The Red Flannel Rag

seat, and not letting her use the toilet. She often told me she got married to escape the

horrible situation and to have children of her own, “I couldn’t wait to get married and

have my own house. I wanted six kids to love and care for and a warm house to keep

clean.”

There was n ot a lot of money to go around so Aunt Goldie’s kids, including my

mother, never enjoyed any of the luxuries of life. Mom told me, “Rob and Goldie

somehow found extra money for themselves though. Many evenings they got in the

truck and went to Bridges Service Station where several couples gathered to drink cokes,

eat moon pies, and dance. They never brought me and the kids anything.”

Uncle Rob was a moonshiner and also owned a saw mill; so many young single

men hung around his house. As Mom developed into a young woman, she was often

sought after for courtship and sexual favors. “I learned to defend myself anyway I could.

One time, while I was peeling potatoes for supper, Rob Craig reached out and touched

my breast. I took the knife and hacked into his knuckles. He called me a son-of-a-bitch.

His hand bled like a stuck hog. I’ll bet you he never touched me again.” After that

incident, Mom developed a reputation for defending herself, and all the men left her

alone.

Mom was always overweight. She t old me, “When I was nine years old, I weighed

ninety-nine pounds. Rob always made fun of me because I was fat. One time he really

hurt me. He told me, “Myrt, you look like a bale of hay with the middle string busted.”

She remained conscious of her weight all of her life. I always thought she looked pretty

compared to some overweight women in Hopkins Gap, because she wasn’t sloppy fat.

There was a lot of muscle under there too.

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