Friends - The Term Used Loosely

Daddy had a friend named, Ronnie. He and Ronnie became seemingly very good friends. He would visit them on a regular basis, as in about every night. We later learned that he would supply that family with new refrigerators, cars, whatever they might need. I remember once the two families actually went out one Saturday night to an auction that was several miles from our town.

Several days after Daddy had bought a new car, he didn’t come home one night. Odd…Well, come to find out he and his friend’s wife had spent the night together somewhere in a motel in a nearby town. I don’t know if it happened that night or another night, but she became pregnant with what I am told is my Daddy’s daughter. Of course, we or maybe I should say I didn’t know all of this at the time it was happening, but he brought this baby to our house when it was just a few months old. I remember taking her to my room and playing with her on my bed. She had dark hair and was a pretty little thing. I didn’t know then that that was the only time I would lay eyes on what they say is my little sister.

Well, Daddy started spending the night in the camper outside our house. He was a violent man and would slap Mama around all the time. I tried to stay in my room when I felt a storm brewing between them. At the time, the TV show Dark Shadows was very popular and I loved to watch it after school. Dark Shadows was a soap opera about werewolves and vampires and such. In my mind, Daddy was a lot like the folks on that soap opera. I thought that he might be possessed or something. It was as if he became a different person when the sun went down. During the day, to the public, he was kind and seemingly a very nice person; however, when the sun went down and he came home, you could see hatred and meanness in his face and especially his eyes. At this particular time, it seemed that he was meaner than ever especially to Mama. He did some very horrible things to her that I won’t even document as it would very much embarrass her if she ever found out anyone besides us knew about them. Just let me say that I saw things children should not see.

Ronnie, Daddy’s “friend” (with friends like that you don’t need enemies) called our house one hot June evening (it was June 18, 1973 actually). I had been outside all day and ran in when I heard the phone ringing. I answered it and Ronnie asked me if I knew where Daddy was. I told him that he had not gotten home from work yet. He said and I am paraphrasing, that I was old enough to know what had been going on that he felt that he was going to have to hurt Daddy. Well, I really thought that he was just upset and mad and would never do anything drastic. He asked me to have Daddy give him a call. When Daddy got home I did as I was asked to do. Daddy came inside and took a bath and ate supper before making the call. During supper Mama said something that made him mad so he slapped her right out of her chair at the kitchen table. I made my way to my room as soon as I could to get out of the way.

I remember I was reading Gone With the Wind and was sitting in the floor of my room when I heard Daddy talking to Ronnie on the phone and then heard the car door close outside. I don’t know what it was, but something told me to get up and look out the window. I got on my knees on my bed and watched my Daddy back out the driveway and down the little dirt road in front of our house for the very last time.