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There was a loud cracking
sound coming from behind the two car garage. Donetta rushed to the windows
of the middle bedroom and east side of the house. Peering through the
slats of the blinds gave her an understanding of where the sound
originated.
Hanging off and balanced on
the edge of the hand-built ramp was their sporty little light blue car. It
had not fallen but, was resting three wheels on and one front wheel off.
The cracking sound she heard was the breaking of the boards as her husband
drove the car up onto the device he himself built in order to have the
auto up in the air. In this way he could work under it.
Their marriage was young.
Donetta was thoroughly pleased to be settling into the place where she
grew up. The old house was coming alive once again with her care and the
days of its isolated neglect were soon becoming a thing of the past. Her
husband too seemed content there even though it was a place away from
anything he knew well. He was raised in the little oil field town which
was decorated with amenities of the easy wealth in that area spread around
to the people.
Now, instead of being
frightened or peeved by his misjudgement in building a ramp out of wood
which was destined to come down with that weight on it, she was instead,
trying to find a solution to the problem. They had to have the car. One
did not live out in these back areas without transportation. There was no
possible way it could be driven off the ramp. One little push either way
and it would certainly come down all right, but with what consequences to
the car?
"You will have to walk down to
the neighbors, so I can go into Foraker to call my brother, Martin.
Actually, he could have walked to Martin's since their ranch set above the
old home place about maybe two and one half miles. It could be easily seen
on the next rise over. However, she didn't know if he was home and even
though they had to drive five miles to get to the phone in town it was
easier than barging in on his family unannounced, even though this was the
country where that was acceptable at the time, she wasn't comfortable with
doing it. The time she was away from the area had already introduced
different values and manners to her thinking.
When they got to Foraker she
used a pay phone at the little bit of a grocery store which was only
partially there. Mostly they only had snacks, cold pop, bread and such.
There were some cuts of meat but, not many. An occasion to shop there
rarely presented itself and she felt a little sheepish in having to
explain to her brother their predicament while the small group, always
there, was listening. She could see the expression of quiet control as
they heard about the car balanced there on the ramp out at the Old Jones
Place.
"You say what?" Donetta's
brother asked after she told him what happened. She knew he was politely
not laughing at least until he hung up the phone and then he would, no
doubt, probably, go into hysterics at the vision of seeing their car in
his mind setting half on and half off a hand built wood ramp.
Nevertheless, she didn't crack a smile either, not even on the telephone.
"Well, Okay?" "I'll be over
there in a bit." "Soon as I finish up what I'm doin' here."
Gratefully Donetta told him
she was certainly not going anywhere and would most definitely be waiting
for his help.
There wasn't much of a wait
when they came back onto the grounds of the ranch place. This was always
such a peaceful place around and about. Somehow, she couldn't see the
gravity of what just happened. The fact that the car could have fallen
off, rolled on her husband, possibly even doing terrible harm never
occurred to her. Instead, in her youthful confidence in her brother she
simply reassured her husband that he would know what to do.
When her brother drove up in
one of his larger trucks she did not interfere with the men and their
discussion as to what had happened. Standing back at a distance the young
woman watched the men as they visited about the predicament. If her
brother was about to split with laughter he was able to control himself
with only a broad grin on his face while he discussed the matter with her
husband.
When the talk was finished she
was watching closely as the men went quickly about the business of getting
the car off the ramp. There was a winding down of a huge cable with a very
substantial hook at the end of it which was commonly called a wench. The
securing of the hook to the car underneath did not prepare her for what
was about to transpire. Just as easily as one might be having a cup of
coffee and quite as nonchalantly, slowly, but steadily, the car was
totally lifted until it was literally dangling in the air hanging at the
end of the large hook and cable. With the car pendulum like this the truck
simply moved away from the ramp, and as easily as it was picked up the
little car was again set down, first onto its back wheels and then totally
to the ground with the front wheels lowered not to cause one bounce or
rough movement.
These were the days of youth
and a bold joy for life. The thought of anything dangerous or impossible
did not come to the mind of her brother who would prove to conquer the
unconquerable all through his life. This among other things to have gone
on with her husband was adding up to a decision for Donetta to help him
with an education and into a less challenging environment. |
