Charlie Dickerson was my playmate. His mom and him live right next to our farm house in Rattan, Oklahoma. Together our families keep each other alive. Since we were in diapers we have been fighting, laughing, crying, and tattle-telling on each other. The dust bowl has been the biggest challenge for us then WWII started. It was rare that we didn't have farm chores to complete, sometimes when things were really behind daddy made us stay home from school to help him. Our favorite thing, actually my favorite thing, was to watch Gone with the Wind. I loved reenacting the famous "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" scene on our stairs. I would come running down crying "Rhett, Rhett, if you go, what will I do, where will I go..." and Charlie would give his line while whispering the word "damn" so mom couldn't hear it. Eventually my mom would get tired of hearing me go up and down the stairs like thunder and scream for us to go outside. As we got into our puberty years, we added some hand holding and kisses on the cheek to our Gone With the Wind scenes. Sometimes Charlie would abruptly grab his crotch, act all nervous and claim he had chores to do and run off. I never understood why us holding hands made him run off to do chores until much later when I learned more about the birds and the bees.
Other families in our town weren't farmers. Their parents had what people call 9-5 jobs in offices downtown. Their kids were lucky. They never had to skip school to help harvest crops or to milk the cows. In this way I always look back and think that I was somewhat robbed of my childhood. They got to play hopscotch and spin tops while I handed my dad wrenches and belts to help fix the tractors. I got grounded if I left out any farming tools or forgot to feed the hogs. They got grounded if they got a C in school. I got yelled at for my C, told to finish my chores then study afterwards. It was the same for Charlie so at least I had somebody I could bitch to about it. My dad, Ray Weatherford, was basically Charlie's father figure. Charlie's dad, David Dickerson, died in World War I, he fought along side with my dad. As a result of the War my dad suffers from PTSD, we call it one of his moods. He has an isolation mood where he just sits in the living room with the radio and doesn't want to be bothered. An anger mood where he throws his glass of whiskey at the wall, this happens usually when he reads the paper in the morning. He has his morning eggs and whiskey then BAM, mom is cleaning up broken glass. There is literally a mark on the wall where the glass hits every time. He attends regular group therapy at the VFW in town but he still slips up now and then. Sometimes when his moods are too much for mom, she suggests he goes to see if Charlie's mom, Martha needs any repairs around the house. She says helping others, helps us to see past our own misery and be thankful. Dad will nod, get his tool bag, and call for Charlie to tag along.
Sometimes dad stays all day over at Martha's place to help out and mom doesn't seem to ever mind. It's our way of life, it's our norm, our little family unit. Martha is good at sewing and mom is good at cooking. They know their strong suits and stick to it. Mom will make dinner for us all and Martha will bring over the finished mending on all the clothes. As I got into my teen years, Martha made me the best dresses that fit my curves just right and I drove all the boys crazy. That in turn drove Charlie crazy and jealous. I took it as him just being like my brother and looking out for me. I was dating a boy named William Kenley who had just been drafted to fight in WWII, he was the Army Air Pilot, more commonly known today as the Air Force branch. We started dating about 6 months before he was shipped off to Germany to help fight Hitler. He informed me that his first package to me was going to be big. So I waited for a good 4 weeks until I finally received it and it officially marked the end of my childhood and began my ascend into woman hood.
The package was wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. It was pretty small and had European stamps all over it. I carefully pulled the string until it loosened and then just ripped open the paper because I got too impatient. I opened the box only to find a smaller, red velvet one. When my mom saw that box, she squealed. My dad came running in the living room with Charlie looking around for the stranger who had surely barged into our house and made mom squeal. Their eyes fixated on the tiny, red box I held in my hand. I just stood there for an awkward moment in shock as I knew as well as my mom what I was holding. I carefully preyed open the box and revealed the prettiest diamond ring I had ever saw. It was a cluster of white diamonds that shaped together to make a flower and in the center of the flower was a red diamond. My mom looked inside the other box and handed me a letter.
"Daisy, look, here's a letter too." she said waving it excitedly in front of me.
I opened it,
"Daisy, my love, please be mine forever. Will you marry me?
With all my love,
William."
YOU ARE READING
Oklahoma Rivets
RomanceDaisy and Charlie have grown up together on a farm as neighbors. Their fathers were soldiers in WWI but Charlie's dad died during the war. Leaving him and his mother in the helpful hands of Daisy's family on a farm in Rattan, Oklahoma. Charlie despe...
