Story of a Life Chap 1
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to put someone's entire life story into words? All I can say is, it will be a journey, I hope you'll stick with me and I hope you enjoy the ride
It was a Saturday afternoon, December 1973 in the tiny little town of Lavonia, Georgia and 16-year old Melody Davis was bored out of her mind. She sat in front of the window looking out at the drab, brown landscape and sighed heavily. She hated this time of year, everything was so dreary. She was out of school for Christmas break so she didn't even have any homework to keep her occupied. Lavonia was far enough south that they hardly ever got snow, maybe once every two or three years, so it was usually just brown and dead all winter. Her mother and father, Bill and Gloria had gone out Christmas shopping, her older brother Matthew was at ball practice, and her younger sister Melissa was at her best friend's house for a sleep-over this weekend.
Melody was alone and bored, she had already done her chores for the day which consisted of dusting the whole downstairs, washing the lunch dishes and doing her laundry, and now she had nothing to do. She thought about listening to a record but she had listened to all her records a thousand times. She glanced over at her bookcase, but didn't want to expend the energy to get up, cross the room and pick out a book because she had read every book she owned at least a million times. The only other entertainment in the house was the small black and white television downstairs in the living room. If she went downstairs and turned on the television and her parents came home and caught her, she would get a whipping. The television only got turned on once a day, in the evenings when the whole family gathered in front of it to watch the CBS Evening News and the Lawrence Whelk show. So she just sat in her room, on her bed, and sighed as she looked out the window.
Her father was the Pastor at Shady Creek Baptist Church and was not necessarily mean or violent with his children, but he was very strict. To him, spending time reading the Bible and on your knees praying was as important as eating or breathing or doing your homework. But she had already done her Bible study for the day, and had already looked over her Sunday school lesson for tomorrow. As she was sitting here thinking, she remembered something that made her smile. There was one bright spot in her future. Christmas was coming! Christmas was always the best, her most favorite time of year! Everybody was always so happy and cheerful, and she got to help decorate the Church, and every year they did a live Nativity in front of the Church. She always got to be Mary, so at least she got to sit down the entire time. She always felt so sorry for Matt who had to stand in the back for three hours as one of the Shepherds. Their father would not allow Matt to be Joseph because he said it was improper for a brother and sister to even play to be husband and wife. Melody thought that was silly, but that was just her Dad's way.
This year she had an extra special reason to be excited! Her best friend in the whole world was Abigail Morris. Abigail was more like her sister than just a best friend. Abbie was three days older, their houses were less than a quarter mile apart, and they had gone to the same school and the same church together their entire lives, and best friends since kindergarten. This year they were 16 and Abbie's dad had convinced Melody's dad to let her come to Abbie's Christmas Party on the evening of Christmas Eve! Her Dad had agreed to let her go because it was going to be all kids from their youth group at church, so her Dad knew the parents of every single young person that would be attending, Plus, Abbie's mom and Dad The main thing that made party this so special was it was going to be boys and girls together.
Abbie said she had got her mom and dad to agree to let them use the den downstairs and was going to let them listen to the stereo! Mel was so excited she was about to bust at the seams. She hardly ever got to do anything fun like the other kids. With her dad being a Pastor, she was not allowed to go on dates or to school dances because, as he put it, " all that gyrating and rubbing up against each other is immoral and sinful" Because of her dad, the only fun she ever got to have was once a year. The church set aside money to send the youth group to Church Camp for two weeks every summer, but they never got to mingle with the boys. The guys went one week, and then the girls went the next week. This party was definitely going to be the highlight of her winter, probably the highlight of her year, and maybe even the highlight of her life.
While Melody was sitting in her room, over on the other side of town, 18-year old Carl Greene was in his garage, fixing his motorcycle. He had the little tape player boombox that he had bought at the Goodwill store for 2 dollars playing the new tape he had just bought. It was "Quadrophenia" by the Who, and it was his new favorite album. He really did not want to be spending his Saturday afternoon elbow deep in grease and gasoline but he had to get the bike running so he could get to work tonight. He worked evening's at Dave's Diner as a dishwasher and had to be there at 5:00. His mom didn't get home from her nurse's job at the hospital until nine and she was usually dead on her feet. That's why he had to keep this job, his mom really needed the extra money. Between paying rent on this modest little two-bedroom house, paying the bills, putting gas in her car and buying groceries every week, she was stretched pretty thin. His dad had left when he was two and they had never heard from him again.
He had learned really early to make do with very little, and what little he did get he had to get for himself. He had spent every Christmas, every Birthday, every special occasion for as long as he could remember with nobody but him and his mom. There were quite a few years that he couldn't even have a Birthday party because either they had just moved into a new neighborhood and he didn't have any friends to invite, or his mom didn't want to throw a party because she didn't want to be embarrassed when a dozen kids would show up and they couldn't afford to buy party supplies or a cake. Sometimes his mom was working enough to afford to get him a present, sometimes not. Sometimes having a single mom sucked.
The loud, ear - splitting sound of a Camaro with no muffler pulling into the drive didn't even make him look up. He knew it was Jason without looking to see. The one good thing about his best friend's car, you always knew without any doubt, who was pulling into the drive. Nobody else in town had a car that loud. And Jason had to crank his stereo all the way up in order to hear it over the loud rumbling of his engine. The downside of that was that Carl could be standing inside his house with all the doors and windows shut, and Jason's car could be 30 ft away, parked in the street, and he could still be able to tell you what song was playing on Jason's radio. It still surprised him sometimes that he and Jason were even friends. At school, even though they were in the same grade, they didn't really know each other.
They didn't have any classes together and they moved in totally different social circles. Carl was mostly buddies with the poorer kids, they usually hung out in Woodshop, FFA club, or the Auto shop Him and his friends were usually dirty from working on cars, and usually were wearing faded jeans and old T-shirts they had got at the Five and Dime, or like Carl, at the Goodwill. Jason was a straight A student, who usually hung out with the popular kids and was always wearing nicely pressed dress shirts, dress pants and clean sneakers They met one day in their Freshman year when Jason brought his old used Camaro that his Dad had just bought for him, into the school garage with a timing problem. They hung out and talked while Carl adjusted the car's timing belt and had friends for the past four years. The sudden quiet as Jason turned his car was almost as deafening as the loudness of his car. Carl didn't even turn around as he heard the garage door open and close behind him.
"What's up, bro? Watcha doin?"
"Fixin' the bike. Got a clogged carburetor, soaking the sponge in gas to clean out the gunk, and taking the rest of it apart now so I can take a wire brush to the metal. Whatcha into today?
"Nothing much. Just got to go Christmas shopping for presents for Mom and Abbie. Can't believe Christmas is next week and it's almost 1974, can you? We graduate High School in less than 6 months. I swear, time flies by faster and faster every year. What do you have planned for the Holidays ?" You and your Mom going to do anything special?"
" Naw, Mom has to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Nobody else wanted to work the holiday, a lot of people have already said they aren't going to bother coming in and she needs the extra money, She'll get time and a half for the overtime plus holiday pay, so I can't really blame her for taking it.
And too, it's not like I'm a little kid anymore, I don't really NEED my Mommy to be with me on Christmas. And Dave's closing down the Diner for those two days plus Saturday and Sunday because him and his wife are going to Kentucky to see her parents, so I'll have a four day weekend pretty much all to myself. "
"Cool, then you can come over and spend the night with me on Christmas Eve. Nobody should be alone on Christmas, it's just not allowed in my family, even if you are used to it. My sister Abbie talked Mom and Dad into letting her invite all the kids from the Church over Thursday evening for a Christmas party. Your invited. It's not going to be a big deal, these are just church kids, so you know it's going to be pretty tame. At least you won't be alone and it should be entertaining for you to meet some of the guys I go to church with.
"I don't know man. That's not my ideal way to spend an evening, hanging out with a bunch of snot-nosed, sheltered and spoiled little Bible-thumpers. I think I'll skip it, thanks anyway
"Now, wait a minute. You know me and I'm your friend, right?"
"Right"
"And you know I'm a Christian. I go to Church with my family every Sunday, and I read my Bible all the time. Would you call me a snot-nosed, sheltered and spoiled little Bible-thumper?"
"No, not really, I don't guess so. You've always been cool to me"
"OK, well, all the guys at this party are going to be pretty much just like me. I promise you, nobody's going to thump you with a Bible" Carl chuckled and Jason grinned at his little joke. "I've been friends with most of these guys since I was born, they're all nice and harmless. You'll have to be polite, and watch that you don't let a cuss word slip, but beyond that, you'll be fine. Say you'll come. What else have you got to do that night? Plus, there will be girls there and trust me, we've got a few real good looking girls at my church."
"Yeah, but these are church girls. You say the guys may be okay, but I have never in my life met a Church girl who wasn't stuck up. Most of them won't even talk to me and usually, if I try to talk to them, they look at me like I'm some kind of bug they want to squash under their shoe."
"Look, I'm not going to twist your arm and make you come. I just thought you would enjoy it, and I know I'd like it if I had you there. As far as the girl's go, well, you don't have to marry them, get to know them, or even speak to them if you don't want. There's no harm in just looking. You are not really going to be there just for them, you were there for me to hang out with. Plus, you know my sister Abbie, she likes you well enough. She'll introduce you to a few of her friends and put in a good word for you.
"All right, all right. I'll come. Your kinda right I guess. I don't have anything else to do except fix myself a TV dinner and sit here alone. What time do I need to be at your house?"
Melody was alone and bored, she had already done her chores for the day which consisted of dusting the whole downstairs, washing the lunch dishes and doing her laundry, and now she had nothing to do. She thought about listening to a record but she had listened to all her records a thousand times. She glanced over at her bookcase, but didn't want to expend the energy to get up, cross the room and pick out a book because she had read every book she owned at least a million times. The only other entertainment in the house was the small black and white television downstairs in the living room. If she went downstairs and turned on the television and her parents came home and caught her, she would get a whipping. The television only got turned on once a day, in the evenings when the whole family gathered in front of it to watch the CBS Evening News and the Lawrence Whelk show. So she just sat in her room, on her bed, and sighed as she looked out the window.
Her father was the Pastor at Shady Creek Baptist Church and was not necessarily mean or violent with his children, but he was very strict. To him, spending time reading the Bible and on your knees praying was as important as eating or breathing or doing your homework. But she had already done her Bible study for the day, and had already looked over her Sunday school lesson for tomorrow. As she was sitting here thinking, she remembered something that made her smile. There was one bright spot in her future. Christmas was coming! Christmas was always the best, her most favorite time of year! Everybody was always so happy and cheerful, and she got to help decorate the Church, and every year they did a live Nativity in front of the Church. She always got to be Mary, so at least she got to sit down the entire time. She always felt so sorry for Matt who had to stand in the back for three hours as one of the Shepherds. Their father would not allow Matt to be Joseph because he said it was improper for a brother and sister to even play to be husband and wife. Melody thought that was silly, but that was just her Dad's way.
This year she had an extra special reason to be excited! Her best friend in the whole world was Abigail Morris. Abigail was more like her sister than just a best friend. Abbie was three days older, their houses were less than a quarter mile apart, and they had gone to the same school and the same church together their entire lives, and best friends since kindergarten. This year they were 16 and Abbie's dad had convinced Melody's dad to let her come to Abbie's Christmas Party on the evening of Christmas Eve! Her Dad had agreed to let her go because it was going to be all kids from their youth group at church, so her Dad knew the parents of every single young person that would be attending, Plus, Abbie's mom and Dad The main thing that made party this so special was it was going to be boys and girls together.
Abbie said she had got her mom and dad to agree to let them use the den downstairs and was going to let them listen to the stereo! Mel was so excited she was about to bust at the seams. She hardly ever got to do anything fun like the other kids. With her dad being a Pastor, she was not allowed to go on dates or to school dances because, as he put it, " all that gyrating and rubbing up against each other is immoral and sinful" Because of her dad, the only fun she ever got to have was once a year. The church set aside money to send the youth group to Church Camp for two weeks every summer, but they never got to mingle with the boys. The guys went one week, and then the girls went the next week. This party was definitely going to be the highlight of her winter, probably the highlight of her year, and maybe even the highlight of her life.
While Melody was sitting in her room, over on the other side of town, 18-year old Carl Greene was in his garage, fixing his motorcycle. He had the little tape player boombox that he had bought at the Goodwill store for 2 dollars playing the new tape he had just bought. It was "Quadrophenia" by the Who, and it was his new favorite album. He really did not want to be spending his Saturday afternoon elbow deep in grease and gasoline but he had to get the bike running so he could get to work tonight. He worked evening's at Dave's Diner as a dishwasher and had to be there at 5:00. His mom didn't get home from her nurse's job at the hospital until nine and she was usually dead on her feet. That's why he had to keep this job, his mom really needed the extra money. Between paying rent on this modest little two-bedroom house, paying the bills, putting gas in her car and buying groceries every week, she was stretched pretty thin. His dad had left when he was two and they had never heard from him again.
He had learned really early to make do with very little, and what little he did get he had to get for himself. He had spent every Christmas, every Birthday, every special occasion for as long as he could remember with nobody but him and his mom. There were quite a few years that he couldn't even have a Birthday party because either they had just moved into a new neighborhood and he didn't have any friends to invite, or his mom didn't want to throw a party because she didn't want to be embarrassed when a dozen kids would show up and they couldn't afford to buy party supplies or a cake. Sometimes his mom was working enough to afford to get him a present, sometimes not. Sometimes having a single mom sucked.
The loud, ear - splitting sound of a Camaro with no muffler pulling into the drive didn't even make him look up. He knew it was Jason without looking to see. The one good thing about his best friend's car, you always knew without any doubt, who was pulling into the drive. Nobody else in town had a car that loud. And Jason had to crank his stereo all the way up in order to hear it over the loud rumbling of his engine. The downside of that was that Carl could be standing inside his house with all the doors and windows shut, and Jason's car could be 30 ft away, parked in the street, and he could still be able to tell you what song was playing on Jason's radio. It still surprised him sometimes that he and Jason were even friends. At school, even though they were in the same grade, they didn't really know each other.
They didn't have any classes together and they moved in totally different social circles. Carl was mostly buddies with the poorer kids, they usually hung out in Woodshop, FFA club, or the Auto shop Him and his friends were usually dirty from working on cars, and usually were wearing faded jeans and old T-shirts they had got at the Five and Dime, or like Carl, at the Goodwill. Jason was a straight A student, who usually hung out with the popular kids and was always wearing nicely pressed dress shirts, dress pants and clean sneakers They met one day in their Freshman year when Jason brought his old used Camaro that his Dad had just bought for him, into the school garage with a timing problem. They hung out and talked while Carl adjusted the car's timing belt and had friends for the past four years. The sudden quiet as Jason turned his car was almost as deafening as the loudness of his car. Carl didn't even turn around as he heard the garage door open and close behind him.
"What's up, bro? Watcha doin?"
"Fixin' the bike. Got a clogged carburetor, soaking the sponge in gas to clean out the gunk, and taking the rest of it apart now so I can take a wire brush to the metal. Whatcha into today?
"Nothing much. Just got to go Christmas shopping for presents for Mom and Abbie. Can't believe Christmas is next week and it's almost 1974, can you? We graduate High School in less than 6 months. I swear, time flies by faster and faster every year. What do you have planned for the Holidays ?" You and your Mom going to do anything special?"
" Naw, Mom has to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Nobody else wanted to work the holiday, a lot of people have already said they aren't going to bother coming in and she needs the extra money, She'll get time and a half for the overtime plus holiday pay, so I can't really blame her for taking it.
And too, it's not like I'm a little kid anymore, I don't really NEED my Mommy to be with me on Christmas. And Dave's closing down the Diner for those two days plus Saturday and Sunday because him and his wife are going to Kentucky to see her parents, so I'll have a four day weekend pretty much all to myself. "
"Cool, then you can come over and spend the night with me on Christmas Eve. Nobody should be alone on Christmas, it's just not allowed in my family, even if you are used to it. My sister Abbie talked Mom and Dad into letting her invite all the kids from the Church over Thursday evening for a Christmas party. Your invited. It's not going to be a big deal, these are just church kids, so you know it's going to be pretty tame. At least you won't be alone and it should be entertaining for you to meet some of the guys I go to church with.
"I don't know man. That's not my ideal way to spend an evening, hanging out with a bunch of snot-nosed, sheltered and spoiled little Bible-thumpers. I think I'll skip it, thanks anyway
"Now, wait a minute. You know me and I'm your friend, right?"
"Right"
"And you know I'm a Christian. I go to Church with my family every Sunday, and I read my Bible all the time. Would you call me a snot-nosed, sheltered and spoiled little Bible-thumper?"
"No, not really, I don't guess so. You've always been cool to me"
"OK, well, all the guys at this party are going to be pretty much just like me. I promise you, nobody's going to thump you with a Bible" Carl chuckled and Jason grinned at his little joke. "I've been friends with most of these guys since I was born, they're all nice and harmless. You'll have to be polite, and watch that you don't let a cuss word slip, but beyond that, you'll be fine. Say you'll come. What else have you got to do that night? Plus, there will be girls there and trust me, we've got a few real good looking girls at my church."
"Yeah, but these are church girls. You say the guys may be okay, but I have never in my life met a Church girl who wasn't stuck up. Most of them won't even talk to me and usually, if I try to talk to them, they look at me like I'm some kind of bug they want to squash under their shoe."
"Look, I'm not going to twist your arm and make you come. I just thought you would enjoy it, and I know I'd like it if I had you there. As far as the girl's go, well, you don't have to marry them, get to know them, or even speak to them if you don't want. There's no harm in just looking. You are not really going to be there just for them, you were there for me to hang out with. Plus, you know my sister Abbie, she likes you well enough. She'll introduce you to a few of her friends and put in a good word for you.
"All right, all right. I'll come. Your kinda right I guess. I don't have anything else to do except fix myself a TV dinner and sit here alone. What time do I need to be at your house?"
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