David C. McLavic - 11. Chapter 11

Dad drove like he must get there as fast as he could. He was angry at Mom and if she said anything, he just told her to shut up. His anger could be felt.

When we arrived at the farm, Dad went to see Uncle Carl. Mom started to cry. Beth Ann and I sat there watching. Opening the car door, Mom ran into the house, crying. I don’t know what happened but Dad came out with Carl.

“David, Carl wants you to stay. I’m going to leave now and head home. Beth Ann, you can come with me or stay.”

Beth Ann looked at me. “If you stay, Carl and I will protect you.”

Beth Ann decided to stay. Now we needed to separate Beth Ann from Mom. I took my suitcase and Beth Ann’s to Carl’s room. We needed to move the cot from Mom’s room so Beth Ann could sleep in Carl’s room with us.

Walking Into the house, Uncle Carl was yelling at Mom.

“You better get it in your head now. No work, no food. And don’t try that shit on me like you did your dad. I’m not your dad, and I’ll put the switch to you.”

Mom was crying, I think Uncle Carl must have hit her with the switch he was waving around.

“Davey, let’s move the cot.” That is what we did. Then we went outside.

When we left the house, you could hear Uncle Carl yelling from the front porch. Beth Ann looked scared. “Don’t worry. We will protect you and I think Uncle Carl likes you.’

‘You can help us with our chores. When we are done, we can walk to town.”

“If Mom finds Cleo she’ll destroy her.”

“When we are finished doing the chores, we can hide her in Carl’s room. She won’t go in his room.”

The smile on Beth Ann’s face said it all. Carl and I will see that Mom doesn’t hurt her.

I couldn’t understand why Mom disliked Beth Ann. She never was a problem and then I thought about Jean. That had to be the reason but it didn’t make sense to me.

“Hello, David. Where are you?” The shove by Carl brought me back to the present.

“I was trying to figure out why Mom disliked Beth Ann. When we were in Philadelphia, my uncle had a photo of their sister who died at an early age. She looked like Beth Ann. I don’t know why my mom dislikes Dad’s brother and his wife.”

“Sometimes people are jealous. I have a friend who is jealous that I have no brothers or sisters. He has three brothers and a sister. According to him his sister thinks she is a princess and the boys must attend to her wishes.”

“I wonder if my mom thinks she is a princess?”

“According to what my dad said, our grandfather catered to her. Our grandmother said she was lazy. My mom was grandmother’s favorite because she listened. Your mother would tell people she wasn’t a farm girl. She would get an education and leave the farm. Dad didn’t like her.”

“And he still doesn’t like her? He treated her well when Dad was here.”

“Dad likes your dad,”

“He probably feels sorry for my dad.” The boys laughed when David said that. “Mom isn’t around here." She was supposed to help us with the chores.

“If my dad is right, she won’t be here much.’

“Where does she go? We haven’t seen her in town.”

“I think I may know. Be real quiet.”

I followed Carl as we headed for the other farmhouse. Sitting in the shade of a tree, Mom was reading a book.

“Be quiet.”

I watched as Carl got a hose, connected it to the well, and started to pump water. When he had a good stream, he told me to pump and be ready to run. I knew what he was going to do. I heard Mom scream, and then we both ran to Sir Galahad’s stall. There we could see the front of the house.

Miss Minnie came out looking at a wet mom. I asked Carl who the lady was. “She takes care of the house for the men. You’ll meet her, sometimes she will help mom make dinner.”