Chapter 1 The Beginning

The wind was blowing something fierce that night in Jefferson County. My ole rust bucket had gone her last mile right there on Ridgely Road just a half mile off of Route 95. Yep. She was dead. The damage was unrepairable. I'd been on my way to Union Community College with a sports scholarship in football. My birth had been in a hospital above The Mason-Dixon Line in Cecil County. Momma had thought that this baby had not been alive. What to call this baby had been the next step. They called me by the name of Billy. My older brother, and sister were delivered by midwives at home in West Virginia. Compared to them, I'd the bigger head. Without medication, this birth would have just been too terrible. My parents were born at home in Virginia. They had conceived me in White Sulpher Springs, West Virginia. Though the blood of the South flowed in my veins, my momma delivered me in the North after relocating there for my dad's new job in the saw mill. Well, I had gotten most of my education in the North. My siblings stayed behind with Aunt Clara and Uncle Bobby McCoy. My parents thought they would pick them up later. It was fifth-teen years before we returned back there. My daddy sent them money whenever possible. Our parents Carl and Susie McCoy had minimal education in life. This surly made things more difficult for them. After the saw mill no longer existed, he had to work as a laborer cutting trees and installing poles for the telephone company. His employment then totaled eight years at that time. Now he had a hankering for messing with the carburetors. My daddy just could not help himself. This 5' and 10" fellow who weighed two and ten pounds had to take a screw driver and turn the screws until the vehicles needed a mechanic to fix them. Even his personal chain saws were not immune to this habit. Anything with a carburetor seemed up for grabs. Unfortunately, this was an expensive habit. Thankfully, his nearby friends from work had picked and dropped him off at our house. It only had taken two minutes to pick him up in the morning. This made the effort not so unreasonable for them. Momma had made an extra sandwich for their acts of kindness. For the next four years, his employment as a laborer had been with Northern States Construction in North East, Maryland. Most of that time was spent clearing land for development in Delaware. His experience got more pay and a free ride to and from work. This had been a time when the company had plenty of jobs. Now Willie and Julie had felt abandoned by us. They only would receive letters or packages from us after the move up North. The endless waiting for our return must have been horrible for that girl and boy. The time had gotten later and later. To graduate with their class, neither one did even care. To acquire a GED for them, it was just as possible. The pain of an unfulfilled promise must have cut them in their hearts like a sharp knife. Remembering our dad's last spoken words, this had only made them feel empty. My two loved ones had felt that we valued them less than a dollar or a dime. Willie then stood about 5' and 11" tall with a weight of one hundred and sixty-five pounds, This nine-teen year old brown haired fella wanted to get a full time job to make things easier on his Aunt and Uncle. Aunt Clara was 5' and 6" in height with a weight of one hundred and twenty-two pounds. Her red hair had faded with age. Uncle Bobby was 5' and 9" in height with a weight of one hundred and ninety-five pounds. His brown hair was turning gray. Willie understood how hard they had worked to give them the best life within their ability. After the acquisition of his GED, he had taken a job at the local landfill as a heavy equipment operator. The boss had been a close friend of his Uncle. An employee's sudden death also had left an available opening. The required physical had proclaimed him to be in good health. It had also been evident by his toned arms and abs. Based on the results and his uncle's recommendation, he'd hired him. Julie stood about 5' and 7" in height with a weight of one hundred and fifteen pounds. From her head to the middle of her back flowed rich silky smooth strands of dark as night colored hair. This eighteen year old had seen no sense in graduating without her whole family being there. No matter how bad had been her day, their love could make it go away. It had been more of a loving home than just a relative's house. When her favorite pet had died, they comforted her in that time of mourning. None of her tears had they then suppressed as they poured forth upon her dress. They had also buried it with a special marker on their land. It had been a simple deed done with loving care. After the acquisition of her GED, she had gotten hired as a cashier for The Good News Pawn Shop owned by Robert Burke and Joanna Hobbs. Julie had really impressed them by so quickly finder her way around the mounds of merchandise on that very first day. It had been clear to them that this teenager took this job opportunity very seriously. Aunt Clara and Uncle Bobby had every morning and night told Willie and Julie how much that they loved them. That routine had not changed even though they now had jobs. Their words were worth a lot to those two young adults. Our mother stood about 5' and 7" in height with a weight of one hundred and thirty pounds. Her brunette hair had faded with the time. Susie McCoy had been a very quiet woman. The tears of leaving Willie and Julie had been replaced with indifference. She had seemed resolved to the fact that we may never see them again. Nobody had taken the opportunity to teach her how to drive a motor vehicle. The poor thing had no method of getting herself anywhere without her husband or the help of the neighbors. Though being too a male, this seemed to be an act of cruelty in my view of the husband and wife relationship. Up until Fourth Grade, school had not been unpleasant. The teachers in that elementary school had been rather thorough in helping us gain the ability of printing and writing the alphabet and numbers in a neat and orderly fashion. The times tables were constantly being stressed by quizzes. We were read aloud to by the teacher from a story about Charlotte's Web. All students also had to read aloud from books chosen by themselves from the school library. They taught us phonics. None of us were given a passing grade until that foundation had been solidified in our brains. I'd been assigned to another elementary school. My very first teacher set the behavior for the rest of my classmates. Mrs. Jackson had humiliated me before all of my entire class. This behavior had become an everyday occurrence until its conclusion at North Eastern Middle School in Maryland This resulted in my perusing of dictionaries, magazines, and news papers from cover to cover; listening to journalists on numerous news programs; watching documentaries; and vigorous weight lifting. I'd just finished the last of four years at West Virginia's Muddy River High School. My vocabulary was considered too excessive for the majority of my classmates. These kids misunderstood why such words came automatically out of my mouth in normal conversations. However, the football coach had seen some potential in me. He began working with me after school. My size and speed had been just right for being a defensive end. Having a natural sense of anticipation, this had given me an advantage n penetrating the backfield. I made the team in my very first year. There had been 6 sacks, 2 recovered fumbles, and 40 tackles. In the second year, there had been 13 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 50 tackles. In my third year, there had been 25 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 1 blocked punt, and 48 tackles. In my last year, there had been 28 sacks, 8 forced fumbles, 59 tackles, and 1 punt return for a TD. Every year had been better than the previous one. Thanks to him believing in me. The Union Community College offered me a football scholarship. I'd set out for college in my 1989 Ford Festiva to register for classes. Things seemed to be going my way for a change. My family had been proud that I had been given such an honor by any college. There had been such a thrill to know that I'd be playing college football and getting an education too.

The Government Stole My Identity by Freddie G. May