Daydreams of a Country Boy

By Thomas McDonald

Mike was a country boy with a dream. He wanted a car, a job, and
a girlfriend. He got the car and a job, but the girlfriend turned
into a nightmare. Mike finally got a girlfriend, but the school
bully put him down. His girlfriend left him. So he decided not to
get mad, but to get even. The way he got even was a blast. Mike was
going to a country school. You had to have a car or ~ou were dead in
the water with the girls. Mikes luck turned bad. If he didn't
have bad luck, he wouldn't have any luck at all. After a bad storm
destroyed their home, they moved to a small town. Mike ran with the
guys and got in a lot of trouble. He finally made out with a girl.
Turned out she was a fifty dollar a "night call girl from Houston
and showed him the ropes about making love. Mike made out with other
girls after that. Then Mike met Linda Carson.
Linda was a rich rancher's daughter. They moved from Oklahoma to Texas
and bought a large horse ranch. Mr. Carson hired Mike after he saved
his horse's life. Mike was good with horses. Linda liked Mike, but
he was an old country boy. Mrs. Carson wanted Linda to go out
with the rich boys. Linda was confused at what she wanted. Would true
love win out?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465387943

Thomas McDonald

Born in east Texas and joined the U.S.Navy after High school. He picked up the nickname Mac. He became a electronic tech. and a combat aircrewman. Stationed in different squardons, he served on many aircraft carriers. After leaving the service he worked a number of different jobs before becoming a writer. Mac now lives in Seagoville, Texas with his wife and a cat with an attitude. Don't miss any of the new books coming soon: DAYDREAMS OF A COUNTRY BOY THE DUNGEON RIDE THE WAVES THE TRACKER TUNNEL OF LOVE visit Thomas McDonald at email [e-mail] or write him at 514 Hampton Ct. Seagoville, Texas 75159.

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Thomas McDonald.

Library of Congress Control Number:       2011919297

ISBN:         Hardcover                               978-1-4653-8793-6

                   Softcover                                 978-1-4653-8792-9

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4653-8794-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Epilogue

Then the cool night air hit their sweaty bodies, and they started to shiver. Quickly they dressed and got into the truck.

Mike opened his arms and she went into them. I love you, he said quietly.

I love you too, she responded.

Someday, I’m going to make that dream come true.

I know you will.

They both looked at the waterfall and dreamed. Linda giggled and Mike stared at her.

What?

When are we going to make love in our own bed or any bed for that matter?

Very soon I hope. Mike laughed.

Chapter 1

July 1, 1952

Mike lived fifteen miles from town. The last two miles was dirt road, running beside a prairie, then turned left into the woods.

Mike Love was fifteen years old, had brown eyes and brown hair, and was of medium build, just a plain old country boy. Bill Love was sixty-five years old and looked forty, six feet tall, black hair, and was strong as an ox, probably from all the hard work he did all his life. Elsie Love, his mother, was short and fat, with long black hair, and looked like she was in poor health, as she was fifty years old and looked older.

Well, Son, we’re home.

All it needs is a little work and paint.

You got to be kidding.

No, I’m afraid not.

Dad, I’ve seen barns that look better than this old house.

The truck pulled in front of the old frame house. It was set high off the ground. It needed paint and a lot of repairs. The house had a porch across the front and another porch across the back. There was a well beside the house for water. An old outhouse was back behind the house for personal use. There was a large barn further back for the livestock. It looked better than the old house.

Bill was a sharecropper. He moved from farm to farm searching for the best land for growing crops, but like most sharecroppers, he didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out.

Bill had hired a truck to move them, since he didn’t own a vehicle and never had. He never learned to drive either. Horses and a wagon were all he ever knew all his life.

Elsie Love looked at the old house. Let’s go in and see what the old barn looks like.

Mom, watch your step. The steps are busted.

Elsie glanced at her husband. That’s your first, honey. Do.

It had a large living room, a large bedroom, and a back-to-back fireplace for heat, and off the living room was another bedroom. In the back of the house was a kitchen with bare wood walls. It would be cold in the wintertime. The house wasn’t too bad since it had electricity, a good wood floor, and a good tin roof. Bill planned to fix up the old house and give it a paint job.

There were trees around the house that would keep the house cool in the summer. It was nine in the morning, and it took the rest of the day to clean the house. It was dark by the time they had everything moved in.

The next day Bill and Mike went to move the horses, one old milk cow, and the chicken. Plans were made that evening for the work in the summer ahead.

Mike, I’m not sharecropping anymore. Mr. Glover is going to pay me a salary to take care of the ranch and the farming. We can grow a garden for food, corn, and hay for all the livestock.

It sure would be better than sharecropping.

Mr. Glover said he would pay you to work also.

Great, I sure would like to earn money to buy a car.

It will be hard work and cheap pay.

I don’t care. I just want to work and earn some money.

I’m old enough to draw social security now, so things should be getting better.

Mrs. Love looked up from her ironing. Bullshit, old man! You have been telling me that for years. You are not ever going to get us any better off. All I’ve ever done is work all my life, and we will always be dirt poor.

Mike got up and went outside, not wanting to hear his mom and dad fuss, as they had ever since he could remember. As Mike walked toward the barn, he looked up at the sky. The stars were so bright and pretty that he started to daydream. I would work all summer to buy a new car, a red convertible, and some new clothes. Then when school starts, I will find myself a girlfriend and have some fun.

Son, come on to bed! You hear!

Mom, I’ll be right in.

Bill was up early the next morning, milking the cow and feeding the chickens. Mrs. Love woke Mike up and started breakfast. They didn’t have much in the way of food. They didn’t buy much from town. They tried to get along by raising everything, but at times, it got hard to put food on the table. They had biscuits, cowboy gravy, and milk for breakfast.

After breakfast, Bill and Mike rounded up their tools and went to the woods. They would work from daylight until dark. That was a normal day for farmers and ranchers.

Mike, did you get the water jug?

They would clear the land of undergrowth and clear the brush from the fences. They would cut some of the trees and cut them up for posts. Splitting posts was a backbreaking job. They cut the post to the right length and used wedges and a sledgehammer to split the post.

Mike thought he would die by the second day; his hands were blistered, and his whole body ached.

Dad, there must be an easier way to make money.

Mike, why do you think I keep making you go to school?

I don’t know.

So you won’t have to work hard all your life, like I have, and not have anything to show for it.

Dad, I’m sorry for what you have had to go through.

I only got ahead one time in my life. I had some cattle and horses. The big depression hit, and I lost everything.

What did you do?

The only thing I could—dirt farming. I wasn’t smart. I had only gone to the second grade.

After a few days, Mike’s hands and body became hard, so the work didn’t make him ache anymore. One morning, Mr. Glover, the owner of the ranch, brought a new Ford tractor to the ranch.

Mike, would you help me unload the tractor off the trailer?

Yes, sir.

After the tractor was unloaded, Mike was looking the tractor over. It sure is a pretty thing.

Well, Mike, are you ready to drive the tractor? I got some work for you to do.

But… but, Mr. Glover, I don’t know how to drive a tractor.

No problem. I’ll show you how. It won’t take long.

Mr. Glover told him to get in the seat and do exactly what he was told. Turn the key, set the gas throttle at two notches, foot on the clutch, gearshift out of gear, the N position. Now push the start button. Mike was a little nervous. He pushed the start button and the tractor roared to life. Next he showed him how to drive, pushing in the clutch, putting the gearshift in first position, and letting off the clutch. Mike was driving in a few minutes.

Mr. Glover spent the rest of the day, teaching Mike how to attach the mower and the rest of the attachments. By the end of the day, Mike could do it all.

All Mike talked about that night was driving the tractor till finally his mom said, Go to bed, Mike.

OK, Mom. He went to bed.

The next weekend Rex Johnson came to visit. Mike and Rex were best friends. They had known each other most of their life. Rex was fifteen years old, had black hair, was of slender build, and was a city boy. Rex loved to visit the country, while Mike loved to visit Rex in the city, so it worked out great for both of them.

Mike helped Rex carry his gun, knife, and other hunting equipment into the house.

When will your dad be back to pick you up?

He said I could spend the night and he would pick me up tomorrow evening. Boy, we got a lot of catching up to do! How do you like the ranch? You sure are lucky to live out here. You can hunt, fish, and ride horses. It sure is neat.

Well, look at the calluses on my hands. My face and arms are blistered, and my clothes are worn out. Do you still want to be a farm boy?

I guess not. Too much work for this city boy.

Dad said since tomorrow was Saturday, he would let me off work, so we can go hunting.

That sounds good to me.

Mrs. Love called, You come in, wash your face and hands. Supper is ready. Come and eat, or I’ll throw it out to the chickens.

We’re coming, Mom.

After supper, Mike and Rex sat outside on the front porch, talking over old times. Mike gazed up at the stars and daydreamed about the hunt tomorrow. He would get the first squirrel and the most squirrels for the day. He daydreamed a lot, hoping they would come true. He daydreamed about girls but really didn’t know much about them. But he was going to learn as soon as he got a new car.

Hello, hello, are you there? Rex waved his hand in front of Mike’s face.

Sorry, I was thinking of something.

It had to be girls or food.

I was thinking, I could almost taste squirrel and dumplings.

Mrs. Love would cook squirrel and dumplings if they killed any. The family was lucky to have meat once a week. They were out on the porch.

Mike! You boys come to bed.

OK, Mom, we’ll be right in.

The next morning, the sun was slowly rising, the rooster was crowing, and you could smell fresh bread baking in the oven. It was going to be a beautiful day. Mike sat in bed as the rooster started crowing again.

One of these days, we are going to eat that rooster for Sunday dinner.

Then what would you use for an alarm clock?

I don’t care. I could get some sleep.

Rex jumped out of bed and began to dress. Come on, let’s eat and then go hunting for squirrels.

Mike finished eating first and went back to his room to get his guns and hunting knife. He took his belt with the holster and knife attached from the closet, and then he put the belt around his hips. He reached under his mattress and pulled out his .22-caliber pistol and checked to be sure it was loaded. He put it in his holster and tied the holster to his right leg, fast draw style.

He went into the living room to wait for Rex to finish eating. Elsie Love came into the living room and sat in an old rocker.

Rex sure is a big eater, and if he stays long, he will eat us out of house and home.

Mike turned to face the fireplace. At this rate, all the squirrels will be back in their nest by the time we get into the woods.

Rex entered the living room and sneaked up behind Mike. He pulled the pistol from Mike’s holster and leveled the pistol. Stick your hands up. I got you covered.

Rex— Mike spun around.

Bang! I got you!

The pistol sounded like a cannon confined in the living room. Rex stood staring at Mike and finally got his voice back. I didn’t know the gun was loaded.

Well, it was.

Honest, I didn’t—didn’t mean to do it! You got to believe me!

Mrs. Love started crying hysterically and wringing her hands. What are we going to do? What to do?

Mike had felt the impact as the bullet passed through his shirtsleeve, at the left wrist, and slammed into his chest, almost knocking him to the floor. Mike regained his balance but felt a severe pain in his chest. It felt like a branding iron.

Rex, go get Dad. I think I’m hurt bad.

I’ll be right back. Don’t die.

Rex ran out of the house to find Mr. Love. Mike sat down in a chair and opened the front of his shirt to find a hole in his chest, and blood was flowing from the hole.

Mom, I think I’m going to die, but I’m too young to die.

Don’t say things like that.

Mrs. Love sat with a blank look on her face and continued to cry. She just sat there in shock and didn’t know what to do.

Mom, get something to stop the bleeding.

Mrs. Love finally got up and left the room, searching for something to stop the bleeding. She returned with a towel. Mike covered the wound with the towel, applying a lot of pressure to stop the bleeding.

Mr. Love and Rex charged in from the front door, talking a mile a minute. They picked Mike up and carried him outside, where Mr. Glover was waiting with his car. Mrs. Love stayed at home, while the rest of them headed for town.

It was fifteen miles, so Mike was imagining he would be dead before they got to the doctor. Mr. Glover drove like the devil was after them.

Son, don’t be afraid. We’ll be at the doctor’s office in a few minutes.

It hurts. Oh, it hurts!

I know it hurts, but hang in there. You’re going to be fine.

His son’s suffering hurt Mr. Love, and he prayed he would live. He was an only child, and he was afraid it would kill his wife if Mike didn’t pull through. As they arrived at the doctor’s office, Mr. Glover brought the car to a screeching stop.

Mr. Love and Rex quickly helped Mike out of the car. They carried him into the doctor’s office.

Dr. Latham, a fat little man with a bald head, stood waiting until they were in the room.

Put him on the examining table in the next room.

My son has been shot, said Mr. Love.

Let me remove your shirt so I can get a look.

The doctor removed Mike’s shirt and the towel so he could examine the wound. The wound had stopped bleeding, but there was a large jagged hole.

What size gun were you shot with?

It was a .22-caliber pistol.

Well, that’s a mighty big hole for a twenty-two.

The doctor used a probe to locate the bullet, but he couldn’t find the bullet. He called for his nurse to take Mike for an x-ray. Nurse Marsh wheeled Mike down to x-ray room. She helped him onto the table, while positioning the x-ray machine next to Mike’s chest.

This thing is cold.

Yes, it is, but you are a tough guy. I think you can handle a little cold. The x-rays won’t take long. They were finished shortly. See, that wasn’t so bad.

Nurse Marsh wheeled him back to the examining room to wait for the x-rays. A short time later, she brought the x-rays to the doctor, and he examined them.

I can’t find the bullet on the x-rays.

He came over to the table and started using the probe again. He didn’t understand why the bullet didn’t show up on the x-rays.

Oh, that hurts! complained Mike.

Are you sure it was a .22-caliber bullet?

Yes, it was a .22-caliber long rifle, fired from a .22-caliber pistol.

Then I don’t understand why the hole is so large. It looks like a .45-caliber hole.

Mr. Love moved Mike’s shirt off the table, and everyone heard something hit the floor.

Well, how about that? the doctor said as he picked up the bullet off the floor and handed it to Mike. The bullet was bent into a U shape.

I guess you’ll live. Looks like the bullet must have hit a rib and came back out the same hole. That would explain why the hole was so large.

The doctor called his nurse over. He gave her directions to patch Mike up and give him a tetanus shot. That would fix him up.

Mr. Johnson came to pick Rex up and take him home.

While the nurse finished with Mike, Mr. Love paid the doctor bill and filled out a police report on the accident. Mr. Love thanked the doctor for his time.

OK, Son, let’s go home. Your mother is probably half-crazy worrying about you.

Do you think we will ever have a telephone?

I don’t know. They are so high priced.

Mr. Glover was waiting nervously in the car as Mike and Mr. Love returned to the car.

Are you all right? asked Mr. Glover.

Yes, sir, let’s go home.

At least, I won’t have to drive as fast home.

Mrs. Love was still crying when Mike and Mr. Love walked in the front door.

Mike explained, It is OK, Mom. Please don’t cry anymore. The nightmare is over, and after all the excitement, I’m hungry.

The long hot summer slowly moved closer to time for school to start. Mike worked long days and weekends trying to raise enough money to buy a car. It wasn’t looking too good moneywise. He would be lucky to buy a piece of junk, but he still had hopes.

Mike’s dream was to buy a cool car to impress the girls so he could make out. Mr. Glover let Mike practice driving his pickup all summer so he would know how to drive when he got his own car. If you don’t have wheels in a small country school, you can forget about the girls.

Two weeks before school was going to start, Mike counted his money, hoping to have enough to buy that dream car. He had saved nine hundred dollars. That would have to be enough.

Mike approached Mr. Love. Dad, I want to buy a car.

No way. With you going to school, you can’t work, and you will have no job, no money, and no driver’s license. Just how do you expect to support a car and make payments?

I’ll get a job in Booneville and work nights. I’ll get a driver’s license if you will sign for me. After I buy a car, we won’t have to depend on Mr. Glover to loan us his pickup to get to town and other places.

I don’t like it.

Dad, I have to have a car. If I don’t have a car, I’m dead in the water.

You will be broke all the time trying to keep up a car.

Then I’ll have to be broke, but I can take people with me to buy gas.

After two days of argument, Mr. Love agreed to give it a try.

Saturday we’ll go to town and buy a car, for better or worse. I don’t like it, but we’ll do it.

Thanks, Dad. You won’t be sorry.

Mark my words, Son. After you buy a car, it will always keep you broke, trying to keep it running.

A few days later, Mike had to admit that his dad was right. He was always broke after buying that dream car, or should he say pile of junk?

Saturday morning, Mr. Glover came by and took Mike and his dad into town. He let them out on the square. Stores were built in a square around the courthouse, like most small Texas towns. Main highways ran through the town, and streets branched off from the square with more stores on the side streets.

Mike and his dad walked two blocks west from the square to Sherman Ford. After thirty minutes of talking to a salesman, Mike didn’t want to face the fact that his dream was shattered. He would never be able to pay for a new car.

Well, Son, what do you want to do?

Go find a used car lot, I guess.

I think there’s a used lot on the north side of the square.

OK, let’s see if we can find it.

They walked back to the square, the one block to Honest John Used Cars. Mike started looking over the cars. John looked outside and thought to himself, I got myself a fish. He rushed out of his office.

Honest John, best cars, best deals, lowest prices in Texas. What can I do for you?

My son would like to buy a car, but we don’t know anything about cars, and we don’t have very much money to put down.

Honest John started his sales pitch, I got just the car for you, with low mileage. This 1948 Ford is only three hundred down, plus tax, title, and license.

Dad, what do you think?

I don’t know anything about cars. It is pretty and shiny.

That car belonged to a little old school teacher that hardly ever drove it.

We’ll take the car, said Mike.

Honest John had them hog-tied before they knew what was happening.

Dad, we sure got a good deal.

I’m not so sure about that.

Mike drove the car off the lot and headed for home. Five miles out, they pulled into a service station to get some gas, but when Mike put his foot on the brake to slow down, the pedal went all the way to the floor. The car barely missed the gas pumps. He pulled up the emergency brake, but the car kept going until it hit a ditch.

Son, what happened?

We don’t have any brakes.

Mike used the telephone in the service station to call Honest John. My brakes went out on the way home. Can you send someone out to fix the car?

Young man, didn’t you read your contract?

Not too good. It was too hard to understand.

After you drive a used car off the lot, it’s your problem now, said Honest John and hung up.

After buying the car and paying to get it fixed, and also a fill-up on gas, his money was going down fast. Surely nothing else would happen today. He knew he was going to hear from his dad.

Well, Son, at this rate you will be broke before we get home.

It hasn’t been a good day so far, but maybe it will get better, he hoped.

I doubt that.

Mike was mad. He burnt rubber in first and second gear while leaving the service station. Elsie Love came out to meet them as they pulled up in front of the house. She walked around the car and touched it.

Son, it is a beautiful car. It’s so bright and shiny. I can see myself in it.

Mom, we got a real good deal.

Bill Love looked at his son and shook his head. As they went inside, Elsie Love said, Supper is ready. Come and eat, or I’ll throw it out to the chickens.

I don’t think the chickens would eat it, said Bill Love, laughing.

Shut your mouth, old man.

Monday morning, Mike went to town to take his driver’s license test. If he passed the test, then he would look for a job. He had a form signed by his father so he could get hardship driver’s license, since he wasn’t sixteen yet.

There were a lot of people at the Department of Public Safety taking their driver’s license test.

Young man, if you are here to get a license, put your name on the list.

Yes, ma’am, I want to get a driver’s license.

Mike put his name on the list to take the written test. He picked up a driver’s handbook and sat down at a table to study. After an hour, his name was called to take the test. He made an eighty, which was a passing score, and was told to report back after lunch to take the driving portion of the test.

The Dairy Queen was a few blocks down the street, so he decided to go there for lunch. As Mike drove past the Dairy Queen, he saw a couple of fine good-looking chicks watching him. He turned around, squealing tires, and turned in front of the Dairy Queen. He got out of the car and combed his hair. His ducktail would never stay in place.

Mike was trying hard to be a cool cat and get the girls’ attention. He got their attention when he dropped his Coke. The girls started to giggle as Mike got back in his car. He felt like an ass. How could I have done such a stupid thing? He backed out into the street and burnt rubber as he made a fast retreat.

After reporting back to the Department of Public Safety, Mike nervously waited his turn to drive. The ADPS officer told him to go to his car and wait. The officer came out and told Mike that his car had to be checked before he drove it.

Get in and turn on your lights.

Yes, sir.

Blow your horn.

Yes, sir.

Turn on your right-turn signal.

Yes, sir.

Turn on your left-turn signal.

Yes, sir.

The officer got in and looked the car over. OK, start your engine, back out, and let’s go driving.

Mike jerkily backed out and started to move forward.

The officer said, Do not be nervous. Drive as if you were by yourself.

After a short time, Mike finally relaxed and drove normal. How am I doing now?

Just fine. Just keep it up, and you’ll get your license.

The test didn’t take long, and Mike got his driver’s license.

Mike was happy and singing as he drove to the edge of town, where a new drive-in theatre was under construction and was almost completed.

The Skyline Drive-in Theatre was small but nice. A sign was posted Help Wanted, so Mike drove down to the concession stand and went inside.

Mr. Jones was the manager, and he was a very friendly man. After a short interview, Mike was hired for ticket catcher on the coming in.

As soon as we are ready to open, you will be notified by letter when to report for work.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. I won’t let you down.

Mike was on his way home a very happy young man, believing dreams do