thenorphletpaperboy: Runaways

thenorphletpaperboy: Runaways: “We have two sleeper reservations in coach number two,” Momma said. The man hurried to move our bags over to a little cart, and then he ...

Runaways

“We have two sleeper reservations in coach number two,” Momma said. The man hurried to move our bags over to a little cart, and then he turned and asked Momma, “What’s your destination?”

“Oklahoma City.”

Runaways is part of the Richard, the Paperboy series. Richard and John Clayton turn fourteen in New Orleans---on Bourbon Street!

.....Heck, just hearing Momma say that nearly sent me over the edge again, but I took a deep breath and tried not to be upset. A whistle broke into my thoughts as the Rocket approached the station. Yeah, me and Momma had ridden the Rocket when I was 10 on a trip to see grandmother, who lives in Wetumpka, but this was different. As the big, red engine pulled into the station, the excitement at seeing the Rocket was replaced by the dread of leaving the only life I knew. And then the conductor yelled out: “All aboard the Rock Island Rocket! Little Rock, Fort Smith, and Oklahoma City and all stations in between! All aboard!”

“Come on, Richard; I’ll be right behind you. Just turn left and look for seats 1-A and 1-B. We’ll sit there until they make up our sleepers at eight o’clock.”

Momma gave me a little shove, and I started up the steps into the coach car. I made it to the top step, and then I stopped. I couldn’t make myself go another inch. I heard Momma say, “Richard, go on into the car and find our seats.” But I still didn’t move. Momma started pushing me, and then I looked up and there stood the conductor.

“Son, there’s nothing to be afraid of. The Rocket is the safest passenger train on tracks.”

I still didn’t move, but with Momma pushing and the conductor pulling, I made it into the coach car.

“Richard, find 1-A and 1-B,” Momma said, trying to calm me down and give me something to do. I slowly walked down the aisle, and right at the end of the coach, I found our seats. I plopped down and stuck my nose to the window trying to take in as much of South Arkansas as I could before I left it.

“Richard, I know you’re upset, but remember all those nights that your Daddy came in drunk and upset everybody so much? Just think about not having to worry about that ever again. You can sleep sound knowing you won’t have to get up and try to calm down your father. And you’ll make so many new friends.”

“But Momma, I already have friends! And I’m leaving Sniffer…” Momma put her arm around me and tried to calm me. About that time, I heard the conductor blow a whistle and the train gave a jerk.

“Momma, I think I’m gonna be sick. I need to go to the restroom.”

“Okay, Richard, it’s at the back of the car.”

I got up, walked the length of the car, and…passed the restroom. I looked back, and Momma was reading a newspaper. Bye Momma, crossed my mind as I turned to the exit door and hopped off the slow-moving train.

thenorphletpaperboy: Scores from Surviving Marriage

thenorphletpaperboy: Scores from Surviving Marriage: YOUR SCORE    (go back and take the test.)                                                         ______ Total your points and check...

Scores from Surviving Marriage

YOUR SCORE   (go back and take the test.)                                                    ______

Total your points and check the results below.—1600 possible points

                          Test analysis

Over 1500….an exceptional high quality marriage…you’re in the top (5%.) Pat yourself on the back.

Over 1280….a good strong marriage---but could stand some moderate improvement. You're in the top (20%.)

Over 1120….well above average, but you’re a good candidate to move up to that magic 5%. You're in the top (30%.)

Over 960….Above average, but you have some critical marriage problems to solve. You're in the top (40%) category.

Over 800…You need to make some drastic changes or the marriage won’t last. You're in the (50%) category.

Over 640…Unless you make some changes, find a good lawyer. You're in the bottom (40%) category.

            A final word: By reading this book you’ve shown you care about your marriage and want to improve it. The premises of this book is very simple: A high quality marriage is the best life possible. If you believe this, then, by examining your marriage and applying the concepts listed in the various chapters, you can raise the quality of your marriage to a new level. It may be that your score is relatively good…maybe above  twelve-hundred. However,  even if you have a good quality marriage, there is always room for improvement.

thenorphletpaperboy: I Will Drink Your Blood---excerpt

thenorphletpaperboy: I Will Drink Your Blood---excerpt: Richard, John Clayton, and their Catholic friend Herbert Ray have just been to the Catholic Church in El Dorado to get Holy Water---Part...

I Will Drink Your Blood---excerpt

Richard, John Clayton, and their Catholic friend Herbert Ray have just been to the Catholic Church in El Dorado to get Holy Water---Part of a plan to ward off the Vampire Werewolf of Flat Creek Swamp

.......Well, after the Communion and more prayers, Father Gregory let us fill up our jars with Holy Water, and then we headed back up the street to the Ritz Theater. Well, I didn’t think that much about John Clayton downing all that wine, but Herbert Ray was sure upset.

“I can’t believe you drank the whole goblet of wine. I’ve never been so embarrassed. I just hope Father Gregory can get the wine out of his robe.”

John Clayton smiled, looked kinda funny, and said, “Might just become a Catholic, Herbert Ray.”

“What? Are you nuts? After what you did, they probably wouldn’t let you even come back in the church.”

Well, John Clayton didn’t seemed bothered one little bit about drinking the whole goblet of wine. In fact, he started whistling as we were walking along. Now, I’ve heard John Clayton whistle, but it’s usually to call dogs. Heck, he weren’t calling dogs now. It was some song that I couldn’t figure out, at least I couldn’t until he started singing it. ’Course, John Clayton really can sing. In fact he’s usually picked to be the singer in all the school plays, but he has never, never sang “Chattanooga Choo Choo” while walking down Main Street. Naw, wait a minute, he wasn't just walking, he was doing a choo-choo-like little dance, moving like a train as pumped his hands.

“What are you doing? What’s wrong with you?” I said. John Clayton looked at me and said, “Choo-choo, baby, choo-choo!” Shoot, his eyes had a glassy look like he’d been slapped alongside his head, and he was popping his lips up and down between the singing of “Chattanooga Choo Choo.”

Heck, people were starting to stare at John Clayton, who now had begun to roar down the street like a runaway train. Then I thought about the big goblet of wine. Yeah, the little idiot is drunk! I thought. Shoot, trying to get a 13-year-old drunk down Main Street without people thinking he needed to be committed, was really hard to do.

What was really embarrassing was when we met some adult, and if it was a woman, John Clayton would bow and say, “My dear, you look loverly.” Or if it was a man he’d say something like, “Good morning, sir. Nice to see you again.” And then he’d stick out his hand, and then when the man stuck out his hand, John Clayton would switch hands. And if one of us didn’t grab him, he’d keep doing it until the man stomped off.

Listen, the way folks were looking at him, I figured somebody was gonna send for a net and wagon to haul him off. We finally made it to the Ritz Theater, and I ran up and bought three tickets, and pulled John Clayton into the lobby. I figured he’d sober up by the time the double feature was over.

As we were about to go into the theater, I saw Old Man Slater, the theater manager, heading our way. Well, I knew why he was coming over to talk with us. It was gonna be another warning about playing some of our tricks in the theater. You know like having an owl-hooting contest—stuff like that.

“Listen up, you Norphlet boys: I don’t want any trouble out of you.” He was still shaking his bony finger at us when John Clayton saluted, got down on his knees, and started wailing, “Yas, sur, yas, sur, but please don’t beat me again! I promise we won’t sneak in no more. Looky here, we done bought tickets today.”

Well, it was really funny, and then John Clayton started to kiss his shoes. Gosh, kids were all around us laughing like crazy, and I was trying to pull John Clayton up off the floor. Old Man Slater was so shocked he just stood there until I finally pulled John Clayton up, and with Herbert Ray on one side and me on the other, we dragged our friend into the theater, while he started singing “Chattanooga Choo Choo” again, waving his arms like he was some famous singer.

That part was really, really embarrassing for us—having to walk with John Clayton skipping down a dark theater aisle, bouncing off both sides while crooning. Heck, he stopped about halfway down the aisle and announced,  “I can out-sing anybody in the theater.” Shoot, he’d just got that out of his mouth, when a half-bag of popcorn hit him alongside his head.

“Who did that?” he yelled.

“Me, and if you don’t sit down, that ain’t all that's gonna hit you.”

Wow, it was a kid about twice the size of John Clayton, and I grabbed John Clayton’s arm and started to pull him down the aisle.

“You and what army? We’ll stomp you sorry ass if you say another word!” John Clayton shouted.

We? I thought.

Oh my gosh, the big kid was trying to get out to the aisle. Heck, Herbert Ray got on one side of John Clayton and I got on the other, and we dragged John Clayton down front. After he sat down and the picture show started, I figured everything was gonna be okay, but I was wrong. About half-way through the Lash LaRue serial, John Clayton leaned over and whispered to me, “I’m gonna throw up.”

Gosh, I had been leaning back really enjoying Lash LaRue, until I heard those words.

“Come on, Herbert Ray! Let’s get out of here. Hurry! Hurry!”

“What? Why?”

Well, I didn’t have to tell Herbert Ray what was about to happen ’cause just then John Clayton vomited like a fire hose all over two rows of seats, and you could have heard kids scream halfway to Norphlet. Heck, I was running up the aisle like the place was on fire, and I didn’t stop until I got to the back row. Me and Herbert Ray slipped in there and hunkered down, while all the kids down front gagged and yelled.

Shoot, when Old Man Slater heard all the racket, he hightailed

Panic in Langley Bottom---overview

“Panic…” is the twelfth of the Richard The Norphlet Paperboy novels.  This series has been favorable compared to Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. The reviews have been excellent with almost 50 five star reviews. The novels have been featured in a number of schools as required reading, and the comments from teachers and students alike have been extremely positive.

The novels are set in the mid 1940s during the Second World War, and are based on the author’s experiences during that time period. A number of adult reviewers have commented that these novels are for all ages, and the nostalgic setting always brings back positive comments from senior adults as the boys and their families huddle around the radio listing to the famous newscaster, Walter Winchell….”Good evening Mr. and Mrs. North and South America and all the ships at sea…..this just in….General Patton army is on the move…”

A note from the author: “Writing this novel brought back more memories than any of the others I have written. The two boys, Richard and John Clayton get into quiet a bit of trouble as they usually do, but in this novel the settings are more authentic, and anyone growing up in South Arkansas during the 40s and 50s will recognize many of the places mentioned.

During the time frame covered by this novel, the most popular swimming hole for the boys in the Norphlet and Smackover area was a large, long abandoned oil storage pit called Blue Hole. One of the funniest situations I have penned occurs around a series of events that are kicked off by four boys going swimming in Blue Hole.