My Family: Chapter 40

Dad Wilbur Dillo sitting on back porch sleeping

One night, Aunt Hannah and I were at her kitchen table talking when we hear the door open onto the porch and in walked my Dad.  He was stinking drunk and hollering at the top of his lungs for me.  I quickly got up out of my chair and went to stand by Aunt Hannah. When he staggered into the kitchen, Aunt Hannah asked him what he was doing all the way in Man.  He said he just got finished beating Shirley for lying to him and came to beat me; he was sure there was something I needed to get a whopping for.  Aunt Hannah told him he was crazy and to go home; he wasn’t going to beat me for no reason.  He stayed and talked to Aunt Hannah until he sober up a little bit then he left with a parting shot for me to stay out of trouble.

I went home the next day to see how bad he had beat Shirley. It had been about six months since I had been home.  When I got there I saw that Shirley was a mess; she had two black eyes and bruises all over. Shirley had all her teeth pulled since the last time I saw her which just made her look worse. I asked her what made her lie to Dad when she knew he would have killed us for lying. She said she didn't lie, he just misunderstood her. She went to the rolling rink with a girlfriend and her boyfriend, Tick. When she got home, Dad asked her where she’s been and who she was with. She told him and the next night when Dad ran into another friend with the same sounding name, Tack. Dad asked him why Tack was keeping his daughter out so late. Confused, Tack said he wasn’t; that he hasn’t seen Shirley for a couple of days. That's when Dad went straight home and beat her for lying. I left and went back to Aunt Hannah's where it as safe.

The next time I came home, Shirley was back to being her beautiful self only this time she had one too many boyfriends.  She was in love with this boy, Chuck, who lived farther up the hollow. I think they had talked about marriage. Chuck was in the Army and he would visit on weekends.  He had been seriously thinking of going A.W.O.L. but Shirley talked him into going back. Meantime, Shirley met Dave, and he asked her to marry him. Shirley and I (I had just gotten home from one of my aunt’s, I don't remember which one) were in Mom and Dad’s bedroom talking, while Chuck sat in the kitchen drinking Moonshine with the house full of people. Shirley explained to  me; who Chuck was, why he was there, about Dave, and how she was in love with two boys. Chuck had just gotten discharged out of the Army because he had developed a heart condition. He hadn't gone home yet and Shirley had been trying to get him to go home. We heard a commotion out in the kitchen and when we peeked into the room, we saw Dave in the house. He took one look at Chuck, turned around, and walked back out. Shirley asked me what should she do, and I told her if she wanted Dave she should to climb out of the window and go after him but she better hurry before he got away, however, if she loved Chuck more all she had to do was go into the kitchen.

Shirley climbed out the bedroom window and after awhile  Chuck left to go someone else house where he drank even more Moonshine. He didn't go home until the next morning where he got into a fight with his dad. Apparently, his dad hit him in the chest and his heart busted; he died instantly. Shirley went to Chuck’s funeral and his mother blame her because she thought Shirley treated Chuck badly. Shirley really loved Chuck but he liked to drink - I think she picked the better of the two.