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memoir of what I experienced 10 years ago

We did manage to have some fun, occasionally. Sometimes we'd just get in the car and drive. (My car, of course.) We'd go to stay with his brother, in Louisiana. When we were there, our visist was always hijacked by his mom and her husband, and we'd do all the tourist things. I know the whole story by heart of Evangeline, I stood where she supposedly stood, under the big tree with moss hanging from it. I've seen the gators and eaten the gumbo. Down there, they leave the claws intact in a bowl of gumbo, did you know that? As in, the shell on and everything? I discovered this at a truck stop diner on our first trip down there. They brought me my soup and there it was, floating in the center, as if it just fell in by mistake. I started to say something to the waiter until my guy stopped me and said no, that's the way it is, just shut up and eat it. I also was forced to eat boudan. We made several stops until he found it. He swore up & down it was good. Lies!

Staying at his brother's was nice. Sometimes I didn't want to come back. My daughter came down there with us alot too, my guy's mom took a liking to her right away and they'd go shopping together. The mom had an extensive beanie baby collection which held my daughter's attention. Everyone was in a good mood down there. I became friends with the brother's wife, I really liked her. I think she was a bigger nerd than me. All she did was play video games, she really got into them. The brother always cooked and his breakfast was the best and the coffee he made was perfect. I'm telling you, I never wanted to leave. Of course, my guy soon got suspicious and thought me and the brother liked each other, so a few fights happened down there. The brother was so nice. He always insisted that we take their big bed, and they'd sleep out on the couches. He was always happy to see me each time we went. Come to think of it, maybe I should have pursued something with him. Oh, wait, he was married. Nevermind.

The older brother was a different story. Serious, cocky, reserved. Just different. I couldn't believe these 3 guys were all related. He's the one who pulled out these newspaper articles for me to read. I saw it all, it was all true. He and his wife had a bunch of kids and they were all friendly, but it just wasn't the same as the other brother's house.

One night we went to somebody's house down there, I have no idea who it was, but we were all sitting around outside at this picnic table, talking, cooking hotdogs over a small fire. All of a sudden this screen door busts open and a big scary woman holding a shotgun starts yelling and cussing in half French at all of us, saying, we better get our asses off her property, we're making too much noise, son you know I don't allow strangers here... I was terrified, but the guys were all laughing, turns out she was an alcoholic and she always said things like that, but my main concern was the shotgun.


On the way home we always drove to the beach, usually Galveston, got out and walked around for a few hours. My best memories with him were on the beach. No fighting, no nothing. Just walking together, saying nothing, all along the shoreline. I always gathered seashells on these trips, had a whole bunch of them. I kept them in two huge hurricane glasses that we got from Reunion Tower, they sat on either side of the bathroom counter.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very nice chapter. Good to spend time with family and enjoy the time. I like the Texas coastline. A lot different than the other coastlines. Thank you for sharing the excellent chapter.
Coyote