A Life for a Life by Lynda McDaniel (best selling autobiographies .txt) š
- Author: Lynda McDaniel
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We rode along, me riding shotgun, Jake in the middle, Della driving. I started thinking that I could really help out someday if sheād teach me to drive. Daddy wouldnāt teach meāsaid I werenāt smart enough. But the way I saw it, if Willie Westfield and Eustace Smith could drive (with a half-empty twelve-pack on the front seat and not a lick of sense between āem), I knew I could learn to drive, too. I asked my Cousin Ned to get ahold of one of them driving rule books for me, and I hoped heād bring it on Sunday when he came for dinner.
Della and I talked mostly about the store and the supplies we needed. I was dying to ask about Lucy and what Browerād said, but I could tell she was trying to leave that behind, for one day, anyways. I wanted to ask her about Alex, too, but I reckoned that was none of my business. Maybe I didnāt have book smarts, but I knew a thing or two.
After I loaded up the supplies, I wudnāt looking forward to just turning round and heading home, but I knew Della had the store to worry about.
āHow about an ice cream, Mister?ā
Well, that was the best idea sheād had in a while. We stopped at the drugstore where theyād added an ice cream counter to make a little money offa tourists. Over the years, Iād heard folks talking bad about tourists and newcomers, but if they brought mint chocolate chip ice cream with them, they was fine by me. Della had a vanilla cone dipped in chocolate. Jake got to lick the bottom of both our cones and eat the crunchy bits. We sat out front of the shop and took our time. So much for the thirty-minute trip!
Seems Della wasnāt dying to get back to the store either, ācause as we headed home, she said, āWeāre out of honey. Letās stop at Elbert Totherowās on the way.ā Iādāve agreed to stopping by Sheriff Browerās just to stay out. And I liked Elbertās daughter Annie, who might have been home from school at this hour. She was always pretty nice to me, not stuck up like some of the girls. And he had a little black feist that I figured Jake would like to play with.
Weād just pulled into his driveway when Elbert popped out the door and waved at us. He looked huge standing on his porch, at least three or four inches taller than me. And that porch! It went all the way round his house, and there werenāt one square foot that didnāt have something piled on it.
āCome on in,ā Elbert said with a voice that could compete against a bullhorn. āI know it looks like weāre moving, but weāre not. Weāre here to stay.ā
Della was chuckling when she looked at me and said, āHe says that every time.ā
As we came up his front steps and walked past stacks of stuff, I noticed a lantern and an old metal canister Daddyād taken to the dump just that week. I was surprised anything was left in the dump after folks combed through it, regular-like.
Ends up, Annie wudnāt home from schoolāsheād stayed late for band practice, Elbert saidābut Jake played with Muppet, the feist, and Della got a couple of cases of honey, which I loaded into the back of the truck. I hoped we wouldnāt stay longāit was so damned hot inside their house. Elbertās mama, who had to be close to a hundred, sat right next to the woodstove, which was belching out heat like it were December! I know old folks get cold a lot easier, but I was sweating like a pig. Elbert asked us to stay awhile, and Della, being the nice person she was, said yes.
We made small talk what felt like forever. Before I thought Iād explode from the heat, I excused myself to use the bathroom, just to get away from the stove. As I walked down the hallway, I passed Annieās room, pink and girlie, in a nice way. I smelled something like her perfume or shampoo, and thought about how much Iādāve liked to see her again.
When I got back, thank heavens Della had stood up. She told them she hated to leave, but we had to get back to the store. It still took a while, because they started gathering up jars of put-up blackberries and dilly beans and such.
Back in the truck, I rolled the windows all the way down and turned the fan as high as it would go. I wanted to hang out the window like Jake did sometimes, but I had on a new shirt, so I sat tight. Whew! That shirt was going to need a good washing.
As we were driving back to the store, I shouted: āTurn right here!ā Della jumped and the truck kind of swerved, but she got it under control and did what I asked. We headed down Cane Creek Road a ways, and then Della pulled over across from the schoolyard. āHowād you know?ā I asked. She just smiled and cut the engine.
I could see into the school, where the little kids had their classes, with bright pictures of dogs and suns and such on the walls. I looked hard for Annie practicing with the band. Iād hoped they were marching round the field, but I couldnāt see nothinā other than the kids playing softball. I remembered some good times. Of course, some not-so-good ones, too, like mean old Bobby McKeever. And another really bad one. āWhen I went here, one day lightning struck the school,ā I said, my voice breaking a little.
āWere you hurt?ā Della asked.
āI wudnāt. Lilly Cunningham was. She sat next to me, and she got a funny look on her face. I leaned over to check on her, and when I held her wrist I ...ā Dammit. I started to blubber. That happened five year ago, but it never got any easier to tell.
āWhat happened, Abit?ā Della patted my back and looked so sad I really started bawling. When I got it out of my system, I told her.
āI reached over to touch her arm, and my fingers and thumb touched each other. Through her wrist. Werenāt nothinā there keeping my fingers apart, just a little skin and guts.ā I blew my nose on the tissues Della pulled from her purse.
āOh, honey. What a terrible thing for anyone to experience, but especially a kid.ā
āI was almost eleven,ā I said.
She gave me a hug. We sat there together for a while, then she asked, āYou ready?ā I nodded, though I couldāve sat there all day.
When I was out of the truck, Della handed me a five-dollar bill and said more was cominā. I still couldnāt believe I had my own money! I used to overhear Daddy say Iād never get a job, but Iād showed him.
A few year ago, I was trying to think how to make some money, and I asked Daddy if we could sell some of them old signs heād stashed back of the house. He had a lot of junk back there, and some good stuff mixed in. I knew I could set them out front during tourist season and sell āem fast. I told him we could put the money in a kitty for the family, and we could all do something fun with it.
āAnd what kind of fun would that be?ā he grunted behind his newspaper.
āI dunno. Go to a show at the Hen Theater or out to dinner oncet in a while. Iāve never been to that place overlooking the falls.ā
āYou can see the falls anytime you want for free.ā
āI just thought we could do something together, like a real family.ā
Daddy lowered the paper and looked at me funny. āWeāll think about it.ā
We never did sell them signs, but oncet I had my job helping Della, I didnāt think so much about them. Iād growed tall and strong, and Della needed my help and was happy to pay for it, which helped me out. Thatās what I meant about acting like a family.
The sound of flying gravel and a slammed car door brought me to the front window. The bell on the door clanged as Cleva ran in, nearly colliding with me.
āHoney, you need to get over to Blancheās. Sheās got the girlās clothes. Maybe you could find something.ā Cleva placed her hand on her chest as she stopped to catch her breath.
āLetās sit over there, Cleva. Iām not with you yet.ā We sat behind the counter, near the register.
āOkay, I had to go into the laundromat early this morning to wash that big rug of mine. The one in the living room? Anyway, Blanche Scoggins came over to me while it was in the dryer, making an awful kerthump every time it went around. You know how picky she is about her machines. Sheās like a librarian who gets all the books nice and tidy and doesnāt want anyone to check them out. So she was all out of whack because of the noise and said to me, āYouāre making as much racket as that dead girl did.ā She is so coarse, I canāt stand herābut I couldnāt stand the rug one more minute. It was so dirty that ...ā
āWhat about Lucy, Cleva? I honestly donāt see how I can do anything else to help. Brower shouts down everything I bring to him. Iāve done all I can.ā
āOh, donāt stop now, please. At least take a look at her things before you give up.ā
I nodded as Cleva continued. āBlanche showed me a bundle wrapped in brown paperāthe girlās clothes and such. I guess Lucy had a blanket that made the machine get out of balance and made that racket like mine was doing. Blanche said it was getting late, so she told Lucy to run on, sheād finish up. But Blanche told me that it was really because she didnāt want āthat trampā in her establishment. Did they ever give any reason to call her that? Tramp?ā
āNo, thatās just Blanche. Go on.ā
āThat was the day Lucy died, so she never picked up her laundry. Can you believe Blanche was mad about that too? She said she was out $3 on the dryer. That woman is so harsh.ā
āWhy didnāt she tell Brower she had those things?ā
āI asked the same thing. She said because he was a lying SOB and because she didnāt want the cops to come in and bust up her place looking for clues. Sheās been watching some crazy preacher on TV who has all these conspiracy theories. Iām going to
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