This is my kindergarten picture. The only thing I remember in Kindergarten is nap time and that it was the first classroom as you got off the bus. It was the biggest classroom with lots of windows all across the front.
These next memories are from when we lived in a single wide trailer on the north side of the dry lake bed on highway 18, up in the mountains across the dry lakes in Lucerne Valley.
I was around 4 years old and my parents left my brother, who is 10 months older than me, and I in charge of my little sister, Rita who was around one years old. My brother and I went to play in my parent’s room which we knew was not allowed. We decided that it would be great fun to jump on the bed and run in circles around the bed. Then we had the brilliant idea of climbing up into the cupboards near the roof and falling back onto the bed. But in order to do this we has remove the things inside; sheets and towels and such. And what did we do with all of that stuff? Well, we threw it down onto the bed and floor. Oh we had such a blast, that is... until my parents got home and found that my sister had gotten into my mother's purple nail polish and painted not only herself but the walls, the carpet and an old foot stool. Then when they saw their room, boy were we in trouble. My dad took my brother into their now messy room and told me to stand by the door. After he closed the door I could hear him whipping my brother and my brother crying. I started crying and begging my mom; "Please, mom! Don't let him spank me! I promise I'll never mess up your room again and I'll watch Rita next time! Please, mom!" But she just shook her head and cleaned up the mess. Thankfully, I don't remember the spanking. Ha Ha!
Another memory I have around this time period was going with my mom up the mountain to check the water lines for holes. Our water was gravity fed down the mountain. I remember being so excited because she always took Billy instead of me. As we were climbing over some big boulder's I looked down and saw what I thought was a big lizard. I went to grab it when my mom screamed and threw me aside and started stabbing the poor thing with a shovel she had with her. I was so scared and confused. Once she had killed it, she grabbed me and started yelling at me about trying to pick up a snake. I was crying and so upset. She never took me with her again. 😥
There were some green houses that were partially torn down on the property and I remember Billy and I used to play on them like monkey bars, swinging from one beam to another. (They must have been pretty close together) We used to have a lot of fun doing that.
I also remember my dad hunting rabbits and snakes for us to eat. I don't remember how they tasted just that the snake was real tough and hard to eat. I remember my dad used to give me the cottontails and I would use them as powder puffs. Ha Ha!
Another memory during this time was when I got such a bad sunburn and my mom put Vick’s vapor rub all over it. I remember thinking that my legs looked like I had shiny red leotards on.
Another memory was when my brother Billy set my bed on fire and burned a hole right through the middle. We both got in trouble for that, even though I begged him not to do it.
This next memory is one of my darkest memories. It's when my parents went to town and left my father's friend, Charlie Griley with us. He put Billy in his room for a nap and told me to take a nap on the couch in the living room. I remember him lying down on the couch too and making me lay on top of him. I remember both of us were naked and he kept making me lay my face on his chest because Billy kept looking out of his room and seeing me sitting up. I remember being very scared and crying but thankfully I don't remember the feeling of him inside me. I never told anyone about it because I felt ashamed and he said that I would get into trouble because he was my dad's friend. Then later when I was older and he came for a visit I heard my dad telling him he had to leave because he couldn't have him around his kids because of going to jail for child molestation and Charlie saying "Oh, come on, I went through therapy man, I'm not like that anymore. I was sick but now I'm better" So my dad let him stay. I stayed away from him but he cornered me in the kitchen at one point and told me that I was his special girl for never saying anything and tried to pull me into his arms but I pushed him away and told him I would tell now if he didn't leave me alone. He laughed and said that if I hadn't said anything yet I wouldn't now but when I started crying he left me alone. I was about 17 when I finally told my best friend Matthew about it after hearing that the bastard had died. I have never talked about it with my family; I felt like it had been so many years - why hurt anyone else.
I also remember catching the bus with Billy to go to kindergarten, we had to catch the high school kid’s bus because it was the only bus that came out so far. I remember being so scared walking down the bus aisle with all the big kids looking at me. When we started high school, we had to ride the bus all the way to Apple Valley because there was no high school in Lucerne Valley. I also remember walking with Billy across the dry lakes after school, it was real windy and he lost his homework and got into trouble.
We had two dogs and a big black cat at this time. Both dogs were all white, one was older than the other one. The older dog was called Snowball and the puppy was Puppy Love. The cat's name was Johnny Cat. My mom used to call him her miniature panther because he was so big. He had seven toes and big yellow eyes. I remember when Snow Ball and Johnny Cat both got bitten by a rattle snake. Snow Ball's poor nose swelled so big I didn't even recognize him. Johnny Cat's ear just shriveled up for the rest of his life.
Another memory around this time period was when my parents got into a huge fight and my mom was leaving. I remember standing at the door of the trailer crying for her to take me with her but she wouldn't. I don't remember how long she was gone. I think only a few days or maybe a week.
This is another dark memory, we were coming back from town or somewhere and poor Snow Ball was hanging by the throat and little Puppy Love was lying under the trailer in a pool of his own blood; he had been shot in the head. The weekenders (people who came to the dry lake beds to off road and drink) were getting worse every weekend. Dad decided that it was totally unsafe to be living up there anymore and moved us closer into town. He had helped build a small house on 20 acres on Sutter St. for his friend Jose San Augustine and after Jose had died his son agreed to rent the house to us. My dad had a boom truck and when he was moving it to the new place, Johnny Cat jumped on the back and rode there the entire way. That cat was a survivor!
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