By rhonnie69
This story is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places,
and incidents are a product
of the author's (Rhonnie Jones)
creative imagination and are
used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual
events or localities or persons
living or dead, is entirely
and truly coincidental.
This story is an original
aspiration of, Q.J.J & R.J.
fiction stories for teens,
intermediate, and young children.
All rights reserved, including the right
to reproduce this story or portions
hereof in any form whatsoever.
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
PROLOGUE.
PEACH OF THE BEACH.
R. Jones.
Suddenly there came a scream.
A loud and frightening sounding scream.
It came from the patio deck.
Polly and I raced out to see what
the screaming was all about.
It was Tiger Lily... Polly's gramma.
She was screaming for help.
"God! Help!" she cried. "Somebody! Please!
Help! Save this poor child!"
That's when Polly and I saw Mom.
She was in the swimming pool. She was desperately
splashing for her life.
Mom couldn't swim. I knew that. I couldn't swim.
I knew that...but seeing Mom struggling helplessly
for her life...panic bumped my head. I blacked out.
I squeezed my eyes tight shut. Then...I jumped.
I just leaped in. I sunk like a rock...
but I wasn't going to stay sunk.
I had to save Mom.
While I was down there under water
I saw her looking at me.
Bubbles were gurgling from her mouth and her nose.
Mom was drowning too.
I heard the bubbles coming out of my mouth scream.
I felt completely helpless. I felt like I had failed Mom.
I tried to reach out and cling to her...but I couldn't.
She was too far away...and sinking to far down.
But but but...but suddenly...
Her arms suddenly stopped swinging wildly.
They began to wave and glide gracefully...
her feet began to paddle like those of a duck...
propelling her toward me.
Mom grabbed me. She tried to push me up to the surface.
When she did...I went up...she went down.
I didn't want to go up. I wanted to go back down there
where Mom was...and...I did...somehow.....................
| Author Notes | THIS STORY IS TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER...#1 (one) |
By rhonnie69
I was only ten when my mother drowned.
That was eight years ago.
I've asked in my prayers every day...every since...
God...please tell me.
Why did I have to watch it happen...
but couldn't help Mom?
I tried...OH! How I tried...but
I couldn't swim...and even if I could have...
I don't believe I would have been able to
save my Mother's life.
I just wouldn't have known how.
Today...I am a lifeguard.
I sit motionless upon my observation stand for hours...
scanning the sky-blue water of the Pacific Ocean...
the better to keep my bathers in my view.
My bustling people are subjects of my delight.
Their lively activity is entertainment for me.
Their energetic spirits make me smile...
ofttimes they make me laugh out loud.
They all seem to feel care-free, and safe,
because of me being here.
The sun is hot...but I'm cooling in the shade beneath
the candy cane colored canopy of my stand enjoying
an ice-cold lemonade drink.
Here...I feel a refreshing breeze, as my locks flutter softly
about my sun tanned face.
The enticing aroma of hot dogs steaming at a nearby
snack concession invites me to have one...
but I never eat while on duty.
Peach of the beach.
That's what the guys that I work with call me.
Not only because I'm the only female lifeguard
that work on this section of the beach...
but because of my radiant beauty they all say.
People always stop me...especially on the beach...
to tell me what a lovely girl I am.
I've always felt that I'm just a plain Jane.
I guess that's why that's what I really am.
"Brittney, you ought to become a fashion model...
or a movie star. You'll become rich and famous," they say.
"That's where the big money is, girl.
You're wasting your time here on the beach."
"That's not true," I tell them.
"I don't want to be anything but what I am.
I am a lifeguard."
"I don't want to be a fashion model.
I don't want to be a movie star."
"I want to spend the rest of my life saving lives...
by pulling drowning people out of the water...
and to safety." I tell them.
Then my eyes begin to get watery.
Somber memories intrude upon my muse.
Remembrance scoops me up in a taunting whirlpool.
I tumble through a suction spiral...
back to that dreadful day.
Mom drowned that day...
and I came close to drowning with her.
| Author Notes | THIS STORY WILL CONTINUE IN "Peach Of The Beach, (2) two. |
By rhonnie69
Our home is in San Francisco California.
Mom was on vacation from her job
as a registered nurse.
She planed to spend her vacation
in Belvedere with Valerie.
Valerie is married to my father's brother.
His name is Dennis Brentz.
Belvedere is just outside of San Francisco City.
My uncle Brentz is in the United States Navy.
He was temporarily stationed at...
Hunter's Point Navy Shipyard in San Francisco City.
He was to be shipped to east Germany for
overseas military duty.
"We're driving up to Belvedere to visit
Valerie," Mom told me.
"Then the three of us will visit your uncle
at the naval base."
"Isn't the navy sending uncle Brentz
overseas?" I asked.
"That's right," Mom replied, " Valerie
knows that we're coming.
But it will be a surprise to Dennis."
"We'll stop in to pick Valerie up.
Then we will all drive up to
Hunter's Point Navy Shipyard...
to pay Dennis a visit."
"Wow!" I exclaimed, "that's gonna
make uncle Brentz happy, huh, Mom?"
"Yes, Brittney. I'm sure that it will.
Our surprise farewell family gathering
at the base will make Dennis very happy."
"Maybe we should bring him some of your sugar cookies.
Uncle Brentz just loves your sugar cookies, Mom."
"Okay...we'll bake up a batch of them for him, Brittney."
Valerie was a police officer.
She had been called in for emergency duty
and she couldn't go with us.
"You girls take this map," she said, "Follow it
and you won't have any trouble finding the shipyard."
After her squad car had gone out of sight
I turned to Mom with question.
"Can you read a map?"
"Your father taught me how when we went
on our honeymoon. That was twelve years ago.
Valerie showed me what routes on the map to follow.
I think we'll be okay."
Mom always had a keen sense of independence about her.
She always made me feel that all she really wanted
or needed was me.
Everybody said that we looked exactly alike.
They all said that we acted like we were sisters...
more than we acted like mother and daughter.
When she wanted, Mom could be ten, like me.
Or she could be her own age...
which was thirty-one.
"I think we'll be okay too, Mom.
Looks like since Dad just walked out on us...
we kind of have to look after ourselves, huh?"
"And don't you ever think for one moment
that you and I can't fend for ourselves young lady."
Mom asserted.
| Author Notes |
THIS STORY WILL BE CONTINUED IN
PEACH OF THE BEACH. (three) |
By rhonnie69
Mom and I left early that day
headed to Hunter's Point Navy Shipyard.
Somehow she made a mistake
reading the map.
We got lost.
A sweltering mid-summer sun
had baked the day.
I looked like burnt toast,
and felt like a cinder.
Something went wrong with our car.
First...our air conditioning unit stopped working.
Next...our engine began to let out steam.
Then it stalled, and we drifted off to the side
of the road, and stopped.
After forty-five minutes passed it seemed
that we had been out there for three summers...
and spent the day in hell.
Eventually Mom opened the hood's lid.
I wondered why. She knew no more than I knew
about fixing cars. All we knew was that our car
had stopped doing everything...but steaming
from it's engine.
"When it cools a little," I said, "it'll probably start."
"God speed," Mom replied, "maybe then we can
keep going until we see a house or store or something."
A dense thicket of trees and wild bushes lined the road
on either side. Mostly of sun-heated black top with gravel
shoulders it winded like a strip of tape over the mileage
of hills and valleys. It looked and felt as deserted as a cemetery.
Mom and I sat in the shade of a grove of evergreen trees.
Sitting there motionless she resembled a mannequin as she
fixed her gaze down the endless looking road. She looked blank.
That made me feel an urge to do something helpful. But what?
We had pushed dried pine needles away to rest upon the
cool dark soil beneath them.
We had learned that from, Doggy Bag.
He's our little red chow chow puppy.
He seemed to feel rather content laying there on his belly.
His little black tongue hanging loosely over his bottom fangs,
seemed to have sprung a leak as he laid there panting
passively and letting it dangle like a wet noodle.
As usual...just being with Mom and me was his satisfaction.
"If only we knew where we are," Mom said with a sigh.
"Oh...that's simple," I quipped, "we're lost in space."
Mom was rarely much on my jesting during serious situations.
She dropped her grown-up faced, no no, look on me.
Then she dabbed her brow with a facial tissue.
"Are there any more sodas in the cooler?" she asked.
"Four," I replied, "but our ice is all melted."
"Please get me one, Brittney," she requested.
"Your mommy is thirsty."
"Yes, Mom...but I think it's going to be sort of warm.
Our ice have been melted for quite some time now."
"It'll have to do. I'm dry. If you know what I mean."
I could never travel very far without Doggy Bag
scampering to be by my side.
I dipped my hands in the cooler
and flickered water on Doggy Bag with my fingers
to cool him.
I cupped my hands together and scooped up water
for him to drink.
He licked it briskly while thankfully wagging his tail.
"There," I said to him, "it's a bit warm...but it's all we've got."
I flickered more water on Doggy Bag and then some on myself.
"Would you like for me to sprinkle you, Mom?"
"A soda will be just fine, thank you."
There was only four cans of Pepsi left.
Mom says that she isn't crazy about Pepsi.
Pepsi is my favorite. Mom likes Coke.
Somehow I felt that a little more humor would help
Mom and me a little in a downcast situation like this.
I dared to start my jesting again.
I held up a Pepsi for Mom to see.
"What kind?" I asked.
"What kind are there left?"
I'll poke fun, I thought.
Mom won't get "too" bent out of shape.
Sis can handle it.
"Well," I replied, "there's Pepsi Pepsi Pepsi...
and there's a Pepsi here too."
Mom managed to suck in her giggle.
She slapped her palm upon her forehead
and held it there for a moment.
This time she gave me the sister look.
"Terrific," she countered, "I'll have a coke, thank you.
On the rocks, please," she added, shaking her head
from side to side, and laughing
By rhonnie69
I settled down next to Mom.
Doggy Bag laid down between us,
his head resting on my lap.
We all got a fizzing spray of the
syrupy mist when Mom popped
her soda open.
The warm soda spewed up
like a fountain.
"Ooups. Sorry 'bout that," she apologized.
I laughed while Doggy Bag shook his head
vigorously to clear his face.
That gave us another spray.
I squinted to discern the heat wave mirage
that looked like a puddle of water in the middle
of the road.
By now we had gone through over a box
of tissue wiping perspiration.
"Mom," I asked, "What would uncle Brentz
do if he were here?"
A wishful expression came in her face.
"Same as always." she replied with a smile.
"Dennis would stick his head under the hood lid,
jiggle a few things down there in the engine,
and say, try it now,"
I'd turn the key. The car would start,
and he would get in and drive us away
from this forsaken place."
I peered down the road.
My eyes followed it until it got
as thin as Mom's sewing thread,
and disappeared over the horizon.
There...distant white clouds and spacious skies
made things seem further away than perhaps
they really were.
If this road had an end...I thought...
we were a far-cry from the same.
"How far do you think we are away from
the naval base?" I asked.
Mom breathed her reply with a sigh.
"Perhaps twenty miles or so.
Every since I made that wrong turn
back there...I'm not quite sure."
I took another survey of the road...both ways.
"This road isn't traveled a heck of a lot,"
I said dryly...hoping to see any sign of anybody.
"We've been out here for more than four hours,"
Mom said, "I expect we'll see a boat before we see
a motor vehicle."
I reached for the soda that she offered to share with me.
The can was warm...so was Mom's hand.
"I wonder if any people live any place along this road."
I made this sound like a question.
"Maybe," Mom replied, "but even if they did,
what good would that do us?
Nobody knows we're here."
"Oh. I wouldn't say that," I changed.
Doggy Bag lay watching a doe and her fawn,
that he noticed that had been watching us.
They seemed more curious than afraid of us...
but seemed careful to keep their distance.
"Look over there," I beckoned,
"I'm sure they know we're here."
That was the first time I saw Mom's face beam,
since our car conked out.
Her eyes began to twinkle.
The adoration in her heart
seemed as warm as the summer air.
"Now there's a mother and daughter
team that certainly don't mind being out here."
She said in a tinkle.
"How do you know that the little one is a girl?"
I questioned.
"Because they're both fragile, like you and me,"
Mom whispered with a tiny chuckle.
"And they're both nosy...
like you and me," I added.
Mom's laughter made me laugh.
They stood so still. Then when Mom and I laughed,
like magic, in a flash...they disappeared into the trees
like phantoms.
"Let's name them," I suggested.
"Yes," Mom agreed. "We'll name them after us."
"Good idea, Mom. We'll name them
Noreen and Brittney."
"Do you think the engine has cooled enough to start?"
Mom asked.
"It has, if it's like Doggy Bag.
He's been as cool as a cucumber.
I guess we can say that he's just not sweating this."
I said wiping my brow.
When Mom stood up...Doggy Bag jumped up...
so I popped up too.
| Author Notes | This story will be continued in, "Peach Of The Beach," (five) |
By rhonnie69
Fanning her brow with her hand, Mom got in the car.
She sat at the driver's wheel and looked at me.
Then without raising her head, she rolled her eyes
up to the sky, in a sort of, God help kind of way.
"Cross your fingers," she said with a sigh.
Then she turned the key.
Nothing happened.
She tried again.
NOTHING.
Something told me that I wasn't as worried,
as I should have been.
Mom tried once more.
Nope. No Go.
Mom looked at me and squeezed out her smile.
"Maybe if you try it, Brittney."
"Yes. I'll dare to try."
Mom got out. I got in.
I turned the key.
There came a faint...tick tick tick tick tick...
That was all.
"Wait," Mom said," I'll jiggle a few things
down there in the engine."
She jiggled a few things.
"Try it now," she called.
I tried it. The car didn't start.
I jumped out and ran to the front
where she stood with her head
under the hood's lid.
I poked my head in too.
Doggy Bag panted patiently at my feet.
"How about if we jiggle that thing?" I asked.
"I jiggled that already."
"What about this?"
"Uh huh. I jiggled that too."
"Did you jiggle that thing?"
"I don't remember."
"What about..."
"NO!! Don't touch! It's still hot!"
"OUCH!! Too late."
"Hee hee, Got me too."
We were so busy jiggling things
and singeing our fingers
that we didn't notice the
blue pickup truck that was
approaching.
You can bet your last cookie
that Doggy Bag noticed.
I knew all of his barks.
Especially his, there's something
you ought to know barks.
This was one of his, heads up!
There's somebody coming, barks.
I was first, between Mom and myself
to see the truck coming.
I shaded my eyes with my hand at my brows.
"Mom. I see someone coming in a truck."
Mom peered eagerly over the top of our car.
Lights flashed in her eyes.
"I choose to believe that it's a boat.
It's our dream boat," she chimed.
"Just look at it float."
The truck slowed down and stopped
right next to us.
There was a young girl driving it.
She looked about seventeen.
Her hair was red...like Doggy Bag's fur,..
but it was lighter in shade.
A deep copper tone sun tan made her
pudgy face look like a ginger cookie.
Tiny red freckles were sprinkled gracefully
about her robust cheeks.
Her face looked plain, but attractive.
It was smeared with a smudgy smutty
looking something.
In spite of that, her smile was as lively
and as bright as a firefly's glow.
"Where'd you get that cute little dawg?"
She asked.
"He's my puppy, Doggy Bag," I replied.
"Uncle Brentz got him for me for a B' day gift."
"I once had a puppy," she said,
"ain't no puppy no more. Great big girlie now.
She's the biggest Irish wolfhound you ever
laid your eyes upon."
"What's her name?" Mom asked.
"I call her, Snow White, because that's
what color she is.
My oh my. I just know she would love Doggy Bag."
She squinted her eyes over Mom's shoulder to get
a better look at our car with it's hood's lid up.
She somehow made herself look like someone who
had firm confidence in herself.
"Automobile trouble you folks are having I reckon."
"For some reason beyond my understanding it just
stopped going." Mom replied.
"Well now," she replied in a spirited expression.
"Got to see what we can do about that. Now ain't we?"
It wasn't until she hopped briskly out of her truck
that we noticed that she had the same smutty
black stuff on her clothes.
There was some on her arms and hands too.
She wore a dingy T-shirt and shaggy jean shorts
that looked like they were at one time full length,
but had been cut short with a butter knife.
They were cut short right up to her rear pockets.
She wore no shoes...but her feet looked clean
and her toenails were polished neatly in bright red.
"My name be Polly." she announced as she ambled
pass us and headed toward our car.
"You folks Got names?"
Mom and I followed her.
"This is Mom," I replied, "Her name is, Noreen.
I'm Brittney.
We're going to Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard.
We're lost. Can you help us?"
"Sure thing," she said, "see to your car first. Yes?"
Polly was short and stoutly built.
She moved herself in a leisurely and lively manner.
She seemed to be care free.
She was as frolicsome as she could be.
"JOLLY POLLY."
We liked her right away.
| Author Notes | THIS STORY WILL BE CONTINUED IN, Peach Of The Beach, (six) |
By rhonnie69
Mom began murmuring.
That turned my attention to her.
She was looking up again.
This time she had raised her head,
as high as her neck allow.
I vividly heard her whisper...
"Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus."
That made me look up too.
My whisper echoed her whisper.
"Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus."
I guess we could rightly say that...
Jesus appeared to us as a hawk we saw in the sky.
With it's wings spread wide...
it floated on a liberty glide.
I believe that I heard it squeak,
a high pitched shriek.
That clearly sounded like...
"You're Welcome."
Polly plopped her chubby bottom
on the seat of our car and turned the key.
When the car wouldn't start she went up front
and poked her hand down in the engine
for a moment not two.
When she turned the key next time the car started.
"Seems like she's buzzin' like a hummin' bird now,"
she said looking up at us with a delicate smuggy-faced smile.
"I'm glad. Thank you...tons" I returned.
"It just quit on us," Mom added, "steam started coming out
of the engine...and then it over heated.
Then it just conked out."
Polly hopped out and with Doggy Bag tagging at her side
she waddled to the front of our car.
She was giggling and saying all sorts of hoochie coochie coo coo's to him.
I sure was hoping that Doggy Bag understood what she was saying.
Mom and I hadn't a clue.
Polly looked down at the engine as if she was examining it.
Then she reached her hand in.
"Started steamin', huh?" she asked.
I nodded for yes...said, "uh huh"...and cringed.
I would never put my hand down in an engine that was running.
Polly didn't seem to sense any danger at all.
"Hmmmm," she hummed, "when is the last time you checked
your thermostat?"
Mom looked at me and I looked at her with a befuddled looking
shrug of my shoulders.
"Our, WHAT, ostat?" Mom asked.
Polly looked at us and chuckled.
"You folks be city gals, ain't you"?
"We're from San Francisco," Mom replied.
"Well my oh my...California gals, huh?
Polly here be from Alabama...Bermin hi am."
I said, "You mean Birmingham."
She said, "That's what I said...Bermin hi am.
Ain't never been to San Francisco."
"Some day soon we'll invite you to come and visit us there.
We'll make sure you enjoy yourself," Mom promised.
"Would please Polly a bushel n a peck n a hug 'round the neck.
Spend some time funnin' with you folks would be just dandy.
Polly done took a likin' to you fine gals. Your puffy red dawg too."
"We like you too, Polly," Mom chimed, "You are a very kind
and courteous young lady."
"We sure do," I agreed, "and you sure are."
"Ooooo kee hee hee...Polly much obliged. Thank you kindly."
Polly closed the hood's lid and hopped in her truck.
"You folks follow me to our garage. Your car will make it that far.
Then I guess I'll have to fix it."
"You fix cars?" Mom asked.
"Heck of a lot better than, Jake," she said, "he ain't ownin' up to it though.
He calls me, Tom Boy, 'cause I can do everything better than him.
Plus...every time we wrestle I always win."
"Jake?" I asked.
"My big brother." she returned.
"I be callin' him, Teddy...short for teddy bear.
He don' t like when I call him that,
gits mad at me. That tickles me."
We followed Polly down the road.
She drove a bit faster than Mom wanted to...
but we somehow managed to keep up.
If only we had known. About two miles down the road,
there was an automobile repair shop.
It was a rather small cabin-like garage.
We could tell that it was aged because the boards
that it was built with were old and dried out.
It was a rough looking shanty
that was old but had been well kept.
The front wall had been recently painted
with bright red high-gloss paint.
The windows were clean and trimmed in white.
Sky-blue curtains in the front windows made
it look like a cozy little tuck away.
Not to say that anywhere out of the sun
would have been cozy right about then.
Something frosty to drink would've come right exact.
A vast field of scattered trees, bushes, and other
shrubbery spread out behind the garage.
It was cluttered with disabled cars.
Most of them were old and rusty.
A few were newer models that looked like
they had been totaled in accidents.
A white wooden sign hung over the front door
of the workshop. It read...
JAKE'S AUTO RECYCLES.
CA$H FOR YOUR CRASH.
Polly's truck kicked up a sizeable cloud of dust
as it bounced off the asphalt road and onto the
loose dirt of the workshop yard.
Mom followed her in, but gingerly.
We decided to stay in the car for a minute or so,
to let the dust settle a bit.
Polly popped out of her truck
and walked right through the dust
to where we were stopped.
"Come come, city pretty, what are ya waitin' for...
the sun to finish bakin' your buns?
Howz 'bout somethin' cold to drink?"
"Thank you, Polly." Mom said.
That's an offer we certainly won't turn down," I said.
| Author Notes | PEACH OF THE BEACH WILL CONTINUE IN CHAPTER, (seven) |
By rhonnie69
Polly opened the car door for Mom.
I opened the passenger side door.
Doggy Bag scampered out ahead of me.
Polly took Mom's hand as she stepped out.
"We'll go on up there to the house.
Got air conditioning up there.
Got a swimming pool too."
"Youz can splash around in it for a spell.
Cool your cakes."
Off to the left, about a hop and skip away
stood a rather homely looking white house.
It sat on a green hill and was highlighted
by a collection of trees that were swaying
in summer's heated breath.
Completely enclosed by neatly trimmed hedges
it looked like a comfortable country home-grown
dwelling place.
From there it's freshly mowed lawn stretched
all the way down hill to the dirt yard on which
the garage stood.
The sprinklers were spraying cool mist in the air.
Doggy Bag couldn't resist scampering over to delight
in the chilling shower.
"No, Doggy Bag," I called, "come back."
"You let that fine little dawgy go, child,"
Polly said as she hastened to catch up with him.
"I say. He makes the finest lawn ornament
in this whole county."
For a short tubby girl like Polly, she could run pretty fast.
"Youz better come too if you're as hot as you look.
Whole lot cooler up there top the hill.
When I managed to catch up with Polly
Mom hadn't decided whether she would
race with us or not.
Running through the mist felt like flying through air.
Mom just stood there looking like a, a, a grown-up
watching kids play.
Doggie Bag was already on top of the hill waiting...
with his body zigzagging and his tail frisky wagging.
Mom stood in the shower of the nearest sprinkler.
She was content to tarry there.
Polly scooped up a red rubber hand ball
and tossed it in my direction.
It took one bounce before Doggy Bag
pounced playfully upon it.
The grass was wet and cool.
The air smelled of a nearby flower garden.
I inhaled a deep breath through my nose
and puffed it out through my lips.
I looked to see what Mom was doing.
She was still there in the sprinkler mist,
but she wasn't alone.
A handsome young man was with her
and they were talking together.
"That be my brother, Jake," Polly told me.
"He twenny two. Polly gonna be eighteen.
Birthday in just three days."
"Ooooo. Happy birthday," I said.
"Not quite yet. Too long comin'.
Happy when it gits here."
"Where's Snow-white?" I asked.
"She's in the house with Tiger Lily."
"Tiger Lily?"
"She be my Gramma.
Been livin' here with Jake and me
ever since Grammpa died."
"Sorry to hear about that, Polly...
I mean about your grammpa."
That was the first time I saw Polly's sunshiny eyes
get cloudy. Her pudgy cheeks turned red.
"Oh...good ole Grammpa. He be alright.
Him bein' up there in heaven and all."
"Polly do kind of miss his huggin' and kissin' though.
Miss that lots."
A silent moment passed.
I could feel Polly, and Polly could feel me.
Mourning with her...I hadn't noticed that Mom,
and Jake had disappeared.
I felt that it would be best for both of us,
if we changed the subject.
"Where do you think Mom and Jake got off to?" I asked.
"Saw them go in the house." Polly replied.
"Guess we better do it too, huh?"
"I guess," I replied softly.
| Author Notes | This story will continue in; Peach Of The Beach, (eight) |
By rhonnie69
We stepped off the grass and onto
the white cobblestone walkway
that lead up to the house.
Doggy Bag shook his body briskly
to shed some of the water from the sprinklers.
"We'll go in through the basement," Polly said
opening a side door. "there we'll find towels.
Help Dawgy Bag get himself good and dried off.
Me and you too."
I stopped to admire a red bird that was perched
upon a branch in an evergreen tree.
"That be Saint Louis I call him." Polly told me.
He comes here every day to delight at the feeder
and then flutter over there to the birdbath."
"Saint Louis?" I asked.
"I made that name up, 'specially for him.
After my favorite baseball team.
Saint Louis Cardinals.
You play baseball?"
"I can't say that I can," I replied,
"Do you play?"
"Pretty near every day." she replied
with a big grin and a beaming glow in her air.
Getting pretty good at it now-a-days too you bet cha."
"Wow. How did you learn how to play?"
"Tried out for the team. Made it too.
Only girl on the team.
"Oh WOW. Polly, that's just...I mean you're just..."
"I'm just me, Polly. Except I be our catcher too."
"Catcher?"
"Thaaaat's, me."
"Why not pitcher?"
"Nah...Polly rather guard home plate.
I'm just lovin' every bit of it.
From the looks of her basement,
one would think that a real live athlete
lived there.
There were tables filled, and shelves
lined with trophies of all kinds.
The walls were almost completely
covered with athletic photographs.
Featuring, there was a large poster.
It was the largest picture of them all.
It was an airplane view of the
Saint Louis Cardinals' baseball stadium
in living color.
I just stood there, my eyes scanning everything.
To me, this was amazing.
"All the weights and stuff is my brother's.
All the baseball stuff is minez," she boasted.
"Do you play for a profession team?" I asked.
"Nah...little league....Bobcats," she replied.
"Best team in this here territory."
"My eyes surveyed a photograph of her
team's players. They were seated upon
spectators' bleachers in a group setting.
They were all in full uniform.
I tried to pick Polly out.
"Hey...There..." I exclaimed, "that's you. Right?"
Her team's uniforms were white with blue numbers.
Polly was number twenty. Her cap was navy blue
with the letter, B, in white.
"You picked out Polly, alright," she laughed,
"She ain't the cutest. But she be the livin' life
of that team. Do ya reckon?"
"Brittney reckon," I replied.
We both hugged and laughed out loud.
"Ain't never had no friend quite like Brittney."
Polly said with a gleeful chuckle.
"How old you be, Brittney?
Polly guess you be 'bout twelve or somethin', huh?"
"Oh. Please. Stop teasing. I wish.
But I'm only ten.
When we got upstairs Mom had gotten pretty much
acquainted with Tiger Lily.
Jake wasn't there. He had gone out to walk Snow-white
and would be back shortly.
Tiger Lily and Mom were relaxing in the den.
Mom was watching Tiger Lily crochet a pink bedspread.
It had an adorable floral design of red and yellow roses.
Mom was having iced tea.
Polly walked right over and hugged her.
"You're a real butterball of a young lady," Mom said
to Polly. "Just a plump little plum."
"Mighty pleased to greet you, Miss Noreen," Polly blushed.
"You just make yourself comfy like home...ya hear?"
Polly turned to her grandmother and nudged me closer to her.
"She be, Brittney, Gramma. My good friend."
"Glory be to Jesus, little gal, " Tiger Lily exclaimed,
"I seen you out there rompin' with my little Polly.
You be as frail as a rail."
"Best you and your momma stick around for supper.
Fatten youz up a mite with some of my roast chicken,
and baked potatoes."
"I like roast chicken," I replied. "I'm sure Mom
would be pleased if we stay and have dinner with you.
Thank You."
"Yes," Mom agreed, "We'd be delighted to stay for dinner.
Tiger Lily chortled a jolly laughter.
"Well now, that sounds just mighty fine.
You gals just loosen your belts...set your tummies free.
Your supper will soon be served by Polly and me."
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