It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We had been to Bear Swamp Baptist Church
located near Pembroke, North Carolina. We were living on the McKay Farm located
between Red Springs and Philadelphius Church of NC 71. Mama, Papa, sister Annie
and I had finished off some of Mama’s Best Vittles. Papa had retired to the
front yard and climbed into the rear seat of his pride and joy, his Model A
Ford for his Sunday ritual nap. I walked down the driveway towards the Tobacco
Barn to check on my Red anthill. Mama
and Annie stayed in the kitchen to wash the dishes and clean up everything.
After Mama and Annie finished washing the dishes and
cleaning the kitchen, Mama came out on the front porch and sat down in her
rocking chair. Annie apparently went to
her room. When I saw Mama come on the front porch, I left my Red anthill and
came to where Mama was sitting. I sat down on the edge of the front porch and
began swinging my legs backward and forward.
I couldn’t think of anything else to do. I just had the feeling
something exciting was in the air. I
could tell from the way Mama was looking. What ever it was, I wanted to be a
part of it
As I sat there swinging my legs backward and
forward, I looked at Mama with a big smile on my face. Too me, Mama was the most beautiful woman in
the world. She would tell me exciting
stories such as “Where Babies come from” and Uncle Dicks Hatband” when she was
in the mood. She told me some about her and Papa and others about her brother
Wheeler and Uncle Frank. Mama was a good storyteller. She would tell me other
stories when she was in the mood.
She was a modern woman. She smoked cigarettes and
sometimes wore men pants. She did this when other supposedly Lumbee Indian
ladies in the community wouldn’t be seen dead with a cigarette dangling from
her lips or they wearing the pants. That was Mama. Being a modern woman, there
were some things she had not done. One of them was to drive a car. The women in
the community did not drive cars either.
Mind you, Papa had offered to teach Mama how to drive and each time he
offered she turned him down. Mama was one tough lady and there was nothing she
was afraid of doing or even trying. She
had been raised up with 9-brothers and 1-sister named Winnie. Winnie was the
“Miss Primp” while Mama was like a “Tom Boy”. I always enjoyed where Mama was
because it seemed to me like something was going to happen. It was time for
something to happen. I watched as mama
leaned forward in that rocking chair and began to stare at Papa in that Model A
Ford. She spoke out loud to me and said:
“Preston! Today, I’m going to drive that car.”
She was talking about Papa’s Model A Ford, Papa’s pride
and joy.
“I’m never tried to drive it before but today I’m
going to drive that car!”
What Mama said stirred up the excitement in me. I knew that when Mama said she was going to do something; she was not going to back out. If she said she was going to drive today, she was going to drive.
Mama leaned forward, got out of that rocking chair and walked down the steps towards the car with me following in her footsteps. I was ready to provide her with my expert knowledge on how to drive. I was only about 7 years old. Although I had never driven a car before, I knew how to drive because I had been watching Papa as to what he had been doing. Yep! I was ready to show her how. I stepped up on the running board to check out the inside of the car while Mama looking inside through the opened rolled down window. Papa had all the windows rolled down and the windshield partially tilted out from the bottom in hopes of catching an elusive cool breeze that may pass by. The car was parked in the shade beneath a huge Chinaberry tree in the front yard. The tree provided Papa with a lot of shade. There was Papa sprawled out on the rear seat with a leg hanging outside a window enjoying his normal Sunday afternoon rest. But this was about to change because Mama had made her decision.
“Roy!” That's what Mama always called Papa. His name was Roy Lee Chavis. She sometimes
called him “Snag-A-Bag” if she was angry.
She also did this in the public where there were a lot of people
standing around. I didn’t know what it meant until sometime later when I almost
had a similar mishap. Papa never warned me of this potential event. Maybe he
wanted me to learn it the hard way.
Sometimes, hard knocks are the best lesson.
“I’m goanna drive this car today!”
Papa never so much as move a finger, open one or both
eyes, neither did he say anything what-so-ever. I knew Papa was awake and playing “possum”.
“Do you hear me Roy? I’m goanna drive this car today!”
“Liza! (That is what Papa called Mama. Mama’s name is Anilizer Oxendine Chavis).
I was not going to let that happen to Mama. I loved Mama too much to let her kill herself. I had watched every step what Papa did to drive the Model A Ford. I knew every step by memory. I would be in the car with Mama, with mama sitting on the front seat behind the steering wheel and me sitting in the front seat besides her. I would be there on that seat helping her all the way. I would tell her everything she needed to know to know to drive the car just like Papa. Mama got into the front seat behind the steering wheel while I got in the front seat beside Mama, the driver. Papa was stilled sprawled out on the rear seat acting as if he had gone back to sleep. He was probably upset with my big mouth. He probably didn’t cherish the idea that his pride and joy may have a new driver beside himself. Then, there was the situation of someone disturbing his Sunday nap. Anyway I began telling Mama everything she needed to do.
“Mama! That round thing you have in your hands is
the steering wheel!”
“Preston! I know what it is! She sounded as if I had insulted her intelligence.
“OK Mama! That thing on that side of the steering wheel is the spark advance and the one of the other side of the steering wheel is the gas lever. There’s a gas pedal on the floor of the car and a brake pedal and a clutch pedal. The gas pedal is use to make the car move or go while the brake pedal is used to stop the car. The clutch pedal is used to move the car my letting out of this pedal after you put the car in the 1st gear. It is also used to change gears by pressing in on the pedal while moving the gearshift to the next gear then you let out on the clutch pedal. By pressing down on the clutch pedal, you can stop the car by pushing down on the brake and the car will not cut off. When someone is starting the car with the crank, the car must be in neutral.”
It was now time to talk her through everything she
had to remember to drive the car. I was going to do this step by step and let
her do what I tell her.
“After the car motor is running, you’ve got to press down on the clutch pedal with your left foot.” I showed her how.
“Then you move the car into first gear. You press down on the gas pedal a little bit
and let your foot off the clutch pedal real easy and slow while giving it more
gas. The car will start moving.”
Mama did everything I told her and it looked good.
“To stop the car Mama; you push down on the clutch pedal with your left foot as you lift your right foot from the gas pedal and use the same foot to push down on the brake pedal and that will stop the car.”
Mama tried it several times on her own and she did well. I knew Mama didn’t understand everything I had said but she told me she did. During the step by step action, she did it good. She was more interested in driving than listening to what I had to say. I knew I could tell her what she needed to do to get the car moving because Mama was ready to drive. I gave her some warning when driving and changing gears.
“Mama, don’t look down at your feet and them pedals. You’ve got to watch where you’re going and not watch those pedals. What do those pedals do?” I asked her questions to see how much she remembers.
She told me what each pedal was called and told me
what they did. I had her to go through
it a few more times and she did it good.
There was nothing else I could tell her. Someone had to hand cranked the
motor with the spark advance and gas lever on the steering wheel adjusted. Papa was the one who started the car. He didn’t seem happy at all. After the car was running, Papa came back and
got into the rear seat in the car. He
was determined to get his sleep. Again,
he sprawled out on the rear seat but he didn’t give up on trying changing
Mama’s mind.
“Liza! Preston doesn’t know how to drive.
“Was he telling me the right things to do to
drive?" Asked Mama.”
“Yes, but he don’t know how to drive!”
“I then realized that Papa was awake and listening to me. He was not sleeping! He was playing “possum” on Mama and me.
“Roy, why don’t you show me instead of Preston?”
“I don’t feel like it today, Liza.”
“Well, I’m going to drive. He knows enough to tell me how to drive.”
“Liza! He knows enough to get you killed!”
“If you’re afraid, then you show me!”
“Liza, I’m going to lay back here on this seat. If you want to drive you go ahead and drive!”
“O.K. Roy! Preston, what do I do next?”
“First of all Mama, you got to watch where you are
going to. Push in on the clutch pedal.”
I saw Mama peep in the floorboard as she placed her left foot on the clutch pedal and pushed the pedal to the floor.
“Put the car into gear Mama.”
I saw Mama put the car into gear. The front of the car was pointed towards our
radio antenna pole for our dry cell battery radio. At the time, we were the only “Lumbee
Indians” in the area with a radio. I
thought she was going to back up and turn the car around. She had put it in first gear and when she let
off the clutch pedal, she did it too quick.
The car jumped off like a “Jack Rabbit”.
The car headed straight towards that tall cypress pole (antenna for our
battery radio) that was almost as tall as a light pole today.
“Mama! Push in the clutch pedal or the brake pedal
because we got to stop!”
Mama started
looking down at her feet; she called her “Footses” for her feet. She got the
clutch pedal mistaken for the brake pedal. When the car lurched forwarded he
scared me almost to death.
“Turn Mama,
Turn!” I yelled real loud at her. I
tried to brace myself for the impact of the pole. A direct hit would have destroyed the car and
broken down the pole. She managed to turn the steering wheel and now she was
headed for the “Corn Crib Barn” use to store corn for our animals and corn for
making corn meal and corn pone for the family.
“Keep turning Mama, keep turning the steering wheel!” I told her and she kept turning the steering wheel until the steering wheel apparently locked.
By this time, Papa
was wide-awake. I turned and looked at
him and his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of the eye sockets. He
was desperately trying to sit up on the rear seat. From the time Mama smashed down on that gas
pedal, she had not slowed down any what-so0ever and Papa was unable to get up.
I though Mama was going to kill all of us. I don’t know how she managed to miss
the corncrib. Now she’s headed for the woodpile. I quickly looked at Mama
expecting to see fear on her face like Papa and me. Instead she was sitting
there hanging on to the steering wheel with a big smile on her face. She was driving all by herself and making her
own decisions. She appeared to be
enjoying the ride.
Woodpiles at homes
were use to store or stack firewood for cooking and heating the house. Most families had their wood stacked
neatly. Our wood was just laying in all
different manners. The wood was cut based of the length for the stove and
fireplace. It was just dumped out on the yard.
None was stacked (Thanks Be To God). Some was near 4 feet high.
When Mama struck the front side of the wood pile, that Model A Ford climbed over the logs like a Mountain Goat with the car rocking and rolling. Papa had not been able to get up to see what was reall6y happening. The car was now headed for the house. How Mama missed the house is unknown to me. She reached out with her left foot and put it on the clutch pedal then reached the brake pedal with her right foot on the brake pedal and stopped almost from the same place from where we started. She even reached over and put the gear in neutral. That was when Papa yelled at me.
“Preston! Get out of the car!”
While I was trying to get out of the car, Papa climbed or crawled out of the car somehow as if he was out of his mind. I was scared. I looked over at Mama and she was cool as a cucumber and she had a great big smile on her face.
“Liza! What were you trying to do? Were you trying
to kill us?” Yelled Papa who was standing
outside the car. Mama just sat there
with that Big Smile on her face. She
seemed elated. I can still remember the
smile on her face ever since with both hands on the steering wheel. She was savoring the sheer joy of
driving. Mama had finally driven a
car. She said she was goanna drive and
she did.
“Liza! Are you goanna sit there in the car with the
motor running?” Asked Papa who was shaking
from fear?
“No! I’m going to drive the car down the road
towards the Tobacco barn!”
My Red Anthill was
only a short distance away and I hope that Mama wouldn’t drive over the
hill. Papa stood outside and looked at
Mama with his “Model A Ford”. Papa had a
beautiful Model A Ford. I guess he was
afraid that Mama was going to destroy the car.
If she did, we would be in dire strait for transportation except for
mule and wagon. There were very few
automobiles during that period because World War II was being fought.
Mama put the car in gear all by herself without any help from me. She did it as if she had been doing it all her life. She slowly left off with the clutch pedal and gave the car a little gas and we started down the driveway. When we reached the Tobacco Barn, she stopped on her own with the clutch and brake and did it without the car choking down. She just sat there with that big grin on her face. She decided she was going to back up the hill towards the house. She did everything she was suppose to do but the car choked down because of the sand on the road where she stopped.
I guess she sat
there for 5 minutes or so with that serene smile on her face. She was in glory. Finally, she opened the door and got outside
along with her. I never said
anything. She started up the hill
towards where Papa was standing. I made
sure that Mama was between me and Papa. Else he might just reach out, grabbed
me and whacked the stuff out of me. As
Mama started past Papa, I started around Mama to put Mama between Papa and me. She told Papa:
“Roy! You can bring the car back to the yard!”
“Liza! You were the one who drove the car
there. You drive the car back to the
house!”
Even Papa had
agreed that Mama drove the car whether he realized it or not at the time. Mama kept walking with Mama between Papa and
me as she walked up to the house. She still had that big smile on her face
without exchanging any other words.
Papa was left standing out there in the yard beneath the Big Chinaberry tree at a lost for word to say. Finally Papa walked down the driveway to where the car was stalled in the driveway. He started up the motor and backed the car back beneath the tree.
Mama drove the car
for a distance of about 120 feet that lasted about 30 seconds from the car
rocking and rolling over the wood pile and the car grinding, skipping and
rocking over the logs.
Mama never did try
to drive again that I know of. She never
tried to drive the Model A Ford thus leaving Papa to be the “King of the Roost”
of his “Pride and Joy”. He never stopped sleeping each Sunday afternoon until
he sold the car. I will never forget mama’s drive.
Both mama and papa
have passed away and are buried at Community Holiness church. Both lived a long
rich life. They started me in school and for the first year or so they made
sure I went to school. Afterwards I enjoyed school. Both were ideal parents and
I missed them terribly. Thanks
mama and Papa
It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We had been to Bear Swamp Baptist Church
located near Pembroke, North Carolina. We were living on the McKay Farm located
between Red Springs and Philadelphius Church of NC 71. Mama, Papa, sister Annie
and I had finished off some of Mama’s Best Vittles. Papa had retired to the
front yard and climbed into the rear seat of his pride and joy, his Model A
Ford for his Sunday ritual nap. I walked down the driveway towards the Tobacco
Barn to check on my Red anthill. Mama
and Annie stayed in the kitchen to wash the dishes and clean up everything.
After Mama and Annie finished washing the dishes and
cleaning the kitchen, Mama came out on the front porch and sat down in her
rocking chair. Annie apparently went to
her room. When I saw Mama come on the front porch, I left my Red anthill and
came to where Mama was sitting. I sat down on the edge of the front porch and
began swinging my legs backward and forward.
I couldn’t think of anything else to do. I just had the feeling
something exciting was in the air. I
could tell from the way Mama was looking. What ever it was, I wanted to be a
part of it.
As I sat there swinging my legs backward and
forward, I looked at Mama with a big smile on my face. Too me, Mama was the most beautiful woman in
the world. She would tell me exciting
stories such as “Where Babies come from” and Uncle Dicks Hatband” when she was
in the mood. She told me some about her and Papa and others about her brother
Wheeler and Uncle Frank. Mama was a good storyteller. She would tell me other
stories when she was in the mood.
She was a modern woman. She smoked cigarettes and
sometimes wore men pants. She did this when other supposedly Lumbee Indian
ladies in the community wouldn’t be seen dead with a cigarette dangling from
her lips or they wearing the pants. That was Mama. Being a modern woman, there
were some things she had not done. One of them was to drive a car. The women in
the community did not drive cars either.
Mind you, Papa had offered to teach Mama how to drive and each time he
offered she turned him down. Mama was one tough lady and there was nothing she
was afraid of doing or even trying. She
had been raised up with 9-brothers and 1-sister named Winnie. Winnie was the
“Miss Primp” while Mama was like a “Tom Boy”. I always enjoyed where Mama was
because it seemed to me like something was going to happen. It was time for
something to happen. I watched as mama
leaned forward in that rocking chair and began to stare at Papa in that Model A
Ford. She spoke out loud to me and said:
“Preston!
Today, I’m going to drive that car.”
She was talking about Papa’s Model A Ford, Papa’s pride
and joy.
“I’m never tried to drive it before but today I’m
going to drive that car!”
What Mama said stirred up the excitement in me. I knew that when Mama said she was going to
do something; she was not going to back out.
If she said she was going to drive today, she was going to drive.
Mama leaned forward, got out of that rocking chair
and walked down the steps towards the car with me following in her footsteps. I
was ready to provide her with my expert knowledge on how to drive. I was only about 7 years old. Although I had
never driven a car before, I knew how to drive because I had been watching Papa
as to what he had been doing. Yep! I was
ready to show her how. I stepped up on
the running board to check out the inside of the car while Mama looking inside
through the opened rolled down window.
Papa had all the windows rolled down and the windshield partially tilted
out from the bottom in hopes of catching an elusive cool breeze that may pass
by. The car was parked in the shade
beneath a huge Chinaberry tree in the front yard. The tree provided Papa with a lot of shade. There was Papa sprawled out on the rear seat
with a leg hanging outside a window enjoying his normal Sunday afternoon rest.
But this was about to change because Mama had made her decision.
“Roy!” That's what Mama always called Papa. His name was Roy Lee Chavis. She sometimes
called him “Snag-A-Bag” if she was angry.
She also did this in the public where there were a lot of people
standing around. I didn’t know what it meant until sometime later when I almost
had a similar mishap. Papa never warned me of this potential event. Maybe he
wanted me to learn it the hard way.
Sometimes, hard knocks are the best lesson.
“I’m goanna drive this car today!”
Papa never so much as move a finger, open one or both
eyes, neither did he say anything what-so-ever. I knew Papa was awake and playing “possum”.
“Do you hear me Roy?
I’m goanna drive this car today!”
“Liza! (That is what Papa called Mama. Mama’s name is Anilizer Oxendine Chavis).
I was not going to let that happen to Mama. I loved Mama too much to let her kill
herself. I had watched every step what
Papa did to drive the Model A Ford. I
knew every step by memory. I would be in
the car with Mama, with mama sitting on the front seat behind the steering
wheel and me sitting in the front seat besides her. I would be there on that seat helping her all
the way. I would tell her everything she needed to know to know to drive the
car just like Papa. Mama got into the
front seat behind the steering wheel while I got in the front seat beside Mama,
the driver. Papa was stilled sprawled
out on the rear seat acting as if he had gone back to sleep. He was probably upset with my big mouth. He probably didn’t cherish the idea that his
pride and joy may have a new driver beside himself. Then, there was the situation of someone
disturbing his Sunday nap. Anyway I
began telling Mama everything she needed to do.
“Mama! That round thing you have in your hands is
the steering wheel!”
“Preston! I know
what it is! She sounded as if I had
insulted her intelligence.
“OK Mama!
That thing on that side of the steering wheel is the spark advance and
the one of the other side of the steering wheel is the gas lever. There’s a gas pedal on the floor of the car
and a brake pedal and a clutch pedal.
The gas pedal is use to make the car move or go while the brake pedal is
used to stop the car. The clutch pedal is used to move the car my letting out
of this pedal after you put the car in the 1st gear. It is also used
to change gears by pressing in on the pedal while moving the gearshift to the
next gear then you let out on the clutch pedal.
By pressing down on the clutch pedal, you can stop the car by pushing
down on the brake and the car will not cut off. When someone is starting the
car with the crank, the car must be in neutral.”
It was now time to talk her through everything she
had to remember to drive the car. I was going to do this step by step and let
her do what I tell her.
“After the car motor is running, you’ve got to press
down on the clutch pedal with your left foot.”
I showed her how.
“Then you move the car into first gear. You press down on the gas pedal a little bit
and let your foot off the clutch pedal real easy and slow while giving it more
gas. The car will start moving.”
Mama did everything I told her and it looked good.
“To stop the car Mama; you push down on the clutch
pedal with your left foot as you lift your right foot from the gas pedal and
use the same foot to push down on the brake pedal and that will stop the car.”
Mama tried it several times on her own and she did
well. I knew Mama didn’t understand
everything I had said but she told me she did.
During the step by step action, she did it good. She was more interested in driving than
listening to what I had to say. I knew I
could tell her what she needed to do to get the car moving because Mama was
ready to drive. I gave her some warning
when driving and changing gears.
“Mama, don’t look down at your feet and them
pedals. You’ve got to watch where you’re
going and not watch those pedals. What
do those pedals do?” I asked her questions to see how much she remembers.
She told me what each pedal was called and told me
what they did. I had her to go through
it a few more times and she did it good.
There was nothing else I could tell her. Someone had to hand cranked the
motor with the spark advance and gas lever on the steering wheel adjusted. Papa was the one who started the car. He didn’t seem happy at all. After the car was running, Papa came back and
got into the rear seat in the car. He
was determined to get his sleep. Again,
he sprawled out on the rear seat but he didn’t give up on trying changing
Mama’s mind.
“Liza! Preston doesn’t know how to drive.
“Was he telling me the right things to do to
drive?" Asked Mama.”
“Yes, but he don’t know how to drive!”
“I then realized that Papa was awake and listening
to me. He was not sleeping! He was
playing “possum” on Mama and me.
“Roy, why don’t you show me instead of Preston?”
“I don’t feel like it today, Liza.”
“Well, I’m going to drive. He knows enough to tell me how to drive.”
“Liza! He
knows enough to get you killed!”
“If you’re afraid, then you show me!”
“Liza, I’m going to lay back here on this seat. If
you want to drive you go ahead and drive!”
“O.K. Roy!
Preston, what do I do next?”
“First of all Mama, you got to watch where you are
going to. Push in on the clutch pedal.”
I saw Mama peep in the floorboard as she placed her
left foot on the clutch pedal and pushed the pedal to the floor.
“Put the car into gear Mama.”
I saw Mama put the car into gear. The front of the car was pointed towards our
radio antenna pole for our dry cell battery radio. At the time, we were the only “Lumbee
Indians” in the area with a radio. I
thought she was going to back up and turn the car around. She had put it in first gear and when she let
off the clutch pedal, she did it too quick.
The car jumped off like a “Jack Rabbit”.
The car headed straight towards that tall cypress pole (antenna for our
battery radio) that was almost as tall as a light pole today.
“Mama! Push in the clutch pedal or the brake pedal
because we got to stop!”
Mama started
looking down at her feet; she called her “Footses” for her feet. She got the
clutch pedal mistaken for the brake pedal. When the car lurched forwarded he
scared me almost to death.
“Turn Mama,
Turn!” I yelled real loud at her. I
tried to brace myself for the impact of the pole. A direct hit would have destroyed the car and
broken down the pole. She managed to turn the steering wheel and now she was
headed for the “Corn Crib Barn” use to store corn for our animals and corn for
making corn meal and corn pone for the family.
“Keep turning Mama, keep turning the steering
wheel!” I told her and she kept turning the
steering wheel until the steering wheel apparently locked.
By this time, Papa
was wide-awake. I turned and looked at
him and his eyes looked like they were going to pop out of the eye sockets. He
was desperately trying to sit up on the rear seat. From the time Mama smashed down on that gas
pedal, she had not slowed down any what-so0ever and Papa was unable to get up.
I though Mama was going to kill all of us. I don’t know how she managed to miss
the corncrib. Now she’s headed for the woodpile. I quickly looked at Mama
expecting to see fear on her face like Papa and me. Instead she was sitting
there hanging on to the steering wheel with a big smile on her face. She was driving all by herself and making her
own decisions. She appeared to be
enjoying the ride.
Woodpiles at homes
were use to store or stack firewood for cooking and heating the house. Most families had their wood stacked
neatly. Our wood was just laying in all
different manners. The wood was cut based of the length for the stove and
fireplace. It was just dumped out on the yard.
None was stacked (Thanks Be To God). Some was near 4 feet high.
When Mama struck
the front side of the wood pile, that Model A Ford climbed over the logs like a
Mountain Goat with the car rocking and rolling.
Papa had not been able to get up to see what was reall6y happening. The car was now headed for the house. How
Mama missed the house is unknown to me.
She reached out with her left foot and put it on the clutch pedal then
reached the brake pedal with her right foot on the brake pedal and stopped
almost from the same place from where we started. She even reached over and put
the gear in neutral. That was when Papa
yelled at me.
“Preston! Get out of
the car!”
While I was trying
to get out of the car, Papa climbed or crawled out of the car somehow as if he
was out of his mind. I was scared. I looked over at Mama and she was cool as a
cucumber and she had a great big smile on her face.
“Liza! What were you trying to do? Were you trying
to kill us?” Yelled Papa who was standing
outside the car. Mama just sat there
with that Big Smile on her face. She
seemed elated. I can still remember the
smile on her face ever since with both hands on the steering wheel. She was savoring the sheer joy of
driving. Mama had finally driven a
car. She said she was goanna drive and
she did.
“Liza! Are you goanna sit there in the car with the
motor running?” Asked Papa who was shaking
from fear?
“No! I’m going to drive the car down the road
towards the Tobacco barn!”
My Red Anthill was
only a short distance away and I hope that Mama wouldn’t drive over the
hill. Papa stood outside and looked at
Mama with his “Model A Ford”. Papa had a
beautiful Model A Ford. I guess he was
afraid that Mama was going to destroy the car.
If she did, we would be in dire strait for transportation except for
mule and wagon. There were very few
automobiles during that period because World War II was being fought.
Mama put the car
in gear all by herself without any help from me. She did it as if she had been doing it all
her life. She slowly left off with the
clutch pedal and gave the car a little gas and we started down the
driveway. When we reached the Tobacco
Barn, she stopped on her own with the clutch and brake and did it without the
car choking down. She just sat there with that big grin on her face. She decided she was going to back up the hill
towards the house. She did everything
she was suppose to do but the car choked down because of the sand on the road
where she stopped.
I guess she sat
there for 5 minutes or so with that serene smile on her face. She was in glory. Finally, she opened the door and got outside
along with her. I never said
anything. She started up the hill
towards where Papa was standing. I made
sure that Mama was between me and Papa. Else he might just reach out, grabbed
me and whacked the stuff out of me. As
Mama started past Papa, I started around Mama to put Mama between Papa and me. She told Papa:
“Roy! You can bring the car back to the yard!”
“Liza! You were the one who drove the car
there. You drive the car back to the
house!”
Even Papa had
agreed that Mama drove the car whether he realized it or not at the time. Mama kept walking with Mama between Papa and
me as she walked up to the house. She still had that big smile on her face
without exchanging any other words.
Papa was left
standing out there in the yard beneath the Big Chinaberry tree at a lost for
word to say. Finally Papa walked down
the driveway to where the car was stalled in the driveway. He started up the motor and backed the car
back beneath the tree.
Mama drove the car
for a distance of about 120 feet that lasted about 30 seconds from the car
rocking and rolling over the wood pile and the car grinding, skipping and
rocking over the logs.
Mama never did try
to drive again that I know of. She never
tried to drive the Model A Ford thus leaving Papa to be the “King of the Roost”
of his “Pride and Joy”. He never stopped sleeping each Sunday afternoon until
he sold the car. I will never forget mama’s drive.
Both mama and papa
have passed away and are buried at Community Holiness church. Both lived a long
rich life. They started me in school and for the first year or so they made
sure I went to school. Afterwards I enjoyed school. Both were ideal parents and
I missed them terribly. Thanks
mama and Papa
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