Garthbooks
New Member
Momma wears moo-moo's everyday, and clips a garbage bag around her waist with clothes pins. I don't understand why she does that. Cans of starch line the tables like dominoes anticipating the knock down. Mounds of yellow and white spray starch lids fill her bedroom. Piles of clothes lay on top of each other waiting their turn in the gentle cycle. She listens to Rosemary Clooney on the radio, while smoothing out wrinkles with her hot iron. Her long fingers wrap around the iron so tight, that all you can see are her pointed knuckles. When momma's long white hair falls out of her bun, she resembles the witch Lorna reads about in her books.
Lorna's dad left when she was only two, he couldn't put up with momma's outbursts. Like Lorna, I too don't know who my daddy is. Aunt Hazel told me that he was a tall, handsome drink of water, and that all the ladies in town fussed about him. Grandma Wise put her in a Mental Institution when she was 19, momma hated her ever since. I don't know all the details of her condition, but she was in that place for two years. As soon as momma turned 21 she was in New Orleans, and without medication. She worked as a waitress at a local Cafe'. Aunt Hazel said she got fired for calling the Republican mayor some choice words. Momma said that the low elevation in New Orleans gave her headaches, and that was why she moved back.
I never suffered any headaches the summer of 1961. One night, my best friend Suzy Lynn and I snuck out of the house. "What if momma wakes up?" Don't worry Lorna she's snoring like Uncle Pete." Aunt Hazel said Pete snored so loud that she slept on the sofa bed four times out of the week. "Momma's going to kill you if she finds out!" Lorna was momma's favorite cause she brought home straight A's, was quiet, and didn't look like her daddy. I was a 10 yr old tomboy, and I didn't want to read over the summer. "Come on Suzy grab your shoes." I whispered, the Honky Tonk Bar is just two blocks from here.
The night air smelled like fresh watermelon, and the crickets were chirping summertime tunes. "I heard when Hank Williams was a boy, he lived in Louisiana", Judy exclaimed. I wonder if he ever saw Mark Twain?" "Are you nuts I said, he was probably dead by then." When we got to the bar, we could hear women laughing and men telling stories. We sat on a cement wall behind the bar, and listened to "Crazy" by Patsy Cline, and "I cant help falling in love with you" by Elvis. "Hey Charley, sure beats Rosemary Clooney huh?" It sure does!" We laughed together until Elvis and Patsy faded into the night, and the crickets fell asleep.
Lorna's dad left when she was only two, he couldn't put up with momma's outbursts. Like Lorna, I too don't know who my daddy is. Aunt Hazel told me that he was a tall, handsome drink of water, and that all the ladies in town fussed about him. Grandma Wise put her in a Mental Institution when she was 19, momma hated her ever since. I don't know all the details of her condition, but she was in that place for two years. As soon as momma turned 21 she was in New Orleans, and without medication. She worked as a waitress at a local Cafe'. Aunt Hazel said she got fired for calling the Republican mayor some choice words. Momma said that the low elevation in New Orleans gave her headaches, and that was why she moved back.
I never suffered any headaches the summer of 1961. One night, my best friend Suzy Lynn and I snuck out of the house. "What if momma wakes up?" Don't worry Lorna she's snoring like Uncle Pete." Aunt Hazel said Pete snored so loud that she slept on the sofa bed four times out of the week. "Momma's going to kill you if she finds out!" Lorna was momma's favorite cause she brought home straight A's, was quiet, and didn't look like her daddy. I was a 10 yr old tomboy, and I didn't want to read over the summer. "Come on Suzy grab your shoes." I whispered, the Honky Tonk Bar is just two blocks from here.
The night air smelled like fresh watermelon, and the crickets were chirping summertime tunes. "I heard when Hank Williams was a boy, he lived in Louisiana", Judy exclaimed. I wonder if he ever saw Mark Twain?" "Are you nuts I said, he was probably dead by then." When we got to the bar, we could hear women laughing and men telling stories. We sat on a cement wall behind the bar, and listened to "Crazy" by Patsy Cline, and "I cant help falling in love with you" by Elvis. "Hey Charley, sure beats Rosemary Clooney huh?" It sure does!" We laughed together until Elvis and Patsy faded into the night, and the crickets fell asleep.