Chapter Ten
After several weeks of training dad started driving for the company he was working for. His first run would be delivering shipments of stuff all the way down into South Carolina. This meant he would be gone for up to three nights. Mom was happy that he was able to find a job he would like. I was happy he would be gone a lot.
We still hasn't gone to meet dad's family yet. I was OK with that too. I didn't like how nervous I got just going to meet my mom's. She would walk there a lot and spend time with my grandparents. She would mostly go when I was out exploring. Every once in a while she would make me go with her. I would mostly stay outside in the yard while we were there. I still was a little nervous about going there. I liked being alone, so I did my best not to get to know them so I wouldn't get close to them. I didn't want to feel the hurt of leaving someone I loved if I ever did have to leave.
Once dad started taking on deliveries that kept him gone longer mom decided she was going to get a job too. She didn't like being home all the time by herself. Since I was gone out and about every day until dark she wanted something to do besides sit at home. Dad wasn't too happy about the idea of her working. He wanted to be the manly provider. But mom got him to change his mind and said she could get one. I was surprised that it was that easy for mom to get him to be OK with it. I thought for sure there would be a big fight. In fact I braced for it. The look dad had on his face was too familiar. Also they had yet to have a blow up and that scared me. I had a feeling when they finally did it would be huge, because it had been so long since they had a fight. They used to have them every time they were together.
Mom got a job working at a grocery store. When she was at work I was able to sneak more stuff out of the house for my shed. I was able to swipe a few pillows from the dozen or so she had on the couches in the living room. She never even noticed they were gone. She managed to have her work schedule done so she could be home on the same days dad was. That was fine by me. I never wanted to be alone with him ever again.
Another way I took advantage of being alone was that I was finally able to start digging my hidden treasures out of my stuffed animals. On one of my explorations through the woods and down the river I found a metal box. The lock on it was broken but it still shut all the way and opened up again after closing it. I hid it in the chimney too so it wouldn't be found and taken. Everyday I would pop open a few toys and stuff all the goodies in a pillow case and take it to my hidden box. I was going to count it all once I had it all there together. I was so excited to be able to finally find out how much I had all together.
Over the next few weeks I had almost all the money and jewelry out in my hidden box. I only had about ten or so toys left to get some out of. I wasn't sure if the box would hold anymore, so I had to try to find something else to put it all in. I didn't want to leave any in the toys and I also didn't want it spilling out all over the place because the box was too small for it all. I found a large coffee can in the trash and it still had the lid. I decided since the can was bigger than the box I would try to put it all in it. If it all wouldn't fit in there then I could put the cash in one and the jewelry in the other one. On the days that mom and dad were home I became antsy. I would go out and stay out all day like usual, but I wanted to get the rest of it all together so it could be counted. Once I knew how much I had I would be able to plan on where I would want to go if I needed to leave.
I would always be home just before dark. Mom always asked me to be so I was. I didn't want to take the chance of starting a fight so I was always home on time. We had this big old metal barrel that we burned trash in. It was my job to take out the trash everyday. Once the battle was full either mom or dad would burn it. We had a small trash can for the trash that could not be burnt and a small one for the trash that could be burnt. The trash that couldn't be burnt was to be thrown into this deep ravine on our property. It was so deep you never saw the stuff you threw down there. I often wondered just how deep it was and would try to see down into it. I would get so close to the edge trying to see that I was afraid I would fall into it and never return. I bet we could throw stuff down into it for the rest of our lives and it still would not fill up or have a bottom to it. Sometimes I imagined it was an opening that could take you to another land in another time and world. I would imagine that I had wings and I would jump into it and fly away to that other place.
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