Occupancy in the apartment complex changed sporadically, with the exceptions of the landlord and us. We maintained residency in the two units on the main floor. Newlyweds became the newest members of the building to move into one of the apartments on the third level. The couple brought a breath of fresh air into the complex, being of good nature and still exuding an unavoidable level of bliss from just being married. The young bride sometimes greeted me when I arrived home from school. The interaction with her became a way to shake off the lingering smell of diesel fuel and tar soap from the long bus ride home. She gleamed with hospitality more so than anyone else I ever knew, but I couldn't help notice her accent when she spoke. She defied all the rules of enunciation that I went to school to learn, so I tried to teach her how to speak correctly.
About half an hour later, my mom emerged from one of the other rooms in the house and prompted my brother and me to hurry and finish up so we didn't keep our ride home waiting. The old woman informed my mom that the couple who brought us, left for Michigan over an hour earlier. After absorbing the initial shock, my mom asked the old woman if she could use the phone. The old woman explained that the only phone was in her son's room and she didn't wish to disturb him since he was still asleep. A man in his early forties emerged from the old woman's son's room about an hour later. He allowed my mother to make a phone call to try to render a solution to our situation. After being promptly denied help from the only resource available, it became inevitable that we were stranded. The matter progressively got worse as the old woman explained that we couldn't remain in her home. Her son, a relative to the jerk who left us, made arrangements for us to stay with relatives of his who lived on a remote farm. Without being given much for options, we stayed with them for a few weeks. In all my years of growing up, this was a first. Everything I was use to seemed to be a whole world away. There weren't any ice cream trucks making their way to this neck of the woods, and the difference between conveniently picking up a gallon of milk, changed from a walk to the store to finding a bucket and a pregnant cow. Without a doubt, I came from the city and unknowingly developed enough street smarts that seemed challenging to southern backwoods folk who found solace chucking horse turds at each other. The biggest annoyance came repetitively in an utterance, laced heavily with a thick southern drawl "Yoo sher dew tawk funny". The experience of endlessly being poked at with the overuse of the statement, ultimately made it so I despised country music. The only positive things I discovered while being stuck there were Pringles potato chips, Moon Pies and Royal Crown Cola.
It didn't take long for my mom and the young woman to become acquainted. Within days, they went shopping and spent hours at the laundromat together. Her company filled a void in my mother in a way that made her feel accepted and appreciated. They conversed about relationships, aspirations, family history and most other things. One topic that kept popping up in discussion involved the idea of hitting the open road to see other places. Though it always sounded like a dream of something to do, the young woman kept eager to turn the dream into a reality. A few days later, she encouraged my mom to take a free overnight trip with her and her husband, insisting they took care of all the expenses. After being cooped up with two kids in the same apartment for days on end, an adventure sounded welcoming. We all piled into a big red convertible and hit the freeway with the top down. One city looked almost the same as the next from the view of the freeway, but as night drew closer I grew tired and fell asleep. I awoke in a strange bed with my brother sleeping next to me. From the looks of the decor, we appeared to be in a small motel. I got up and exited the room, discovering other indications of being inside the home of a stranger. My brother awoke soon after and we explored the rest of the house together. We found our way to the living room, where an old frail woman sat in a chair with a white cane standing next to her. She immediately greeted us and asked if we wanted some cereal for breakfast. We both happily accepted the offer and sat at the kitchen table while she made the accommodations. Corn flakes appeared to be the cereal of choice, but she had a sugar bowl on the table to sweeten them up. With the two flake filled bowls placed in front of us, I opted to start sweetening mine up with some sugar. I removed the lid to the sugar bowl and three cockroaches slowly emerged from inside of it. I quickly made the decision to eat the cereal without the sugar. I haven't really cared for corn flakes since then.
About half an hour later, my mom emerged from one of the other rooms in the house and prompted my brother and me to hurry and finish up so we didn't keep our ride home waiting. The old woman informed my mom that the couple who brought us, left for Michigan over an hour earlier. After absorbing the initial shock, my mom asked the old woman if she could use the phone. The old woman explained that the only phone was in her son's room and she didn't wish to disturb him since he was still asleep. A man in his early forties emerged from the old woman's son's room about an hour later. He allowed my mother to make a phone call to try to render a solution to our situation. After being promptly denied help from the only resource available, it became inevitable that we were stranded. The matter progressively got worse as the old woman explained that we couldn't remain in her home. Her son, a relative to the jerk who left us, made arrangements for us to stay with relatives of his who lived on a remote farm. Without being given much for options, we stayed with them for a few weeks. In all my years of growing up, this was a first. Everything I was use to seemed to be a whole world away. There weren't any ice cream trucks making their way to this neck of the woods, and the difference between conveniently picking up a gallon of milk, changed from a walk to the store to finding a bucket and a pregnant cow. Without a doubt, I came from the city and unknowingly developed enough street smarts that seemed challenging to southern backwoods folk who found solace chucking horse turds at each other. The biggest annoyance came repetitively in an utterance, laced heavily with a thick southern drawl "Yoo sher dew tawk funny". The experience of endlessly being poked at with the overuse of the statement, ultimately made it so I despised country music. The only positive things I discovered while being stuck there were Pringles potato chips, Moon Pies and Royal Crown Cola.A week after being ditched, my mom worked in a diner and gathered enough tips and income to purchase a bus ticket to return to Hazel Park. Ultimately, we stayed in three different places in Tennessee. We stayed in a suburban home after being sent away from the farm for being "too Yankee" for their liking. Apparently the urban influences didn't mix well with their sheltered beliefs or lifestyles, as even a strange woman answered the expectations to the elders of the home. A month passed before we found the means to afford our place on the seat of a Greyhound bus to take us home. Since the occurrence, I've never desired to venture anywhere near the southern states. We returned to the apartment and discovered the married couple moved out a few days after they left us in Tennessee. Regardless of the time away, nothing seemed to change. My father's demeanor even remained disturbingly calm. It remained to be a matter of time to see where events would go from there.
