Dirty Faces- Book 1

Chapter 2: Boots and Letters

Chapter 2: Boots and Letters

Early next morning, Ginny climbed the steep, rugged path to Jack's house. He was feeding his parents' three hogs when she got there and paid her no mind. She leaned on the wooden fence and watched the hogs for a minute before asking, "Hey, Jackie, whatcha got planned for the summer?"

He sat the bucket down, wiped the sweat from his brow, and thought a minute. "Well I reckon I'll work around here, get some fishing in, maybe see if anybody else needs some help around their farm, make me a li'l money."

"Ain't ya gonna play ball with us any?"

"Mmmm I dunno, kid. I'm about getting too old for that kind of stuff."

"Kody said he's gonna."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep."

He thought another minute. "Well I reckon I could get my glove out some."

"Great! Well, see ya later."

"What? Uh, bye...I...guess." He shook his head. "Weird little kid."

She rushed back home and slipped through the back door, taking her seat at the little round kitchen table just as Mama put a plate of hot sausage on. Ginny took in a deep breath of the smell of home - of breakfast cooking and fresh coffee.

"Already out and about this morning, Ginny?" she asked.

Ginny smiled sheepishly but didn't answer. Mama took no notice because her attention was already elsewhere. "Kody, please, with the newspaper. Is there any good news in there, anyway?"

"Not really," he mumbled. "Just stuff about that war over there."

"Then put it away. We're eating or we're reading, not both at the same time. Can't say grace with your nose stuck in the Editorials," she went on, sitting down with a cup of coffee.

He folded the paper and stuck it under his plate as they all bowed their heads and Mama thanked the Lord for the food before them and a little bit of everything else.

A few minutes into the meal, Mama casually stated, "Ginny, I saw y'all after school yesterday."

Ginny chuckled. "Well I did wave when we passed the store."

Mama didn't say anything, just stared into her coffee cup as if deep in thought. Finally she resumed. "Those poor little boys of Doyle Montgomery's. That littlest one looked like his clothes was about to just fall right off him, not even any patches to cover the holes. And didn't neither one of 'em have on decent shoes. I can only imagine having to provide for four boys but it's a shame those kids do without while Doyle gambles and drinks and Lord knows what else his paycheck away."

Kody and Ginny frowned.

"Sorry," she said. "I just ain't been able to get that out of my mind since yesterday." She sat her coffee down, got up, and headed toward the kids' room. The sound of digging through a closet could be heard while she was gone and when she returned she had a pair of boots Kody had outgrown.

"Either of you going into town today?"

They both nodded reluctantly, their gray eyes conveying that they knew exactly what she was getting at.

"These should fit one of the younger ones. See to it they get 'em, Ginny."

"Mama!" She argued. "Do you know how embarrassing that'd be for them? They don't wanna be nobody's charity case."

"It's not charity."

"What is it, then?"

She hesitated. "Relief for my conscience."