One Of Them

One Of them:Prolouge

Anabelle Lee Johnson, what a beauty, she was one of the most beautiful bachelorettes in the town of Montgomery, Georgia.

This town was crowded with many beauty's like Anabelle but she was an eye catcher.

She let her long wavy brown hair fly loose in the air while many other women would have theirs in pin curls or in a bonnet of some sort. She most definitely didn't fit in. She wore dirty scuffed up jeans with her father's old mechanic uniform shirts while all the other women would be dressed in their best clothes waiting to be scooped into any willing mans arms. Of course Anabelle didn't think she needed a man and that she can fend for herself.

This may be true but her mother hated the way she thought. Always telling her to put on a skirt and throw her jeans in the wash and her father's shirts in the trash.

Anabelle never listened to her mother. Yes,her love for her mother runs very deep through her heart but she does not like being told what to do.

Many think she is crazy for thinking what she thinks. No one says this to her though,seeing as all the men look past her thinking and want to make her theirs while the women look at her with jealousy in their eyes wishing they had her beauty and charms.

Anabelle has always disagreed with the thinking that she needs a man to be with her and make her happy. She knows that she can make her own money and that she can work just as hard maybe harder than any man who crossed her on the street.

She would daydream of her father telling her that she can be anything she dreams of just like he used to when she was just a infant.

Her father was her rock and ever since he went missing in war she's felt lost. Her father is the one who taught her to think her own way not what is drilled into her head daily by her mother and others.

He is the one who taught her that she is just as important and as equal to the African Americans who live in Montgomery. He never believed in slavery or the Jim Crow laws that were set in place. He had taught Anabelle that she is no better than any black woman that she bumps into. He taught her to respect them like they respect her.

Of course Anabelle's mother always hated that he was teaching her these sinful things. She always tried to fix Anabelle's thinking when her father never returned from war. This never worked and Anabelle never would and never will forget her father's last words to her before he left for war.

"Always remember you are equal and they deserve just as much respect as you, you are just as beautiful as them, they are just as beautiful as you, you stick up for them, they need it more then ever, remember Lee I love you more than I love my mamma's baked cheery pie. I'll be back and when I do get back I'll finally be able to teach you how to play ball. Until then I love you Lee."

He walked away from his young daughter with a grin on his face but a pang of hurt in his heart, the pain of having to leave his only child to go to war hurt him more than he would ever let on.

With one last kiss from his lips placed on his wife's cheek, he was off to war.

Anabelle can still hear his voice remembering that it was laced with a thick southern accent that she will never be able to forget. She remembers exactly how the stubble on his chin tickled her face when he placed kisses on her forehead. His thick brown hair which much resembles hers was always slicked back with homemade gel. And his hands were rough from all the work he did as a mechanic.

She never did learn to play ball. His old catcher's kit sits on her bedside table next to the last picture of them together.

Anabelle's father used to call her Lee, he always wanted a boy and her middle name fit, he loved that he had a daughter but he knew Anabelle would never fully accept her name seeing as it is too "girly" for her liking.

Anabelle doesn't have many close friends. She is very independent and knows the women who try and make friends with her are always talking about her with their other girl friends. Still her mother forces her to at least try and be social.

With all of this said I hope you enjoy Anabelle's journey in the rough times of living in Montgomery,Georgia in the year 1964. There will be ups and downs I hope you stay and find out what they are.

*DISCLAIMER*
There will be lots of cussing in this book as well as some derogatory terms used against African Americans seeing as this is placed in a time that is segregated by color and multitudes or racism in this time period. If that overly offends you in anyway feel free to leave this book now. I want you to understand that this book has meaning behind it and I'm trying to tell you how it used to be so there will be racist slurs in here that were used back then. I understand if you leave because of this. I do hope you stay and at least try and give me a chance but if you choose not to that is perfectly fine I hope you have a great day<3

-R.Martinez