The Family at Serpiente

by Raymond Tolman

  With that I turned and ran sobbing loudly to the farmhouse. Nora and Nick heard the kitchen door slam as I ran up the stairs to my bedroom. “Maybe I had better go up and see what is wrong with her,” Nora whispered.

  Nora tapped quietly at the bedroom door, afraid that Corey might be there with me trying to console me. Nora could hear the sobs in my voice as I whispered, “Come in.”

  Nora came over to the bed where I lay alone crying softly and put her arm around me. “What’s the matter honey? Did you and Corey have a fight?” Nora whispered softly.

  “He doesn’t want to marry me anymore Grandmother,” I wept, “ Jed had a talk with him this afternoon while we were at mother’s house and now he is talking about going back to college instead of getting married. I hate Jed and Mom. They were both dead set on keeping us from getting married and now, they have convinced Corey that it is a bad idea. Mom has always thought that she has a right to run my life, and she doesn’t.” I hiccupped between sobs. “Grandmother, Corey is the only one in the world who has ever understood me and now I am going to lose him because of Mom,” I continued, “Mona took me away from my father when I was little and now she wants to separate me from Corey, too. Why doesn’t she want me to be happy?”

  “Don’t be so hard on your mother,” Grandma said hesitantly. ”We all look at life through our own experiences. Your mother loves you, but she does not want you to make the same mistakes that she did. She got married at about your age and it was not the right thing for her. Now, she is scared that you will wake up in a few years and realize that you have made the biggest mistake of your life. We all try to learn from our mistakes, and often we try to force our children to learn from those mistakes to. Sometimes timing is everything but unfortunately you don’t know it until it’s too late. Besides, this whole situation just doesn’t sound like you. You were the one who always kept a clear head about boys.”

  “Let’s talk about you and Corey now,” Grandma went on. “What did he say to you tonight? Did he say that he did not want to marry you; or that he didn’t love you?”

  “No,” I flatly pleaded, “but he might as well have said those things. He said that he thought we should finish college before we get married. If he really loved me, he would want to marry me right now. What if he finds another girl that he loves more than me while we are in college and doesn’t marry me at all?”

  Grandma had tears in her eyes, too when she responded, “Where did this scared little girl come from? And who is she? The Penny who left for New Mexico knew just what she wanted out of life and what the man that she would marry would be like. She could do anything that she put her mind to and was not going to depend on any man to take care of her. I know that you love Corey and I believe that he loves you. If that is true, waiting awhile to get married will just make your love stronger, and if it is not true, wouldn’t it to be better to find out now than after you are married and maybe have children to think about?”

  “You have given me a lot to think about, Grandma,” I sniffed.

  “I’m sure that the Penny I know and love very much is in there somewhere,” chuckled Grandma. “Give it some time and let’s go check out Cherokee, North Carolina. I think you and Corey will both enjoy the trip and maybe you will reach some conclusions along the way. Your whole life does not need to be planned in the next ten minutes.”

  When Corey came back about an hour later, I heard the kitchen door open and shut softly. Running down the stairs, I hugged him tightly. “I am sorry that I ran away when we were discussing things. That is not the way to get things settled. I am also sorry for trying to trap you into marriage. I love you very much and I still believe that we can go to college and also get married, but if you want to wait, then we should wait,”

  We talked softly so we wouldn’t wake the grandparents. “I am not saying that we should not get married,” whispered Corey, “just that we need to think about not getting married right away. You don’t need to worry. I love you more than I can ever imagine loving anyone. I’m not trying to break up with you. I am trying to do what is best for both of us, and if you really believe that it is absolutely necessary that we get married while we are here in Tennessee, then I will marry you. I don’t ever want to lose you, but I don’t believe thinking about it for a few days will hurt anything.”

  “I think you are right,” I agreed and going to Cherokee and looking around would be a good way to spend a few days. Grandma suggested that we leave tomorrow afternoon and spend a couple of days exploring and I think it is a wonderful idea.”

  Corey agreed and we both went to our bedrooms to try to get a little sleep. This day felt like it had been forty eight hours long instead of twenty four, and the trip to Cherokee tomorrow would be a long one too. I didn’t think that I could sleep but exhaustion took over and I was fast asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Corey on the other hand felt a deep relief that this crisis had blown over at least a little, he was feeling very alone. He knew that the discussion would have to continue later, but he was looking forward to exploring the history of some of the Indians of the East.

  Nick and Nora got up at five the next morning. While Nick took care of the farm animals, Nora packed a wonderful lunch of country ham biscuits, fresh tomatoes, potato salad that she had made the day before, and baked beans that were made from scratch, the country way.

  After finishing with the milking and feeding of the animals, Nick came into the kitchen door and asked Nora, “Have you called Mona and Ken to make sure that they will take care of the animals?”

  “I am waiting until they have a chance to wake up,” replied Nora. “You know that since they became ‘city folks’, they don’t get up this early in the morning, especially on a weekend. I’ll call them around eight. Corey and Penny will probably not be up before then and it will take them a little while to get ready.”

  When eight rolled around and all the chores were finished, Nora called Mona. Do you and Jed mind feeding the animals for a couple of days while we run over to Cherokee, North Carolina and take Corey and Penny with us?”

  “Why are you going over there?” questioned Mona.

  Advice

  “Penny has developed an interest in Native American people, since she has been out West; it has something to do with their work as historical detectives. We just thought she and Corey might enjoy learning about the Native Americans who lived around here.”

  “Has Penny given up this crazy idea of getting married?” asked Mona with a sigh in her voice. “I tried to talk to her about it when she and Corey were here, but as usual she did not listen to a thing I said. I just don’t know how to get through to that girl.”

  “Yes,” chuckled Nora, “She’s just as stubborn as the seventeen year old girl that I once knew. Whatever you and Jed said to those two kids has really got both of them as prickly as a porcupine. I think Penny heard a lot more of what you said than you thought, but now is not the time to put more pressure on either of them. Let them have a little fun in Cherokee and think about whether or not they want to get married on their own.”

  “O.K. replied Mona. “Maybe you are right, but the whole idea of her making the same mistake I did and getting married for all the wrong reasons scares me to death.”

  “I understand, but if you will remember your father and I tried to tell you some of the same things that you are trying to tell Penny and you wouldn’t listen either,” continued Nora. “You are going to have to trust that she has a good head on her shoulders, and that whatever they decide Penny and Corey will do what is best for them. You can’t make another person’s decisions for them even if they happen to be your daughter. Now, what about feeding the livestock?”

  “No problem, Mom, maybe the couple of days away from Camp Creek will be fun for you and dad too. It has been a while since you have taken some time out from that farm and just had fun. Don’t worry about anything. Jed and I will take care of things,” promised Mona.

  As soon as she got off the phone, Nora c
alled up the stairs. “Penny, Corey, time to get up and get ready. We will be leaving for Cherokee in about an hour so that we can get there before it gets dark.”

  With everything finally packed in the car, Corey, Nick, and Nora and I were on the road to Cherokee. On the curvy mountain roads, Nick figured it would be about three hours before they reached their destination. The old Dodge that belonged to Nick and Nora had about 75,000 miles showing on the odometer and had been taken care of by Nick himself, but it was a farm vehicle, and had been used pretty hard. Nick did not push it too hard over the mountain roads.

  At first the atmosphere in the car was unusually quiet. The easy banter between Corey and I was absent this morning. We talked hesitantly about the weather and what we would do when we got to Cherokee until abruptly I questioned, “Grandma, how did you and Grandpa know that it was the right time to get married?”

  Nora paused for a minute and then answered, “Circumstances had a lot to do with when we got married.” She remembered with a faraway look in her eyes. “Your grandpa and I grew up in Camp Creek on adjoining farms. We went to elementary school together and sometimes as we got older our fathers would help each other out. During busy times like haying and such everyone who was old enough to work on both farms would go to one farm and help with the harvesting there, then they would all go to the neighboring farm and finish there.”

  “Even when your grandpa and I were too young to lift the bales of hay and put them on the wagon, we would walk along behind the wagons and pick up loose hay and put it in a sack for immediate feeding to the farm animals. Nothing was wasted on either farm.”

  “So you see,” continued Nora, “Your grandpa and I spent a lot of time together even when we were very young. As we got older it seemed natural to kind of ‘hang out together’ as you kids call it now. By the time we finished school, most people just assumed that we were a couple and we did too. I’m not saying that neither of us ever went out on a date with anyone else; we both saw other people from time to time, but no one knew us better than we did each other. We had been best friends almost from the time that we were born, so we knew each other pretty well.”

  “That’s how Corey and I feel about each other,” interrupted Penny. “We feel like you and grandpa; we belong together.”

  “Wait just a minute,” replied Grandma. There is more to this story. Do you remember that I told you that there were circumstances that intervened in this story? Well, the biggest of those circumstances was World War II. Being of healthy mind and body and nineteen years old, your grandpa enlisted in the army. I wanted him to marry me before he left, but your grandpa refused. He said that too many things could happen while he was gone and that it would be better to wait until he got back to the states.”

  “And you know that I was right” interjected Grandpa with self-satisfaction in his voice. “Look at how many young girls was left as widows with small babies after that war and how many of them cheated on their husbands out of loneliness while they were gone, not to mention how many got divorced because of girls the husbands got involved with while they were gone. I admit that I saw some of those girls while I was overseas. Loneliness was a constant companion along with fear. And anyone who tells you that he was not afraid is a liar. Spending some time with a pretty girl does not mean that I didn’t still love your grandmother, but sometimes female company was a way of making me feel better and I grew up a lot during that war. I think I have been a better husband because of the time spent away from your grandma. As I grew up, I realized that she was the only woman that I wanted in my life, but when I made that choice, I had the experience and knowledge to make that decision.”

  As they continued their journey, Grandma continued the story, “During Grandpa’s time away, I got to know more people my age. “All the young people who were left in Greene County worked to support the men who had gone to war. We wrote lots and lots of letters, both to our friends who had gone to war and to young men whom we did not know. We made care packages of things like soap, shaving cream, wash clothes, chewing gum, hard candy and other things that we thought the soldiers might like to have. We also baked goodies like homemade candy and cookies to send. In doing so, I got to know a lot of people that I had not met before, both men and women. Mostly we all went out to grab a coke at Cole’s Drug Store or the Big Top, but I also went out with a few of the guys that could not go to war because they were Four F. Those dates helped me to decide that your Grandpa was the man for me, but I am glad I got to go out with a few other guys so that I could be sure that what we thought we had together; was truly real.”

  At this point Grandpa interrupted the story with the words, “I went out with some other girls while I was overseas. It was a lonely time and when I finally got a three day pass in France, it was fun to just talk to a pretty girl. It didn’t mean that I loved your Grandmother any less, but it did pass the time and taught me a little something about what other girls are like.”

  Grandma then took up the story again. “Some time apart to grow sometimes makes a real love a whole lot stronger and if it falls apart during that time, then it wasn’t real at all.”

  Corey and I were deep in thought the rest of the way to Cherokee. Grandma and Grandpa rented two rooms in a small motel, one for Grandma and me and one for Corey and Grandpa. Grandpa and Corey carried the bags to the two rooms and Grandma and I unpacked. Then we all went out to the little café located right beside the motel to get sandwiches for supper. After supper we decided to turn in for the night.

  Grandma was almost asleep when I softly said, “Thank you for the story today. It was not exactly what I expected to hear, but it certainly gave both Corey and I something to think about.”

  “Penny,” answered Grandma, “No one but you and Corey can decide what is best for the two of you. Life is a grand adventure and every one of us has to make our own decisions and then live with the consequences. We all make some good decisions and some that we later regret. The best thing that you can do is be honest with Corey about how you feel and hope that he will be honest with you. Now, get some sleep and you will feel better in the morning.”

  Cherokee History

  The next morning, we all discussed what we wanted to do on our first day in Cherokee. “I want to visit some of the shops that I saw coming in to town,” said Grandma. “They had some handmade pottery that I would like to see.”

  “I have heard that there are some gem mines and that tourists can pay a fee to look for gems and then keep whatever gems that they find when they leave, said Nick. “I would like to check that out.”

  The geologist inside of Corey was intrigued and he definitely wanted to learn more about emeralds that were mined nearby but he figured he had plenty of time. “I do not know much about the Cherokees,” replied Corey. “I read something about a Cherokee Indian Museum on a brochure in our hotel room. I would like to check that out.”

  “I’ll go shopping with grandma, I laughed. I can probably find something to take back for Hidalgo, Uncle Ken, Aunt June, and maybe even some gifts for the kids that always accumulate around the ranch house. Then tonight I want to play Indian Bingo. It costs a little money, but I think it would be fun.” At this remark Corey frowned.

  “That is a stupid waste of money,” he retorted with anger in his voice. “Why do you want to just throw your money away?”

  At the anger in his voice I flushed with my own anger. “I will not spend a lot of money playing bingo, but I want to see what it is like. It sounds like fun to me, besides it is my money anyway.”

  “I know it is your money, argued Corey, but if we get married, I do not want my wife wasting money on foolish things like Bingo.”

  “Well, maybe we are not getting married if you feel that way.” I shouted and stormed out of the café.

  Corey looked at Nick and Nora and apologized. “I don’t know how Penny can be so unreasonable, but I think that I will go to the museum and let her cool off for a little while.”

  After Corey le
ft the café, Nora shook her head. “If he tells Penny that she is being unreasonable, there may not be a wedding.”

  Nick and Nora decided that they would go back to the motel room and look for me. When they got there I was in the room that I was sharing with Nora.

  “Do you still want to go shopping?” I asked Grandma.

  “Only if you feel like it,” she replied hesitantly.

  “I am not going to let Corey spoil my day” I said with a sigh. “Let’s go shopping.”

  As the two women left the room, Nora caught Nick’s eye and rolled her own eyes. “While we women go shopping, why don’t you check out the gems and meet us back here about lunch time?” Grandma said with a parting wave.

  In the meantime Corey was fuming, he was mad at himself thinking that he was acting strange, not like himself at all. Why should he care if Penny spent some money? He wondered why he had allowed himself to get angry about it but then maybe it was a matter of principle. He walked around town for a while and then stopped into the Cherokee Indian Museum. He read about the “Trail of Tears,” a time in history when Andrew Jackson ordered the Cherokee people moved to a reservation in Oklahoma. Corey was fascinated by the story. It saddened him to read of the many people who died on the trip and the unhappiness of those who survived. Considering the fact that the Cherokee Indians were highly civilized, in fact far more civilized than many of the invaders from Europe who stole their land from them; there is no wonder there is still resentment to this day. They had been treated as badly as the people were exploited in Germany during the last war. When gold was discovered in Georgia, it sealed the deal for the Cherokees. Their civilization was over. Corey thought back to early Southwestern history and the Pueblo Revolt. History seems to always be repeating. People enter another land and look down on and mistreat the people already living there. People were always greedy, wanting what the other person has.