Weber Finding Utopia

1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 979-8-3509-0810-7
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 1, 368 Seiten

Reihe: Finding Utopia

'Finding Utopia' tells a touching story of love and loss, dreams realized, and dreams cut short, woven through the lens of a misguided love that shatters lives and leaves a town in ashes. Set in Utopia, Texas in the rural Hill Country between 1917 and 1926, the characters live on in memory long after you reach the end.

Linda Weber is a writer of historical fiction, memoir, and personal essays. She is a graduate of the University of Oregon with degrees in Speech: Rhetoric and Public Address as well as Journalism, with an Oregon Teaching Certification. She completed her Master of Public Administration work at Portland State University. Linda has owned a retail custom clothing business, a bed and breakfast inn, and a direct sales and marketing business where she was also a corporate trainer. She was named Advocate of the Year for Women in Business by the Portland Oregon office of the Small Business Administration and chaired a regional 'Women in Business' conference attended by over 1,000 women and men from the Western Region of the SBA. She is an accomplished public speaker and community activist who has run for state-wide political office and been active in promoting causes for women's equality and advancement in business. She served as President of The Henderson Writers Group, Las Vegas, and facilitates Sisters Writes. She is a member of the Historical Novel Writers Society of North America, Women Writing the West, Sin City Writers Group and Sisters Writes, a read and critique group. Linda's essays and stories have won first-place writing awards and been published in anthologies and journals. Linda has two children, one stepchild, six grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. She lives in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Sisters, Oregon with her husband, Dennis, his comfort animal, Jilly the dog, and Houdini the cat. She loves to travel and has visited or lived in over thirty countries.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weber, Linda

Leseproben

CHAPTER 2
End of May 1917
MAIZELLE I spent the last two months of ninth grade daydreaming about the cute mechanic at Will’s Garage. I knew he was Will Jones, and his brothers, Calvin and Alvin Jones, went to school with me. Anyone watching could tell I was distracted. My attention to my lessons waned to the point of nonexistent. Today Miss Miller stopped me as I was leaving for lunch and said, “Maizelle, I’ve noticed your interest in class has lapsed. Are you not planning to continue next year?” “I’m not sure,” I said. “Papa might send me to school in San Antonio where Julia’s in business college.” “I’m sorry to hear that. Your thoughtful contributions always add so much.” “Thank you,” I said, in a hurry to join my friends. “Could you run a little errand for me?” “I guess so. When?” “Now. I need someone to go to the basement and give Jimmy his slate. He left it when he brought me a goodbye gift earlier. You wouldn’t mind, would you?” She held it out, and I couldn’t think of any reason to refuse, so I took it. I didn’t want to miss lunch with Katherine and my friends, so I ran to the basement and took the stairs down three at a time. “Jimmy?” I called down the stairway, “Miss Miller wants me to give you this.” Our deaf and dumb janitor pulled his head out of the bin where he fed coal into the chute, his mop of white hair smeared black with the dust. His smudged face and ghoulish smile made his teeth shine like lights in a jack-o’-lantern. I offered the slate, but he didn’t take it. “M’zl,” he muttered, “pr’ty g’rl.” “Thank you,” I said, “here’s your slate.” Jimmy reached for me like he wanted to hug me. I shoved the slate into his outstretched hands and bolted for the stairs. “Wa’t, wa’t.” I paused to see what he wanted. “Pr’ty, pr’ty.” The hunger on his face scared me. I’ve never been afraid of Jimmy, but something in his eyes made my insides crawl. “I need to go. I can’t stay. Katty and my friends are waiting. Sorry.” “Don’ go.” He grabbed my arm. “Let go!” I twisted away and bolted up the steps. Katherine and the other girls were sitting in a row on the teeter-totter like always. “Where have you been?” she asked. “I ran an errand for Miss Miller. Jimmy left his slate in her room. I took it to him.” “You went down in the basement with that creep by yourself?” “He’s not so bad, Katherine. He looked spooky with coal dust all over his face and hair, but I’m not afraid of him.” I decided not to tell her about him grabbing my arm. I didn’t think he meant to scare me. “Ewww,” she said. “My mom says he’s an Albino. I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole.” “I don’t think it’s catching.” I turned to the other girls and said, “What are you guys talking about?” “Sue Ann has a crush on Cal Jones,” Lula Mae teased. “Do not. I just think he’s cute.” “Not as cute as his brother,” I blurted out as the warning bell rang. “I better hurry and eat my sandwich, or my stomach will be growling all afternoon.” The bell stopped our conversation about which Jones boy was the cutest. I was happy not to have to explain what I said without thinking. Now that school was out for the summer, I was desperate to see Will again, but I doubted someone so much older would return my feelings. I hoped to run into him by inviting my little sister and brother to walk to town for an ice cream soda. We went almost every day. I steered clear of his garage, but I held conversations with him in my head. I flirted, and he flirted back. Thoughts of him gave me little rushes, like squeezing whey through a wad of cheesecloth. I obsessed over these new feelings and the memory of the day at his shop—the way he stared at me and how it made me feel when our eyes locked. Remembering gave me courage. One day, I altered our route to a path along the alley behind his business. I scooted past the open bay and spotted him. He was carrying something in his arms, and he caught my eye when I stole a glance. I quickly shifted my eyes, tugged the kids, and hurried out of sight. “Don’t pull my arm,” Toofy whined. It turned out that when he saw me, he stumbled and dropped a heavy tractor part. When he fell, he tried to catch it and smashed his thumb. That was a stroke of luck for both of us because he ran to Upton’s Pharmacy for bandages, where I perched on a stool at the fountain. Will’s aunt, Elizabeth Upton, was making our sodas. She glanced up when the bell on the door jangled, dropped the ice cream scoop and rushed from behind the counter. “Will, bless your heart. Whatever happened to you?” “I had an accident in the shop. I need antiseptic and something to wrap this.” It was Will. I spun around, and there he stood, with a dirty, blood-soaked rag wrapped over his hand. Mrs. Upton reached for him and removed the makeshift bandage. Will grimaced when the air hit his smashed thumb, and blood dripped onto the floor. The nail had started to turn black. “Oh my, I should say you do. I’ll be right back.” She scurried off. Will glanced at me, and our eyes locked. It was like the other time. A force I couldn’t resist pulled me off the stool. “Toofy. Sambo. You stay put and wait for your sodas. You hear?” I stepped over to Will. “Let me see,” I said, taking his injured hand in mine to examine his thumb. I don’t know what possessed me to take his hand like that, but when I raised my eyes to his, the rest of the room disappeared. We stood fixed on each other, lost in a silent waltz, until Elizabeth returned with a wet cloth, disinfectant, and bandages. Whatever had possessed me when I took his hand got hold of me again. I lifted the items out of her hands and began wiping the blood from his fingernail. Mrs. Upton opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. Once I’d cleaned the wound, Will’s aunt applied the dressing and said, “I better finish those sodas for Toofy and Sambo before the ice cream melts.” I nodded. When I looked at Will, my heart lurched, and a voice I didn’t recognize said, “Would you want to join the little ones and me for a soda?” A slow, lopsided smile spread across his face. The mischievous look in his eyes answered before he said, “Why, I’d be honored, Miss Maizelle.” His voice teased and sparked hope at the same time. He added in a more solemn tone, “On the condition you allow me to pay as a thank you for your nursing care.” My face grew hot. I nodded and reclaimed my seat next to Toofy. Will sat on my other side, rested his arms on the counter, and tilted his head. There was a question in his eyes. I wanted to say ‘yes, yes, yes’ to whatever was on his mind. I stared at the marred wood and picked at a divot where someone had carved their initials. Will’s Aunt Elizabeth raised an eyebrow when we both ordered strawberry sodas. Her eyes caught mine, and there was no mistaking what she was thinking. Will appeared unaware of her interest. He said, loud enough for her to hear. “I work late at the garage lots of nights, and I walk past your house to take the river trail.” I seized on that. “What time?” “Around eight-thirty or nine. Sometimes I stop at the Spanish Bridge and have a smoke before I head home.” I stole a glance. “That’s a beautiful old bridge. The way it curves up on the sides, the cool grassy area underneath the arch. It’s one of my favorite places. When the moon is bright, I can see it from my bedroom window.” His face took a puzzled expression with a half-smile as if he didn’t quite believe me. Toofy and Sambo slurped the bottoms of their glasses to let us know they were empty. Then, they began spinning on their stools. I put a hand on Samuel’s arm to stop him and said, “They’re getting restless. I think I’d better get them home.” Will and I hurried to finish. I lifted the kids down, taking each with a firm hand. “I think we should walk you back to your work and make sure your wound doesn’t start bleeding,” I said, sounding much braver than I felt. “That would be mighty nice,” Will said as we headed out the door. Angelic Toofy, with her straight blond hair and round blue eyes, gazed up at me. Her mop-headed brother twisted his hand, trying to extract himself. “Can we race to O’Brien’s?” Toofy asked. When Sambo succeeded in pulling his hand free, he announced, “Girls can’t run as fast as boys. I can beat you.” “Cannot. I can beat you,” Toofy spouted back. “Hunh, uh,” Sambo whined. “Cannot.” Already running, Toofy shouted, “Ready, set, go!” “No fair! You got a head start,” Sambo hollered. “Wait for me at O’Brien’s gate,” I called after them. “Okay,” Toofy said, glancing over her shoulder. I didn’t want Leila to know I let them out of my sight. Will and I turned into the alley behind the businesses along Central Street. We walked shoulder to shoulder in silence. Electric shocks ran up and down my spine every time our arms brushed. My mouth was dry, and my throat was so constricted I couldn’t talk. My heart pounded...