Chapter 14

the sound: Free – All Right Now, The Guess Who – American Woman, CCR – Looking Out My Back Door, Mountain – Mississippi Queen, John Lennon – Instant Karma, Edison Lighthouse – Love Grows, Lee Marvin – I was Born Under a Wandering Star, Simon and Garfunkel - Cecelia, Christie – Yellow River, Mungo Jerry – In the Summertime

We drive for about an hour and a half, the men are all laughing and talking I’m making a full time job of braiding my hair and making sure that the toes of my boots aren’t too scuffed…as in spending the majority of my time with my eyes glued to my toes on the floor boards and a silent prayer on my lips.

At each and every intersection I look about the industrial area we are driving through and hope against hope I will see some sort of deliverance. Something that will spark the idea I need to get outta there.

Eventually we drive into an older residential neighborhood, houses with porticos and verandahs, houses with huge yards and lots of oaks and elms. And then eventually the houses get farther and farther between and begin to look more and more like farms or estates.

Finally we pull off on a dirt road and come up upon the front of a house, butter yellow, with a long wrap around verandah. The windows have open shutters and are painted black the verandah deck is black as is the door. The walk way winds it’s way through the yard around elm trees and when I look back at the house I can see through the many windows to the white lace curtains inside. There’s several wooden rocking chairs on the verandah and a porch swing like I’d imagine would be on a house in the deep south.

The house looks serene. Like I am at Grandma’s house, and I begin to think this may not be as bad as I thought. I give myself one of my never ending pep talks…”there’s nothing to fear but fear it’self”.

There’s a long drive to the right of the house and it wraps it’s way around the side and back of the house…it’s old style…made of oblong cement pads in two runners with grass growing between them.

The mustang slowly begins to pull into the drive and Barnyard leans over and turns off the radio. “Must n’t upset Mrs. K” he says.