They took us to town every 3 months provided you had not been in trouble & gave us .60 cents to spend. Those that had gotten in trouble not only missed the trip, but were given chores to do while we were gone. We had to get a receipt for every purchase to account for every cent. We weren't allowed to have 1 penny in our pocket. Getting caught with any money in your pocket even one cent meant a paddling. I usually spent my money on fish hooks & string. I didn't have a rod N Reel so I would find just the right shaped stone & tie it to my string, & then I placed my hook. I would then tie the other end to the dock, & bait it with a grasshopper. I would throw the stone as far as I could & go catch more grasshoppers. I would hand pull it in & if I had a fish I put it on my homemade stringer & tossed it in again.
There were several times I caught a stringer full of fish. I would bring them to the cafeteria & the workers there would clean & freeze them. Some of the area fishermen would donate fish & from time to time take the boys on a fishing trip 2 at a time. When enough fish was accumulated we would have a fish fry. There had to be enough for 72 boys & Ranch employees. I loved fishing & over 1 three month period I had accounted for half the fish at a fish fry.
Each boy had a bank account & if he wanted something more than the standard from the commissary he had to have money in his account to make the purchase. We never saw the money it was purchased for us. Some of the boys’ family's sent them money for their account regularly, but my family never sent any money, so I had to earn it. A little country church did choose to sponsor me & they sent $5.00 to $10.00 every few months. I liked Right Guard deodorant so that and Crest toothpaste was my 2 main orders.
When fishing one day some men in a boat watched me catch my grasshoppers, bait my hook, & toss my line. They saw I was catching fish regularly. They went to the home & told the houseparent they would pay 1 penny for each grasshopper we caught for them. I know 1 penny isn't much, but it adds up. I started catching grasshoppers, & over the summer I made $26.00 for my account. I had also caught Katydid's, but they didn't want to pay a penny for them. I gave them several to try & the next time they came they said, yes they work well also & I got a penny a piece for them as well.
As a 6th grader & making good grades I was made a building leader & was to help guide the younger boys. I didn't want that job, but wasn't given a choice. I watched over the younger boys like an old mother hen. I didn't let anyone bully them & warned them when I saw them do something that would get their ass whipped.
This one day the
I made a vow that day to myself & God that I would not fear the punishment again. I would learn to deal with it. Even today when I remember that incident I feel that old anger rise up in me. .
One day I was out in forest area we called the woods, & was playing with Crawdads & tadpoles in a small stream. I had ventured about 50 to 100 yards beyond the invisible boundary we were not to cross. I heard some voices & looked to see Perry B. & Mike K. playing on an old well. As I watched a board broke & Mike K. fell into the well. I started towards the well & could see Perry grab a long stick & straddle the wall. He was stretching trying to help Mike & quick as a wink he fell into the well. Had I not ventured beyond the boundary I wouldn't have seen them. They too were somewhere they shouldn't be.
I looked around & saw what we called chicken wire & it looked like it had been partially covered with concrete when they built the wall around the well. They were about 10 to 12 foot down dog paddling in the water & yelling. I rolled the wire out & guided it down the well, & was lucky it was just long enough. Mike was a smaller guy & when he climbed close enough I grabbed him & pulled him from the well. Perry is a heavy set guy & I know the wire hurt his hands to climb, & I'm not sure I can pull him out when he is close enough for me to grab. He climbed & I braced the best I could. When he reached arms length I grabbed him & pulled with all I had. I think I blinked because next thing I know I am laying on my back & Perry is on top of me. We ran back to our area & hoped no one saw.
A few days passed & I hear Mike & Perry were paddled for venturing out of bounds. Seems one of the workers there noticed the boards used to cover the well were broken & some wire had been dropped down 1 side. I'm not sure how they found out who did it, but Mike & Perry told the story & how I got them out. They didn't mention I had crossed the boundary before it happened, my houseparent said he knew I couldn't have seen them had I not been beyond the boundary. He says, the boys are lucky you saw them; we could have lost both of them. Then he says, that’s what makes this so hard & he paddled me. I didn't make a sound & I didn't cry. My anger grew to include God. I began to blame him as well as the Ranch Authority. How could he allow such injustice & cruelty.
Had every year of my life passed by at the same pace as the years did while at the Boys Ranch I would still be a young man. Seemed the years dragged by & yet every time I was enjoying something it flew by in a blink.
I loved to ride the horses & was ready at every chance. I had befriended the horses so well that I was sent alone at times to bring them up for a trail ride. A couple of the horses would follow me around & at times nudge me to pet them. I would also gather some fresh green grass for them that would be out of their reach. Yet if I approached with reins in hand they would run like they had been spooked. I would have to hang them on a shoulder & keep most of the reins behind my back. They even learned to watch for that trick.
One day while in the woods Coley a big sleek black mare came over to be petted. I petted her, but also slipped off my belt, eased it around her neck. I then stepped to the side & sprang swiftly upon her back. Once I had straddled her she took off like a light. I held on for dear life, & did my best to press my legs to her side & not be jettisoned off her. I watched as some brush & trees flew by a little too close for comfort. Soon we shot out of the woods and onto a dirt road, & then she opened up to full throttle. A belt around a horses neck provides no control, just a handle. I was leaned forward and stretched holding on for dear life when I looked up ahead and in the road I see the houseparent standing by his truck. He was getting out to open a gate & looked up to see me, & I'm not sure if it was a sudden turn by Coley or because I was startled at the sight of the houseparent, but I came sailing off the horse hit the ground & slid to the feet of the houseparent. I stood & he says, you can't control a horse with a belt around his neck, what were you thinking, now we have to catch the horse to get your belt.
We herded Coley to a corner & I took my belt from her neck. I thought this would mean another severe punishment. Although I mounted Coley within our prescribed boundary I wasn’t supposed to ride a horse without permission. When Coley delivered me to the feet of the houseparent I had crossed 3 boundaries, & then the fact of riding with just a belt. Maybe sometimes it gave him more pleasure to make you sweat than bust your ass. I was lightly scolded & the matter was forgotten.
We changed jobs every 3 months, but I was assigned the job of Table Boy every other time. I must have performed the job well because when we had distinguished guest I was always assigned the job even when it wasn't my regular job. Each building provided 2 boys & each was responsibly for a table that would sit 14 people, but usually there was only 13 at my table. I had to sit directly across from the houseparent & I didn't like that much. I did work hard to get my table the best of what ever was served.
One of the boys Lee S. from the high school started picking on me & all I could do was try & avoid him. One Saturday evening our specialty was chili, & I'm not sure why this idea flashed into my mind. I had seen a sack of gravy train dog food in the store room & it looked about the same size as the chunks of meat in the chili. I grabbed a hand full of the nuggets & as I walked by his bowl I dropped them in. I looked & he was busy so I grabbed a spoon & mixed them in well. Later as we all ate I watched & he never hesitated or examined his food, he just ate. He finished his bowl & went for 2nds & I was sure he would question why 1 tasted different than the other, but he never did. It was a passive aggressive act, but he was too big & strong for me to fight. All these years & he has never known. (I found Lee S. a few years back & we kept in touch for a while, but a stroke left him blind, unable to speak & walk. He played a few years of professional baseball) I never told him this story
One beautiful lazy summer afternoon a few of us were playing horseshoes. Melvin B. a lanky athletic boy came over to watch & I'm not sure if he was bored or pissed because he couldn't play. He had fashioned a spear out of a wooden pole he had found & each time I tossed my horseshoe he would try & catch it with his spear. I became a little irate & walked off muttering some angry words to him, when I heard him yell. I turned around just in time to catch a glimpse of the spear just as it penetrated my right knee. I screamed out in pain and would have fell to the ground, but I looked & saw he was running toward me. I ran towards the front of the housing unit holding onto the spear best I could. The spear broke off & I let it drop, but ran on till I was in the grassy area between the wings in front of the building where I dropped like a rock & held me leg, screaming. Soon I had made enough disturbances to arouse everyone in the building including the houseparent. I was rushed over to the clinic where they dug the spear & several splinters from my knee, stitched me up & sent me home.
Melvin B. was punished & placed on 6 weeks of campus chores. I limped around for several days, but I have been blessed with a body that heals fast. Melvin dropped by my room one day & apologized, & I could see he was sincere. I accepted & he became one of my best friends. Melvin was maybe the toughest boy in our building, & after he befriended me it was like he was a self appointed guardian. Melvin was one of 3 real orphans in our building.
Melvin B. came to the Ranch with 2 brothers, & his 2 brothers were killed in 2 separate accidents. One fell from the back of a pick-up truck which warranted the home to put a camper with side benches on the pick-up to prevent this type of accident from happening again. The other brother dove into the lake & never came up. They found him wedged in some roots of an under water stump which warranted the building of a pool & prohibiting swimming in the lake. I hope Melvin had a good life because he too had some difficult times early in life.
Donald L. was a pure orphaned & he witnessed an explosion that killed both his parents and all his known relative. He said it all happened at a family reunion. Say's it was at his aunts house, & they raised rabbits. He went outside to play with the rabbits & the house exploded. The flames engulfed it in seconds. Donald's temper was short fused, & when he went off you just hope it wasn't on you. He was either very brave or crazy, but he never backed down from a fight. I once watched from the window of a school bus as he got into a fight with a high school guy. The other guy was older, bigger, & stronger, but Donald was resilient. After the early traded punches the other guy pummeled Donald & he looked a blood mess. The guy punched till he was wore out & I would have thought it was over, but Donald took advantage of the guy being out of breath & came back pounding the guy unmercifully. When Donald was finally pulled off the guy they had to restrain him. The guy they had to help up & take to the hospital. I was glad Donald considered me a friend. I wouldn’t want to fight him.
Each summer we went to a Baptist encampment. Mostly it was a fun time, but the many classes & services we were required to attend were the only draw back. The encampment was packed with church youth from all over. What I always looked forward to was the competitions, but this one summer something else grabbed my attention. A girl name Gail A. & although I would have given an arm for a chance to talk to her, she came & introduced herself to me. When we weren't in class, a service, or some kind of competition, I would comb the grounds looking for her. We took walks, sat chatting in the shade of an oak, & had a lot of laughs. The last day there a friend came running to find me & told me where she was & that she wanted to see me. My heart did a couple of back flips & I ran to meet her. She wanted to say goodbye, & she gave me a hug & a kiss on the lips. Had I died at that moment I would have died the happiest man alive. I carried that feeling with me for days, but I was a bit fearful that if the houseparent found out, it would mean an ass busting. She wrote me one letter, but I wasn't allowed to send a reply. I never saw her again, but she remains a very pleasant memory.
No comments:
Post a Comment