The CocaCola Kid

Chapter 1

This story Is in Lawrenceville Georgia in the 1940s so they have more of a southern/country accents

Chapter 1

The majority of my childhood was spent in a small town outside of Lawrenceville, Georgia. There were only about 500 people living in the town where I grew up, and everybody knew everything about everyone. We lived away from the town and about 40 fences posts away from the nearest house. In order to get home from school, we always had to walk up a long dirt road, and every morning, we had to do the same thing to get back to school. We lived in a one-story home with 3 bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen and living room. 2 of the rooms were for me and my brother and the other was for Grandmama and Granddaddy. I'm not sure how old my house was, but I know it was probably older than my granddaddy. You see my parents left us when we were young and all, but they left us with are grandmama and granddaddy .

It all started when I was walkin' down Jefferson road the ol'dirt one I was talkin' about. It was around 5:30 in the mornin' and me and my baby brother Archer was walkin' to school. It was sprinklin outside just a bit as a larger storm was moving closer. We were about half a mile from the town and we were talking about what we are going to do after school. After school, there was this ol' tree in our backyard and I always grabbed a book and read out there alone while my brother went off and skipped stones in the pond. When we got to school I went into Ms. Helfiger's classroom. I was in 5th grade and Archer was in 3rd grade. We always stuck together in the hallways because students were always tryin' to mess with him. Archer was starten' baseball soon and I was jealous because I wanted to play but when I told my grandmamma that I wanted to play and she told me that sports weren't for girls. I liked to play sports though, back before Mama and daddy left my daddy taught me how to throw a baseball. But now all I did was watch baseball at my brother's games.

I've read bunches of books about people playing baseball and I know the game pretty well. "MARGOT DELLOW! Are you payin' any attention to my lesson?" yelled Ms. Hilfiger. Man was she an old fart no wonder she was about 30 and still a Ms. "Yes'm I'm Listinging" "Good." she replied. I spaced out during class some of the time just daydreamin' away. For some reason people always thought I was dumb just because I was daydreamin' and not paying any attention. But I ain't dumb i made good grades and had a job down at Mr.Jehensons Barn. I knew all about a bunch of things because of the books I been readin'.

I don't know what we did for the rest of the day in class. I just wasn't payin attention I guess but the next thing I know is we're all ' up to go to recess. I usually really like Recess because we play four square on the playground but today I just wanted to sit down and read a book. "Honey, you already know this! You have to leave the books inside the classroom." Ms. Hilfiger uttered. I sat the book back down on my desk and walked to my spot in line behind Donna Fletcher. Donna was a good friend of mine. We've been friends ever since I was just crawlin'. The line moved slowly down the hallway because this kid Matthew Murry was misbehaving. Oh that boy he was probably gonna get the paddle. My friends and I went down to the pavement to play four square.

Recess ended quicker than normal because it started to rain usually we would stay outside but it started to thunder so we walked back in soakin wet. Me and donna were giggling at funny joke we made earlier on the playground. Sometimes instead of four square Me, Donna, Charlenee, and Virginia went and sat under the slides and talked. They were all talken about boys and stuff but I was thinking about playin' baseball. Of course my friends knew I liked to play but they always dismissed it callin' it a phase.

Me and Archer were packin' are bags to head home making sure to cover up so we don't get no rain on are school clothes. I put on my granddaddys flannel and Archer put on his jacket. We stepped out into the pouring rain and dark storm clouds. A cold breeze went by but we didn't mind. This wasn't are first walk through a thunderstorm. Once we got closer to the house we looked like we didn't need to take a shower that night. We were soaked head to toe and our shoes were covered in mud. Grandmama made us take are shoes off outside the house so we don't track mud inside. Granddaddy had a beer and was sitten down at the table readin' the Afternoon newspaper. "Hey DollBaby come in here for a second" my grandmama called me into the kitchen she had a fresh pan of cornbread and was cookin' collards on the stove. "So, I was thinkin' to earn extra money. I was thinkin' you could start worken at a tobacco farm?" She said. "Oh yeah, I guess I have the time" Between working for Mr. Jehenson at the Barn and now workin at the tobacco farm I guess my free time will be limited. "Okay, then honey Run along."

I walked outside and grabbed a book off the bookshelf in the livin' room and went out to sit under the tree it was Red maple but oh man was she a pretty tree. My granddaddy named her Bertha. I looked up at the leaves dancing in wind and shining from the sun. I sat down to read and looked over to the pond where my brother was skippen rocks, or trying to skip rocks. I was about 20 pages into my book when Grandmama called us in for supper. I walked into the dining room to see My Granddaddy and Grandmama sitting at both ends of the table. I sat next to Grandmama and Archer sat next to Granddaddy. The dinner we were fed at my Grandmamas house was never disappointn' it's probably the best food I ever ate. In the middle of the table sat a meatloaf and some potato patties beside it. There was a giant pot almost filled to the brim with collard greens and layin' right next to the pot was a piece of Tupperware with slices of cornbread. After we said our prayers we dug in.

When Archie and me were done cleanin' the dishes we walked over to the couch to listen to some radio. He always listened to radio longer than I did but still, It was nice listin' for a few minutes before leavin' to the barn. The barn was a little way down the road. Mr. Jehenson owned the barn and let me work there for a nickel every hour which was a lot to me. One nickel could get me a Dr. Pepper down at Reggie's. In town, there was only a few shops. The Biscuit Barrel Diner, Reggies, Oakville Depot, and the salon and barber shop.

I walked down the ol' dirt road to the Barn, the sun hot on my back. It was about 7:30 and the sun was still strong. I got to Mr. Jehensons house and rang the doorbell. Mr. Jehnson opened the door but left the screen door locked. Mr. Jehnson wore a red and blue flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up and overalls covering it. In one hand he held the door open and he had a beer in the other. "Hey, kid! You ready for a day of hard work?" said Mr. Jehnson with a strong southern accent. "Yes, sir," i said. Mr. Jehnosn was a big man, lots of people were afraid of him and thought he was mean but i learned that he just looks mean really he is a very wonderful person and has a very welcoming personality. He led me down to the barn so I could get to work.