Shelton Family Saga

Chapter 15

A Whole Heap of a Mess
December 25, 1972, Helmsville

Brisha had been screwing Alex for about a year, but it was on this icy cold Winter day she couldn't hide the fact any longer that she was six months pregnant with his baby. She had to find a way out of this. She was Hollywood's girl and they were still going to make a life together. What would she do with this kid of Alex's? Hollywood was the love of her life and she was his, but circumstances had caused things to go awry. And now with her due to give birth in the next three months what would she do?

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Averie Callie
Jan. 11, 1973, 11:57 p.m.

Averie was the one who had been driving the Volkswagen beetle that day when Hoochie met Alex at the filling station. She turned out to be Alex's twin sister and they also had an older brother named Juntas. Hoochie had come to find out over time that Alex was a rebellious and troublesome kid which was how he got the nickname Maniac. Averie was quite shrewd herself, although she didn't seem to be as wild as Maniac. They were the youngest kids in their family. Hoochie had made it his business to follow the Volkswagen beetle she was driving and to get to know the family and find out who she was.  Now they had been dating for five years and she seemed to be the steady person in his life. Truthfully, Hoochie was a rolling stone and had a different perspective on life. It was only slowly over the years that Averie got to know Hoochie on a deeper level. She rarely came out of Hardin and the few times he took her over to Helmsville, she didn't really get to know his family. She knew his mom had passed away, but she didn't know his siblings that well. That's because he had a lot of girlfriends and one of the girls he was dating knew his family the best and he didn't want any of his younger siblings to let it slip to Averie that he had another girlfriend.

What should've been the happiest day for Averie turned out to be the most horrendous day. She had been having contractions all day so she knew it wouldn't be long before she would be giving birth to her and Hoochie's baby. It was around 8:30 early that morning when her water broke, but she spent 15 hours unattended in labor, cause no one could locate the doctor. Turns out he had spent the day drinking with his buddies on the golf course at the Country Club. They were all excited and celebrating that the doctors daddy would be coming home soon if the United States and Vietnam could come to an agreement and end the war, which they did the following two weeks. Unfortunately, the doctor and his friends had taken it too far shirking their real world responsibilities, so by the time he arrived at the hospital, Averie was in and out of consciousness and on oxygen. As he rushed through the lobby, he saw Hoochie and a lot of Averie's family members sitting off to the side in the waiting room, which included her brothers Juntas and Alex, her sister Trilby, her mother Sharondea and her cousin Ruthie. By the time he made it in the room and delivered the baby, Averie was totally unconscious and her baby was stillborn.

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Just like Houdini

With a dead baby to contend with, what was Hoochie to do? Averie had no clue her baby had been stillborn. None of her family could bring themselves to tell her either. When she finally awoke out of the coma a week later, she wondered where her baby was. Her sister Trilby had made up a story that Hoochie had a job as a truck driver and had the baby traveling on the road with him. It was six months before Hoochie returned back to Montana in July 1973 with "the baby." Averie was so mad at him for running off with her baby, she vowed to make his life a living hell for not coming back for so long or even bothering to send a letter or anything. When he had finally returned, she had a lot of questions and catching up to do. She wanted to know what time her baby had been born, and how much it weighed. She wanted to see the baby's birth certificate, too. Hoochie had his shit together. He gave Averie everything she requested.

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The Visit
Feb 14, 1973, Helmsville

It was on this Wednesday afternoon, Brisha got a visit from Alex's older brother.  She had never met Juntas before, but heard he was a very nice man, and indeed he was. He had offered to take her to lunch. She accepted and they had a wonderful meal of steak, baked sweet potatoes, garden salad, sourdough yeast rolls, iced tea and strawberry rhubarb pie for dessert. Of course he paid for everything. He also paid for her to visit the stores in the plaza where they had eaten and shop to her hearts delight. Afterwards, they sat down to end the outing with a cup of coffee and she somehow ended up spilling all her feelings about the baby she was carrying. Juntas was so compassionate and listened intently to her every word. She could tell he totally understood. He was so thoughtful, he even came up with the best idea to help her out, and it really was quite the solution. He explained how Hoochie was Hollywoods best friend forever, but unfortunately Hoochie's baby had just been born dead. The baby's mom was Alex's twin sister, Averie. He suggested that Hoochie and Averie should take care of her and Alex's baby and nobody would have to know, and it would work out well because it would be a blessing for Averie to get to mother the baby as her own since she lost hers; plus, the baby would still be surrounded by all of its own natural family. The only people who would know would be her, Hoochie, Averie and himself. They wouldn't even tell Alex if she didn't want him to know. It all sounded so good to her. What a gentleman Juntas was. No wonder he had such a reputation as a well liked man.