Dirty Faces- Book 1

Chapter 7: A New Plymouth

Chapter 7: A New Plymouth

Kody leaned on the counter at the service station, reading the newspaper. The headline on the front page of the World News section read "Churchill Appointed Prime Minister of Great Britain". The morning had been slow so Kody had been able to catch up with most of what was going on out there in the great wide world. There were horrible things going on in other countries, things of which his family and neighbors were blissfully ignorant. If they didn't hear about it from the local gossips or see it on the church bulletin board it didn't matter to them. But he knew that if he ever planned to escape this little town, and he most certainly did, he would need to be cognizant of what was going on elsewhere, so he read the paper every time he got his hands on one and listened to news broadcasts on the radio every chance he got.

Behind the counter, Andy, the eldest of the four Montgomery boys, sat playing a game of solitaire with a deck of cards covered in black smudges from greasy hands. Andy had quit school the previous year to work and help make ends meet at home since his father was known to sporadically disappear for days on end and the money he made working in the mines and selling moonshine had a similar reputation for disappearing before food was bought. It was a mystery to everyone why the coal company didn't get rid of him; it was speculated he either knew somebody important or knew something about somebody that kept him employed. Too young to work down in the mines himself, Andy was at the station nearly every day pumping gas, changing oil, airing up tires, and washing windshields to make enough to barely feed his brothers.

World news was getting depressing so Kody rummaged through the pages until he found the funny papers. He was only one box into Lil' Abner when the driveway bell chimed and a sharp, burgundy Plymouth coupe pulled up. Andy went to get up from his game but Kody said, "I'll get this one," as he folded the paper and laid it on the counter. Andy followed him out anyway to gawk at the car.

Kody hustled around to the driver's side window, expecting to speak with some coal company executive but his heart skipped a beat when the pretty feminine face of Leslie Williams smiled up at him instead. Her freckle-faced, gap-toothed kid brother grinned over on the passenger's side.

"What can we do for y'all this morning?" he asked, his stomach all a-flutter.

"We'd like an oil change, please," she replied.

"Alright, then. If you don't mind, just pull around into the garage."

She and J.D. got out of the car when she'd shut the ignition off in the garage and she handed the key to Kody. Her long, flaxen hair lay in a thick, loose braid over one shoulder today.

" 'S a nice car," Andy admired. "Is it yours?"

She laughed. "Oh, no no no. It belongs to my grandaddy. He let me drive it today...to get an oil change."

"Is it a '39?"

"It's new!" J.D. asserted.

"Well, not brand new," she corrected. "He's had it long enough to need an oil change."

"But still a pretty new car," Kody marveled. "He must really trust you."

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "I don't think it has anything to do with trust per se. We're just his only two grandchildren so he tends to spoil us."

Kody and Andy nodded, still appraising the car. "Well," Kody said, snapping out of the trance held on him by the shiny car, "y'all can have a seat inside. I won't be too long."

"Is it OK if we sit on the bench outside?" she asked. "It's so nice out today."

"Of course."

"Can I watch?" J.D. asked enthusiastically.