skin open, wherever he hit you. The other kids would them and know you got whipped and make fun of you. As i got older I got a lot smarter, I tire him out by chasing me; I would crawl under the table, behind a chair, a couch, or anywhere to hide myself. Sometimes I crawled under the bed, if we were close enough, he would then grab me by my feet and pulled me out.
Mom would cry and plead with him to stop but nothing stopped him until he got tired. After Mom nagged Dad into beating me than she would come around me and tried be nice to me. I would tell her to leave me alone, I blamed her for my beatings. I certainly didn’t need her to feel sorry for me afterwards.
I only remember him hitting me once with his fist and that was for repeating a bad word he said. See, my girlfriend was at our house and Dad was gossiping with Mom about a woman they knew; she was “chuckling” her husband. My girlfriend asked me what Dad had said and when I repeated it to her Dad took me by surprise and hit me. He told me I better not repeat anything he said to anyone. He had me cornered between the coal stove in the kitchen and the wall. We used a kerosene stove for cooking; it look like a gas stove with a potbelly stove for heat in the winter. He hit me on one side of my face and the other side would hit the wall. I didn’t cry and he finally gave up. That was the last beating he ever gave me because I was only home after that if I had no place else to go.
And when I was home I wasn’t good to my mother. I tormented her, do things to her just to make her angry. I remember this one joke I pulled on her; I got her a couple of times with this same joke. I did it to get her attention because I thought she loved the other girls more than me and I was jealous. I think all middle children feel left out in a family. I picked some wild roses, took them into the house, filled them with black pepper and then I took them to her. I gave them to her and asked her to smell them then I would run. She take a big sniff and then she would choke and cry. She’d throw rocks at my feet to knock them out from under me and believe me, her aim was good many a time I landed on my rear. And if she caught me, I was lucky she didn’t kill me.
When we lived across from the railroad tracks, I got whipped almost every day because I didn’t want to stay in the yard. Mom would make Dad whip me when he came home from work. She would nag at him until he got mad and then he would tell me to go and get the switch. I would have to go cut three branches off a tree for Dad to braid them together to make a strong switch. Of course, you knew that branch had to be at least as long as his arm, any shorter and he would send you back to get a bigger one. They would leave marks, almost cut your skin open, wherever he hit you. The other kids would them and know you got whipped and make fun of you. As i got older I got a lot smarter, I tire him out by chasing me; I would crawl under the table, behind a chair, a couch, or anywhere to hide myself. Sometimes I crawled under the bed, if we were close enough, he would then grab me by my feet and pulled me out.
Mom would cry and plead with him to stop but nothing stopped him until he got tired. After Mom nagged Dad into beating me than she would come around me and tried be nice to me. I would tell her to leave me alone, I blamed her for my beatings. I certainly didn’t need her to feel sorry for me afterwards.
I only remember him hitting me once with his fist and that was for repeating a bad word he said. See, my girlfriend was at our house and Dad was gossiping with Mom about a woman they knew; she was “chuckling” her husband. My girlfriend asked me what Dad had said and when I repeated it to her Dad took me by surprise and hit me. He told me I better not repeat anything he said to anyone. He had me cornered between the coal stove in the kitchen and the wall. We used a kerosene stove for cooking; it look like a gas stove with a potbelly stove for heat in the winter. He hit me on one side of my face and the other side would hit the wall. I didn’t cry and he finally gave up. That was the last beating he ever gave me because I was only home after that if I had no place else to go.
And when I was home I wasn’t good to my mother. I tormented her, do things to her just to make her angry. I remember this one joke I pulled on her; I got her a couple of times with this same joke. I did it to get her attention because I thought she loved the other girls more than me and I was jealous. I think all middle children feel left out in a family. I picked some wild roses, took them into the house, filled them with black pepper and then I took them to her. I gave them to her and asked her to smell them then I would run. She take a big sniff and then she would choke and cry. She’d throw rocks at my feet to knock them out from under me and believe me, her aim was good many a time I landed on my rear. And if she caught me, I was lucky she didn’t kill me.
Friday, January 27, 2012
My Family: Chapter 27
On Sundays, I would go to church in the morning, the afternoon, and in the evening to meet a boy there. This one time, Jack carved our initials into our arms using his pocket knife; mine got infected and his didn’t. My dad said I better never do anything so stupid again. But I liked Jack even though he liked my friend instead. Jack always liked to hang out with my friends and me because we had fun. He’s the only boy I ever gave permission to come to my house when my parents weren’t home. We were on the back porch steps talking when my dad showed up. Dad come around the corner of our house and when he saw us he yelled. Jack took off as fast as he could. All Dad said to me was no boys allowed at the house and he had better never catch me again.
Jack lived at Slagle which is about five miles above Macbeth. He would met us at the movies on Monday nights or at Church on Wednesdays and Sundays with one or two of his friends. He knew my girlfriend (who he liked) and I were best friends so that’s why he hung out with me. But my girlfriend didn’t like him, he was too young for her because she liked men only. We always had a lot of fun walking home from the movies or skating rink, but one time my girlfriend went too far with her teasing of the boys.
Jack had brought an older friend with him to walk us home. This friend’s brothers all hung out with my father. We were just across from the Orville mines in front of a bridge which crossed over a creek into a ball field when the friend told my girlfriend if she brushed up against him one more time, he was going to take her to the ball field and rape her. Suddenly, he dragged her over the bridge all the while she screamed for us to help her. We couldn’t see what they were doing as it was too dark. We just waited until they came back. She screamed the whole time they were gone but they weren’t gone long enough for him to rape her. When they came back, my girlfriend didn't teased him again. Shortly after that my girlfriend met her husband and got married, she was fourteen and he was twenty-eight. He was from out of state and after they got married they moved to his home town.
Almost all the kids up the hollow left for the big city to get jobs when they turned sixteen or older. Jack and I lost touch and hadn’t seen one another for a long time when we met at a birthday party in Slagle. Shirley and I heard there was a party in Slagle so we went, I didn’t know the kid who was having the party and I don’t think we were even invited. I don’t even know what happened to Shirley once we got there you could say that i receive my first kiss there we were playing spin the bottle and it pointed towards me and I had to go in the next room and give the boy a kiss and he stuck his tongue in my mouth i gave him a shove and left the room I am 16years old and he is about 13 years old, I though that was the most discussing kiss I almost threw up that is why I went outside.
I saw Jack again. All I know is Jack and I were having a good time outside as we walked back and fourth in front of the house; talking and laughing about all the fun we used to have. Suddenly it was late and I said I had to home. Jack said instead of walking all way home why didn't we go his house (which was close by) and he would get his brother to give me a ride. As soon as we walked into his house, his mom jumped up and ran into the kitchen - Jack followed her. She yelled at him for bringing a Dillo whore into her house and I was to leave right now and never come back. In the room where I was waiting sat his father, older brother, and three younger siblings - everybody was embarrassed. I could hear him defend me but then he came out of the kitchen real mad, asked his brother if he would give me a ride home and we left.
I never saw him again after that. Although when I was home and Shirley saw him pass by the house in a car, she would tell me because she knew I liked him. I wasn’t home very much after that, Shirley and I both had bad names. We always laughed because the people who called us whores had daughters who had babies out of wedlock and besides Dad would’ve killed us if we even so much as thought about sex.
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| Yolyn Church of God. |
Jack had brought an older friend with him to walk us home. This friend’s brothers all hung out with my father. We were just across from the Orville mines in front of a bridge which crossed over a creek into a ball field when the friend told my girlfriend if she brushed up against him one more time, he was going to take her to the ball field and rape her. Suddenly, he dragged her over the bridge all the while she screamed for us to help her. We couldn’t see what they were doing as it was too dark. We just waited until they came back. She screamed the whole time they were gone but they weren’t gone long enough for him to rape her. When they came back, my girlfriend didn't teased him again. Shortly after that my girlfriend met her husband and got married, she was fourteen and he was twenty-eight. He was from out of state and after they got married they moved to his home town.
Almost all the kids up the hollow left for the big city to get jobs when they turned sixteen or older. Jack and I lost touch and hadn’t seen one another for a long time when we met at a birthday party in Slagle. Shirley and I heard there was a party in Slagle so we went, I didn’t know the kid who was having the party and I don’t think we were even invited. I don’t even know what happened to Shirley once we got there you could say that i receive my first kiss there we were playing spin the bottle and it pointed towards me and I had to go in the next room and give the boy a kiss and he stuck his tongue in my mouth i gave him a shove and left the room I am 16years old and he is about 13 years old, I though that was the most discussing kiss I almost threw up that is why I went outside.
I saw Jack again. All I know is Jack and I were having a good time outside as we walked back and fourth in front of the house; talking and laughing about all the fun we used to have. Suddenly it was late and I said I had to home. Jack said instead of walking all way home why didn't we go his house (which was close by) and he would get his brother to give me a ride. As soon as we walked into his house, his mom jumped up and ran into the kitchen - Jack followed her. She yelled at him for bringing a Dillo whore into her house and I was to leave right now and never come back. In the room where I was waiting sat his father, older brother, and three younger siblings - everybody was embarrassed. I could hear him defend me but then he came out of the kitchen real mad, asked his brother if he would give me a ride home and we left.
I never saw him again after that. Although when I was home and Shirley saw him pass by the house in a car, she would tell me because she knew I liked him. I wasn’t home very much after that, Shirley and I both had bad names. We always laughed because the people who called us whores had daughters who had babies out of wedlock and besides Dad would’ve killed us if we even so much as thought about sex.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
My Family: Chapter 26
Dad got Aunt Eloise a house up Macbeth hollow and moved her and her kids into a three-room house. Not too long after, I think he realized Mom and Eloise couldn’t live together. It wasn't too soon after Aunt Eloise moved out, Mom and Dad had parties on the weekends at our house. Now instead of my parents going away from Friday to Sunday, they stayed home and party. They’re parties were very popular with standing room only and sometimes you couldn't get in the house. Shirley and I didn't dare go to bed. I bet there was at least a hundred men and women coming and going all night long at our house.
Shirley had her hands full keeping the men out of the bedrooms. Everyone was welcome just bring a bottle of whiskey to get through the door and you could stay to drink and dance all night. Our neighbor would come up to our house to stand guard in our bedroom doorway (we had no door), so the men wouldn’t try and get in bed with us. Aunt Eloise would dance and show us how to do the old country dance steps. Dad tried to show us how to waltz but we kept stepping on his feet. Mostly Shirley and I danced together.
None of our friends came to our house on the weekends. There were usually five girls who were friends and did everything together; Shirley, myself, two other sisters and my one girlfriend. We went everywhere together, if you seen one, you seen all of us. The two sisters were our neighbors when we lived at Orville who had moved to Rum Creek.
But no one came around on the weekends, because Mom and Dad’s parties gave us a bad name. We found out people thought we where whoring because of all the men my parents had at our house on the weekends.
Shirley had her hands full keeping the men out of the bedrooms. Everyone was welcome just bring a bottle of whiskey to get through the door and you could stay to drink and dance all night. Our neighbor would come up to our house to stand guard in our bedroom doorway (we had no door), so the men wouldn’t try and get in bed with us. Aunt Eloise would dance and show us how to do the old country dance steps. Dad tried to show us how to waltz but we kept stepping on his feet. Mostly Shirley and I danced together.
None of our friends came to our house on the weekends. There were usually five girls who were friends and did everything together; Shirley, myself, two other sisters and my one girlfriend. We went everywhere together, if you seen one, you seen all of us. The two sisters were our neighbors when we lived at Orville who had moved to Rum Creek.
But no one came around on the weekends, because Mom and Dad’s parties gave us a bad name. We found out people thought we where whoring because of all the men my parents had at our house on the weekends.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
My Family: Chapter 25
My friend and I had not learn anything from what happen to us with our runaway episode because about two weeks later we run into trouble again, my friend had an aunt that was very fat and everyone call her Aunt Fat we were going to go and stay the night with her in Logan, my parents would let me go with my friend sometimes and spend the night with her Aunt Fat, we missed the bus so we started to walk it was already evening time but still daylight outside, a man came along and ask us where we were going and we told him, he ask if we wanted a ride to Logan: we said yes he said that he had to deliver movies to a few theaters first and did we want to ride with him while he deliver them we said OK and got in the car, he deliver movies until about 10:0 that evening and it was very dark out, but instead of taking us to Logan he took us up a real dark hollow and told us to put out or get out so we got out and he pull away, my friend and I had no Idea where we were at until we walked out of that hollow, we walked all night to get to Aunt Fats house it was daylight when we knock on her door, she didn't know we were coming to spend the night with her, she ask what we were doing at her house and where we had been all night, we told her everything that had happen to us, she put us to bed and we spent two days with her before we went back home.
One day, I was with my girlfriends and five other boys in one of the boy’s car (he was older than the rest of us), and I was in the backseat with one of my girlfriends and three of the boys when I saw Dad come out of Hall’s Beer Garden. He hadn’t seen me, but I got real upset so the boys put me on the floor of the car and put their feet on me. Dad came over to the car and asked them if they had seen me or knew where I was. They said no and when Dad left, they drove me straight home. By the time Dad got home I was there already.
Another night, a gang of us was in this other boy’s car and we went to Lowe's Mountain Park by the graveyard to drink beer. We were goofing off and started to pour beer on each other, like a water fight only with beer instead of water. We were having so much fun listening to the music and dancing, we forgot the time. The driver decided it was time to take us home, so we all piled into the car and he started off of the mountain. Since spirits were still high inside the car, he lost control but because we made so much noise none of us knew what was happening until he got the car stopped and we got out. We then saw how close we came to going over about 3,500 foot drop. The driver broken his thumb fighting to keep the car from going over edge.
One day, I was with my girlfriends and five other boys in one of the boy’s car (he was older than the rest of us), and I was in the backseat with one of my girlfriends and three of the boys when I saw Dad come out of Hall’s Beer Garden. He hadn’t seen me, but I got real upset so the boys put me on the floor of the car and put their feet on me. Dad came over to the car and asked them if they had seen me or knew where I was. They said no and when Dad left, they drove me straight home. By the time Dad got home I was there already.
Another night, a gang of us was in this other boy’s car and we went to Lowe's Mountain Park by the graveyard to drink beer. We were goofing off and started to pour beer on each other, like a water fight only with beer instead of water. We were having so much fun listening to the music and dancing, we forgot the time. The driver decided it was time to take us home, so we all piled into the car and he started off of the mountain. Since spirits were still high inside the car, he lost control but because we made so much noise none of us knew what was happening until he got the car stopped and we got out. We then saw how close we came to going over about 3,500 foot drop. The driver broken his thumb fighting to keep the car from going over edge.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
My Family: Chapter 24
I came out of Macbeth hollow one morning on my way to school and met two girlfriends of mine. We were all thirteen years old and never been to a big city. They said they were running away from home and asked me if I wanted to go with them. I asked them which big city they were going to and they said to Huntington, the biggest city we knew. [Here’s a quick fact: in 2010, Logan had a population of 1,779 and Huntington had 49,138. In the 1950’s, Logan’s population was 2,029 and Huntington was at its highest at 86,000.] Now I had heard my parents say many times how the streets in a city were made out of gold. All the people we knew who grew up and move away, came back to Rum Creek saying how much money you could make in a big city. Dad said it must be because the streets were made out of gold. I’ve always wanted to go and get some for my family. But I knew if I went with my friends now, Dad would kill me. So I came up with this plan where they would tie my hands behind my back with a scarf that way I could say they forced me to go with them. But we had to pass by the school to get out of the hollow and a teacher saw us. It was real hard running with my hands tied behind my back. After we passed the school, they untied me.
I had three dollars in scrip on me which Mom had given to me for school pictures so I was the only one who had any money. We had walk about twenty miles to get to Logan which was on our way to Huntington. When we got there, my friend knew of a store that bought scrip so we could have money to spend.
Meanwhile, the teacher reported us to the principal (who thought he was God himself) this man always showed up at your house if you didn’t go school and made you get ready while he waited for you and then he would take you to school in his car. He went to Mom and told her we were seen running past the school and thought we were running away. Mom panicked and called Dad out of the mines. They could’ve caught us easily if they had a car as we were walking.
We walked out of Rum Creek and got onto the main road to Huntington when a car slowed and a man asked us if we wanted a ride, we said no. He followed us all day and when we were about ten miles from Huntington, he stopped again and ask us if we needed a ride. We still said no, but he said we must be tired as we had been walking all day. We had walked about fifty miles. Huntington was sixty miles from Logan. So we agreed to get in the car as we were hungry, tired, and I had to go to the bathroom real bad. One friend and I got in the back seat and the other girl was in the front seat, and we could see the city from the car windows.
But then sense hit us and we began to get worry, so we told him to let us out, we had changed our minds, and wanted to go home. He said saw a police car up ahead and if one of us would agreed to stay and go to Ohio with him then he would stop and give the other two to the policeman. But we had to choose which one was going to stay with him or he wouldn’t let any of us go. My friend and I chose the girl in front to stay behind. He explained when he stopped he was going to say she was his sister and we weren’t to say she wasn’t. He told the policeman his sister and him had picked up two runaway girls and was handing them over to him. My friend and I got out of his car, leaving our friend in the front seat as he drove away.
We got in the back seat of the police car while and the policeman spoke to us. He got on his car radio and asked if they had a missing report on two runaway girls, they come back on and said they had a report on three missing girls from Logan. Boy, did he shout at us then! He asked if our friend was the other girl in the car, we broke down and told him everything. He said we might have just cost her life, then he kept mumbling that he should have checked before he let the man drive away. The policeman took us to a detention home for teenagers, a place where you were held while waiting to go to reform school. My friend and I were there about four hours. There were two other girls in with us, they were older than we were, and from the way they talked they were bad.
The policeman called our parents at the neighbor’s house, they were the only one who had a phone, and said they should come and get us right away. Because if they leave us overnight, we would go to trial. The next day was a court day and the Judge would send us to reform school. This Judge sent everybody to reform school who came before him. At least that’s what Mom told me later. While on the phone with my parents, the policeman was informed the other the missing girl was on her way home. The policeman came back to the Detention Center and explained our parents were on their way, our friend had been found, and was now on her way home. My parents had gotten our neighbor to bring them to pick us up. Dad was sober when got me, and when we got home Eloise was there so she talked Dad out of beating me.
The next day my friend and I went down to our other friend's house to ask her how she got home so fast and how she got away from the guy, she told us that since he had been following us all day, he followed us from 9:0 in the morning until 5:0 that evening that is how long we had been walking, he didn't stop for gas so before he cross the bridge into Ohio he had to stop for gas, when he pull into a gas station she jumps out of his car and runs into the gas station tells the owner that she is being kidnapped as soon as she left the car the driver pulls away, and the owner and his wife takes her home. I am thinking boy is she smart I doubt if I would have been brave enough to do that, I think she knew that she was going to get away from him her first chance that she got, that is why she agree to stay behind to save two stupid girls life.
I had three dollars in scrip on me which Mom had given to me for school pictures so I was the only one who had any money. We had walk about twenty miles to get to Logan which was on our way to Huntington. When we got there, my friend knew of a store that bought scrip so we could have money to spend.
Meanwhile, the teacher reported us to the principal (who thought he was God himself) this man always showed up at your house if you didn’t go school and made you get ready while he waited for you and then he would take you to school in his car. He went to Mom and told her we were seen running past the school and thought we were running away. Mom panicked and called Dad out of the mines. They could’ve caught us easily if they had a car as we were walking.
We walked out of Rum Creek and got onto the main road to Huntington when a car slowed and a man asked us if we wanted a ride, we said no. He followed us all day and when we were about ten miles from Huntington, he stopped again and ask us if we needed a ride. We still said no, but he said we must be tired as we had been walking all day. We had walked about fifty miles. Huntington was sixty miles from Logan. So we agreed to get in the car as we were hungry, tired, and I had to go to the bathroom real bad. One friend and I got in the back seat and the other girl was in the front seat, and we could see the city from the car windows.
But then sense hit us and we began to get worry, so we told him to let us out, we had changed our minds, and wanted to go home. He said saw a police car up ahead and if one of us would agreed to stay and go to Ohio with him then he would stop and give the other two to the policeman. But we had to choose which one was going to stay with him or he wouldn’t let any of us go. My friend and I chose the girl in front to stay behind. He explained when he stopped he was going to say she was his sister and we weren’t to say she wasn’t. He told the policeman his sister and him had picked up two runaway girls and was handing them over to him. My friend and I got out of his car, leaving our friend in the front seat as he drove away.
We got in the back seat of the police car while and the policeman spoke to us. He got on his car radio and asked if they had a missing report on two runaway girls, they come back on and said they had a report on three missing girls from Logan. Boy, did he shout at us then! He asked if our friend was the other girl in the car, we broke down and told him everything. He said we might have just cost her life, then he kept mumbling that he should have checked before he let the man drive away. The policeman took us to a detention home for teenagers, a place where you were held while waiting to go to reform school. My friend and I were there about four hours. There were two other girls in with us, they were older than we were, and from the way they talked they were bad.
The policeman called our parents at the neighbor’s house, they were the only one who had a phone, and said they should come and get us right away. Because if they leave us overnight, we would go to trial. The next day was a court day and the Judge would send us to reform school. This Judge sent everybody to reform school who came before him. At least that’s what Mom told me later. While on the phone with my parents, the policeman was informed the other the missing girl was on her way home. The policeman came back to the Detention Center and explained our parents were on their way, our friend had been found, and was now on her way home. My parents had gotten our neighbor to bring them to pick us up. Dad was sober when got me, and when we got home Eloise was there so she talked Dad out of beating me.
The next day my friend and I went down to our other friend's house to ask her how she got home so fast and how she got away from the guy, she told us that since he had been following us all day, he followed us from 9:0 in the morning until 5:0 that evening that is how long we had been walking, he didn't stop for gas so before he cross the bridge into Ohio he had to stop for gas, when he pull into a gas station she jumps out of his car and runs into the gas station tells the owner that she is being kidnapped as soon as she left the car the driver pulls away, and the owner and his wife takes her home. I am thinking boy is she smart I doubt if I would have been brave enough to do that, I think she knew that she was going to get away from him her first chance that she got, that is why she agree to stay behind to save two stupid girls life.
Monday, January 23, 2012
My Family: Chapter 23
By the time Shirley was 15 years old, Mom had joined Dad in drinking again. Now both of them would go away on the weekends and leave Shirley home to watch Lucille, Bonnie, Ronnie and me. Dad thought since Sonny was an older boy he didn't need watching. This meant we had no one to tell us what to do from Friday night to Sunday. Sometimes we would look up and there in the doorway was Dad. He’d slipped home to see if he could catch us and if we were staying home like he told us to. We couldn’t go anywhere or do anything, so we stayed home all weekend. Plus, there wasn’t anything for us to do on the weekends and no boys were ever allowed at our house - not even Sonny could bring friends home.
Because we couldn’t go out on the weekends, we got in trouble during the week since that’s when everything happened anyway. This one time my girlfriend, Shirley, and I went to the caravel in Logan and saw belly dancers. My friend and I couldn’t wait to see them dance but we were too young to buy tickets, so we hatched a plan to crawl under the tent, however, we couldn’t talk Shirley into it. So as soon as Shirley turned her back, my friend and I lifted the tent and crawled underneath. We watched the whole show - it was great. That same night, I met a boy (I thought he told me his name was Dick) who lived in Logan over in Black Bottom. We tried to get rid of him but we couldn’t so we went with him to meet his mother. I think she was a “lady of the night” because she looked just like one of the belly dancers. She made a big fuss over me when he introduced me as his girlfriend. I told him (Shirley did as well) that I wasn’t allowed to have boyfriends and he couldn’t come to see me at my house ever! I was fourteen at the time.
He didn’t listen because showed up at my house not too long after. We were all in the living room watching TV when all of a sudden Dad said, “Who are you?” everyone turned and look there was Dick sitting in a chair! He told Dad he was here to see me. I was sitting on the floor out of sight next to the stove and when I saw who it was, I ducked under the stovepipe then disappeared into the kitchen real fast. Dad asked him who let him in, and Dick said some boy did. Dad told him to leave because his girls weren’t allow to bring boys in the house or to be dating them. When he came through the kitchen to leave, I yelled at him for getting me in trouble and not to come back. It didn’t dawn on me but he had a twenty-five mile walk to go home. Dad called Sonny and me back into the living room where I explained I didn’t know he was going to come to the house. I also explained how we met. Sonny said that he was on his way out the door when he met Dick at the door. He asked for me so Sonny let him in, got him a kitchen chair,and sat it in the living room for him. The whole family had a laugh because we didn’t notice him sitting in the chair. Dick had been there for some time before Dad noticed him.
That boy always seemed to find me no matter where I was. He came up to Man to Aunt Hannah’s house where I was helping her with her boys - it had been more than a year since the incident at my house. I had forgotten all about him and then one day there he is on the doorstep. I asked him how he found me. After the incident at my house, I had lived in Logan with Aunt Wanda which was almost in his back yard and never once saw him. He said he gone up to Macbeth, asked about me, and someone told him where I was. He had only been waiting until I got old enough to date. I told him that I didn’t want to date him. That’s when he asked me why I called him Dick, I said it was because that’s his name, he said his name was Butch. I asked why he let me call him Dick, he said he didn’t know why. I had a glass of soda in my hand and I threw it in his face. God, did I feel sorry for him because I thought he was going to cry. I hugged him and told him how sorry I was but he should’ve told me I had his name wrong. I told him to go away and don’t ever come back. He was a good-looking boy, about eighteen at the time, and I never saw him again. Shirley said that’s why I didn’t have any boyfriends because of my mouth.
Because we couldn’t go out on the weekends, we got in trouble during the week since that’s when everything happened anyway. This one time my girlfriend, Shirley, and I went to the caravel in Logan and saw belly dancers. My friend and I couldn’t wait to see them dance but we were too young to buy tickets, so we hatched a plan to crawl under the tent, however, we couldn’t talk Shirley into it. So as soon as Shirley turned her back, my friend and I lifted the tent and crawled underneath. We watched the whole show - it was great. That same night, I met a boy (I thought he told me his name was Dick) who lived in Logan over in Black Bottom. We tried to get rid of him but we couldn’t so we went with him to meet his mother. I think she was a “lady of the night” because she looked just like one of the belly dancers. She made a big fuss over me when he introduced me as his girlfriend. I told him (Shirley did as well) that I wasn’t allowed to have boyfriends and he couldn’t come to see me at my house ever! I was fourteen at the time.
He didn’t listen because showed up at my house not too long after. We were all in the living room watching TV when all of a sudden Dad said, “Who are you?” everyone turned and look there was Dick sitting in a chair! He told Dad he was here to see me. I was sitting on the floor out of sight next to the stove and when I saw who it was, I ducked under the stovepipe then disappeared into the kitchen real fast. Dad asked him who let him in, and Dick said some boy did. Dad told him to leave because his girls weren’t allow to bring boys in the house or to be dating them. When he came through the kitchen to leave, I yelled at him for getting me in trouble and not to come back. It didn’t dawn on me but he had a twenty-five mile walk to go home. Dad called Sonny and me back into the living room where I explained I didn’t know he was going to come to the house. I also explained how we met. Sonny said that he was on his way out the door when he met Dick at the door. He asked for me so Sonny let him in, got him a kitchen chair,and sat it in the living room for him. The whole family had a laugh because we didn’t notice him sitting in the chair. Dick had been there for some time before Dad noticed him.
That boy always seemed to find me no matter where I was. He came up to Man to Aunt Hannah’s house where I was helping her with her boys - it had been more than a year since the incident at my house. I had forgotten all about him and then one day there he is on the doorstep. I asked him how he found me. After the incident at my house, I had lived in Logan with Aunt Wanda which was almost in his back yard and never once saw him. He said he gone up to Macbeth, asked about me, and someone told him where I was. He had only been waiting until I got old enough to date. I told him that I didn’t want to date him. That’s when he asked me why I called him Dick, I said it was because that’s his name, he said his name was Butch. I asked why he let me call him Dick, he said he didn’t know why. I had a glass of soda in my hand and I threw it in his face. God, did I feel sorry for him because I thought he was going to cry. I hugged him and told him how sorry I was but he should’ve told me I had his name wrong. I told him to go away and don’t ever come back. He was a good-looking boy, about eighteen at the time, and I never saw him again. Shirley said that’s why I didn’t have any boyfriends because of my mouth.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
My Family: Chapter 22
Aunt Eloise’s husband left her and went to Ohio, so she couldn’t support all the kids. Dad went to get Aunt Eloise and her eleven children to move them in with us but by time he got to her house she had only seven living with her . Aunt Hannah had Janice Sue, Uncle Richard had Glenna Lou, Uncle Bud had Jeanette, Sandy, and we already had Ronnie. The seven children with Aunt Eloise were Tommy, Danny Joe, Helen, Abby, Freddie, Mike, and Russell and they lived with us for a year. Tommy and Danny Joe, Aunt Eloise’s two oldest boys, had a pair of roller skates which they let us play with; we would roller skate on the hard road, this was before the rolling rink came up the hollow.
We had a hard time having enough food and a place for everyone to sleep with 18 people in the house. We only had four double beds; two beds for all the kids (we slept six to a bed) the girls in one bed and the boys in the another. One of Aunt Eloise’s boys was a bed wetter and since my sister, Bonnie Sue, was still a baby she also wet the bed, so we had some pretty miserable sleeping arrangements. Eloise slept with her baby, Russell, in one of the beds.
When supper was on the table, you had better be there to eat because if you got there late you didn’t get any supper. I remember one time, Shirley got home late from school and it was after supper time she went to bed crying because she was hungry.
Dad got Eloise a house up Macbeth hollow and moved her into a three-room house. After she moved, Aunt Wanda came up from Columbus, Ohio to live Aunt Eloise. Uncle Bud and his wife, Marie, had lost their oldest son in an accident in Germany where he was stationed in the Army. Aunt Marie was taking his death real hard. I heard Aunt Eloise tell Aunt Wanda that she was going to give the newest baby, Sandy, to Uncle Bud and Aunt Marie to raise. Aunt Eloise thought if Aunt Marie had a baby to take care of, it would help her take her son’s death a little better.
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We had a hard time having enough food and a place for everyone to sleep with 18 people in the house. We only had four double beds; two beds for all the kids (we slept six to a bed) the girls in one bed and the boys in the another. One of Aunt Eloise’s boys was a bed wetter and since my sister, Bonnie Sue, was still a baby she also wet the bed, so we had some pretty miserable sleeping arrangements. Eloise slept with her baby, Russell, in one of the beds.
When supper was on the table, you had better be there to eat because if you got there late you didn’t get any supper. I remember one time, Shirley got home late from school and it was after supper time she went to bed crying because she was hungry.
Dad got Eloise a house up Macbeth hollow and moved her into a three-room house. After she moved, Aunt Wanda came up from Columbus, Ohio to live Aunt Eloise. Uncle Bud and his wife, Marie, had lost their oldest son in an accident in Germany where he was stationed in the Army. Aunt Marie was taking his death real hard. I heard Aunt Eloise tell Aunt Wanda that she was going to give the newest baby, Sandy, to Uncle Bud and Aunt Marie to raise. Aunt Eloise thought if Aunt Marie had a baby to take care of, it would help her take her son’s death a little better.
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| Shirley, Lucille, Aunt Eloise |
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
My Family: Chapter 21
The Company store in Macbeth was laid out as follows: from the entrance to your right is the candy corner and beside the candy corner was the pay clerk office where you went to turn in your father scrip card and got money for food and the miners got their pay checks Also along this wall was the furniture and toys this is where they put the toys at Christmas-time the coal company office which sat on a platform to overlook the whole store.which had a shoulder-high wall that ran a length of the store, As you came in the front door Straight-ahead was a counter where you could buy ice cream and pop, and to the left was the clothing department with the entrance to the food department. There was one way in the food area you went through a turn stall and to get out you had to go past Rita.
The store had only one clerk per department. Rita was the check out and took the money for the food area and since the food area had books, I spent a lot of time with her. Everyone in the store knew that I used the store as a library, never buying only reading. Once when I came into the Company store with Mom, the clerk in the clothes area asked her why she didn’t take me to the library in Logan, since I like to read so much. We didn’t have a way there, much less bus fare just so I could read a few books.
The shoulder-high wall ran right pass Rita’s department, so she watched out for wayward children and keep them out of the area; away from the toys. At Christmas-time when the store would display their toys, all the kids would go in the store look and touch the toys. Rita would grab a broom and chase after us until we left the store. This one Christmas when Rita took a swipe at us with the broom she knock three dolls off of the shelf and broke them. Back then the dolls were made out of a material that if dropped they broke like glass and you could never put the doll in water, all the paint would come off their faces. When we first moved to Macbeth, Rita’s sister Mary lived next door to us, she had two children; a boy and girl. Mom and she were talking over the fence once when she gave Lucille and me an ice cream bar. She told Mom she was sick and she died not too long after that day. Rita took in her two children, I pitied those kids (who were not much older than I was) because I knew their aunt. Just the thought of Rita taking care of me sent shivers down my spine.
There was an old man who worked the vegetable counter, who we called a hunkie (a foreigner), and his family lived across the creek from our house an area nicknamed “Hunkie Bottom”. In the summer when the fresh vegetable would come in, we would all stop by to watch him stack the corn on a cob. He would eat the silk worms to entertain us which discussed and thrilled us at the same time.
The store had only one clerk per department. Rita was the check out and took the money for the food area and since the food area had books, I spent a lot of time with her. Everyone in the store knew that I used the store as a library, never buying only reading. Once when I came into the Company store with Mom, the clerk in the clothes area asked her why she didn’t take me to the library in Logan, since I like to read so much. We didn’t have a way there, much less bus fare just so I could read a few books.
The shoulder-high wall ran right pass Rita’s department, so she watched out for wayward children and keep them out of the area; away from the toys. At Christmas-time when the store would display their toys, all the kids would go in the store look and touch the toys. Rita would grab a broom and chase after us until we left the store. This one Christmas when Rita took a swipe at us with the broom she knock three dolls off of the shelf and broke them. Back then the dolls were made out of a material that if dropped they broke like glass and you could never put the doll in water, all the paint would come off their faces. When we first moved to Macbeth, Rita’s sister Mary lived next door to us, she had two children; a boy and girl. Mom and she were talking over the fence once when she gave Lucille and me an ice cream bar. She told Mom she was sick and she died not too long after that day. Rita took in her two children, I pitied those kids (who were not much older than I was) because I knew their aunt. Just the thought of Rita taking care of me sent shivers down my spine.
There was an old man who worked the vegetable counter, who we called a hunkie (a foreigner), and his family lived across the creek from our house an area nicknamed “Hunkie Bottom”. In the summer when the fresh vegetable would come in, we would all stop by to watch him stack the corn on a cob. He would eat the silk worms to entertain us which discussed and thrilled us at the same time.
Monday, January 16, 2012
My Family: Chapter 20
When I was still young, I believed I was a very religious person. I loved to go to church and hear the word of God, it felt very good to be in church and it always felt like God was right there beside me. In my church when the service was over the preacher would call for all sinners to come to the altar and pray for their sins and join the church. I would fight an inner struggle with myself, saying I’m not ready yet, but I could feel God pulling me towards the altar. The reason I wasn’t ready yet was because my church had rules about TV, dancing, roller-skating, gambling, cruising in a car, cutting your hair short, makeup, pants, shorts, smoking, stealing, drinking, and going to the movies. They frown upon all these things and believed it was a sin. I was still young and wasn’t ready to give up some of these things yet. I told myself when I grew older and got married then I would be ready. I didn’t want to give up smoking, dancing, roller-skating, cutting and curling my hair, or wearing blue jeans just yet.
As I wasn’t a model child at school neither was I all that good out of it. Every morning, my girlfriend and I would stop at the Company store on our way to school and I would steal a five-cent cupcake. When we’d get outside I would give her half of it. I was the one who would steal because I always got away with it even though Rita, the store clerk, would search me. She never found the cake cause I would put it up my coat sleeve. Rita would search my pockets and pat down my body; all the while telling me she knew I took a cake, that she saw me take it but since she couldn’t find it on my person she would have to let us go.
This one time, our school had a religious revival for seven days and I went to church all seven of those days. On the last day, I went to the altar and got saved. The next morning, my girlfriend and I stopped in the store and as usual I stole a cupcake. When we got out of the store and I went to give her half, I suddenly remembered I was a Christian now. I should have never taken the cake. Filled with shame, I went to throw my half away when my girlfriend said it was no use, I had already sinned and was no longer a Christian so I might as well eat the cake. I told her I couldn’t eat the cake, she scoffed at me saying I should to give it to her since she would have no trouble eating it. It bothered me for the rest of the day how I had forgotten I had joined the church and out of habit had stole the cake. It had taken me at least two years to go to the altar in the first place and then, in less than 24 hours, I blew it. I hadn’t even lasted whole day.
When I went to sleep that night I dreamt of Jesus. He was holding out both of his hands telling me it was okay, He understood, and I was to come back to church. In my dream, I ran away from him; crying “no” it wasn’t all right what I had done. I didn’t feel worthy of his forgiveness. I did go back to church as much as I did before but I never went up to the altar again.
As I wasn’t a model child at school neither was I all that good out of it. Every morning, my girlfriend and I would stop at the Company store on our way to school and I would steal a five-cent cupcake. When we’d get outside I would give her half of it. I was the one who would steal because I always got away with it even though Rita, the store clerk, would search me. She never found the cake cause I would put it up my coat sleeve. Rita would search my pockets and pat down my body; all the while telling me she knew I took a cake, that she saw me take it but since she couldn’t find it on my person she would have to let us go.
This one time, our school had a religious revival for seven days and I went to church all seven of those days. On the last day, I went to the altar and got saved. The next morning, my girlfriend and I stopped in the store and as usual I stole a cupcake. When we got out of the store and I went to give her half, I suddenly remembered I was a Christian now. I should have never taken the cake. Filled with shame, I went to throw my half away when my girlfriend said it was no use, I had already sinned and was no longer a Christian so I might as well eat the cake. I told her I couldn’t eat the cake, she scoffed at me saying I should to give it to her since she would have no trouble eating it. It bothered me for the rest of the day how I had forgotten I had joined the church and out of habit had stole the cake. It had taken me at least two years to go to the altar in the first place and then, in less than 24 hours, I blew it. I hadn’t even lasted whole day.
When I went to sleep that night I dreamt of Jesus. He was holding out both of his hands telling me it was okay, He understood, and I was to come back to church. In my dream, I ran away from him; crying “no” it wasn’t all right what I had done. I didn’t feel worthy of his forgiveness. I did go back to church as much as I did before but I never went up to the altar again.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
My Family: Chapter 19
While living in Rum Creek Hollow, I saw lot a of trouble. Some of it was my doing and some of it was by others. I told you before I wasn’t a model child, and I disobeyed my parents many times. I remember one time my disobedience nearly caused me my life.
I would play “house” underneath our house right by my parent’s bedroom window. I used the window to climb in and out of the house instead of going around to the front door. One time, Dad caught me as I climbed in the window. He told me to stop as I could get hurt. He also said the next time he caught me he would give me a whipping. Of course, I didn’t listen because it seemed an awful long way round to the front door. You may recall that our house was on stilts and, in order to reach the window, I had to drag some old rusted pieces of tin to step up on which enabled me to climb through. The next time i was playing “house”, i didn't hesitate to go through the window. I had one leg in and one leg out when Dad caught me for the second time. He hollered at me which scared me so bad that I fell out of the window and cut my leg on one piece of rusted tin. The wound bled terribly (I really needed stitches) and I went into the house where Mom put some “cure all” black salve on it and then wrapped my leg in a cloth. Dad didn’t whip me but I had to sit and listen to him lecture and ’I-told-you-so’ me to death. Weeks later, I could barely walk and developed such a high fever Dad got scared. I heard him tell Mom he was afraid that I was seriously sick and he should take me to the hospital. Dad went and got our neighbor to drive us to Logan General Hospital where the doctor explained that if Dad had waited another day, I would have been dead from blood poison.
I wasn’t the only troublemaker in Rum Creek, the neighbors caused enough trouble for everybody. For example, every weekend (like clockwork) everyone would have to get their little kids in the house because my girlfriend’s father would come home drunk. He had been in World War II and had taken a gun from a German soldier which he had killed, and buy shells for it. The neighbor’s tip off would be when he threw all the furniture out of the house and his wife and children would run out. That’s when he would get the gun and walk up and down the alley shooting in the air until he ran out of bullets. When he did run out, he would go back into the house and passed out. His family would then pick up all the furniture and put it back in the house again. That was signal for all the kids to come out of their homes and play again. He eventfully did kill his wife and baby before she could make it to a neighbor’s house.
Every Friday, my other friend’s mother would wait until their father would leave and go to Logan, she would then call a cab go right behind him and swear out a warrant for his arrest. When he came home late, the deputy would be there to arrest him and take him back to Logan where he spent the weekend in jail. This happen every weekend.
Sometimes it wasn’t only the people who caused trouble instead it was the livestock. My parents raised chickens and every Sunday for dinner we would have one for dinner. It was the only meat we ever ate. My parents kept the chickens over at my grandmother’s house because she had a chicken coop and Mom would go over there to butcher one. She would wring the chicken’s neck until she felt it break then she would drop it on the ground and let it flop around until it stopped. One time, she did this to a chicken and when she dropped the chicken on the ground it flopped for awhile then got up and ran under the house where we couldn't get to it. Mom said to leave it alone she was sure it would die under the house because she felt the neck break. About three or four weeks later, or at least long enough for us all to forget about it, the chicken came out from under the house with its neck all crooked and hanging to one side! Mom never bothered to try to kill it again. The same thing almost happened to my Grandma Francis. I was helping her hoe her garden which was by the chicken coop and when Grandma straighten up a chicken flew out the window (it looked like it was going to attack Grandma's head.) She told that chicken if it jumped on her head, she was going to have him for supper. As the chicken came flying at her, she took her hoe and hit it. She knocked it clear across the yard. We thought for sure she had killed it so I went into the house to boil some water. After the water was boiled, I went back out to get the chicken. There it was lying on the ground still, so I picked it up by its feet and dropped it in the boiled water. Amazingly enough the water must have revived the chicken because it flew out of the pot squawking. Grandma told it she get him next time.
I would play “house” underneath our house right by my parent’s bedroom window. I used the window to climb in and out of the house instead of going around to the front door. One time, Dad caught me as I climbed in the window. He told me to stop as I could get hurt. He also said the next time he caught me he would give me a whipping. Of course, I didn’t listen because it seemed an awful long way round to the front door. You may recall that our house was on stilts and, in order to reach the window, I had to drag some old rusted pieces of tin to step up on which enabled me to climb through. The next time i was playing “house”, i didn't hesitate to go through the window. I had one leg in and one leg out when Dad caught me for the second time. He hollered at me which scared me so bad that I fell out of the window and cut my leg on one piece of rusted tin. The wound bled terribly (I really needed stitches) and I went into the house where Mom put some “cure all” black salve on it and then wrapped my leg in a cloth. Dad didn’t whip me but I had to sit and listen to him lecture and ’I-told-you-so’ me to death. Weeks later, I could barely walk and developed such a high fever Dad got scared. I heard him tell Mom he was afraid that I was seriously sick and he should take me to the hospital. Dad went and got our neighbor to drive us to Logan General Hospital where the doctor explained that if Dad had waited another day, I would have been dead from blood poison.
I wasn’t the only troublemaker in Rum Creek, the neighbors caused enough trouble for everybody. For example, every weekend (like clockwork) everyone would have to get their little kids in the house because my girlfriend’s father would come home drunk. He had been in World War II and had taken a gun from a German soldier which he had killed, and buy shells for it. The neighbor’s tip off would be when he threw all the furniture out of the house and his wife and children would run out. That’s when he would get the gun and walk up and down the alley shooting in the air until he ran out of bullets. When he did run out, he would go back into the house and passed out. His family would then pick up all the furniture and put it back in the house again. That was signal for all the kids to come out of their homes and play again. He eventfully did kill his wife and baby before she could make it to a neighbor’s house.
Every Friday, my other friend’s mother would wait until their father would leave and go to Logan, she would then call a cab go right behind him and swear out a warrant for his arrest. When he came home late, the deputy would be there to arrest him and take him back to Logan where he spent the weekend in jail. This happen every weekend.
Sometimes it wasn’t only the people who caused trouble instead it was the livestock. My parents raised chickens and every Sunday for dinner we would have one for dinner. It was the only meat we ever ate. My parents kept the chickens over at my grandmother’s house because she had a chicken coop and Mom would go over there to butcher one. She would wring the chicken’s neck until she felt it break then she would drop it on the ground and let it flop around until it stopped. One time, she did this to a chicken and when she dropped the chicken on the ground it flopped for awhile then got up and ran under the house where we couldn't get to it. Mom said to leave it alone she was sure it would die under the house because she felt the neck break. About three or four weeks later, or at least long enough for us all to forget about it, the chicken came out from under the house with its neck all crooked and hanging to one side! Mom never bothered to try to kill it again. The same thing almost happened to my Grandma Francis. I was helping her hoe her garden which was by the chicken coop and when Grandma straighten up a chicken flew out the window (it looked like it was going to attack Grandma's head.) She told that chicken if it jumped on her head, she was going to have him for supper. As the chicken came flying at her, she took her hoe and hit it. She knocked it clear across the yard. We thought for sure she had killed it so I went into the house to boil some water. After the water was boiled, I went back out to get the chicken. There it was lying on the ground still, so I picked it up by its feet and dropped it in the boiled water. Amazingly enough the water must have revived the chicken because it flew out of the pot squawking. Grandma told it she get him next time.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
My Family Chapter 18
I was the only person willing to do housework or run errors for Anne (the crazy lady). This is how I came to work for her. One day, I was by her fence and she came outside to say hello to me. We began to talk and she invited me into her house. Anne and her husband lived in two rooms with kitchen (which served as a dining room and living room) and one bedroom. After we talked for awhile, she asked if I would do her dishes. That's how I earned the money so Shirley and I could go to the movies. I always went with Shirley by Dad's orders. She kept me out of trouble. If I made more than fifty cent working at Anne's, I'd have to give it to Shirley because she started to charge to go to the movies with me.
I had been working over Anne's for some time when I asked her husband what made her crazy. He told me it happened because he was married at the time when he first met Anne. He said he fell in love with her at first sight. She was sixteen (at the time I was working for her she was only about twenty-three) and he was twenty years older than her. At first, she didn't know he was married until she was pregnant. He didn't have any children by his wife. Well, he told his wife he wanted a divorce, but she said if he left her she would kill herself. He didn't believe her and left. His wife hung herself. When Anne found out it caused her to miscarry the baby because just days previously his wife came to Anne and begged her not to take her husband.
Her husband said one night after she had lost the baby, he woke up and she had an axe in her hand was standing over him. He put her in the state hospital for about a year and since then, ever so often, she would get bad and he would have to put her back in the hospital. At the time he told me this story, she had been in the state hospital three times. Her husband told me to always be careful when I was at their house. He warned me that if Anne told me to leave I wasn't to stop and ask why, I was just to go.
After school, I went down to her house, let myself in, and started to do the dishes. I could hear Anne in the bedroom cussing and talking to herself. I became very nervous and tried to hurry up finish the dishes and leave. Anne suddenly appeared in the doorway of the bed room and told me to get out. I stopped washing, thought about it for a moment, but then I decided to run. I almost never made it out of the yard before she came out of the bed room with a pick in her hand. behind me screaming with her pick saying I'm going to dig your grave. Her husband had to send her back to the hospital, and I since didn't go down to their house when she wasn't home, I lost my movie money.
I had been working over Anne's for some time when I asked her husband what made her crazy. He told me it happened because he was married at the time when he first met Anne. He said he fell in love with her at first sight. She was sixteen (at the time I was working for her she was only about twenty-three) and he was twenty years older than her. At first, she didn't know he was married until she was pregnant. He didn't have any children by his wife. Well, he told his wife he wanted a divorce, but she said if he left her she would kill herself. He didn't believe her and left. His wife hung herself. When Anne found out it caused her to miscarry the baby because just days previously his wife came to Anne and begged her not to take her husband.
Her husband said one night after she had lost the baby, he woke up and she had an axe in her hand was standing over him. He put her in the state hospital for about a year and since then, ever so often, she would get bad and he would have to put her back in the hospital. At the time he told me this story, she had been in the state hospital three times. Her husband told me to always be careful when I was at their house. He warned me that if Anne told me to leave I wasn't to stop and ask why, I was just to go.
After school, I went down to her house, let myself in, and started to do the dishes. I could hear Anne in the bedroom cussing and talking to herself. I became very nervous and tried to hurry up finish the dishes and leave. Anne suddenly appeared in the doorway of the bed room and told me to get out. I stopped washing, thought about it for a moment, but then I decided to run. I almost never made it out of the yard before she came out of the bed room with a pick in her hand. behind me screaming with her pick saying I'm going to dig your grave. Her husband had to send her back to the hospital, and I since didn't go down to their house when she wasn't home, I lost my movie money.
Monday, January 9, 2012
My Family: Chapter 17
My parents had only girls which is why Dad took in both Sonny and Ronnie. When my youngest sister, Bonnie Sue, was born in 1953; Shirley was fifteen, I was twelve, and Lucille had just turned ten. Bonnie was the most beautiful baby we every saw. Mom said she always had beautiful babies, people came from miles to see them. Well, I do know that Dad's niece, who was the same age as Mom, came every day to the house to see Bonnie. She would make a fuss over the baby always telling us she hoped her baby (she was pregnant at the time) looked just like Bonnie. My cousin already had six children; five boys and one girl. Two of the boys were older than us and the girl was in between Lucille and me, her last three babies had all been boys. She got her wish and delivered a little girl who looked enough like Bonnie to be twins. My father always said he would rather have had ten boys then three girls - he didn't count the baby; he only counted the ones who were interested in boys. Shirley was the quiet one and didn't go out of the house much, so Dad trusted her not to mess around with boys. He also trusted her to watch me and make sure I didn’t get in trouble.
Everyone who saw Bonnie loved her. I was doing some odd household jobs for a lady (I'll call her Anne) in the holler and wanted to show her how pretty Bonnie Sue was. So one day, without Mom knowing it, I took Bonnie to her house. While Anne played with the baby on the porch, I did her dishes. Bonnie was about seven months old and can sit by herself. Everything was fine until I tried to leave. See, I stayed for a little while after I finished the dishes to give Anne more time to play with Bonnie, but when I told her to give me the baby we had to leave, Anne refused and told me I couldn’t have her baby. I told her it wasn't her baby and she had to give me the baby back. Of course, now I’m scared. Mom was going to kill me if I came home without her baby.
I did the only thing I could, I grabbed Bonnie and ran as fast as I could for home. Anne was right behind me yelling for me to give back her baby. I skidded into our yard and slammed the fence gate closed. Anne stopped at the fence and never came into the yard. She just stood out there screaming and cussing. Finally, Mom went outside and told her to go home. But Anne just stood outside the fence raving we had her baby and she wanted her back. Mom came back into the house and told me to go out there and tell that crazy woman to home before somebody got hurt. I liked Anne and this wasn't the first time I had problems with her. So, I went outside and gently told her again that the baby wasn't hers and to go before her husband came home. She left but not without some cussing. Later the same day, Mom had to walk past Anne's house to go to the company store. Mom told me later Anne had followed her all way to the store cussing. Mom threatened me that if I ever take her baby down to Anne's house again, she would beat me.
We found out Anne's husband had to send her to the hospital. Apparently, he sent her away because she had become dangerous.
Everyone who saw Bonnie loved her. I was doing some odd household jobs for a lady (I'll call her Anne) in the holler and wanted to show her how pretty Bonnie Sue was. So one day, without Mom knowing it, I took Bonnie to her house. While Anne played with the baby on the porch, I did her dishes. Bonnie was about seven months old and can sit by herself. Everything was fine until I tried to leave. See, I stayed for a little while after I finished the dishes to give Anne more time to play with Bonnie, but when I told her to give me the baby we had to leave, Anne refused and told me I couldn’t have her baby. I told her it wasn't her baby and she had to give me the baby back. Of course, now I’m scared. Mom was going to kill me if I came home without her baby.
I did the only thing I could, I grabbed Bonnie and ran as fast as I could for home. Anne was right behind me yelling for me to give back her baby. I skidded into our yard and slammed the fence gate closed. Anne stopped at the fence and never came into the yard. She just stood out there screaming and cussing. Finally, Mom went outside and told her to go home. But Anne just stood outside the fence raving we had her baby and she wanted her back. Mom came back into the house and told me to go out there and tell that crazy woman to home before somebody got hurt. I liked Anne and this wasn't the first time I had problems with her. So, I went outside and gently told her again that the baby wasn't hers and to go before her husband came home. She left but not without some cussing. Later the same day, Mom had to walk past Anne's house to go to the company store. Mom told me later Anne had followed her all way to the store cussing. Mom threatened me that if I ever take her baby down to Anne's house again, she would beat me.
We found out Anne's husband had to send her to the hospital. Apparently, he sent her away because she had become dangerous.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
My Family: Chapter 16
Since most of the children on Rum Creek were in similar circumstances, we had to be imaginative when it came to finding things to do up the holler. We had to play with what we had already like the creeks. During the summer we would dam up the spring in Slab Fork hollow which is at the end of Orville and make a swimming pool. Only three families lived up there. The water would run off of the mountain and make a stream - it would be so clean you could drink it. Someone tied a swing made with a rubber tire to one of the trees so it would swing out over the creek. In the spring the tree was a nest for snakes and there would be hundreds of baby green snakes hanging from the limbs of this tree. We would take the babies and throw them on each other. I‘m surprised my sisters or myself never learned how to swim seeing how we were around water all of our lives. Along the main road going up Rum Creek ran another creek but it was dirty water because all the mines would wash their coal in it. We could've never played in that creek.
We'd played with the trains, too. There was a curve above our house and the train would have to slow down as it came around it. When it did we would hop on and ride it until the train would pick up speed, or when the train was leaving the coal temple; we would hop on and take a little ride - again only until it pick up speed. Sometimes we would chase the train, grab hold, and pull ourselves up on the ladder to ride for awhile. The train always would go slow when going through the camp. We would have to watch out for the man in the red caboose car. We had to hop on the train so he didn’t see us. We always made sure to jump off before the train got to the houses in the coal camp - we couldn’t let any of the families see us.
We also invented games to play on the mountain side. I remember there were vines growing around the trunk of some of the trees. I don’t know what kind of vine but we called them grape vines. We would unwind them and swing from vine to vine. These weren't skinny vines they could be as thick as a Child's arm. Sometimes as you swing out the vine would break and you'd tumbled down the mountainside. We would play in the mountains most of the day, eating berries and pawpaw which tasted like bananas.
Once we got older, we'd play tag with the cars at night. There were no street lights only the moon and stars. We would put the boys in one car and the girls in another; both cars were usually borrowed from the neighbors. This one night, my girlfriend was driving
and we had the car lights off while we hid behind a building. We watched as the boys' car go pass us. We drove around without the car lights on. Shirley and I were babysitting my baby sister and Ronnie so they were in the car with us. Bonnie, my baby sister, was yelling to my girlfriend to go faster. She was only three and Ronnie about five years old. We were speeding around a three mile curve when Shirley hollered for my girlfriend to stop, she could hear a thump-thumping from somewhere. When we stopped and inspected the car, we found a big bubble on the tire. The boys came back to look for us so they changed the tire for us. If we had a blow out, my girlfriend could've lost control of the car and we might have went in the river and drown. We're all just fourteen years old while Shirley was seventeen.
We'd played with the trains, too. There was a curve above our house and the train would have to slow down as it came around it. When it did we would hop on and ride it until the train would pick up speed, or when the train was leaving the coal temple; we would hop on and take a little ride - again only until it pick up speed. Sometimes we would chase the train, grab hold, and pull ourselves up on the ladder to ride for awhile. The train always would go slow when going through the camp. We would have to watch out for the man in the red caboose car. We had to hop on the train so he didn’t see us. We always made sure to jump off before the train got to the houses in the coal camp - we couldn’t let any of the families see us.
We also invented games to play on the mountain side. I remember there were vines growing around the trunk of some of the trees. I don’t know what kind of vine but we called them grape vines. We would unwind them and swing from vine to vine. These weren't skinny vines they could be as thick as a Child's arm. Sometimes as you swing out the vine would break and you'd tumbled down the mountainside. We would play in the mountains most of the day, eating berries and pawpaw which tasted like bananas.
Once we got older, we'd play tag with the cars at night. There were no street lights only the moon and stars. We would put the boys in one car and the girls in another; both cars were usually borrowed from the neighbors. This one night, my girlfriend was driving
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| Ronnie and Bonnie |
Saturday, January 7, 2012
My Family: Chapter 15
Dad had many work accidents at the coal mines and the Company would pay him monetary compensation for each accident or injury he suffered. Remember, my parents are very poor and most times didn't have the money to have the basic necessities of life, so when they got money they really enjoyed themselves. There was no thought to save any of it or to buy me a bicycle to ride to school so I wouldn’t have to walk.
One time they got a thousand dollars, I remember how excited they were when they opened the letter - it was compensation from when Dad got his neck broken.
This was a lot a money back then in West Virginia. You could buy a house for a couple of hundred dollars. Dad went on a fishing trip to North Carolina and Mom took us girls to Logan to stay with Grandma Dillow. While we were there Aunt Hannah and Mom took us to a Carnival. We went to the movies with a stage show which featured a fortune teller. Out of all the people in the theater he chose Mom to tell her fortune - we were sitting in the middle, half way from the front of the stage. The fortune teller knew things about Mom which he couldn't have known unless he knew her well. He even knew Dad was away on a fishing trip in North Carolina.
I also remember going to the movies with Mom, Aunt Eloise, Aunt Hannah to see An Imitation of Life. It was such a sad movie and I tired not to cry but the more I tired not to cry the harder I cried. I was afraid Mom wouldn’t take me with her any more if I embarrassed her by crying.
One time they got a thousand dollars, I remember how excited they were when they opened the letter - it was compensation from when Dad got his neck broken.
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| Niece Mary Jo, Mom and Dad |
I also remember going to the movies with Mom, Aunt Eloise, Aunt Hannah to see An Imitation of Life. It was such a sad movie and I tired not to cry but the more I tired not to cry the harder I cried. I was afraid Mom wouldn’t take me with her any more if I embarrassed her by crying.
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| Aunt Wanda, Aunt Hannah, Niece Poodie and Aunt Eloise |
The more my parents drank the worse things got, after awhile they spent all their money on beer and whiskey. All of Mom’s jewelry got sold or traded for drink and you might not believe it but she had some expensive things such as a diamond watch, a necklace set, and several rings. Like once, after receiving a compensation check, my parents went to visit his niece who lived in Detroit and Mom bought a fur coat. The first time I ever saw her put on makeup was when Mom would wear her fur coat. I only saw her wear it a few times. Just think what we could have had if they never drank. They could have bought a home, or a car, or we could have had plenty to eat, or clothes to wear, and they would have lived longer. My parents would have gotten my Dad's $60,000 compensation for Black Lung. When the law passed in 1970’s that all miners and widows received the money. I lost my dad at the age of 49 to double pneumonia, and my Mom only one year later at the age of 48 to a heart attack.
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| Wilbur Dillo and Marie Francis,taken right after they said their vows |
Monday, January 2, 2012
My Family: Chapter 14
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| Poodie age 13 |
The next day we went to school and heard that the boy had reported the money missing. The teacher gave the class a big speech about stealing and gave whoever took the money the rest of the day to give it back. I waited until the class went to recess then I put it under his chair
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| Shirley age 16 |
Another time I was a thorn in my teacher's side was at Christmas time when the school decided to take one child from each class and as a group they would sing on the radio in Logan. Our school had two rooms per class, and the school went to eighth grade, so it would be sixteen children in all. My teacher put each of our names in basket and drew out one. I never dreamed my name would be pulled but it was! However, the teacher tried to get me to let this other girl go in my place. It seems her mother was head of the PTA, always baked for our parties at school, and the local Girl Scout leader. That meant this girl got picked for everything. The teacher told me since I couldn’t carry a tune I wouldn’t miss singing on the radio and, of course, it would mean so much to this other girl who took tap dancing lessons. What a show-off, she was always dancing for the school on stage. In short, this girl cried when she wasn't picked to sing on the radio. Everyone knew I couldn’t sing, wasn’t everybody telling me so in church, but that didn’t stop me from singing in church and it wasn’t going to stop me from singing on the radio. Besides, this girl was snobby just because she was named after a movie star, and she never let me join any of the her games on the playground. You think I was going to give her my spot in the choir, I don’t think so. The day we went to Logan and sang on the radio, I was put in the back of everyone else but I still was there singing.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
My Family Chapter 13
Bootlegging for those of you who don't know what it is let me explain, WV is a dry state which means that you can't buy whiskey anyplace but the state store, you can go in any store or gas station and buy any alcohol beverage except for Whiskey, Dad would go to the state store and pay $1.50 a pint and sell it for $ 3.00 a pint at home.
Bootlegging is a unlawful but profitable business for a coal miner. Since so many people were coming to the house and my parents could use the extra money, they decided to go into in the business. Remember the family who traded houses with us? They're an example of how bootlegging can mess with your mind. Remember the wife wanted to move real bad, well it wasn't because of the people - not directly. No, she wanted to get her two boys, four and six months old, away from all the people who the four-year-old could run to for help. I know this because our new next door neighbor told the story of what he saw. First, let me explain how I know what he said as he's an adult and I’m a child. He was also the biggest gossip in Macbeth and he hung out at the company store to gossip with everyone who came in. I, too, hang out there reading comic books and, as long as I was quiet, I could hear every word the adults said.
All of the mining houses sit about three feet off of the ground on cinder blocks, so a four-year-old could easily walk under them. One day, our neighbor said, he saw the wife out playing hide and seek with her oldest boy during the day. A little while later, our neighbor made the comment to the boy how well his mother and he played together. But the boy said they weren’t playing, his mother had tried to kill him. He had been hiding behind the concrete blocks under the house while she shot at him. Of course, our neighbor didn't believe him and later it was found out that the little boy had told the same story to his father. Nobody would believe him, how frighten that boy must have been. Tragedy struck one Saturday morning after we traded houses with them. The wife asked her husband to go to the store for her and while he was gone she asked the four year old to feed the baby a bottle in the front room - the baby was on a blanket on the floor. She shot both of them then herself in the doorway leading from the front room to the kitchen with a silencer on the gun. That's how her husband found them when he came home from the store, which was only about a five minute walk away from the house. The wife didn’t die right away, she lived for a little while. Everyone the little boy had told his story to wishes they had listened to him. After the tragedy, her husband left Macbeth. The wife's father (the bootlegger) had gone to live with his son when they traded homes with us. I found out many years later that her father hung himself some years after the tragedy.
Bootlegging is a unlawful but profitable business for a coal miner. Since so many people were coming to the house and my parents could use the extra money, they decided to go into in the business. Remember the family who traded houses with us? They're an example of how bootlegging can mess with your mind. Remember the wife wanted to move real bad, well it wasn't because of the people - not directly. No, she wanted to get her two boys, four and six months old, away from all the people who the four-year-old could run to for help. I know this because our new next door neighbor told the story of what he saw. First, let me explain how I know what he said as he's an adult and I’m a child. He was also the biggest gossip in Macbeth and he hung out at the company store to gossip with everyone who came in. I, too, hang out there reading comic books and, as long as I was quiet, I could hear every word the adults said.
All of the mining houses sit about three feet off of the ground on cinder blocks, so a four-year-old could easily walk under them. One day, our neighbor said, he saw the wife out playing hide and seek with her oldest boy during the day. A little while later, our neighbor made the comment to the boy how well his mother and he played together. But the boy said they weren’t playing, his mother had tried to kill him. He had been hiding behind the concrete blocks under the house while she shot at him. Of course, our neighbor didn't believe him and later it was found out that the little boy had told the same story to his father. Nobody would believe him, how frighten that boy must have been. Tragedy struck one Saturday morning after we traded houses with them. The wife asked her husband to go to the store for her and while he was gone she asked the four year old to feed the baby a bottle in the front room - the baby was on a blanket on the floor. She shot both of them then herself in the doorway leading from the front room to the kitchen with a silencer on the gun. That's how her husband found them when he came home from the store, which was only about a five minute walk away from the house. The wife didn’t die right away, she lived for a little while. Everyone the little boy had told his story to wishes they had listened to him. After the tragedy, her husband left Macbeth. The wife's father (the bootlegger) had gone to live with his son when they traded homes with us. I found out many years later that her father hung himself some years after the tragedy.
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