Out of Texas
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
The first time Barbara went to California was a very unhappy time for
her. Barbara was a child crouched under a quilt in her bed listening to her
parents arguing loudly in the adjoining bedroom. The vaguely understood words
filled her with dread.
"I'm sorry I broke my promise not to see him
again," Mama said.
"Being sorry is not enough. We're going to move
away from here and make sure this doesn't happen again."
The
three-day train journey was an exciting new experience. Aunt Millie, Mama's
sister, met them at the depot and drove them to her home. She and Uncle Tom
were good to Barbara, and she liked playing with her cousin, Billie Lee, but
she missed Daddy and was afraid to say so. Mama grew furious when she mentioned
him.
One night she dreamed they were still in Texas. Mama
was out shopping and she and her brother, Earl, were at home with Daddy. Daddy
was making milk toast for supper. He put bread on the rack under the broiler of
the gas oven to toast, and told her to watch it so that it didn't burn. Earl,
who was sitting in a high chair, yelled for a drink of water and the toast
burned. Snatching it from the rack, she rushed to the sink to scrape off the
black.
"Don't cry, Sis, burnt toast will make your
hair curly." Daddy said, and laughed.
When Daddy suggested a game of checkers, Barbara ran
into her parent bedroom and took the game from the shelf. Turning to leave, she
glimpsed the blue bottle of Evening-In-Paris Perfume on the dresser, and
stopped to gaze at it.
Hearing footsteps, she looked up to see Daddy in the
mirror. He walked to the dresser and picked up the bottle. Removing the cap, he
put the tip of his forefinger over the opening and tilted it, wetting his
finger with the lovely fragrance. He touched Barbara behind the ears and handed
her a lipstick.
"Mama won't care if you use a little," he
said.
She opened it and smeared it on her lips. Like an
alcoholic after the first drink, she wanted more. She daubed her cheeks with
rouge and applied a thick coat of powder.
"You look real purty, Sis," Daddy said.
"When Barbara woke up and realized she had been
dreaming, she stared to cry. Aunt Millie heard her and came into the room. She
lay down beside her, and took her into her arms.
"What's the matter, Honey?" she whispered.
"I wish Daddy were here!" Barbara wailed.
"There, there. Of course, you miss your
Daddy," She held Barbara in her arms until she fell asleep.
The next morning Barbara woke to hear angry voices
coming from the kitchen, where Mama and Aunt Millie were having coffee."
"Barbara misses her Daddy terribly, Rella. When
will he be here? Can't you tell the child something to comfort her?"
"So, she misses her precious daddy! I can't
imagine why. I don't know when we'll see him, but I'll think of something to
tell her," Mama said.
Mama was waiting in the living room when Barbara
came home from school. "I want to talk to you," she said, smiling
sweetly. "Your aunt tells me you miss your daddy."
"I miss him an awful lot, Mama, "Barbara
said, lulled by her friendly manner.
The smile vanished, replaced by an angry sneer.
"I don't know why you miss him, when he makes no effort to be with
us."
Barbara's face paled and tears filled her eyes.
Seeing the effect of her words, Mama grudgingly offered a few words of comfort.
"I got a letter from Daddy today, and he said
he hopes to be here in two weeks. He sends you his love."
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Book Details
About the Book
Barbara, born in Texas and raised in California,
struggles for acceptance from early childhood.
Her earliest memories are of Mama saying she is ugly and looks like
Daddy. Daddy changes jobs frequently,
so she never attends the same school for long, and always feels like an
outsider.
When they move to California during the depression,
the kids make fun of her clothes and she gets a poor grade in English. “Because you talks like a Texan,” the
teacher explains.
They move to Oregon when she is a sophomore in high
school, and she makes friends there.
She is beginning to feel accepted when they move back to
California. In her teens, she falls in
love with Sean, who marries someone else.
A short time later, during WWII, she meets and
marries a soldier stationed near her home.
George leaves her with his family, whom she hardly knows, when he goes
overseas. Their son is one year old
when he returns. After their three
children are grown, she divorces him and struggles to make a life for herself.
She marries John, a veteran of the same war, and
finds love and acceptance.
About the Author
She loved to read and dreamed of being a published
writer. Her school teachers praised her
writing. The professor of her creative
writing class in college said she knew more about writing than he did. He especially liked the way her stories
related to real life. A story she wrote
for class was published in the college magazine.
After graduating she continued to write stories based on family history and her own experiences. She submitted stories to magazines and after many rejections she had a few stories accepted by The Storyteller magazine. She took writing courses by mail and decided she would like to combine some of her writing into a novel. Out of Texas is the result.