Daddy's Girl

When Daddy Comes Home The year was 1934. We were in the middle of the "Great" Depression. So many people were poor and out of work. We were very poor. My daddy was a mechanic. He did not have any work and was having a problem coughing up blood. We were living in Colorado City in a section of the town called Brimer Town. It was about 6 or 8 "shotgun" houses close together. We had three rooms and three beds. My mother cooked on a wood stove. We had pinto beans and cornbread twice a day. Mother would cook biscuits and gravy for breakfast. It was summer and we children were out of school. Two men came to our house and took Daddy away. They told us he was not well and would be gone for six months before he would be able to come back home. That was pure torture for me. My daddy was everything to me. How could I stay home without my daddy? The wind blew most of the time. It was hot and dry. We four played in the yard most of the time. There was very little grass in the yard. It was almost all dirt. We liked that because we could play marbles and hopscotch. My youngest brother and I would run races some. He did not like these games like I did. I would beat him at everything. He was younger than I was. Glen was six that year. I was almost eight. Carl was ten and Odas was twelve years old. He thought he was our parent when no parent was around. I resented that very much because he did not realize that I should have my way about everything like Daddy did. Odas and Carl would go all over town picking up coke bottles and selling them for one cent each to get a little money. No matter what they would buy with their money, Mother would expect them to share with Glen and me. They always did without any arguing. Glen and I were very close. We went everywhere together. I would always decide what we would play, marbles, hopscotch or race. Sometimes I wanted to play paper dolls. Glen never disagreed and we played and I mostly wanted to make new dresses for my paper dolls. When Daddy was home I always got anything my brothers had if I wanted it and would tell Daddy. He told them that I was their only sister and they would give me anything they had and I wanted. So that is what I was accustomed to having. "What was it going to be for me with Daddy gone? Mother did not feel the same way Daddy did about the boys always giving in to me. He told my brothers repeatedly that they must give me anything I wanted that belonged to them." My mother said, "They will hate her if you make them give over to her all the time." If they did hate me, I never knew about it. Before Daddy was taken away, every night before going to bed, Glen and I would kneel down by our parents and repeat a prayer we had been taught. "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pay the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." I went to bed scared that I just might die and not wake up in the morning. Of course with Daddy gone, we knelt at Mother's knees. I never told anyone, not even Glen that I was afraid to go to sleep. He would have called me a sissy and I hated being called a sissy. I wanted to be tough like my brothers. Sometimes my brothers would have a toy or something that I wanted. Daddy said, "Give it to her. She is your only sister and you are going to give her anything you have that she wants." Daddy is not home and I want something Odas has bought. I told Mother that I wanted the toy that Odas bought. She said, "No." that hurt. I said, "When Daddy comes home I will get it. Mother said, "Daddy is not home and will be gone for a long time. Young lady you will have to get used to it. You will not have your way every time." That really hurt. I cried every night before going to sleep at night. I said, "Daddy, please hurry, get well and come home. They don't treat me right with you gone." I knew he could not hear me, but just in case he was thinking about me. Glen and I were playing marbles and I cheated just a little. He ran into the house and told Mother. Mother said, "Ruth, you play fair or else don't play marbles with him anymore." I could not believe her. I said, "When Daddy comes home things will be different. He knows I would not cheat." Daddy had a truck that we hauled our furniture on every time we moved which was often. Mother could not drive so we walked everywhere we went. We moved often but we would be here in Brimer town in Colorado City for at least six months while Daddy was away. Many Saturdays Mother would ask us if we would like to walk to the city park. "Oh Boy." We liked going to the park. They had see-saws, a merry-go-round, giant strokes and a wading pool. We would play for a couple of hours before going back home. Glen and I were in the yard racing. I would always win. We sat down to rest a minute when a neighbor boy came over. He said, "Did someone take your daddy away?" I said, "Yes, but he is going to come home." He said, "He will not come back home. My daddy left and never came back." Glen said, "Our daddy will come back." The boy said, "Since our daddy left us we don't get to eat but one time a day. It is not much then. I am hungry almost all the time." I said, "We eat 3 times a day and our daddy is going to come back home. He loves us and will be home just as soon as he can." He said, "Your daddy will not come back. He is just like mine." When he said that I hit him as hard as I could. The boy hit me back and Glen jumped in and hit him and said, "Don't hit my sister." After that the boy went back home. Glen said, "Why did you start a fight with that boy? Just because someone says something does not mean it is true. Let's not tell Mother about this, okay?" I said, "Okay. Glen, you know Daddy is going to come back home. When those men took him away they said he could come home in six months. That is such a long time." Mother cooked her cornbread in a square pan. I always ate two corners. Mother would put half of the cornbread on the table at dinner and the other half at supper. I always ate the corners. That day Glen decided he wanted one corner. I was so mad. I said, "Mother, make Glen give me the corner, he took one of them." She said, "No. You have one. Glen will eat the other corner." I said, "When Daddy comes home things will be different. I don't like this." I thought to myself what is wrong with Mother. She should know that Daddy would not like the way they were treating me. I just didn't know if I could last six months. That is a very long time. On Saturdays my mother would put a dishpan of water on the stove. We would have a washtub by the stove with water in it. Mother would pour that hot water in the tub and give me a bath. Then she would bathe Glen. After Glen, Carl and Odas would get a bath. That waster must have been rather dirty by then. Four dirty kids. We never thought anything about it because we did not know anything else.