Shelton Family Saga

Chapter 18

Juntas Callie
Mar. 30, 1977, Hardin, MT

The long emerald green 1972 Ford Thunderbird had Jim Croce's song, Bad, bad Leroy Brown, blaring from the speakers. It was a two door hardtop coupe with a V8 engine underneath the hood. A real bad machine that packed a whopping 224 horsepower, and it was driven by none other than Juntas Callie. He was a broad shouldered stout man that was tall and burly with super smooth skin the color of toasted caramel, and he sported thick, wavy, coal black hair. He wore it braided in one ponytail down the center of his back and he only wore cowboy boots accompanied by the finest gold jewelry, which were mostly rings. He had one for every finger, which he oftentimes wore them all at once, not to mention a couple of gold chains around his neck. They were small, classy chains; one with an eagle at the end of it and the other with a gold cross. He was the eldest son of his daddy, who was a full blood American Indian Chief of his tribe; which was on the reservation in Big Horn County, in Hardin, Montana. Juntas was a handsome man who was good natured and soft spoken. It was an odd scenario for a man to stand that tall with such a powerful stature, and be so soft spoken. The truth was that he'd always spoke with a stutter so he lacked the confidence to elevate his voice any higher than what was absolutely necessary, until the day his sister Trilby decided to test his capacity for passivity. She'd slung a hot, soapy dishrag at him as she washed dishes and it popped him right in the mouth. She also took off running faster than a jackrabbit; away from the teepee and across the campsite trying to escape the brutal wrath of Juntas's LACK of passivity. She'd only hit him in the mouth with the dishrag, cause he stuttered so bad and her mother had advised her that doing so would stop his stutter. Initially it appeared to be some truth to it, cause the whole time Juntas chased her across the campsite, she could hear him yelling at her, "You better run Trilby, cause I'm gonna kill you!" He never stuttered one time either. It was only after his fury subsided, about two days later, that he went back to stuttering. All in all, he was a well liked man by everyone who knew him, especially his niece Sharosta, who he had a hand in raising ever since.... well, that incident happened two years ago in 1975 and it was just something the family didn't discuss; however, today would be a good day. In fact, it would be a great day. Juntas held a box that had been carefully wrapped in shiny blue wrapping paper. It was a birthday present for Sharosta. Today she turned four years old and Juntas felt sure she would like the present he had for her. She always liked his gifts, and he seemed to be the best gift picker. The truth was that his wife Aniya was the one picking out the gifts and wrapping them. He just showed up with them. He tapped a couple of times on the front door of the rickety little wooden house where Sharosta stayed with her dad.

"Who is it," a little voice called out from behind the door.

"Uh Blue it, it, it's me your fa fa favorite uncle."

Sharosta flung the door open with such force it loosened the doorknob when it hit the wall. For a four year old little girl, she was pretty strong. She was also very excited to see her Uncle Juntas. He was such a kind man. Very loving and protective. And he spoiled her immensely.

"Ha-ha-happy Birthday Blue!"

That was his nickname for her. She never knew why he called her by a color instead of Shar like everyone else. Secretly, it was because her skin was so black it bore a bluish tint to it. Her skin tone was more of a blue black color than the caramel color of her mother and all her mother's siblings. At four, all Sharosta really knew was that everyone around her was always telling her how much she looked like her daddy, and that she was his twin. At that exact moment, her dad came walking into the room. His long fingers had crumbs of cornmeal falling from them as he lifted his arm, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his scarred forearm. He'd been in the kitchen frying fish to take with him and Juntas later that day when they would run to the flats over in Helmsville.

"Hey lookout Juntas."

"He- hey there Hoochie."

Sharosta didn't bother with them. She was still impressed with the pretty wrapped present her Uncle Juntas had brought her for her  fourth birthday. She couldn't wait to rip the paper off hoping there would be a big bouncy ball inside. Juntas was telling Hoochie how the cops were all up and down the highway. They had cars pulled over left and right. Look like they were making some folks do sobriety tests as he saw several trying to walk in a straight line while a cop stood back shining a bright flashlight in their eyes.

"OOOH YIPEE, YIPEE!" Sharosta was so happy with her present. She had finally gotten the paper off and inside she found the best present ever. A big bouncy ball.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she squealed with delight.

Then Juntas with a big satisfied grin said, "G-g-g-go look in the tr-trunk of my car."

She ran outside to the driveway where her Uncle Juntas had parked his car and left the trunk open. Back there she saw another shiny blue wrapped present. Wow. Was that for her, too? She knew it was. She couldn't lift the box out of the trunk so she just ripped the paper off right there. Ooh wee, it was the second best present ever, another big bouncy ball. Between her Uncle Juntas and Uncle Alex, Sharosta felt like the luckiest little girl in the whole wide world. Her Uncle Alex was her mother's twin brother. Most people called him Maniac. It had become his nickname since his days as a young boy. He always got caught doing the wildest activities. A bit out of control, his behavior was something like a maniac. It was his big brother Juntas that always came to his rescue. It didn't matter what Alex had gotten himself into, Juntas was always there to pick up the slack for his baby brother.

Sharosta could hardly wait to get to her Aunt Trilby's house next door. That's who would babysit her as her dad and Uncle Juntas went off to go party in Sheridan later. It didn't bother her. She liked staying with her Aunt Trilby. Plus her grandma Sharondea and cousin Ruthie stayed in the house next door on the other side.