A Long Way From Nowhere: To Each Their Own Goodbye, #2

By J.T. Dodds

Luc Barbon felt like he was escaping from the reality of 1968. Retreating from his own dead-ends in the Ozarks and Dallas, and about to bury himself in another foxhole in East Texas. A place where the world evolved around a Dairy Queen. It just might be, he speculated, a safe spot to be for a while. What trouble could he possibly get into hidden among the Magnolias in the Black-Eyed Pea Capital of the World.

What lay ahead was a blank slate. He wondered if this was going to be the way it is, always going somewhere, always leaving nowhere behind. He would soon discover he was like tumbleweed on a mission, his roots were shallow, and easily uprooted with the winds of change.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.T. Dodds
• Release date: Nov 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9798224905478

J.T. Dodds

John, a citizen of the United States and Canada has been writing poetry for over half a century delving into themes such as relationships, spirituality, creativity, and his passion for life, John has self-published a collection of 15 volumes including two enchanting children's books composed in verse, namely A Sneaky Twitch of an Itch and The Journey Home, as well as a compilation of essays and poetry centered on the subject of aging, titled Comes A Time. While permanently living in Ajijic, Mexico, with his artist wife, Candis, John has penned 5 novels under the pen name J.T. Dodds: a trilogy titled To Each Their Own Goodbye, consisting of Book 1: Anywhere Except Yesterday, Book 2: A Long Way From Nowhere, and Book 3: When Tomorrow Is Never Enough, two standalone novels, If You Are Born To Be A Tamale, and Wanting To Breathe Here In.

Book preview

DEDICATION

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To all those who have traveled the same road

and detoured down memory lane

Also by John Thomas Dodds

Poetry

In Our Own Backyard

A Still Silent Space

Sen-Essence

Aging Beautifully in Light of You

A Stroll Through the Village of Ajijic

Small Altars Where the Sun Performs

Places That Hold An Energy Of Love

Footprints In The Dust

Learning To Lean Back On Living

Kats Kids & Kreativity

Father Hunting

Free To Be Me

Gone Fishing

Children’s Poetry

A Sneaky Twitch of an Itch

A Journey Home

Fiction

Anywhere Except Yesterday (J.T. Dodds)

A Long Way From Nowhere (J.T. Dodds)

When Somewhere Is Never enough (J.T. Dodds)

If You Are Born to be a Tamale(J.T. Dodds)

Wanting To Breathe Her In (J.T. Dodds)

Essays

Comes A Time of No Return (2023)

Sometimes life takes you on a pendulum’s swing,

and when you end up on the other side of yesterday you gotta go with the flow, or it’s going to swing back

real fast, and leave you hanging.

– To Each Their Own Goodbye Trilogy

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Hidden Among

The Magnolias

ONE

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Louella Butt was born and raised in the town of Athens. She left the day after she graduated from happy high school and although it was only a short commute from Dallas she had had no reason to return, until now. She kept in touch with her high school girlfriend Bonnie Harrington, who visited Dallas on occasion. As for family, she was an only child and since escaping Athens, had nothing to do with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Butt. Now that Billy Joe was going to be temporarily residing in Athens she’d let the line play out, but she had caught her man, and wasn’t going to let him off the hook.

Tucked in the Northeast corner of the state the capital of Henderson County was founded in l850, four years after Texas was annexed by the U.S. The county was named after J. Pickney Henderson, the first governor of Texas. Athens was named after the Greek Goddess of wisdom, inspiration, and the arts by the step-daughter of one of the founders, in the hope it would become the cultural center of the County. Luc Barbon’s first impression was that after a hundred and sixty-eight years it still had a long ways to go. He was on a mission. Since his discharge from the Army he had leapfrogged from the Ozarks in Arkansas, to Dallas, Texas, in pursuit of a goal. Both sojourns having ended abruptly by twists of fate, he was seeking to change the trajectory of his journey. Travelling with his new friends Billy Joe Roberts and Louella Butts to their home town, he was hoping to register in a college that would put him back on track seeking the elusive Bachelor of Arts. Before heading to Billy Joe’s sister’s farm on the outskirts of Athens, Louella pulled into the Dairy Queen, a favorite high school hangout. The faces behind the counter were older now, but otherwise it was exactly as Billy Joe and Louella had left it.

Things change, Louella said, and then again some things never change. It’s the county seat alright, if you’re sitting in an outhouse.

Her voice indicated her displeasure at having to walk down memory lane. When they pulled up to the farm it was a joyful reunion for Billy Joe and his sister Sarah. When Sarah’s husband Elijah Waters hurt his back, Billy Joe was there to help with the farm work, and when the pantry was empty, he was there for Sarah and the kids with a trunk full of groceries. Three young’un’s all knee-high to a grasshopper greeted them on the veranda. They reminded Luc of the Little Rascals, Darla, Spanky, and Alfalfa. Billy Joe’s sister was, if one could muster up an image of a Sarah—earth, dressed in a simple frock, hair tied in a bun, with a smile the size of a hammock. Her husband stood on the porch, bent over and looking very much like he belonged behind a plow. He was a bulky man with upper arms as big as Luc’s neck. Under the weathered John Deere ball cap were eyes that failed to connect. When he shook hands it was like auguring a fence post hole. After a short visit Louella was ready to head back to Dallas. Billy Joe walked her to the car.

You sure you want to go through with this? I couldn’t last more than a couple days back in this shit hole. Too many bad memories. It was hard times for you too Billy Joe, as I recall the not-so-good old days.

Louella had grown up a single child with parents who spent most of their time drinking at the Athens Country Club. She was a golf orphan, with highbrow social expectations from her parents that were impossible to meet. Billy Joe and Sarah were raised by their grandmother on the wrong side of the tracks in a town where no train came through. He worked his way through high school. After a slight mishap in Dallas, temporarily putting his life on hold, if it wasn’t for his love of Sarah, coming back to Athens to pitch a tent was not an option he would have even considered.

We’ll give it a week. I think Luc has an opportunity to get back on track with his education. I don’t think he’s cut out for the bullshit we left behind in Dallas. I’ll be checking out the options for myself while I’m at it.

We’re not talking about Luc. I’m concerned about you.

As I said, a week will tell. It doesn’t have to be like it was. School doesn’t start until after Labor Day. Can you pick me up next Sunday?

Hopefully you’ll have this fucking school thing out of your head by then.

She opened the car door, and as he went to kiss her, she slipped behind the wheel. She gave him an if you want it honey, you pay for it look.

The turn of the century wooden farm house was tight quarters. The kids, giving over their room to the guests, camped out on a well-worn pullout couch. Alternative plans would certainly have to be made, but for the immediate circumstances, it was pure Southern hospitality. The next day Elijah offered his 1950 F-100 ford rust-bucket for any running around the boys had to do.

It don’t look so good, but it’ll carry a load and getcha to town and back. My daddy bought it out of the box, and I bet I’ve changed every part in it since then. The running board plum wore out jest climbin’ in an out of it.

After biscuits, gravy, and grits, Billy Joe and Luc drove into town to take care of business. The business was registering at Henderson County Jr. College. Billy Joe sailed through the process. An honors graduate from Athens high school he could fill in all the blanks. Unfortunately for Billy Joe, or maybe not, it all came down to the money, which he didn’t have, or wasn’t willing to shell out. He was still working on his dream of having his own karate school in Dallas, and there was Louella, waiting in the wings. Filling out the paperwork, Luc’s resume left plenty of blank spaces. Somehow he was able to convince the Registrar, an address, GI Bill, and transcript were forthcoming if only he was accepted. Being ex-Army and eligible for government money did the job as it had for Ozark Mountain College in Arkansas. All he had to do was hustle the paperwork and he was good to go.

When Luc had gone as far as he could with the registration process, and enrollment for the Fall semester was a certainty Billy Joe suggested it was time for a famous hamburger at the B&B Café. The Café was a long narrow establishment with a Formica counter on the left side that stretched three quarters of the way to the back. Faded and cracked orange leather stools with chrome revolving seats lined the counter, and to their right a couple equally weathered orange leather banquettes. Everything in the restaurant was well worn and dog eared. Billy Joe grabbed an Athens Daily Review off the counter and they sat at one of the banquettes, ordered cokes from the waitress, and spread the newspaper out on the table.

It’s going to be weird you not being here. I knew I’d be starting another adventure on the road to somewhere, but like arriving in Arkansas this time a year ago, I’m a stranger in a strange land.

Luc let it all sink in. He was quickly coming to terms with Billy Joe not sticking around.

You now know Sara and Elijah Waters, and this place is down-home friendly. You’ll know everybody before you know it, and believe me they’ll all know about you. Besides, this is like being in the backyard when it comes to Dallas.

Billy Joe didn’t waste time once he knew he couldn’t afford college at this point in his life. He wasn’t hiding from the law or worried about his next job after the Dallas Ambassador Health Club fiasco they had just left behind. He had the skills to find work in any of the big cities in East Texas. When Sarah and Elijah needed his help, he could always return in a flash. Billy Joe didn’t feel guilty about leaving Luc stranded in the middle of nowhere, he was confident his friend could handle Athens.

I guess I’ve jumped in the pool, might as well learn how to swim.

If truth be told with his first impression he was beginning to feel good about where this turn of events could be leading. It was like he had turned off onto a side road leading to dead ends, and was now getting back on the highway and aiming toward graduating from college.

Ever heard of Bonnie and Clyde? Never one to beat a dead horse, Billy Joe changed the subject.

Saw the movie with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. They were mean ass. One thing about the army if you weren’t busy killing someone you got a lot of chances to watch movies.

Mean ass and from these parts, and story has it Clyde Barrow and his brother established this Café in the 30s. They say he used to eat in the back with Bonnie while the sheriff ate in front where we’re sitting.

No shit! Luc looked to the back of the café, half expecting to see someone with a Tommy gun.

Anyway the real story here is this town is where the hamburger was invented.

Seriously? I thought it was the White Castle in Los Angeles.

I don’t think so. Uncle Fletch Davis went from here to the St. Louis World’s Fair where he introduced the hamburger to the world.

Then why isn’t this place famous? Why isn’t there a 50 foot sculpture of a hamburger by Henry Moore at the entrance to the town?

I don’t think anyone cares. You have to get used to that in small town East Texas. Plus, as Louella will tell you, there’s no entrance to Athens only an exit.

Of course they had to order hamburgers. Luc thought it was good, but not a famous burger.

Bingo! Listen to this. Billy Joe read from the classifieds. Room with a private bath, close to college, affordable, ideal for student. Luc, this has got your name all over it. The address is 700 South Palestine. That’s near Central Park and the college. Give it a call. You never know it might be the perfect place.

Luc used the Café’s payphone, and after a short conversation explaining where he was coming from and what he was doing in Athens, giving Sarah and Elijah as a reference, he got a move in date, sight unseen, for a week from Sunday. When he sat back down he was shaking his head.

That was too easy. I talked to a Mrs. Harney. She sounded like a sweet little old lady. Why did she trust me sight unseen? What are the odds she’d rent a room to just any stranger passing through Athens.

She’ll call Sarah and know everything about you before you step foot on her doorstep. A small town in East Texas, everyone knows everything about everybody, no one pretends to know anything. Billy Joe got a laugh out that revelation.

For the rest of the week Luc and Billy Joe helped Elijah around the farm. For Luc it was a good get to know you time with Sarah, Elijah, and the kids, and a time for a mental housecleaning in preparation for the fall semester.

TWO

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Elijah and Sarah were born again and attended the poor white side of the many Baptist communities prevalent in East Texas. Sunday morning Luc was invited to attend their church service. It took place in a one room wooden building on a country road that held around thirty-five souls plus offspring. Most likely because Luc was a stranger in their midst, and Billy Joe was a returning prodigal son, the service, performed by Pastor Rufus C. Pilgrim, accompanied by Miss Beatrice on the Tin Piano, shook the dust off the rafters. For Luc it was great: the music, the message, the community of people, and the environment—but when it came to religion, he was still a spectator, and an ex-Catholic to boot.

After service, back at the farm Luc and Billy Joe, along with the three rascals piled out of the back of the pickup and headed for the house.

This is one Southern tradition you’re gonna have to get used to, Billy Joe informed Luc, as they stepped up to the porch and settled in rocking chairs, After a head full of godliness comes a bellyful of food.

Louella pulled up in her Valiant just as Sarah rang the cow bell announcing lunch. She had come to pick up Billy Joe and take him back to Dallas. Luc was going with them. He needed to return to Dallas to check on the status of his GI Bill, close his bank account, and apply for a Texas driver’s license before finalizing his enrollment in Henderson County Junior College.

Y’all are not going anywhere until after you eat, Sarah put her arms around Billy Joe. Louella honey you look like you need to put some meat on those bones. Come on in and help yourself to some fried chicken and fixins.

Luc tasted, for the first time, what Athens was really famous for besides hamburgers, and bank robbers. It was the Black-Eyed-Pea Capital of the World, and that came with hog jowls, and spicy seasoning.

You can’t tell me, Louella said, as they drove away from the farm, those peas don’t taste like dirt, and believe me any kid growing up in Athens is going to have to eat her pound of dirt. Your sister sure can cook up a meal though. I’m as full as a tick on a dog. Louella was heading toward the center of town instead of directly onto the highway to Dallas.

Where are we going Louella? I was just about to light up a joint.

Hang on to that Billy Joe, I figure we’ll need re-enforcements. Since Luc’s coming with us I thought I’d introduce him to my one and only dearest girlfriend in town. We were cheerleaders together. You remember Bonnie Harrington?

Remember; how could I forget. If it hadn’t been for you two the football team might have won a game or two. As cheerleaders you were a total distraction on the field.

They picked up Bonnie, an abundant woman in her mid-twenties, who turned out to be absolutely charming and vivacious. She had a close cropped curly head of black hair, full eyebrows, and a smile as inviting as a Texas bluebonnet. She had no hesitation in packing an overnight bag and tripping off to Dallas. Luc took to her immediately and by the time they reached Dallas, they were old friends. He asked her the obvious why she didn’t move to the big city like Louella.

I like my home town and it likes me. Haven’t yet found a good enough reason to move on, and now that you’ve taken up residence that just might be another reason to stay put.

Don’t let her pull your leg Luc, Louella piped in. When she was 18 she married an old fart with lots of money and no kids. He died of a heart attack in bed. Now Bonnie stands still and whistles, and all those married ex-football boys hover around her like bees to honey. Ain’t that so girlie?

Arriving in Dallas it was Woody’s for a pizza then on to the apartment and a night of music, conversation, more than a few joints, and a whole lot of introductory body contact under the sheets.

Monday after a late morning breakfast, Billy Joe chaperoned the ladies on a shopping venture and Luc got down to business. Having passed his psych test he was deemed future fodder. He provided the Veterans Administration with his conditional acceptance letter from the college, and an address he had yet to set foot in where they could send the reinstated monthly GI Bill. Finally he turned in his Ontario driver’s license he kept during his three year stink in the army, for a Texas license. Address, license, and bank account, the three pillars of residency. He was on his way to becoming not only a Texas Vet, but a bona-fide Texan that Hoot, the Ambassador Health Club former employee, and purveyor of Texas wisdom, would be proud of.

Louella was riding in high cotton knowing Billy Joe was coming home to roost. Reason enough to celebrate, and on her morning shopping excursion she purchased four tickets for the Monday night concert starring James Brown at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium. And on a sweaty summer night, it was right up there with the Doors concert they had attended the day before their former employer Jimmy’s trip to the unknown. James Brown and his Orchestra blew Luc away, starting with If I ruled the World followed by thousands of people singing out loud Say it Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud. From the opening sounds to the last note it was nonstop dancing in a cloud of smoke. It wasn’t just the music it was a concert that made a statement establishing Brown as a voice for civil rights. Months after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, two months after Robert Kennedy’s assassination, while 10,000 protesters battled thousands of Chicago police, Michigan National Guard, U.S. army troops, FBI, and CIA, James Brown rocked the Dallas Memorial Auditorium. Luc knew Emma was probably at the concert but it was impossible to identify anyone in the wave of humanity that stood up and rocked from the first beat.

Too bright and too early the next day, Louella was driving them back to Athens, minus Billy Joe. He had heard from their friend Bum Barker, the Ambassador Club had been renamed and was under new management. The backers moved fast to try and recoup their losses after it’s sudden demise. Being the former head training Billy Joe thought he’d give the President’s Health Spa another try, with Bum as a reference.

Luc was on autopilot during the drive from Dallas. He was about to bury himself in a cubbyhole in East Texas. A place where the world revolved around a Dairy Queen, insulated from