I Didn't Know It Was Running Away.......

I was a "young" 13 at the time. It was Saturday morning, Summer of '66, Phoenix AZ. All four of us kids had quietly gotten up, made ourselves some cereal and was watching Saturday morning cartoons when our mother got up screaming at us. 1

You see, we knew we couldn't win with her no matter what we did. She was always going to get up on Saturday mornings screaming and yelling at us. Only the week before we thought maybe we should just get up and do our chores without the screaming and yelling. So we did that. She screamed and yelled at us for waking her up. So, you see, that is why we waited that Saturday morning for her to get up. 2

This time she was particularly vicious. She came in the kitchen where we were busy cleaning the counters and floor and said; "You KNOW the chores have to be done EVERY Saturday! Why do we go through this every week? If you don't like the way things are run around here, then you should go look for another place to live!" 3

So right then and there I decided that is what I should do, find another place to live. 4

Oh, it wasn't the chores so much as the screaming all the time, it really got on my nerves, you know? Then there was the beatings. No, not my mom, she didn't hit, she just screamed. 5

My dad, he hit. He never raised his voice, he would just take off his belt and make us stand perfectly still and bend over and "spank" us. It hurt like heck but not nearly as much as the way he talked to us while he did it. The words hurt so much more than the hitting did. Most of the time he hit us because mom was screaming at us. He use to say; "I can't hit your mother for yelling, but I can hit you kids for making her yell." We would carry bruises on our legs and butts all the time from all the beatings.6

So, while I did my chores, I started thinking about where I wanted to live. I thought about just leaving, but that would be stupid, you have to have a place to go, even at a young 13 I knew that much! Then it dawned on me that I really liked the way my Aunt Ruthie lived. She loved animals and had dogs and cats and such, and a really great roommate too named Annie who played softball and wore men's clothes. Annie was loud and funny and I liked her and my Aunt Ruthie because I knew they treated their animals so well that they would treat me well too. They had their own house about five miles away from where we lived. We had gone there last year for a barbeque and I think I remembered how to get there.7

Once I decided where I was going to go, I finished my chores quickly and started packing a beach bag with my underwear and shorts and tops, and my toothbrush and comb too. I even fixed a couple of sandwiches and wrapped them in waxed paper.8

My sister asked what I was doing. She was 6 years old. I said none of your business. But she bugged and bugged and threatened to tell mom so I had to tell her. "I am going to go live with Aunt Ruthie." My sister got all excited. "I wanna go too!" I told her no, but then she said she would tell mom if I didn't let her go, so she packed her purse that mom had discarded and let her have to play with and off we went. 9

We went the back way because I didn't know what time Dad would be coming home from work. He worked most Saturdays because he was a car salesman. He sold Ford Mustangs. Two years before that he sold Chevys, and before that it was Dodges. Mom worked for the VA hospital as a Medical Secretary. She took autopsy notes. Gross, right?10

About an hour into our trek, we were cutting across a yard from an alley and almost ran right into a huge black dog that was tied to the fence out there. My sis just lost it, she was scared of dogs. But I wasn't. Dad had taught me how to train dogs, so I knew that dog might be mean, but he could also be fooled. I took out one of my sandwiches I had packed and tore off half of it and waved it so the dog could smell it. The dog was straining against the rope trying to get to me, barking and growling. I told my sis to just slowly walk past him, and she did that and waited on the other side for me. Then I threw the sandwich to the dog and ran past him. Oh, he loved the sandwich and did not even care about me crossing his yard! I felt good about that. It was not very often I felt good about myself you know?11

Anyways, we got through that yard and down the side alley and came out on Camelback Road. I had never been walking on such a busy city steet before, but I held my sister's hand and we crossed at the lights and even walked over the bridge that went over the expressway. I was feeling better and better about what we were doing, how well it was going.12

About three hours after we left, we found my aunt's house. We went to the front door and knocked and knocked, but no one answered. Then the neighbor told us that the two women that use to live there had moved out just last month. We sat down on the front steps and tried to figure out what to do.13

I decided we would walk over to my other aunt's house, the one with 10 kids. My sis and I figured that with so many kids, they would never even notice two more. Dumb, huh? Told you I was a young 13 didn't I? It took us two more hours to walk another 4 miles. It was nearly 5pm by then, and we just walked into the backyard and sat down on the swings there and started talking to my cousins. Then their father, our uncle, came into the backyard and asked what the heck did we think we were doing there? 14

"Your parents are worried sick, you are in so much trouble, they called the police and everything!" Then he smacked each of us on our rumps with his hand. After being beat by a belt it was a joke, but we didn't laugh. I just knew what was going to happen when we got home. Our uncle phoned my parents, put us in his truck and drove us back home.15

Oh, gosh! I was shaking I was so scared when I saw the police car parked out front of our house! The police were out in the front yard waiting for us. Mom was in the house looking out of the screen door and Dad was home too. I found out later he had to leave work because of this, oh boy are we going to get it now!16

The policeman took me into the house and sat me down on the couch and asked me why in the world did I run away? My Mom and Dad looked so scared at me. I looked up at the policeman and said: "This morning, my Mom said if I didn't like it here I should find another place to live, so I did!" The policeman looked at my Mom and said: "Ma'am, you have to be careful what you say to children, they will take you literally!" 17

Mom and Dad thanked the police as they left. Then the most shocking thing occured. There was no screaming and no hitting. We girls ate a cold supper, bathed, and went to bed and slept like logs. Nothing was ever discussed. The screaming and hitting toned down too after that. Amazing.18