A Quiet, Sleepy Little Southern Town HUH!

By J.D. (Slick) Jackson Sturgis Miss.

Rape and almost murder sends their pastor and his family from Missouri to Mississippi. His oldest, a son, is different but certainly no sissy, and he, along with his two sisters have important parts in this fictional novel. Interesting? Yes! Exciting? Yes! For all readers? Yes! Family number two has a major role to play too!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781646281886

Book preview

Chapter 1

Thank You, Lord

Now Saturday night was almost here, and I was getting fidgety and nervous. If I could have found any kind of excuse, I would not have gone to pick her up, but here I was in her driveway. There was no way to back out. If it had been anyone else’s daughter except the pastor’s, I would have asked her to meet me somewhere. I knew better than to try that, especially since he had spoken to me like he did. That comment (I’ll beat the living hell out of you) was turning over and over in my mixed-up mind. Don’t be nervous , I told myself. She’s just another girl . That thought was surely wasted. Two real good reasons. First, I wanted to make a good impression on Kaylee Sue, and second, I was terrified of her daddy.

Who would come to the door when I rang the bell? God, please don’t let it be Brother Hanson. God is so good. He answered my prayers again. Mrs. Velma answered the doorbell. She was very nice and polite. Kaylee Sue will be ready in a minute, she said. As I sat down, I was glancing back and forth, trying to see if Brother Hanson was around anywhere. You know by now—Thanks again, God—I didn’t see him. When Kaylee Sue came into the living room, she was even more than I expected. We were both dressed casually, but she made me feel like I didn’t deserve to be going anywhere with her. I couldn’t help but think about what the two boys had done, and I was telling myself I would never mistreat her no matter what. When we go to the car, I opened the door for her. I was thinking, Should I or not? I don’t want to be overly nice—she might think I’m a sissy.

Some of the older, bigger, tougher ball players would not think of opening a car door for a girl. But surely she would accept my good manners and respect them. I hoped I was impressing her because when she walked through the door into the living room back at her house, she certainly impressed me. I knew she looked good at school but nothing like this. She looked like a model in these tight-fitting blue jeans. Everything looked like the right amount in the right places. Here I was thinking about things that a sixteen-year-old boy should not think, but I’ve heard, ever since I’ve been big enough to pay attention to things, that’s what makes the world go around. Boy plus girl and girl plus boy. So I told myself I was right in there with the average. When we left her home, she began talking like we had been dating forever, about all I had done at school and church was just speak to her. Imagine my surprise now. She asked if I really wanted to go see the movie. We only had one choice. There was only one theater in our town! So I said, If you don’t, I don’t really care.

She said, We could just ride around and talk for a while. So we did. I had no idea I could talk that much either. She brought out a side of me that I didn’t even know. We were both so relaxed, and it was so easy to talk. The time just flew by. Of course, we were supposed to be home by eleven o’clock. Now it was after 10:00 p.m. and it took about thirty minutes to get home. Maybe we could stop at the drive-in and get a sandwich. We had to figure out a little white lie to tell about the movie.

Kaylee Sue was more worried about that than I was. Slowly, it was beginning to dawn on me why she talked so much on our first outing. She didn’t get to talk much at home because her daddy was, I believe, so domineering. Instead of talking, she did more listening. If he thought we had just rode around and parked for three hours and didn’t go to the movie, I can just imagine what would go through his mind. Another no-good boy trying to take advantage of his baby daughter. If he thought that, he would be so wrong, but we couldn’t take a chance. We had to have a lie ready. Please God, I thought, help us. Is there anywhere in the Bible that tells us it’s all right to tell a lie? Kaylee Sue was a Christian too, so we knew God would not condone a lie. Questions like, What time did the movie start? Seven p.m., and that’s not a lie. How long did it last? About two and a half hours. Now that’s no lie either. Did you go by the drive in and eat something after the movie was over? We both ate a cheeseburger and split an order of French fries. That’s the truth too. My…my, how easy it is to work out things in your own mind. God, please, we need you again. You notice I put in a please this time. It is unbelievable how (may I say God?) works things out. A lady that works with my mom had told her all about this movie that was playing. So it happened Brother Hanson and mother had discussed their two babies having a date and going to the movie. They decide the movie was okay for us to see. Our mothers told our daddies that everything was fine as far as the movie was concerned. So no questions were asked by her daddy.

The next day at church, the only contact we had was eye contact. Was it okay if she winked at me in church? Because she did for sure. Please, I thought, Kaylee Sue, don’t take that kind of chance. Your dad might see you, and you know he watches you like a hawk. Just give me a friendly smile. You can do that with everybody, and your dad will think nothing about it, but a wink? Please don’t take that chance again. Just a smile, and I will get your meaning. You don’t have to smile; just a casual look will do just fine. I don’t want us to do anything that would make your dad tell me to stay away from you. I hope with all my heart that you feel the same way too. I’m concerned this is not puppy love. I feel very deeply about you. I was going to tell her all the thoughts I was thinking on our very next date. If it turned out she was just using me to get away from the house, it would be absolutely devastating. I hoped Monday at school, things would look different after a talk to her. I hoped my thoughts would be wrong.

At school on Monday, I met Sara Ann in the hall. She stunned me with, Hello, brother-in-law. Had Kaylee Sue been talking to her big sister about me, or was it just a way to say hello? I sure hoped it was the other.

About that time, one of the bigger boys who was a popular ball player walked up to me and said, Hey, squirt, why don’t you move on and let a man talk to Sara?

Sara turned to me and said, Don’t go anywhere, Roger. If this punk don’t like it, he can move on.

Casey, the ball player, said, You going to get your big, handsome brother to take care of me?

Sara knew exactly what he meant when he said handsome. Before he knew what had happened, she had one of his arms around behind his back and he was begging, Please.

She said, If you ever insult me or him again, I’ll cave your damn ugly face in one way or another, you big smart aleck.

Sara that’s pretty strong language for a preacher’s daughter, I said.

Well, Roger, we are just like everybody else. The only difference is people watch every move the pastor and his family make. I made up my mind years ago I’m going to be like everybody else. If that’s not good enough for the community, I will just move somewhere else. Let me tell you a little secret and don’t you ever forget it because some day it’s going to come out. This handsome brother he mentioned of mine is twice the physical man he is. Brody has been working out on exercise equipment all his life. I mean all his life, ever since he was about twelve years old. He is nothing but muscle from top to bottom, and he has taken some judo classes too. So I can tell you now some time some smart ass is going to say the wrong thing at the wrong time. That’s one reason I don’t worry about someone like that asshole that just left us.

I thanked Sara as the bell rang to go to class. I was so carried away with her actions and by what she had told me about Brody. I completely forgot to mention Kaylee Sue in my desires and sports. This incident did one thing for me. I made up my mind that I was going to bodybuilding class and I was going to try out for football. I had grown a good bit this year. I weighed about 160 pounds and was about 5'10". If I could turn that into muscle, I might could make the