Dirty Faces- Book 1

Chapter 5: Reality

Chapter 5: Reality

It was a quiet ride the next morning in the foggy half-light before dawn, aside from the ever-present jostling of the truck along that bumpy mountain road. Once off the mountain, the road smoothed as they entered the city that served as the county seat. Kody sped past the high school but slowed down as he drove through the town square, past the statue of the unnamed, long rifle-wielding frontiersman, the courthouse, and the library. When they passed their little white church, a twinge of excitement went through Ginny; she had never been this far. The bus station was another twenty minutes along the smooth, paved road and as they traveled she strained her eyes to see all the pretty painted houses and brick buildings in the dim morning light.

When they arrived at the bus station, Kody parked the truck, pulled the suitcase out of the bed, and headed for the nearest bench. Ginny slid out the passenger's side and accompanied Mama to the ticket window. She stared at the fancy register, much nicer than the one at the company store, and marveled at the fact that the clerk was wearing Sunday clothes at work. It was still a little while before the bus departed and Mama and Ginny joined Kody on the bench, nearly the only people to have yet arrived at the sleepy little station this morning.

The time on the bench was as mum as the ride over had been, the silence only ever interrupted by the occasional rumble of a passing car. Ginny was sad and excited at the same time, and to combat her conflicting emotions, as she so often did, she let her mind wander.

"Mama?" she asked.

"Yeah, sugar?"

"What do you know about that old house in town?"

"The one by the boarding house?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Mama looked down at her, her brows furrowed and concern in her eyes. "I know it's been empty so long that a little girl could easily fall through a rotten floorboard inside or out and break her neck."

Ginny didn't pursue the subject any further lest Mama deduce that she already knew more about the floorboards than she ought, and thus the silence continued.

Eventually the sun came out, more people arrived, and the clock over the ticket booth read five to eight. People were beginning to board the bus and Mama stood up hesitantly, smoothing out the wrinkles in her nicest brown skirt; it was rather unimpressive compared to the dresses worn by the majority of the ladies climbing onto the bus.

"Well, I guess I'm off!" she said, her voice breaking and her pale, blue eyes misty. She hugged both her children, holding them for what seemed to them an unnecessarily long time. They walked with her to the bus steps and Kody handed her her beat-up, leather suitcase.

"We'll be fine, Mama, " he assured her. "Really."

She smiled and nodded, sniffled, and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She looked down at Ginny, who smiled up at her with the most comforting, angelic smile she had ever seen from the little hellion, then turned to go up the steps, the last person to board the bus. She found a seat just as it was pulling away, threw down the window, and shouted, "I love y'all!"

"Love you, too, Mama," they returned, not in unison.

They stood at the terminal until the bus was just a dot in the distance, then Kody pulled the keys from his pocket and headed back to the truck. Ginny followed, several paces back, unable to keep up with his stride.

When they had been driving for a while without even a word, Ginny broke the silence.

"So what're you gonna do today?"