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.
 |
| 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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)